I recently attended a tasting hosted at Enotria, one of my local wine shops, which was having KR Rombauer III pouring his family’s wine. My wife and I have visited the winery once or twice and thought that it would be nice to meet one of the owners and taste some good wines. So here is where I start ranting. I, like most wine drinkers, try to support my local retailers as much as possible. But I have a hard time doing that if the owners will not help themselves or do stupid things. Enotria used to be owned by another group of owners and had small but faithful following because they had a great wine selection, knowledgeable staff and the place had good atmosphere. The new owners opened the store again and unfortunately have nothing in common with the old place except the name. Most of the wine they carry would only be found on the bottom shelf at your local grocery store. I get the idea of trying to have inexpensive wines that everyone can afford, but they may have three or four medium level wines in the entire shop. Because of this, I have been reluctant to go in the wine bar very often. I recently received some emails, they bought the old owners mailing list, inviting me to some wine tasting events they were hosting. The first tasting was Frank Family Vineyards which was being poured by the winemaker Todd Graff. We had been meaning to try some of the FFV wines so thought that this would be an excellent opportunity for us to do so. We went and had a great time and loved the wines so much that we bought some and had the winemaker sign them for us.

This leads me to my “Your Tasting SUCKED!” segment. Seeing that the turn out for the previous tasting was so good and that we enjoyed ourselves as much as we did, we decided that we would attend the Rombauer Vineyards tasting that was being held this past Saturday. So, we RSVP’d as requested, paid our $15 tasting fee each ($5 off that going towards the purchase of your first bottle not a bad deal) and set about tasting the four wines that were being poured. First of all, Kevin (owner) was pouring less than you get in most tasting rooms in Napa. Second, because there was no organization it was taking forever to get through the tasting and some customers were getting skipped over all together. Finally after about an hour and a half we had gotten through all 4 wines, which by the way may have only equaled half a glass total. We did like a couple of the wines and decided that we would buy some and have KR sign the bottles for us. Here is the part that really pisses me off! After the last wine had been poured, I immediately went up to the counter to purchase the Chardonnay and Zinfandel only to be told that they didn’t have any on hand but we could order it. I look around and realize that including what they poured for the tasting, they may have brought in a total of just over a case of wine. Why in the world you would do this I do not know! Needless to say we left very aggravated. Because we wanted the wine so much we ended up having to drive to 3 different wine shops before we could find the wine, which ended up costing us less than what the wine bar wanted to charge us.

I don’t feel that this was a reflection of any kind on Rombauer wine or KR. I did want to make my thoughts and feelings known to him so I sent him an email explaining my experience. My email and his subsequent reply follow;

KR,

My Wife and I had the pleasure of meeting you at a recent wine tasting
you held/hosted here in Scottsdale. I just wanted to touch base with you
and offer my feedback. Let me start off by saying that we had a great
time and thoroughly enjoyed meeting you and tasting your wines.
Unfortunately, we did have a negative experience as well. The event was
hosted at Enotria this past weekend (3/27/2010). After tasting the four
samples being poured, we were very excited to purchase 2 bottles each of
the Chardonnay and the Zinfandel which we were going to have one of each
signed by you only to be told by the bar staff that there was none
available.

Needless to say my wife and I were extremely disappointed. Because we
had liked the wine so much, we proceeded to drive to 3-4 different wine
stores to find them. I am not sure who’s oversight this was, but I just wanted
to let you know what we thought.

Sincerely,
Kevin

Hello Kevin,
Thank you for coming to the wine tasting at Enotria in Scottsdale. I had a great time pouring and talking about our wines. I am glad you enjoyed my chatter and the wines. I must apologize for the shortage of wine. Usually, when we do these sort of tastings the distributor sales person and the retail owner figure out how much wine they should bring in for the event. Perhaps, there was something lost in the communication channel. Regardless of the circumstances, I apologize for any inconvenience the shortage caused you and your wife. I will make sure in the future that I monitor the amount ordered for wine tasting events much closer.
Thank you for your helpful comments. Sincerely, KR Rombauer. [cell
707-484-XXXX]

Final Thoughts for Enotria:
1. If you are going to host a wine tasting, ensure that you have a sufficient amount of wine on hand to sell afterward!
2. I am sorry, but if I go to a tasting and find a wine that I really like, I want to buy it and take it with me, not order it and have to wait god knows how long to get it!
3. If you don’t have enough wine for customers to buy after the tasting so they are unable to use the $5 credit, you are RIPPING THEM OFF!
4. NOTE* this is during normal visits, not during the wine tastings i have attended. * I know that you don’t have a kitchen in order to offer food, but opening a can of SALTY ASS MIXED NUTS doesn’t cut it! In fact, the salt ruins the taste of the wine.
5. Note* Again, this is during regular business, not during the tastings.* In lieu of previous mentioned “NUTS”, you could offer salami and cheeses. It can be done, previous owners did it!
6. Dimming the lights too low and having a local radio station on in the background it not ambiance.
7. Finally, the aforementioned “thoughts” are merely my observations & opinion from a handful of visits and are offered to highlight possible areas for improvement/growth.

Have you ever had a negative experience like this or know of a wine shop/bar that doesn’t deliver as expected? Please share your thoughts and comments.

The wine has a brownish ruby hue to it in the glass and is slightly transparent. On the nose I get aspects of cherry, leather and pepper. It also has a slight alcohol burn note too it. Overall the nose isn’t bad.

The palate is kind of jammy mixed with oak and dirt. The alcohol is still present and gives it a tad too much burn on the finish for my liking. There are some so-so tannins on the medium finish. I didn’t feel that this was a really well balanced wine. I paired the syrah with short ribs (tried to at least) and found that it didn’t hold up very well, other than cutting some of the alcohol.

Would I buy/drink this wine again? The Concannon Syrah is an ok wine, but even at the $6.99 price point I don’t think I could justify buying it again. With that being said, I am still going to look for the higher end Concannon wines and see if they can impress me a little more than this one did.

I am giving this wine 2 out of 5 corks!

The only guidelines were that each set of neighbors were asked to bring one bottle of red wine at a cost of $15 -$30.

After the bottles were concealed and marked, everyone got a glass, notepad and pen. Each person was then instructed to make any type of notes that they could about each wine. They were to try and pick out the varietal and after tasting all three, choose their favorite. The wines were labeled WDO#1, WDO#2 and WDO#3. Complicated, I know!

This is what everyone had to say about each wine.

To distance himself from the bustle of wars that raged in Italy at the time Pope Clement V took residence at Avignon, France in 1304. His successor, John XXII, restored and enlarged the old Episcopal residence of Châteauneuf. It was he who ordered the first grapevines to be planted in the year 1318. Initially intended as a confidential production, wine growing gained predominance as the years went by. The true renown of Châteauneuf du Pape wines date from the 13th century. — From Domain Font de Michelle website

Châteauneuf-du-Pape is an Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) in the southern Rhône wine region. Unlike its northern Rhône neighbors (primarily Syrah & Viognier), Châteauneuf-du-Pape permits thirteen different varieties of grape; the blend is usually predominantly Grenache. In recent years, the trend has been to include fewer varieties rely more heavily on blending the Grenache, Mourvedre, and Syrah.

A little history of the Domaine Font de Michelle:

Domaine Font de Michelle is owned and operated by the Gonnet family who has been in the region since the early 1600’s. The farmhouse which now serves as the company headquarters was built back in 1880 by Jean Etienne Gonnet. His grandson, Etienne Gonnet, created Font de Michelle in 1950.

The Wine: 2006 Domaine Font de Michelle Châteauneuf du Pape 14.5% ABV $55

In the glass the wine has a nice dark purple color which turns slightly ruby around the edges. On the nose I get herb garden, rosemary, mint, woodsy and smokiness. On the palate I get hints of floral, earth, mint and a touch of cola dancing around on top of the tannins. This wine has full tannins and a medium – full bodied finish. On my video blog I said that this wine blew me away and it does. It has so much going on in the nose and the on the palate which up until now I was unfamiliar with. This is a thought provoking multidimensional wine!

This was the first time that I had tried a French wine, not from lack of desire but rather a lack of knowledge. I will readily admit that I was a bit overwhelmed and intimidated when it came to trying to figure out a “good” French wine vs. a “bad” one. I have to say that I am very fortunate to have an extremely knowledgeable and patient staff at my local wine bar who know my tastes and helped point me in the right direction.

2009 Y+B Wines Sauvignon Blanc Central valley Chile

This comes in at 12.7% ABV and costs around $13/liter *note* this was a sample provided by the producer.

Nice yellow color in the glass. Nose has notes of floral and tropical fruit. On the palate this wine has good body and slightly creamy texture to it. You can sense that this was done in a stainless steel tanks. This is not as acidic as an Australian or New Zealand Sauv Blanc.

I really liked this wine and think that it would be excellent choice on a hot Arizona day sitting by the pool

Would I buy/drink this wine again?
I would have no problems buying this or suggesting this to friends and thus give this wine 3 out of 5 corks

2008 Y+B Wines Malbec San Juan Province Argentina

13.5% ABV and also costs around $13/liter *note* this was a sample provided by the producer.

Light purple in the glass. On the nose I got earthy, cherry and not much else. The palate (to me) was even more nondescript. All I was able to get was a touch of chocolate and almost a metallic flavor to it. This was a light-medium bodied wine with medium tannins.
After tasting the S.B. first, I had higher expectations for this wine but unfortunately I was disappointed with the Malbec

Would I buy/drink this wine again?
This isn’t a bad wine, it just doesn’t work for me, because of that I would have to pass.
I give this wine 2 out of 5 corks

There are unwritten rules about visiting winery tasting rooms. Living a few miles south of Napa/Sonoma, a hop-skip-and-a-jump north of the Livermore Valley, and within a day’s drive to the vast majority of the wine made in California has lead me along to many a tasting room. And there are rules. Unwritten rules, but rules nonetheless.

Unwritten, that is, until today.

“Don’t Be That Guy” (or “Gal,” don’t want to be sexist and infer that women can’t also be drunk idiots) is a great way to learn about life and to learn as you go through life. There are cautionary tales all around us, we need only open our eyes. It is with that in mind that I came up with the following–now written–rules.

The Rules Of Wine Tasting

1. Don’t pregame — Seriously. You’re not in college. Stop it. And even if you are in college, stop it! In case you don’t know, “pregaming” is drinking before you drink. Back in college, if we were going out to a bar, we’d “pregame” at someone’s house or apartment in part because it’s cheaper to drink outside of a bar setting, and in part because the bars were boring early in the evening and we had nothing better to do. I remember being in Sonoma for some wine tasting with friends, and seeing a party bus pass by us while we picked up sandwiches and water. Clearly visible through the window was a case of Coors Light. Coors Light, for pete’s sake!

2. Bring food and water — Speaking of which, it’s a lot easier to keep from making a damn fool of yourself if you have some water to sip between wineries, and some food to put in your belly. And no, the table crackers or breadsticks or whatever offered at many wineries don’t count. Bring or buy something substantial.

The Napa Cellars Merlot is a blend of 93% Merlot, 5% Syrah, and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon. In the glass, the wine has a nice dark ruby color to it with just a hint of transparency to it. On the nose are nice aromas of plum, cherries and spice. The palate has dark fruits, chocolate and the spice is still present. This merlot has nice even tannins and a medium finish.
I usually am not a merlot fan as I have found that most merlots are too “soft” for my liking. This merlot, however, is different. I really enjoyed that hint of spice which was present on the nose and palate. The other thing that I liked about this wine was that even though it comes in at 14.7 % ABV, you really don’t notice the higher alcohol content. It has a bigger mouth feel, which I would attribute to the addition of the Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Would I buy/drink this wine again?
So far, I have enjoyed the other wines that I have had from Napa Cellars and think at $16, this would also be a nice addition to your cellar.

I give it 3.5 out of 5 corks.

Here is what we know about wine made from Merlot:

First, let me give you a very brief history of red and white wine production in California. Many of the “big oak” Cabernet Sauvignon produced in California in the late 1960s until the middle 1980s suffered from being way overdone and the wine production message in the state was “more is better” in just about all of the winemaking during these 25 years.

Oak, skin contact and pressing was dominant in the minds and cellars of many winemakers at that time. Even the Chardonnays were suffering from over extraction and hideous amounts of oak. It got so bad in the middle 1970s that I remember a “blind” tasting of white wine (all of which turned out to be Chardonnay) where none of the judges could tell what the wines were because the heavy-handed use of oak in the production masked the varietal!

Last night’s adventure was the 2006 Girard Artistry from Napa Valley.  I have previously tasted the Girard Petite Sirah and enjoyed it, but did not know what to expect from the Artistry.  Let’s just say that I was pleasantly surprised!

The Artistry is a blend of five Bordeaux-varietal grapes which is made up of 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Cabernet Franc, 13% Petite Verdot, 8% Malbec and 7% Merlot.  I will admit that I am not a huge fan or Petite Verdot or Merlot, but it all works in this blend.  The nose gives off hints of ripe fruit that invites you in.  I typically prefer to decant almost all of my red wines, but this one was near perfection right out of the gate.  My first impression that this was a very approachable wine that was ready to be had right now.  Kind of like your date on prom night!!!  The palate offers nice structured texture with flavor of currants, chocolate and blackberry.  The tannins are very well integrated and not overpowering which leads into a medium velvet like finish.  Even though I do not feel that this wine needed to be decanted, I did let it breathe in the glass for about 10-15 minutes and it kept getting better.

Would I buy/drink this wine again?  At $30, which is what I was able to find this at one of our local big box wine shops, your damn right I would!  I think at $30 – $40 this is a must have for an everyday don’t break my wallet drinking wine.
I would give this wine 4 out of a possible 5 corks.