I generally don't do restaurant reviews; there's enough things to write about just covering wines and wineries. But once in a while won't hurt, and Lavanda is certainly worth talking about.

Lavanda is on the corner of University and Emerson, in Palo Alto. The restaurant is partly owned by Howard Graham, a Pinot Noir grower from the Russian River Valley and partner in the August West label, so obviously there's a great focus on wines. The bar has a good selection of wines by the glass and the restaurant's extensive wine list features several local wineries; mark-up is typically to around 2X retail. Corkage is normally $20 but - as I only discovered when the bill arrived - on Fridays and Saturdays it's slashed to just 25c!

Chef Armando "Tiny" Maes' menu has a number of tapas-style hot and cold small plates for $5 each, along with appetisers, salads and main dishes. We initially planned to have a few small plates and then order a main course, but in the end we just kept ordering more small plates. Some highlights included braised lamb ribs, an interesting chick pea pancake, grilled artichokes with aioli and sardines a la plancha. The only dish that didn't work for us was a warm beet salad; the beets were nice but the dressing was a little too oily. I took a 2001 Guilliams Cabernet Sauvignon from Spring Mountain in Napa Valley; a balanced, food-friendly wine that turned out to be peaking nicely.

The total bill for two diners: a total of nine small plates, including tax and corkage was under $50; very good value, particularly in the current economy.

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There's not much good Pinot Noir around for under $20; by all accounts it's a difficult grape to grow well. The Santa Cruz Mountains is a great place to grow Pinot, but it's typically expensive; there's a lot of demand for the fruit and little supply.

Sarah's Vineyard make two highly regarded Pinots; one from Estate fruit, another from small vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Each retails for $35. But they also have a third wine; a blend of barrels that didn't make the cut for the other two. This wine sees less oak and carries the Central Coast appellation; it's aimed primarily at the restaurant market, for their by-the-glass programmes.

This is a lovely, rich Pinot with a cherry/floral nose and lots of sweet cherry and spice flavours. There's enough structure that it doesn't come across as flabby; although it's not going to fall apart any time soon I don't see it getting any better than it is right now.

In fact the only downside with this wine is its availability; it goes directly into the wholesale market and isn't even sold out of the winery tasting room. The only retailer I can find currently offering it is Vineyardgate in Millbrae, who have it for the bargain price of $17 (the RRP is $24). If you spot this wine on a restaurant wine list you should definitely consider it. Value.

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The warm weather we've been having recently put me in the mood for a nice rose, so I opened one of these. As I recall, I didn't like this as much as the previous vintage when I tried it last time and I was wondering what a bit of time in bottle had done.

It turns out to have improved significantly. The nose reminds me of glace cherries; sweet and minerally. On the palate there are tart cherries and strawberries, with a mineral component. A very nice wine for a warm spring evening.

This cost $14 from K&L and is still the current release

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Up to Chaine d'Or for the Stefania spring release event. Chaine d'Or is located just off the 84 near to the junction with Summit Road. It's a great, winding drive through Woodside and some lovely wild countryside, with great views over the south bay. The winery itself is underneath a private house. There are no signs from the road; you have to know where to go. It's nicely equipped for its compact size. Paul and Stef Romero recently took over managing the winery and its 20 year old vineyard; around 2 acres, planted on a gentle slope to Chardonnay and Cabernet, with a few other Bordeaux varietals for blending.

2007 Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains $45
Sourced from a small vineyard in Corralitos near to Windy Oaks. Yields were very low in 2007 resulting in less than 2 barrels being made; as a result this has been sparsely allocated to mailing list members only.
Remarkably similar in style and profile to Windy Oaks. There's a light, floral nose with notes of tart cherries. The nose became more prominent after the wine had been open a couple of hours and had warmed up a little. Nice rich mouthfeel, with spicy flavours of cherry and cranberry, and a tart finish. No trace of heat despite the near 15% alcohol. Very good.

2008 Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains (Barrel sample)
The nose is very different from the 2007; more spicy (allspice?). It's showing more acidity & tannin now; good cherry fruit and nice spice. They yield in 2008 will be slightly larger, but not much; around 65 cases.

2006 Haut Tubbe $20
A blend of several small lots including Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Syrah.
Notes of mushroom and underbrush. Flavours of blackberry and raspberry with an earthy finish. Nicely balanced.

2007 Haut Tubbe $20 (not yet released)
The 2007 is a blend of primarily Syrah and Zinfandel. It's got a smoky, earthy nose; on the palate there's raspberry, plum and other black fruit. It's rich, with plenty of tannin and a smoky finish. Very good value.

2005 Chaine D'Or Cabernet Sauvignon $24
This has a very 'barnyard' nose; not Brett, but very funky. On the palate it has some nice blackberry/blackcurrant fruit, but the finish is lacking. Paul ascribes the nose to the inclusion of the 'press' wine; in future vintages he plans to reduce the amount in the blend.

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The fruit comes from one of Cooper Garrod's estate vineyards, so I was hoping for something along the lines of the Cooper Garrod Gravel Ridge Chardonnay, only with that floral and apricot character that I associate with Viognier. Unfortunately that's not what I got.

On the nose there's pears and some white flowers. On the palate it's rich; almost an oily/glycerine character, but unfortunately it's really lacking in either fruit or bite. It's as if the wine is way past its peak already; maybe it was left in barrel too long, although it's not particularly oaky either. Disappointing.

$24, available from the winery only.

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Critics often disagree over particular wines. It's understandable; after all, they are only human, and there can be any number of reasons, from bottle variation to a dislike of a particular style or a perceived flaw. But if I were to pick a particular vintage, let's say for example 2005, and a particular grape, such as Zinfandel, then you might reasonably expect critics to agree on whether it was a decent vintage or not. Surely you wouldn't be in the situation where one publication says it's one of the worst vintages in the past 25 years whereas another says it's a great vintage?

Well yes, actually, you would. As for me, so far I've been reasonably impressed with the 2005 Zinfandels that I've tasted, and the Storrs "Rusty Ridge" has raised the standard further. The fruit is sourced from a number of old head-trained, dry-farmed vineyards in the Santa Clara valley, across the eastern edge of the Santa Cruz Mountains. It's aged mostly in American oak with some French.

This is exactly what old vine Zinfandel should be about. Rich, concentrated raspberry aromas and flavours; not sweet, not overly hot despite the 15.2% alcohol, and enough tannin and acidity to support it all without ending up flabby. The oak is integrating nicely and there are secondary notes of pepper and spice. It retails for around $25-$30 and at that price I highly recommended it.

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Mike Mann purchased a 20 acre prune orchard on the east side of Gilroy in 1980. They planted grapes, which were sold to various local wineries, including Storrs and Bartolo. In 1996 he began making his own wine under the Mann Cellars label, and now produces around 1500 cases. The wines are mostly made in a rather ripe style; fruit forward with low acidity.

2007 Johannesburg Riesling
2% residual sugar. Nose of white flowers, slight hint of petrol. On the palate it's sweet and slightly petillant, with notes of canteloupe.

2006 Syrah
Spicy aromas of cinnamon and clove. On the palate there's ripe, sweet blackcurrant and plum fruit, with an earthy finish.

2005 Cabernet Sauvignon
A rather peppery, toasty nose. More acidity and tannins than others in the range; flavours of earth and blackcurrant.

2005 Merlot
Bright, hot, fruity nose. Ripe jammy plum, with a hint of spice and soft tannins.

2006 Malbec
Perfumed nose, with a hint of aldehyde. Tart flavours of plum/damson and some minerality, smooth finish.

Port
A ruby style port made from a blend of Merlot & Malbec.
Though it has the oxidised flavour it lacks the structure and bite of a true port style; it's more of a sweet blueberry syrup.

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DeRose Vineyards sits quite literally atop the San Andreas Fault in Cienega Valley. It's credited with being the oldest existing winery in California by the acclaimed historian Charles Sullivan, and over 40 of its 100 acres of vines are from 100 to 150+ years old. Once part of the Almaden label, it was sold in the 1980s and eventually purchased by Pat De Rose and his partner Ernie Miller.

2007 'Sharknose' Chardonnay
Barrel fermented in just 10% new oak, this has a lemony, mineral nose. It's crisp and fruity; the oak barely shows at all.

2006 Chardonnay
While not seeing much more new oak, the regular Chardonnay does spend longer in barrel, resulting in a more 'rounded' wine. Notes of lemon, melon and apricot; sweeter fruit and less acidity with a long, pleasant finish.

2006 Cabernet Franc
Lots of earthy notes on the nose; underbrush and mushrooms. On the palate there's good blackberry fruit and big tannins, with tobacco on the finish.

2006 Negrette
Previously known as "Pinot St. George", Negrette comes from the south-west of France and is a direct descendent of a grape from Cyprus called Mavro. At over 150 years, these vines are some of the oldest in the state.
The wine has a dark colour in the glass, and an earthy, blackberry nose. There's heavy, sweet fruit and good tannins, reminiscent of a Petite Sirah.

2006 Zinfandel
Compared to the Negrette, the zinfandel vines are a sprightly 100 years old. This has a bright raspberry nose and good raspberry flavours; it's rich and concentrated with a long finish.

Hollywood Red, 12th release
This non-vintage wine is made in a Solera style, whereby the barrels contain a blend of the current and previous vintages, theoretically going back to the first. It's mainly Zinfandel plus six other grapes including "Rose of Peru", which it turns out is another name for 'Mission'.
Mature nose, but no sign of bricking in the glass. There's a rich core of raspberry fruit, but lots more and a long finish.

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While the vines on Fernwood's estate may be less than 10 years old, the family connection to the property goes back several generations.

Matt Oetinger is the present owner and the winemaker since the first vintage in 2001. The winery produces about 3,000 cases a year. All the fruit comes from vineyards that they own or manage, mostly within the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA but also a Zinfandel vineyard owned by his father in the El Dorado foothills.

2007 Vanumanutagi Chardonnay
Vanumanutagi is Samoan for "valley of the singing birds". It was named by the widow of Robert Louis Stevenson, who lived there following his death in 1894. The blocks within the vineyard are named after Stevenson's novels.
A rich, butterscotch/caramel nose. Big, creamy vanilla flavours; lots of lemon curd. Balanced, not over oaked.

2006 Merlot, Small Vineyards Selection
Made from 5 small domestic vineyards that Matt manages in the Los Altos/Los Gatos/Saratoga area, and containing 4% Cabernet Sauvignon.
There's a real barnyard (brettanomyces) nose to this. On the palate the fruit is there, but it's restrained. At this stage it's more about the structure, which is very good. You could put this wine in a Bordeaux tasting and I'm sure it would be difficult to spot.

2005 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Contains just 2% Petite Verdot. Up front there are notes of toast and mineral, but when you taste it's remarkably fruit forward. Lots of rich blackcurrant, and a dry, tannic, liquorice finish

2006 Petite Sirah, Machado Creek Vineyard
The wine is labelled as Central Coast, though the vineyard is within the Santa Clara Valley AVA. It's made from old, 100% head trained vines.
An inky colour, and a smoky yet fruity nose. On the palate there's a fruit candy note (something like Swizzels) but it's balanced; there's good acidity and the tannins are well controlled.

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Congratulations to some of our local women winemakers who won medals in the 2009 National Womens Wine Competition.

Bargetto
2006 Reserve Merlot, Santa Cruz Mountains (Silver)

Creekview Vineyards
2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, Santa Clara Valley (Silver)
2007 Chardonnay, Santa Clara Valley (Bronze)

La Rusticana d 'Orsa
2005 Santa Cruz Mountains (Silver)

Martin Ranch
2005 JD Hurley Cabernet Sauvignon, SCM(Silver)
2005 JD Hurley Merlot, Santa Clara Valley (Silver)
2005 Therese Vineyards Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (Silver)
2005 Therese Vineyards Estate Cabernet Franc(Bronze)
2005 Therese Vineyards Syrah, Lester Family Vineyard, SCM (Bronze)

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