Decanterberry Tales - A Willamette Valley Wine Blog - napavalley tag

Frank Family Vineyards, Chardonnay, 2006

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 16:05:28 GMT

So this was a California Chardonnay to compare with one from Oregon (see earlier review). Again, this was the same vintage (2006) and the same price point (about $32). And I was surprised to find that this one was not that super-oak, super-butter Cali Chard. In fact, it was very nice as well.

The nose was -- I kid you not -- gruyere cheese! This, mixed with lime. The taste was very crisp and fruity. Much more fruity and sweet than the Oregon Chard. No, this isn't to say it was sweet. Just relatively. It did have an oaky aroma, but it wasn't that buttery/oak bomb at all. It was crisp like a cucumber or a bartlet apple. Like the Oregon Chard, this also had tastes of pears and hints of melon. And there was also some tangerine in there, but in this one, it was a much sweeter tangerine than the Oregon version. Someone else thought it tasted like sweet lime (not sugary, but not at all sour).

Alexandra noted that this one had "more fruit aroma than fruit flavor". Herb noted the flowery aromas. Everyone thought this was clean and fresh and crisp. Well done.

Cost:

Rating: 9.0

Aquinas, Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 18:12:39 GMT

It was my son's birthday, and he loves to go to Sal's restaurant. So off we went. The server said that the Sal's on Killingsworth had closed (bummer), so the NW location was swimming in extra wine; so much so, that they were blowing out some of it for cheap.

Normally, we have 3 (and somtimes 4) glasses of wine at a restaurant, so a bottle is sometimes a good way to go. But for $16 bucks? Well, that's about the cost of only 2 glasses. Sold! We choose this one from a pretty limited list of reds (lots of whites though).

The nose was pretty interesting: asparagus, artichoke, nutmeg, pepper, and oak (it is from Napa after all). The taste was pretty one-dimensional -- fruit! -- plum and black cherry. It finished really dry, (that apple dryness again), along with oak and plum and black cherry again.

This wine tastes a bit young -- it's not technically sweet, but it sort of tastes sweet. Not great of course, but hey: I've spent more for a glass at restaurants than this bottle cost.

Cost:

Rating: 6.0

Niebaum-Coppola Estate Wines, Cabernet Franc, 1997

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:16:39 GMT

We had this bottle right after the Ken Wright, Shea 06 -- a hard act to follow. But this one really stood its ground. Cab Franc? Really? Yep, this was very good.

The nose was wild: bark, vegetable, mushroom, spice, pepper, nutmeg, asparagus, moss, clove and tobacco. Yeah, that's a lot of aroma. The taste was mainly plum, with nutmeg, pepper, blackberry, and artichoke. The flavor was really evenly split three ways: berry, spice and earth/vegetable. The finish was long and spicy: pepper and nutmeg, along with that slight apple dryness, and bark.

Some of the flavors reminds me of a Cab (perhaps I drink too much Pinot), but the body is definitely thinner. Yet I wouldn't say it's thin, especially after drinking a Pinot. I kept wanting to smell my fingers as I was drinking this: it's just so strongly nutmeg and tobacco. A memorable wine for sure.

Cost:

Rating: 8.5

Cuvaison, Chardonnay, 2006

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:48:41 GMT

We had my aunt and uncle over, and they like a good Chardonnay. However, and despite the volume of wine I drink, I really don't drink all that much white wine, let alone Chardonnay. So this wine was recommended by a guy at Zupan's.

And it turned out to be very interesting and intriguing. Right as you take a sip, it's sweet. But then as you taste and swallow, the wine goes totally dry. It was almost as if I had sugared the rim of my glass (well, almost). I really liked this aspect of the wine even though I don't like sweet wines (other than desert wines).

The nose was like a hay or a grass at first. And later, the nose was like smelling a fresh head of crisp lettuce. There was a salad in there! There was lime, and cilantro. And then, right at the end was this spicy bite -- like a hint of cayenne.

Cost:

Rating: 8.0