Napa and Sonoma red wines for under $20? You won’t find very many, however, the other day by chance we ran into a vintner who sells red wine from those areas and for less than $20 per bottle.
We have spent the month of October immersed in Bordeaux, figuratively of course. We concluded our month-long series of tastings last Thursday night at Fine Wines of Stockton with a collection of Bordeaux from through out the appellation.
Tom Hoffman wasn’t always a winemaker. He used to teach, in South America. But, eventually he was drawn back to the family farm, to manage the vineyards. For a while he was a home winemaker. His interest in winemaking eventually became Heritage Oak Winery, located within the Mokelumne River AVA of the Lodi appellation. The winery opened in 2007.
Our continuing 2010 vintage Bordeaux tasting at Fine Wines of Stockton brings us to Pauillac. Located just north of Saint-Julien along the left bank of the Gironde estuary, it is home to an amazing three of the five châteaux classified as 1st Growth (Lafite Rothschild, Latour and Mouton Rothschild). An additional 15 otherwise classified estates are located within Pauillac as well.
We have found much to like about the 2010 Bordeaux vintage. Lots of fruit flavors, a variable amount of complexity, plenty of tannins and modest wood influence, to name just a few of our favorite qualities. We continued our tasting at Fine Wines of Stockton with Bordeaux from Saint-Julien.
Winemaker Ross Rankin has proved himself a patient man. This wine project began in 2007. Every year he tasted, considered the flavors, decided not to bottle. Finally, the flavors he desired were there. He bottled and has now released his 2007 Winged Paradise Mountain Syrah.
Our exploration of the 2010 Bordeaux vintage continues with a tasting from the Margaux AOC at a recent Thursday night wine tasting at Fine Wines of Stockton. We will continue to taste our way through the 2010 Bordeaux vintage all during the month of October.
We recently had the opportunity to taste six wines from South Africa, many of which were new to us. We joined together with other participants via Twitter to discuss the wines. The event was sponsored by Whole Foods Market as part of their promotion of Wines of South Africa. Tasting new wines always provides the opportunity to learn about the location and history of the producing wineries. I enjoy this part almost as much as sipping the wine.
I first became aware of the global social media event #MerlotMe via Twitter. It’s a social initiative to remind us to enjoy Merlot during the month of October. We recently celebrated Merlot with a few of our wine friends. It was fun!
October has been declared Bordeaux month at Fine Wines of Stockton. Every Thursday night during the month, we will be tasting a group of six Bordeaux from the 2010 vintage. Yipee. This is my favorite series of tastings every year.
We enjoy wine, food and travel. Pull That Cork is a chronicle of our wine adventures, the food and wine pairings we create and our travels which are increasingly organized around wine.