The Santa Cruz Mountains has a long tradition of sparkling wines; Paul Masson's rose "Oeil de Perdrix" (Eye of the Partridge) won many accolades and he was even granted a licence to continue production "for medicinal purposes" during Prohibition.
Barry Jackson has been making sparkling wine under the Equinox label for 20 years. The wine has traditionally been a 100% Chardonnay "Blanc de Blancs" style, and is kept on the lees for much longer than average; the current release is from the 1997 vintage. He has recently added a second release called "Harmony Cuvee", which includes 29% Pinot Noir. As with previous releases all the fruit comes from the Trout Gulch vineyard, and though no vintage is listed it's from the 2001 vintage.
NV Equinox Harmony Cuvee
Lovely mousse, light straw colour. Nose shows dough, earth and apple. Fresh flavours of green apple backed by minerals and a rich, toasty finish. The addition of Pinot Noir results in a more rounded flavour. Lovely stuff. 92
Recently Barry introduced a sister label, Bartolo, making red wines primarily from the Mann vineyard in Santa Clara Valley.
2007 Cioppino Rosso, Santa Clara Valley
A blend of 61% Syrah 20% Chardonnay and 19% Mourvèdre.
Dark, brooding fruit on the nose follows through onto the palate. Despite being a minority component the gamey Mourvèdre shows well. 89
2006 Syrah, Santa Clara Valley
Fragrant with herbal notes and good black fruit. Smooth and fruity; easy drinking. 88
2006 Merlot, Santa Clara Valley
Smoky with bright fruit. Palate shows ripe fruit and chocolate, with a quickish finish. 88
Showing posts with label Bartolo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bartolo. Show all posts
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Friday, July 18, 2008
Wines for $10 or less
I was reading an article on SFGate.com where three sommelliers were given $70 and told to buy 7 bottles of wine. Not surprisingly, very few of the wines purchased were from California.
Looking locally, about the only winery I can think of that has a range of wines worth drinking that are available at retail for under $10 is Clos LaChance; I've frequently seen their "Glittering-throated Emerald" unoaked Chardonnay on offer in Safeway for under $10.
All is not entirely lost however. Some wineries do occasionally clear out excess inventory to make way for the latest vintages. Recently I've taken advantage of a couple of these. The only down side (if you consider it to be) is that you have to buy a whole case.
Silver Mountain makes a non-vintage blend called Oscar's Wild. At $17 a bottle it's in the same price range as Cinnabar's Mercury Rising, or Fogarty's Skyline. And it's a reasonable enough blend of Bordeaux varietals. At $17 I'd probably pass, but on a recent vist they were clearing it out for $100 a case - a better than 50% discount.
Down in Santa Cruz, Alexander Cellars are currently selling their 2000 Zinfandel at $22. But to clear space for the next vintage they are offering it at $100 a case. I tried it recently - I doubt that you'll find a better Zinfandel anywhere for the price.
Around the corner from Alexander cellars in the same complex you'll find Equinox and its sibling label, Bartolo. The Bartolo range includes several different varietals including a Sangiovese Rose for $12, a red and white blend called "Cioppino" for $14 and a Syrah for $16. Currently the winery is offering a mixed case - any 12 bottles - for $120.
So that's six wines for $10 or less. The original challenge was for seven; provided they stayed in budget the contestants were allowed to go as high as $15, and all of them included a sparkling wine. Well you could certainly pick up any number of sparkling wines at Safeway for under $15, but we don't necessarily have to go outside the area. Woodside Vineyards has a NV "Champagne" for $12. It's made for them by Weibel vineyard in the East Bay using the Charmat bulk process, which helps keep the costs down, And while I grant you there's far better available if you're prepared to spend the extra money, it'll certainly hold its own against the likes of Korbel, Freixenet and the rest of the sub-$10 sparklers.
Looking locally, about the only winery I can think of that has a range of wines worth drinking that are available at retail for under $10 is Clos LaChance; I've frequently seen their "Glittering-throated Emerald" unoaked Chardonnay on offer in Safeway for under $10.
All is not entirely lost however. Some wineries do occasionally clear out excess inventory to make way for the latest vintages. Recently I've taken advantage of a couple of these. The only down side (if you consider it to be) is that you have to buy a whole case.
Silver Mountain makes a non-vintage blend called Oscar's Wild. At $17 a bottle it's in the same price range as Cinnabar's Mercury Rising, or Fogarty's Skyline. And it's a reasonable enough blend of Bordeaux varietals. At $17 I'd probably pass, but on a recent vist they were clearing it out for $100 a case - a better than 50% discount.
Down in Santa Cruz, Alexander Cellars are currently selling their 2000 Zinfandel at $22. But to clear space for the next vintage they are offering it at $100 a case. I tried it recently - I doubt that you'll find a better Zinfandel anywhere for the price.
Around the corner from Alexander cellars in the same complex you'll find Equinox and its sibling label, Bartolo. The Bartolo range includes several different varietals including a Sangiovese Rose for $12, a red and white blend called "Cioppino" for $14 and a Syrah for $16. Currently the winery is offering a mixed case - any 12 bottles - for $120.
So that's six wines for $10 or less. The original challenge was for seven; provided they stayed in budget the contestants were allowed to go as high as $15, and all of them included a sparkling wine. Well you could certainly pick up any number of sparkling wines at Safeway for under $15, but we don't necessarily have to go outside the area. Woodside Vineyards has a NV "Champagne" for $12. It's made for them by Weibel vineyard in the East Bay using the Charmat bulk process, which helps keep the costs down, And while I grant you there's far better available if you're prepared to spend the extra money, it'll certainly hold its own against the likes of Korbel, Freixenet and the rest of the sub-$10 sparklers.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Equinox
What's the smallest commercial winery in the world? It's not a quiz as I don't know the answer, but with an annual production of just 44 cases Equinox must be a leading candidate.Winemaker Barry Jackson began making a couple of barrels of premium sparkling wine in 1989. He uses only Chardonnay grapes and styles the wine Blanc de Blancs. The bottles must be riddled by hand. The wine was released in 1992 and quickly sold out, mostly to other local vintners.
Barry continued to make the wine, but with very little in the way of promotion it became a local secret. It was on sale in some Bay Area restaurants - I first discovered it in Emile's in San Jose - and occasionally showed up in The Wine Club or K&L. The wine was made at Storrs in Santa Cruz.
Equinox recently moved into new premises down in Santa Cruz alongside several other local winemakers. He's launched a second label called Bartolo, made mainly with fruit from Mike Mann's vineyard in Gilroy. The wines carry the Central Coast designation, though I believe the vineyard is in the Santa Clara Valley AVA.
1997 Equinox Blanc de Blancs This wine spent nine years on the lees - three times the length required for vintage Champagne. The result is a powerfully intense wine - lots of toast and richness while still showing some of the characteristics of the Trout Gulch vineyard from which the fruit was sourced. At $50 a bottle it's not cheap, but it's arguably the best sparkling wine in California and can certainly hold its own against more expensive offerings from France.
Bartolo Rose I neglected to make a proper note of exactly what this was; it was a light, off-dry rose. Pleasant enough, but not my thing. $12
2006 Bartolo Cioppino Rosso This is a blend of small lots; although it's a red wine it contains Chardonnay and Riesling among others. It's an inexpensive, fruity "spaghetti red" that was proving very popular with the other customers - at least 3 cases were sold while I was tasting. $14
2005 Bartolo Syrah A smooth, medium weight Syrah that's intended for drinking now. $16
2005 Bartolo Merlot A rich, heavy Merlot. Very drinkable indeed. $25
Also pouring in the Equinox facility was Trout Gulch. As well as their current releases (which I've covered in the past) they had two interesting library wines - 1992 and 1999 Pinot Noirs. Both were very good; the 99 had more of the primary cherry fruit while the 92 had more complexity and secondary flavours. Of the two we gave the nod just to the 99; it still has plenty of tannin and could continue to improve a little while longer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
