Wine & Spirits - April 2012 - (Page 120)

AMERICAN NEW RELEASES Our blind panels tasted 533 new-release American wines for this issue. Our critics rated 45 as exceptional (90+) and 34 as Best Buys. Joshua Greene reviews California wines; Patrick J. Comiskey reviews New York, Oregon and Washington wines. Find a complete list of wines tasted and all reviews at wineandspiritsmagazine.com. C ALI FO RN I A S PARKLING 415997 | Calera $ $ | Heintz $ | Schramsberg 2004 North Coast Extra Brut The scent of baked apples runs through this wine, with hints of yeast and raw almond in the ﬁnish. There’s some sweet richness in the fruit to support the texture, but the main impression is clean, with mouthwatering acidity to match crab. (1,108 cases) Schramsberg Vineyards, Calistoga, CA 2010 Central Coast Thirty-Fifth Anniversary Vintage Chardonnay Josh Jensen makes this wine from a collection of vineyard sources in Monterey and Santa Clara counties. It’s bright and citrusy with fresh scents of Mandarin orange and lemon, a lusty undertow of smoke pulling back on all the fruit. Clean and vinous, this is a zesty white for pan-roasted sand dabs. Calera Wine Co., Hollister, CA 2009 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay (Best Buy) Kevin Kelley makes this wine from the Heintz Vineyard in Occidental, on the second ridge in from the coast. It grows at 900 feet on Goldridge soils, creating a cool, spicy chardonnay with clean ﬂavors of pear. It has a honeyed, tree sap character as it warms up in the ﬁnish. Decant a bottle to bring out the fruit and serve with grilled sea bass. (190 cases) Charles E. Heintz, Santa Rosa, CA C ALI FO RN I A W HITE CHARDONNAY 416440 415604 | Grgich Hills | Stuhlmuller Vineyards $ $ | Fess Parker 415152 $ 2010 Santa Barbara County Chardonnay (Best Buy) Here’s a steal: a cool-vintage chardonnay with ﬂesh and zest. There’s a saline, gamey note that brings the ﬂor of Fino Sherry to mind, an earthy undertone to balance the sweet kumquat and tart grapefruit pith ﬂavors. Serve it with chicken braised with fennel and mushrooms. Fess Parker Winery, Los Olivos, CA 416476 | Three Saints $ 2009 Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay (Best Buy) From the Dierberg family’s estate-grown fruit, this is a rich chardonnay with white peach and green pear ﬂavors. It’s ﬁnely tuned to its wood—15 percent of the barrels are new—and the ﬂavors are integrated into the plump fruit. The ﬁnish is clean, sappy and a little salty, delicious with whole-roasted branzino. (4,900 cases) Three Saints, Santa Ynez, CA 415406 2009 Napa Valley Chardonnay Grown under a biodynamic regimen in Grgich’s American Canyon and Carneros vineyards, this ferments without added yeast in oak barrels (40 percent new); it does not go through malolactic fermentation. The style is substantial and distinctive, requiring air to settle into its ﬂavors. At ﬁrst, the oak battles with the acidity in the orange citrus ﬂavors until they slowly combine into savory fruit richness. Hints of fennel add to the wine’s complexity, bringing to mind accompaniments such as rabbit pâté or blanquette de veau. Grgich Hills Estate, Rutherford, CA 416820 2010 Alexander Valley Estate Chardonnay (Best Buy) Fermented without added yeast in older French oak barrels and casks (only seven percent is new wood), this wine has a mild toastiness from lees aging and a clean exposition from beginning to end. The mellow citrus ﬂavors and tight acidity keep it lifted, while the unctuous texture would match rich ﬁsh, like grilled Spanish mackerel. Stuhlmuller Vineyards, Healdsburg, CA 416089 | Two Angels $ | Frank Family $ 2010 Carneros Angel’s Secret Chardonnay (Best Buy) A peppery white with wooly scents and an oily texture, this has the simple ﬂavor of white grapes. Chill it for an aperitif. (1,028 cases) Two Angels, Napa, CA 2010 Napa Valley Chardonnay Bright and spicy up front, this settles into a supple mouthful of pale yellow-gold fruit, as rich as lime custard. It’s a gentle chardonnay, lightly smoky and clean, ﬁrm enough to serve with chicken in a cream sauce. Frank Family Vineyards, Calistoga, CA 416059 SAUVIGNON BLANC 415497 | SeaGlass $ 2010 Santa Barbara County Sauvignon Blanc (Best Buy) Under this wine’s grassiness, there’s a clean line of tart grapefruit ﬂavor. It’s trim and brisk, with just enough weight in the middle to give it substance. For shrimp ceviche. Seaglass Wine Co., Napa, CA 120 W I N E & S P I R I T S A P R I L 2 0 1 2 http://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com http://www.stuhlmullervineyards.com/product/2010-Alexander-Valley-Estate-Chardonnay?pageID=9c52cc16-1cc4-81ae-75d9-c4f51d7aa56f&sortBy=DisplayOrder& https://www.grgich.com/store/index.cfm?fuseaction=view&category_id=38 http://www.fessparkerwines.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - April 2012

Wine & Spirits - April 2012
Editor's Note
Happenings
Contents
Fined & Filtered: Patrick Comiskey on pairing wine with molecular gastronomy
Extreme Values
Spirits: Lou Bustamante on cocktail bitters
Wine Superheros
Port without Serra
The Class of ’72
Brightliners in the Deep End
The Restoration of Austria’s Noble Red
New & Notable New York City Restaurants
23rd Annual Restaurant Poll
Tastings Overview
American Pinot Noir
Austrian Wines
White Burgundy
Loire Wines
Portugal Reds
Tuscan Wines
American Wines
Imported Wines
Lost Commandments Howard G. Goldberg rewrites Exodus

Wine & Spirits - April 2012