Discovered a new and interesting wine this past week that I may add to the rotation to just have around for daily drinking at home, etc.. We went to a Sicilian dinner and wine tasting in Austin. One of the wines was Firriato's Sant'Agostino "Baglio Soria." It's a blend of 50% Nero D'Avola and 50% Syrah. It is full flavored with plum and pepper the two things that come to mind most for me. It's not a high end purchase at all, but I think it may be an interesting daily drinking wine to have around. I like Nero D'Avolas generally, but the Syrah blended with it makes it more interesting.

Sicily is in a bit of a wine renaissance. Lots of quality wine makers from around Italy buying property and making wine down there.

Just had a Lamole chianti. 2011 reserva, nice wine. Pretty big flavor profile

Good stuff

bularry said:

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Sicily is in a bit of a wine renaissance. Lots of quality wine makers from around Italy buying property and making wine down there.

Just had a Lamole chianti. 2011 reserva, nice wine. Pretty big flavor profile

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Historically a lot of the higher end production was near Mt. Etna on the east end, but there are a number of producers doing good stuff in the west and northwest now near Trapani and in the Belice Valley near Santa Margherita and Salaparuta.

I studied abroad in Sicily for a summer and drank a ton of quality wine for dirt cheap. Its fun to see a lot of quality stuff finally making it back over here.

Was in Baltimore this weekend and drank way more National Bohemian. (Natty Bo) Any Maryland folks familiar with the local brew? Most Def not craft.

J.R. said:

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Was in Baltimore this weekend and drank way more National Bohemian. (Natty Bo) Any Maryland folks familiar with the local brew? Most Def not craft.

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NattyBo is fantastic in the same way Lone Star is delicious. It has a cult like following up there, but I enjoy the stuff.

CTCBear said:

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I studied abroad in Sicily for a summer and drank a ton of quality wine for dirt cheap. Its fun to see a lot of quality stuff finally making it back over here.

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my dream

not the Sicily part. drinking quality stuff for cheap

bularry said:

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CTCBear said:

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I studied abroad in Sicily for a summer and drank a ton of quality wine for dirt cheap. Its fun to see a lot of quality stuff finally making it back over here.

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my dream

not the Sicily part. drinking quality stuff for cheap

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Both are pretty cool. Sicily is a great place. Italy without tourists, at least if you stay away from Taormina.

Stayed for a week in a villa in the Cilento National Park (?) a few years ago, and drank some great inexpensive wine. The next week we stayed in a villa in Tuscany, that cost twice as much and although beautiful, wasn't really as comfortable for our large group. Would like to go back to southern Italy, and pre-arrange some winery visits. We only did the winery tours in Tuscany last time.

Currently, my favorite wine club is Passalacqua (Dry Creek Valley), and I also like Dutcher's Crossing, from the same area. This is the first year in a long time that I haven't been to Passport to Dry Creek Valley in April. Particularly for those of you that like zins, I'd encourage you to check it out. I was struck when we were in Italy how much younger most of the vines were than some that we see in Dry Creek.

lrwells50 said:

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Stayed for a week in a villa in the Cilento National Park (?) a few years ago, and drank some great inexpensive wine. The next week we stayed in a villa in Tuscany, that cost twice as much and although beautiful, wasn't really as comfortable for our large group. Would like to go back to southern Italy, and pre-arrange some winery visits. We only did the winery tours in Tuscany last time.

Currently, my favorite wine club is Passalacqua (Dry Creek Valley), and I also like Dutcher's Crossing, from the same area. This is the first year in a long time that I haven't been to Passport to Dry Creek Valley in April. Particularly for those of you that like zins, I'd encourage you to check it out. I was struck when we were in Italy how much younger most of the vines were than some that we see in Dry Creek.

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I highly recommend the Tasca d'Almerita winery near Vallelunga, in central Sicily, which is owned by well-known chef, Fabrizia Lanza. (Her mother was Anna Tasca Lanza, also a famous chef) Very nice wines, beautiful countryside, although a bit remote. We went to her cooking school there at her family estate for a few days and toured the winery as part of that. They also make their own ricotta, which is wonderful. Spending most of a week with her was an amazing way to learn about food and wine. Complete farm to table. They raise their own animals, vegetables, grains, make their own cheese, oil, and wine. The first task for starting the day's cooking was heading to the gardens with baskets. She's Sicilian nobility and knows history, culture, food and wine as well as anyone I have ever met.

We got a real kick out of the distribution of her other wine production. In addition to the nice wines, she serves the local population with her lower end wines. We kept seeing people drive up in beat up cars, get out with a 5-10 gallon plastic jug, go into one of the brick farm buildings, and leave a few minutes later. After a couple of days we went over there, and she has three pumps that are just like gas pumps. Handle on the side, dial with price/liter, volume, and total cost dials on the top. You go in with your jug, pull the pump handle just like at the Exxon station, and fill your jugs as full as you want. Pretty funny to watch wine being dispensed like gasoline.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/anna-tasca-lanza-cooking-school-offers-a-slice-of-sicilian-1464191701

forza orsi said:

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lrwells50 said:

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Stayed for a week in a villa in the Cilento National Park (?) a few years ago, and drank some great inexpensive wine. The next week we stayed in a villa in Tuscany, that cost twice as much and although beautiful, wasn't really as comfortable for our large group. Would like to go back to southern Italy, and pre-arrange some winery visits. We only did the winery tours in Tuscany last time.

Currently, my favorite wine club is Passalacqua (Dry Creek Valley), and I also like Dutcher's Crossing, from the same area. This is the first year in a long time that I haven't been to Passport to Dry Creek Valley in April. Particularly for those of you that like zins, I'd encourage you to check it out. I was struck when we were in Italy how much younger most of the vines were than some that we see in Dry Creek.

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I highly recommend the Tasca d'Almerita winery near Vallelunga, in central Sicily, which is owned by well-known chef, Fabrizia Lanza. (Her mother was Anna Tasca Lanza, also a famous chef) Very nice wines, beautiful countryside, although a bit remote. We went to her cooking school there at her family estate for a few days and toured the winery as part of that. They also make their own ricotta, which is wonderful. Spending most of a week with her was an amazing way to learn about food and wine. Complete farm to table. They raise their own animals, vegetables, grains, make their own cheese, oil, and wine. The first task for starting the day's cooking was heading to the gardens with baskets. She's Sicilian nobility and knows history, culture, food and wine as well as anyone I have ever met.

We got a real kick out of the distribution of her other wine production. In addition to the nice wines, she serves the local population with her lower end wines. We kept seeing people drive up in beat up cars, get out with a 5-10 gallon plastic jug, go into one of the brick farm buildings, and leave a few minutes later. After a couple of days we went over there, and she has three pumps that are just like gas pumps. Handle on the side, dial with price/liter, volume, and total cost dials on the top. You go in with your jug, pull the pump handle just like at the Exxon station, and fill your jugs as full as you want. Pretty funny to watch wine being dispensed like gasoline.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/anna-tasca-lanza-cooking-school-offers-a-slice-of-sicilian-1464191701

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That sounds awesome!

lrwells50 said:

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Stayed for a week in a villa in the Cilento National Park (?) a few years ago, and drank some great inexpensive wine. The next week we stayed in a villa in Tuscany, that cost twice as much and although beautiful, wasn't really as comfortable for our large group. Would like to go back to southern Italy, and pre-arrange some winery visits. We only did the winery tours in Tuscany last time.

Currently, my favorite wine club is Passalacqua (Dry Creek Valley), and I also like Dutcher's Crossing, from the same area. This is the first year in a long time that I haven't been to Passport to Dry Creek Valley in April. Particularly for those of you that like zins, I'd encourage you to check it out. I was struck when we were in Italy how much younger most of the vines were than some that we see in Dry Creek.

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been to the dry creek area a couple of times, have been to both of those tasting rooms at some point. I remember really liking the Dutcher's Cab we tried (this was probably '10 or '11 vintage). interesting little place.

Always thought that Passport to Dry Creek looked like a fun event. How many days do you go? Where do you stay? prices higher during the event?

I want to say a two day "passport " is around $230, and 75 wineries participate. I think you can buy a Sunday only ticket, so we try to go to the more popular ones on Saturday. Healdsburg is probably the closest to the wineries, but they jack the rates up so ridiculously that we stay at the Doubletree in Rohnert Park.

Lots of really good wines and good food. Each winery has a theme, which can also be interesting.

Sounds fun, I'm on the mailing lists of a few Dry Creek wineries so I get some info and it looks fun

Anyone drinking anything cool?

Had an awesome rioja blanc recently. Monopole by Cune. Had '14 and '15 and really liked them both

I got a question. It's 102 outside and if I leave my house for many hours or a weekend trip, I generally turn the ac up to like 81-82. Is a few days of this temp here and there going to ruin my wine?

WILLIS said:

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I got a question. It's 102 outside and if I leave my house for many hours or a weekend trip, I generally turn the ac up to like 81-82. Is a few days of this temp here and there going to ruin my wine?

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Maybe not, but I would maybe only put it up to 79 to hedge yourself a little

If you are doing it daily and temp is ranging from 75 to 81 that is not good.

Good afternoon. I just stumbled on this board/thread and glad to see there are some other oficianados. I have a small collection that I mainly hold to drink. I have a pretty diverse palate but really starting to gravitate towards old world style wines.

bularry said:

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Anyone drinking anything cool?

Had an awesome rioja blanc recently. Monopole by Cune. Had '14 and '15 and really liked them both

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We found a great sauv blanc, Galerie. Both the Knights Valley and Napa are drinking extremely well.

We picked up some 2013 Rosso del Conte from Tasca Tenuta Regeali today. It's a very nice red blend that is about 75% Nero D'Avola and Perricone, with a couple of others. It's one I really enjoyed at cooking school there a couple of years ago. Haven't had one since, and am looking forward trying it again. Nero D'Avola is very dark and bold, but the Perricone, etc. blended with it soften it and give it a good bit more complexity.

Gave the Janzen Cabernet a spin this evening at dinner. A fruity, inky and smooth Cab. However, not much structure to it. Wouldn't buy again at the $50 price point.

I am not much of a sauv blanc guy. Much prefer other whites

Hit my favorite jank wine shop for a few Wa State treasures. Got a Powerline and Beautiful Syrah and some Sixto Chardonnay. He also had '13 A Rafenelli sin and some Bedrock sin for my Thanksgiving table

Glad this got bumped on my feed.

Also wanted to recommend the app "Vivino" for keeping track of my wines. That has been a great tool.

Recently had a 2009 Husic cab that was excellent. It aged really nicely. Another cab my father in law keeps buying cases of and giving us a bottle here and there is Cuttings. That stuff is dang good! Most recently have tried the 2014.

On the cheaper side, I'd recommend the 2014 Catena Malbec. Got it on a twin liquors sale for $12 and had to go back and get a couple more. Also got a few bottles during the same sale of dry creek cab 2013 for $14 and they were great.

A friend of ours had his 36th birthday last Saturday and hosted a wine tasting at his house. He had a bottle of the 1981 Beringer reserve cab (birth year). Holy smokes the copper color and flavor was incredible. Need to follow suit and start looking for a bottle here and there from my birth year (1988).

Below are a few solid everyday wines I've enjoyed lately: Vino Robles Cabernet for $16.99 drinks like an old school Cab. I've also tried a few wines from SLO recently (Napa red blends) and they're great crowd pleaser wines. Theres a Spanish Red blend from locations wines (Dave Phinney) that is very good for $14.99.

Just back from a short California wine trip

I'll post comments when I have a few minutes tomorrow.

ATXBear said:

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Any everyday Red's from any region or country that you recommend for those of us who are on a budget?

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Boone's Farm

bularry said:

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Just back from a short California wine trip

I'll post comments when I have a few minutes tomorrow.

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Well, we're waiting!

Just lettin em age

Hubbs said:

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bularry said:

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Just back from a short California wine trip

I'll post comments when I have a few minutes tomorrow.

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Well, we're waiting!

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I didn't think there was any interest so didn't go to the trouble! I'll post something

bularry said:

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Hubbs said:

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bularry said:

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Just back from a short California wine trip

I'll post comments when I have a few minutes tomorrow.

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Well, we're waiting!

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I didn't think there was any interest so didn't go to the trouble! I'll post something

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I was politely waiting too. Looking forward to it.

Trip details May 1-5 (4 nights)

So this trip was a bit different for the wife and I. Usually, we travel alone so we can set our own agenda and make changes on the fly. This trip, we planned very spur of the moment one night while drinking with some friends. Our friends have a ton of money and recently bought a 2nd home in North Carolina. They wanted to go on a trip with us because I know more about wines than them and they wanted to buy stuff to ship to their new home.

So, when we planned the trip I said the wife and I loved Healdsburg, and they were like "done!". but then, they decided after talking with a friend, they wanted to visit out to Shenandoah Valley in Sierra Foothills, so okay, we'll do that, too. so that is why the trip was split even though it was pretty short.

Day 1: Fly into Bay area, rent car (fun!!) and then start heading North. We always fly in early and stop in Petaluma for lunch. There are a couple of cute little bistro type places there that are quite good. We ate lunch at Wild Goat Bistro and I heartily recommend it. Our friends flew into OAK (we flew into SF), so we met up here.

First winery visit: Just outside of Healdsburg in the far NE corner of RRV is a relatively new winery Limerick Lane. The vineyards are quite old and well known with some vines dating back to 1910, but the winery there and the label are relatively new under the ownership of winemaker Jake Bilbro. He seems to be having success and he's from a wine family and well integrated into the Sonoma wine scene. Appointment only, but still fairly informal. They make primarily zin and zin blends. Also have a killer 2017 rose from syrah and grenache. Really liked their wines. We were drinking newer releases, so still pretty tight and need some more bottle time, but great flavor and structure. Not inky or loaded with Petite Syrah as some do (although they do blend). Make a big proprietery "best barrles" wine that is about 50/50 zin and syrah. dang good wine.

Cool thing is the winery tasting room is in the vineyards. so, during tasting the hostess walked us outside so we could see the vineyard and the various blocks (which I really like). Being in the vineyards of wines you are tasting is an excellent experience for me. I love the connection of the land and the farming to the wine. So, anyway, we went out back and the owner was there meeting some visiting winemakers and somms from South Africa and NYC. He was gracious and got up from the table to introduce himself to us and visit for a bit. Again, a really nice touch to meet the man behind it all.

A+ experience, I highly recommend their wines and the visit. One of my goals on the trip was to find a couple of cali reliable zin makers, so now I've got 1 down!

Went to Healdsburg and got to check in to Healdsburg Inn on the Square. Great property, right in the middle of everything. First time I've stayed here and it was an excellent property. Afterward, we were needing a snack so walked next door to Oakville market and got various items and a bottle of rose and ate out on the patio. Weather was spectacular - sunny and 78 degrees. The bottle of wine was from Withers in El Dorado AVA (our second destination) made from mourvedre and grenache. It was good but not in the same class as Limerick Lane's, imo.

Before dinner visited a tasting room just off the square I was highly interested in. Normally, I don't like the "in the city" tasting rooms, just too much rush and little character to them. But this small production winery does not have a tasting room and it does its wine making at a facility owned by another family member.

Idlewild wines is the winery and the owner is an older brother of Jake Bilbro, Sam Bilbro. Sam focuses on Piedmont varieties pretty much all grown in Mendocino County (North of Sonoma). I really enjoy these varieties and was excited to taste. The first wine was an Arneis, which I have to admit I didn't care for. I did really like their cortese white and the nebbiolo. I bought a couple of those to bring home in a case and signed up for the mailing list. depending on my winter wine budget, I'll likely buy some stuff from them to ship to me. You do see some of these wines around, and if you do, I highly recommend them. At least to try. Definitely not on the normal "ca wine" spectrum.

Dinner was on the square at Campo Fina, an italian place that is fairly casual with a great patio. We sat outside and ate and drank some more (why not!). Went back to hotel about 10 and crashed.

Overall, a freakin' A++ day. I'll post Day 2 next.

Good stuff. I'm feeling the need for a trip out there this year. Some good places to add to my list, both wine and dining.

Day 2:

Wake up and do what any thinking person does, get our butts over to Flying Goat Coffee, the best coffee shop in the world. It was a very nice, short walk in crisp 48 degrees morning air. After coffee back to hotel for the complimentary breakfast which was very good. Then to wake up our bodies before a full day of drinking, we head out to an area called Healdsburg Reserve, which is a small nature area on the edge of town with some great short hiking trails. Up into the trails provides great overlooks of the Russian River and also the Mayacamas mountains. Great start to the day.

I didn't want to get us locked into a bunch of appointments or anything, but Ceritas is one winery I really wanted to taste at and it doesn't have a formal tasting room or anything so through a series of emails I was able to get us a tasting at 11am. A 2014 Ceritas pinot was the best wine I drank in 2017 so I was very glad we were able to get this appointment. They didn't have any library wines or prior vintages so it was all 2016's. They were incredible wines. Even though beyond our predetermined budget, we bought a case of 6 pinot and 6 chard. All Sonoma Coast and all done in a very restrained style using only organic grown grapes and some great historical vineyard fruit. Ceritas is only a man, his wife and the lady that led us through the tasting who is a part-time employee. very small operation with a pretty small case production. Killer juice. A great, great hour plus spent tasting these wines and learning about their operation. The kind of experience I personally go to wine country to have.

After that we were ready for lunch, so we decided to head up into Dry Creek Valley to get sandwiches at the Dry Creek General Store. As we got ready, I got a call from A. Rafanelli winery that they could make room for us if we were interested that afternoon. We definitely were so made an appointment for later that afternoon.

After some great sandwiches we did our tasting at Rafanelli. This place has been here for multiple generations and they make some big, bold classic red Dry Creek wines with an emphasis on zin (the primary grape of dry creek). These wines are not my normal style but there is a great energy and authenticity to them in relation to where they are made. Love 'me. Even though not on the mailing list, I was able to order 4 bottles to ship to me later in the fall. We spent several minutes wandering the beautiful grounds before we headed out.

Our last tasting of the day was at Comstock, a winery that Jenn our tasting guide at Ceritas had metioned was a really pretty site. We just walked in and since it was mid week it was very chill with no one else around. Didn't really care for their zins, just a touch overripe for my palate, but the couple with me enjoyed them and bought several to ship to NC. Great tasting room with a nice patio looking out into the valley. Nice relaxing time.

Dinner that night was in Healdsburg at Vallette restaurant. Great place with really impeccable service. If you are in the area looking for a formal dinner out, can't recommend this place enough. I love duck and so many places in Cali do it well. No exception here.

After dinner we were pretty much wiped out from the day of drinking and rich eating, so we went to bed after 10 or so ready to get up and hit the road to Plymouth the next morning.