2000 Poggio Antico Brunello di Montalcino Riserva ***

Blackberry color with a little transparency at the rim. Very fragrant, with notes of dark gravy and somewhat sharp aromas of grizzle. The long traditional treatment in oak certainly comes through.





At first blush this wine is mellow but full, with somewhat large grainy tannins without astringency. Shows maturity with it's eleven years, and a depth of balanced black fruits, chalk, and a long finish.

Scarlett's First Pale Ale

Nice golden brown nutty color with decent head retention and a clean aroma but lacking hop or malt complexity. This is soft on the palate with noticeable bright carbonation somewhat at odds with the style sought. It has a very pleasant malt character on the middle but the finish comes across as a touch bitter.




I followed a Brooklyn Brew recipe and increased the Columbus hops in the blend, as well as adding oats in lieu of CaraPils. This recipe will be refined by the third iteration. 5.4% alc/vol.

Crosby Roamann at San Francisco Vintner's Market 2011

Hey all -- Just wanted to say thanks for stopping by the Crosby Roamann table during the SF Vintner's Market! We had a blast pouring wine for everyone and getting to know you and we appreciate all the feedback and praise.

Thanks again for stopping by and we look forward to hearing from you!

Cheers!

2000 Giacosa Barbaresco Rabaja ****

The picture doesn't do it justice. Purchased from Fine Wines Int'l in San Francisco; decanted one hour. Medium garnet color in the decanter, garnet in glass (I took this wine very seriously from the hey-ho, with my tasting notes pad and a room full of quiet and all that BS). It honestly reminded me of slightly acidic, tart hot-house strawberries like we found at the farm stand by the side of the road to Tennessee Valley. Confectioner's sugar and sweet tomato stems in the front of the mouth and along the front sides of the bottom of the mouth. If you breath now, find notes of bunches of dessicated, rancid roses left out in the vase before a week's vacation, that broken memento. Sweet white pepper on the finish, full of dry orange zest and ultra-fine tannin. If you let the wine decant the bouquet that develops is other-worldly, but I'd put down the pad and left my quiet little room, so you'll have to trust me on this one....

Notable New Zins From Ridge

As my palette has changed and evolved over time -- hopefully for the better -- I've found myself moving away from the sweeter, more full bodied, fruity flavors that I used to enjoy so much. I tell myself sometimes that this is a good thing, that in wine, "all roads lead to Burgundy," that it shows I am progressing to enjoying more elegant wines. Sometimes I think that's all hogwash. Here's why.

Two recent zinfandel release from Ridge Vineyards demonstrated for me that a big varietal like zinfandel, which can produce high-blown, fruity wines, can also produce elegant wines that conceal their considerable alcohol. The first was the 2008 Jimsomare ** from the middle of Monte Bello in the Santa Cruz Mountains, pictured below, that weighed in at 14.7%. Without being coy or sweet, the wine was soft, with some fine gritty tannins, notes of lavender and other dried flowers, predominantly tart red berry fruit, without heat or astringency on the finish.


The second recent release of note was the 2009 East Bench **/*** from Dry Creek Valley. Previous editions of this wine tended to come across as robust, stylized, and perhaps a bit oaky. I found less elegance in the DCV selections than the equivalent Paso Robles wines from 2007 and 2008. This year that all changed. The East Bench is a dark garnet color, with focused aromas of worn wood and dry spices. It shows predominantly black fruits in the front and middle of the mouth, reminding me of some flavorful Barbaresco I recently tasted. I would have thought the fruit here was less ripe, but the wine weighed in at 15.2% alcohol, and for me it proved that at the end of the day whether a wine tastes "big" or "hot" is foremost a question of balance.