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

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!

Now on to the juice!
This week’s pick was the 2008 Whitehall Lane Sauvignon Blanc which is 90% Sauvignon Blanc 10% Semillon. This wine generally costs around $16 a bottle and comes in at 13% ABV. I was able to find this at a local grocery store for under $14. According to www.whitehalllane.com, this Sauvignon Blanc has a cork free closure (A.K.A. a screw cap).

The Whitehall Lane shows a light straw color in the glass. Kind of the typical sauv blanc color. On the nose I get some apple, grapefruit and a hint of banana. I get some nice floral, citrus notes in this wine. On the palate I get a lot more citrus flavors, grapefruit and green apples. This wine has a bit of tartness almost like a sweet-tart. I thought that this wine was more reminiscent of a sauvignon blanc from the Marlborough region. The finish is light and crisp.

Would I buy/drink this wine again? I’m not crazy in love with this wine, but I don’t hate it either.
I give this wine 2.5 out of 5 corks!

If you’re new to wine then you will probably want to go to some of the bigger production tasting rooms on your first trip.  These are wines which are readily available at your local supermarket.   These types of wineries are good for the new or casual wine drinkers because they typically have a wide variety of wines to taste, thus allowing you to get a feel for which varietal (the grape from which the wine is made) best suits your palette.

Another appealing thing about visiting this type of winery is that you get a larger selection for your tasting fee (around $10).  The tasting fee is the wineries way of covering the costs of the staff and wine should you not chose to buy any wine from them.  Some of the wineries will waive the tasting fee if you make a minimum purchase, usually one or two bottles.  Others may give you commemorative glasses in lieu of waiving the fee.   Also, these are typically priced more appropriately for the beginner’s wallet.  Usually at the larger production wineries you will find wines in the $15 – $40 range.

A few examples (in Napa) are Markham Vineyards, Rubicon Estate (aka Niebaum-Coppla) and Sterling Vineyards.  Again, these are only a few of the examples.  If you are looking for a nice place to have lunch and wine tasting try V. Sattui Winery.  Looking for a map of the Napa Valley wineries?

The best part is this approach works whether you’re buying on a tight budget or you’re a big-money baller. Just buy one more bottle than you’re going to need & put it away. Do that the next time & the next & the next. Soon enough you’ll have a nice little cellar built up!

Winery History: Bob (father) and Mike (son) purchased 40 acres on Howell Mountain back in 1971 and eventually decided on Lamborn Family vineyards as the name for the venture. By doing so, they established the first “family” winery label in existence. Their first vintage was in 1982 and totaled a whopping 100 cases. For more history click to read my interview.

The Wine: 2007 Lamborn “YeeHaw” Howell Mountain Zinfandel 15.2% ABV is 100% zinfandel $33 (Winery Price)

On the nose I get rich black fruit, white pepper, and just a hint of oak. The palate is very balanced with blackberry, dark cherry, chocolate, white pepper, and black licorice. This wine has a medium-bold body with medium tannins which give way to a long velvet textured finish.
We had this wine on a cold rainy night, which was very reminiscent of when we first tried this wine at the kitchen table of the Lamborn house up on Howell Mountain.

Would I buy/drink this wine again? I think at $33 this is a well priced zinfandel which is well worth the money.
Absolutely and I give this wine 4 out of 5 corks

Buehler Vineyards is a family run winery up in the hills east of St. Helena and in my opinion has to be one of the best bargains for your money. The Papa’s Knoll Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (Estate) is the highest priced wine and comes in at a whopping $45! Can you say BARGAIN?

After opening the bottle, I let it sit for about 20 minutes to breathe.  The nose didn’t give off much of anything so I’m a bit consumed at this point.  Now for the taste and I get a whole lot of, wait for it…NOTHING!  There are no discernable flavors on the front-end and only slight tannins at the mid-palate.   The finish is rather short and has a chalk like texture to it.  I have never experienced anything like this since I’ve been drinking wine.  The wine didn’t change through two glasses so I was forced to give up on it.  I can’t believe that I just said that because I hate wasting wine (don’t we all).  In all fairness, this isn’t a 100% zinfandel rather a blend of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignane, Mataro, Syrah and Grenache.  Unfortunately this was like drinking the wine at communion.

The good news is that I wasn’t forced to watch another brutal 2 hours of the bachelor this week.  Because the wife was out of town I was able to indulge my inner geek and catch this week’s episode of Chuck.  I wish that I could “flash” like chuck, that way I would be able to pick out the perfect wine and not have to suffer through those bad recommendations.

I am sure that you can already gather what my verdict is on this, but I will give it anyway.  This, in my opinion, is a total PASS.  I don’t think that I would even drink this again if it was given to me.  I give this 1 out of 5 corks and say don’t waste your money.