For the uninitiated, LivingSocial is one of those sites that has daily offers at big discounts. Today's offer is from Coterie Cellars; $20 gets you a bottle of their Casatierra Vineyard Rosé of Syrah, a ticket to a 2 hour wine tasting and $20 off the purchase of any 3 bottles of Coterie's wines. Coterie is a small winery in south San Jose specialising in Pinot Noir and Syrah, as well as Rousanne and Viognier.

Buy the ticket on LivingSocial. Today (April 21st) only.

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Frank Ashton, owner of Downhill Cellars, has opened a tasting room and wine bar in Cupertino. Flight Wine and Food is at 20333 Stevens Creek Boulevard, close to De Anza Boulevard.

The wine bar has a varied selection of local wines as well as some unusual imported Croatian and other European wines. Prices seem reasonable, and wines are available to-go. The wine bar is open midweek from 4-8, weekends 12-5 and will be open this weekend for Passport Day.

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Pinot Paradise is the annual showcase of Pinot Noir from the Santa Cruz Mountains. Most of the local Pinot producers attend, pouring one or two of their current releases. Here are my brief notes from the event. As usual I wasn't able to get round all of them.

If you're confused, Remde Vineyard is another name for Veranda Vineyard. Similarly, Deer Park Vineyard and Lester Family Vineyard are the same.

Ahlgren

2008 Veranda Vineyard
Fresh dug earth and dried currant. Rich glace cherry. Tart herbal, floral finish. Light tannins 89

Alfaro

2008 'A' Schultze Vineyard
Earthy, spicy. Rich cherry. Similar to the Windy Oaks Henry's Block 90
2007 Lindsay Paige Vineyard
Cherry, fresh bread. Rich tart cherry, raspberry, earth. Long finish. This is the best showing I've seen from any vintage of this wine; they generally seem tight and tough on release. 91+

Black Ridge

2008 Estate
Tart cherry, espresso. Smooth cherry, cranberry. Prickly tannins. Medium finish. 88

Burrell School

The vines were planted in 1991; there are 4 different clones, roughly evenly divided. Now well established, they are dry farmed.
2008 Estate
Darker colour than the 2007, with a slight funky nose, some alcohol/volatile, bright cranberry, tart earth, black cherry, dark raspberry. Firm tannins. 87
2007 Estate
Much earthier than the 2008 notes of iodine, mushroom, forest floor, with some black cherry. Firm, grippy tannins. 86

Cinnabar

2008 Lester Family Vineyard
Lots of funky earth. Surprisingly light and bright; Earthy redcurrant. Medium finish 87
2007 Santa Cruz Mountains
50% Lester Family Vineyard, 50% Estate
Soft funky nose Lots of cherry and redcurrant Long tannic finish. 90

Clos LaChance

2007 Santa Cruz Mountains
Light smoky nose. Rich sweet redcurrant, coffee. Firm tannins. Long finish. 89
2007 Biagini Vineyard
Funky earthy Sweet red fruit, caramel, good finish 89

Cumbre

2007 Rafaelli Vineyard
Earthy, meaty. Fresh earth, sweet red fruit, wild strawberry. Lots of tannin on the finish. Needs time. 88

Dancing Creek

2008 Regan Vineyard
Much darker than any of the other wines on offer. I guessed that there was something else here and was told that it contains 15% Nebbiolo from Santa Barbara.
Strikingly different nose from all the other wines; lots of black fruit. Bramble, black cherry, cassis, dried fruit. Nice wine and good value, but if you're looking for an expression of the Pinot Noir grape, this isn't it. 89

Downhill

Peter Martin Ray Vineyard was once part of Mount Eden. It's a separate small vineyard lower down the hill planted to the same clones; head trained and never replanted.
2006 Peter Martin Ray Vineyard
Earthy, spicy, candied peel. Rich cherry, cinnamon, citrus peel. Hint of Brett on the long finish. 90
2007 Peter Martin Ray Vineyard
Lighter nose than the 2006. Bigger and richer; more concentrated than the 2006, with a long finish. Excellent value. 92

Hallcrest

2005 Terra Serena Vineyard
Smoky cinnamon. Sweet cherry, cranberry. Tart, tannic, earthy finish. 88
2006 terra Serena Vineyard
Odd (VA?) note on nose. Sweet cherry, redcurrant, dark fruit. The acidity seemed less evident than on the 2005, yet technically the 2006 has more. 87

Heart o' the Mountain

2007
Pear, pepper. Sweet redcurrant, maraschino cherry, medium finish, soft tannins. 88
2008 Six Sixty Seven
Wild strawberry on the nose and palate. Sweet, spicy, peppery finish. 88

Kings Mountain

2002
Earthy, iodine. Cherry, red fruit and mushroom. 85

MJA Vineyards

2007 DaVine Regan Vineyard
Savoury - almost cheesy - nose. Meaty umami, black fruit, tannic finish. 88

Rhonda Boos of The Mountain Winery

Mountain Winery

2008 Estate
Elegant, light nose. Asian spice. Complex rich cherry and savoury with firm tannins. Needs cellar time. 92

Mount Eden

2008
Orange peel, herb, smoke. Rich spicy cherry, pomegranate, Long finish. 94+
2009 Domaine Eden
Mostly from the old Cinnabar vineyard, which Mount Eden purchased in 2008. The existing Cabernet vines were grafted over to Pinot Noir (Dijon clones, rather than Mount Eden); this is the first vintage since then. There's also some Pinot from Woodside and Santa Cruz in the blend.
Faint nose. Soft berry, cranberry flavours. Light weight. 87

Muccigrosso

2006
Bright nose. Meaty, rich dark fruit, mocha, black cherry. Plenty of tannin. 88
2007
Fainter nose. Similar to the 2006, but with a slight oxidised/pruney note. 87

Muns

2006 Vineyard
Smoky, rich bold, cherry. Coming together well; some interesting green herbal notes. 89
2007 Vineyard
Tangy cherry, smoke. Chocolate cherry, subtle earthy notes, lots of tannin. 89

Nicholson

2008 Estate Brookes' block
Interesting caramel and cherry. Nice complex cherry, earth, herb, meat. Medium finish, fine tannins. 89+
2008 Estate Reserve
Light, smoky cherry. More intense oak, good cherry flavour, more structure, needs time. 89+

Odonata

I was particularly impressed by both of Denis Hoey's offerings; the guy is an extremely talented winemaker. You should get on his mailing list while you still can.
2009 Domani
Black cherry, fig. Good dark fruit, bright acid, smooth tannins. Needs 3-5 years minimum. 91+
2009 Woody & Jenny's Top Block
Tangy and spicy. Lots of spice and bold red cherry flavours. Unbelievably this was aged in neutral oak; all that spice is coming from the vineyard, not the barrel. 94+

Pelican Ranch

2007 Deer Park Vineyard
Smoky, savoury. Rich, sweet cherry. Bitter tannins on finish. 86
2007 Remde Vineyard
Smoky raspberry. Sour cherry, raspberry, red fruit. Dry, tart finish. 86

Pleasant Valley

2006 Dylan David
Smoke, cinnamon, clove. Sweet red cherry, nutmeg. Soft tannin. 88+
2008 Lester Family Vineyard, Clone 667
Earthy, musty, bubblegum. Sweet earthy, strawberry. Fine tannins. 88
2008 Lester Family Vineyard, Clone 115
Less earth, more red fruit. Sweet redcurrant, cinnamon. Long finish. 89

Poetic Cellars

2008 Regan Vineyard
Light savoury Smooth redcurrant light acid Dr pepper light oak 88

Regale

2008 Estate
Rose petal, earth, cherry Sweet concentrated black cherry lots of tannin. Needs cellaring, though the acid is a little light. Give it 2-3 years 90+

Roudon Smith

2008 Private Reserve
Corralitos (partly Regan) Light perfumed nose Soft red fruits - cherry redcurrant a little spice Soft tannins 88
2009 Armitage
Corralitos (Rembe) Bright cherry and berry Smooth fruit, some earth chewy tannins. 89+

Sarah's

2009 Santa Cruz Mountains
2 corralitos Vineyards Bright red and black fruit notes Concentrated fruit, earth and tannin. Needs time. 89+
2007 Rebhahn Vineyard
Black fruit, earth Rich sweet intense black fruit Firm tannins. Long finish. Come together nicely 90+
2007 Veranda Vineyard
Smoky Cherry Tart black cherry earthy tannic finish. 90+

Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard

2001 Estate Reserve
(new release), 22.5 brix 3.20 pH finished 12.5% 1200'
spicy nutmeg a little fresh earth,
tangy acidity - raspberry, red fruit
nice finish plenty of structure still very ageworthy 90+
Needs food
2004 Bailey's Branciforte Ridge "Bella's Reserve"
14.2% 3.48pH 800'
French and hungarian oak. Inoculated
earthy, cherry
bright cherry fruit
long finish, good structure, 90+
2008 Branciforte Vineyard
Earthy funk Sweet cherry herb earth loads of structure 91+

Savannah Chanelle

2007 Estate
Interesting funky nose, earth and spice Rich intense red fruits, black cherry, spice. Good structure. 91+
2009 Muns Vineyard
Barrel sample Nose is bright smoky cherry Intense red and black fruit lots of structure 90-93

Silver Mountain

2006 Miller Hill Vineyard
Smoky funk hint of acetyl? Structured red fruit, bold tannins Earthy finish 88+
2007 Muns Vineyard
Lighter floral nose Lots of structure. Fruit in the background. Needs more air. 88++

Annette Hunt of Skov Winery

Skov

2008
light cherry cinnamon nose Soft cherry fruit Smooth tannins 87

Sonnet

2008 Muns Vineyard
Earthy black cherry Assertive sweet fruit - cherry redcurrant earth spice lots of tannin 90

Thomas Fogarty

2008 Windy Hill
- highest elevation, just under 2000' 2.5 acres 8x10 Martini clone on AXR1, some variation, last to be picked, exposed to weather
Vigorous rootstock, no phylloxera issues, all cane pruned
1/3 whole cluster, always native yeasts, no SO2 at crush 100% french 50% new

Medium colour
Fragrant, floral
light sweet fruit redcurrant/raspberry
oaky tannin on finish 89

2008 Rapley Trail
fainter nose, less floral, some smoke
Tarter redcurrant, cranberry, less tannic 88

Villa del Monte

2009 Regan Vineyard
Savoury dried herb roast meat Sweet redcurrant, spice Smooth tannins. Balanced. 88

Vine Hill

2008
Cherry vanilla Soft red cherry Fairly simple Light tannins 85

Vino Tabi

2008 Lester Vineyard
Bright cherry syrup nose and palate. Some pepper. Prickling tannins on finish 86
2008 Regan Vineyard
Smoky oak, coffee Rich redcurrant, blue cheese Medium finish 86

Windy Oaks

2008 Henry's Block
spicy cinnamon/clove, cherry rich spicy black cherry, parma violets, red vines long finish early drinking 90
2008 Wild Yeast
Lovely nose elegant floral Intense red fruit up front, fresh earth on finish 92

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Has it really been 3 months since the last Bloggers' event? Once again, Chris Watkins invited a group of wine bloggers to a tasting of current, unreleased and library wines at the Monte Bello tasting rooms. A dozen of us braved torrential rains and hailstones; some of the regulars were joined by Chiara Shannon of K&L Wines, Melanie Friedman and Erin Grant.

Chris likes to have a different theme for each event, and this turned out to be a demonstration of how Ridge wines age over decades.

We began with a couple of the newly releases. Ridge has dropped the "Santa Cruz Mountains" designation in favour of "Estate" for both the Chardonnay and the red blend, which is now a fully fledged Cabernet.

2009 Estate Chardonnay
Nose shows peach, apricot, a touch of of almond and creamy vanilla. On the palate there's sweet white fruit up front, and a salty note. There's some bitterness from the oak and tannin on the finish; it needs a little cellar time. 90+

2008 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Earthy nose with blackcurrant, mint and herb. Tart fruit flavours of bramble and blackcurrant backed with earth and smoke. Good structure; firm tannins on the finish. Nice now, but will repay cellaring. 92

We moved on to a 10 year comparison of Geyserville - the newly released 2009 vintage and the 1999 from the library.

2009 Geyserville
The 44th vintage is a blend of 74% Zinfandel, 17% Carignane, 6% Petite Sirah, 2% Alicante Bouschet and 1% Mataro.
The colour is a bright red-purple. The nose is tart, with a medicinal note. Flavours of cherry and redcurrant, with bright acidity. 91 It's a nice wine, but it was completely overshadowed by

1999 Geyserville
Blend of 68% Zinfandel, 16% Carignane and 16% Petite Sirah.
A deep brick red colour. Lovely mature nose and great flavours of dark fruit, dried cranberry, leather. There's amazing depth and a long finish. 94

This was followed by three impressive vintages of Monte Bello spanning two decades.

1985 Monte Bello
93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot
Similar deep brick red colour to the Geyserville.
Aromas of leather, dried fruit and hayloft; palate showed earth with some blackcurrant (but not a lot), and savoury, meaty notes. Still a surprising amount of tannin on the finish.
The fruit showed more clearly when tasted alongside food. After the tasting was over I went back and retasted all the Monte Bellos and was surprised by how the fruit showed - here's a 25 year wine that needs air to show its best. 95

1995 Monte Bello
The nose was musty and earthy, with notes of menthol. The palate showed lots of bright acidity and earth, hiding the fruit, and lots of tannin. It seemed shut down tight and I wasn't going to assign a rating, but revisiting after a couple of hours the fruit came out - great, rustic brambly and herbal notes. Clearly many years from its peak. 94+

2005 Monte Bello
This wine has always been a delight; the nose is big and fruity, with mint and earth notes. On the palate there's lots of intense black fruit - blackberry, blueberry and blackcurrant, with graphite, smoke and pepper - the finish just goes on and on. With air it got even better and showed a liquorice note. The best young Monte Bello I've tasted. 97

We then moved to two examples from the ATP programme, which focuses mainly on Rhone varieties.

2004 Lytton Estate Syrah
Cofermented with 10% Viognier, and blended with an additional 8% Grenache.
The nose shows spicy, peppery red fruit which follows through onto the palate. Notes of redcurrant, tobacco and allspice. 91

2006 Lytton Estate Syrah
The 2006 is not yet released. The nose is altogether more assertive than the 2004 and overall there's significantly more going on; lots of red fruit and spice with a long finish. Definitely one to watch out for. 94

Alan Bree then teased us with two blind wines from his extensive personal Ridge cellar. He firmly believes that all of Ridge's wines deserve cellaring and are typically consumed too young. We had no other clues as to what was being offered.

Both wines had a similar brick red colour to the 1999 Geyserville and 1985 Monte Bello, so my guess was that the wines were 10-15 years old.

The first had a light nose that suggested cigarette smoke. Nicely mature, with notes of sweet raspberry fruit and some good tannins. The raspberry and tannin made me guess a Zinfandel blended with Petite Sirah. (Dead wrong)

The second showed a slightly redder colour, suggesting that it was the younger of the two. There was a sour note on the nose that I didn't care for, but the flavour was surprisingly sweet. Again a raspberry note made me think it was a Zinfandel, but the tannins were much softer.

The wines turned out to be 1997 and 1998 Sangiovese, from Dry Creek Valley. The 1997 was blended with 17% Merlot, while the 1998 was 100% Sangiovese. I would never have guessed this as I was unaware that Ridge had ever made a Sangiovese. (Apparently they took over the vineyard in 1997 and replanted it in 1999.) Two fascinating wines, probably slightly past their peak despite the tannins on the 1997, but still interesting and tasty. I didn't score them at the time, but in retrospect I'd probably say 89 each.

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Here are some tasting notes from the SCMWA trade tasting last month. This is an annual event open to retailers, restaurateurs and media, which was held at Farallon restaurant in San Francisco.

Unfortunately my punishment for somehow angering the tech gods continues and I've been unable to find the iPod that I had used to record most of my comments. Thankfully I had sync'd it with my PC before it evolved legs, so the notes were safe, but somewhat inaccessible; Apple certainly doesn't believe in letting you have easy access to your own data and I was damned if I'd pay the necessary $25 for what seems to be the only available third party recovery application.

I finally got around to doing the necessary hackery myself to extract the data from its binary prison; it turned out to be a bit easier than I expected. And so, with apologies for the delay, here are my notes.

All wines carry the Santa Cruz Mountains appellation unless otherwise noted.

Beauregard

2007 Estate Chardonnay
This had a really smoky, oaky nose. Big, creamy and smoky with baked apple flavours. Good acidity. Long oaky finish, but despite all the wood I enjoyed it. 90
2007 Bald Mountain Chardonnay
This wasn't showing the oak anything like as much as the Estate Chardonnay, which is surprising given that it sees 100% new French oak and the Estate sees less. Nose shows creamy apples; notes of lime, salt and honeysuckle with a medium to long finish. Reminds me of Varner. 92
2007 Estate Pinot Noir
Light smoky, earthy nose. Earthy and austere with redcurrant and herbal notes. lightly tannic finish. 88
2008 Bald Mountain Pinot Noir
Smoke and maraschino aromas. Earthy but less austere than the estate with black cherry flavours and a medium finish. 90

Big Basin

2008 Homestead Syrah
Blend of 73% Monterey and 27% Santa Cruz Mountains
Nose has roast meat and blueberry. Rich and fruity with smoky berry flavours and a medium finish. 90
2007 Fairview Ranch Syrah, Santa Lucia Highlands
Floral, berry nose. Fairly gentle tannins, smooth red berry flavors showing white pepper on the long finish. 91
2006 Rattlesnake Rock
The nose is very complex, showing smoke, meat, fruit and spice. Rich, smooth flavours of smoked meat, redcurrant and pomegranate, with a longish finish. 93
2007 Mandala
The nose suggests dusty old books, but on the palate it's sweet and spicy, with blueberry and blackberry notes and nice firm tannins on the finish. 92

Cinnabar

2007 Chardonnay
Lemon and lime on the nose; flavours of citrus, oak and mineral notes. Oak seemed harsh on the finish; give it time. 87+
2007 Pinot Noir
Funky, earthy nose; spicy flavours of sweet cherry, cinnamon and cedar. Very good. 92
2006 Cabernet Sauvignon
Dusty blackcurrant nose. A rather concentrated combination of rich fruit, smoky oak and chewy tannins. 89+

Clos LaChance

2007 Chardonnay
Vanilla and apple on the nose; sweet baked apple and vanilla cream on the palate. Seems low in acidity, with notes of sweet caramel on the finish. 88
2007 Pinot Noir
Inviting nose of cherry pie; sweet cherry and allspice flavours. Oak came across as a little harsh - needs time. 88
2007 Cabernet Sauvignon
Dusty bramble nose; flavours of blackcurrant, oak and underbrush. Promising. 89

Kathryn Kennedy

2000 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Leather and black fruit on the nose. Complex flavours of cassis, earth, leather and cedar; a big wine with a long finish. 94
2006 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Softer nose than the 2000. Showing lots of primary blackcurrant fruit; good structure, just needs time. 93
2007 Small Lot Cabernet sauvignon
Rustic black fruit, balanced oak, plenty of tannin, good finish. Cellar this. 93

La Honda Winery

2009 Sauvignon Blanc, Sonoma
Smooth gooseberry and grapefruit flavours; creamy, clean finish. 87
2008 "Sequence" Pinot Noir
Interesting nose - sandalwood? On the palate it's got lovely spicy redcurrant notes with silky tannins and a longish finish. 91+
2009 Exponent
Blend of 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 18% Grenache and 14% Sangiovese
As the blend suggests it's an easy drinking red table wine; light fruity nose and soft brambly fruit. Only $15 at Beltramos; a good value midweek red. 88
2008 Salinian Block Cabernet Sauvignon
5 vineyard blend from small vineyards around the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Nose shows smoke, cassis and brambles. Bold black fruit, lot of tannin, dusty oak on the finish. 90+
2007 Naylor's Dry Hole Vineyard, Chalone AVA
Lots of cassis on the nose. Spicy blackberry, blackcurrant fruit, lovely smooth tannins, a rather elegant wine. 92

Martin Ranch

JD Hurley 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon
Rustic, with notes of blackcurrant and allspice. Tannins are silky and the oak is nicely balanced. 89
JD Hurley 2008 Zinfandel, Santa Clara Valley
Some nice tart raspberry flavours, but perhaps a little oxidized? 86

MJA Vineyards

Marin Artukovich recently relocated his winery from St Helena to Los Gatos. The winery has a tasting room on Ingalls St. in Santa Cruz and a Pinot Noir vineyard on Highland Way (the continuation of Summit Road) in Los Gatos. A second tasting room at the vineyard is scheduled to open next month. The winery has two labels; Serene Cellars and Davine Cellars (not to be confused with nearby DeVine Consultants). The winery produces Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc from Napa and a Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir.
2007 Serene Cellars Sauvignon Blanc
An oaked Sauvignon Blanc. Creamy and low in acidity, with some gooseberry notes. 85

Naumann

2008 Chardonnay
Lots of butterscotch on the nose. Flavours of creamy apple, with mineral and brine; clean finish. 88
2006 Merlot
Bright plum aromas, some smoke. Berry and plum fruit, oak seems nicely integrated. 88
2007 Merlot
Earthy nose, which comes across on the palate too. Sweet fruit, some spice and smoke. Tannic finish. 89

Ridge

2008 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
The new name for the Santa Cruz Mountains blend; with more of the younger Cabernet vines now producing the balance of the blend has shifted and it can be called a Cab. The blend is 75% cabernet and 20% Merlot, with 3% Petite Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc.
Nose is brambly with a little smoke; rich flavours of cassis and spice. Terrific value. 93
2007 Monte Bello
Did not disappoint. I'm a big fan of this vintage, as you probably know. 95

Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard

2009 Verdelho, Silvaspoons Vineyard Alta Mesa AVA
Impressive floral nose, kind of a cross between Sauvignon Blan and Viognier. Light bodied; floral and crisp gooseberry notes with caramel on the finish. 89

Savannah-Chanelle

(Edited. Zinfandel vines aren't the oldest of their kind in the state but Cabernet Franc vines probably are. Thanks to Tony Craig for the correction.)
2007 Cabernet Franc
From vines planted in the 1920s; believed to be the oldest Cabernet Franc vines in the new world. Smoky blueberry nose. Concentrated fruit - blueberry, redcurrant and cranberry. Chewy, tart finish. Hint of cigar. 91
2007 Zinfandel
Sourced from hundred year old vines. Dark blackberry/raspberry nose. Good concentration. Lots of tart raspberry syrup, backed by great acidity. Rich intense flavour and a long finish. I really liked this. 93
2007 Montmartre
Blend of roughly equal parts Cabernet Franc, Zinfandel and Carignane, with a little Syrah. Light meaty, smoky nose. Most tannic of the three wines. A chewy, spicy fruit medley that will need time to show well. 90

Storrs

2008 Chardonnay
Big, ripe nose with lots of vanilla. Rich and creamy with good acidity and flavours of red apple, lemon and lime. 88
2008 Chardonnay, Christie Vineyard
Rather shy nose, showing a little apple. Crisp apple and pear flavours, with the oak far less evident. 88

Thomas Fogarty

2007 Chardonnay
Nose of caramel and apple. Crisp apple, lime and brine. Mineral on the medium finish. 87
2008 Gewurztraminer, Scheid Vineyard, Monterey County
Consistently a great value wine and my favourite domestic Gewurztraminer.
Lovely spicy, floral nose. There's a hint of sweetness, nice citrus flavours, low acidity with a long, floral finish. 90

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The annual barrel tasting at Monte Bello is an opportunity to get an early glimpse at the most recent vintage. 2010 was a particularly cool year punctuated by occasional heat spike; from what I've heard it was not an easy year for the local growers. The Monte Bello tasting showcases four distinct varieties, as well as the first assemblage of the Monte Bello blend.

We began with the 2007 Monte Bello Chardonnay, with its enticing nose of lemon, lime and honeysuckle. The oak is prominent, as is typical on the new releases; there's creamy lime and mineral flavours, but the oak takes over on the long finish. 93

The barrel sample of Merlot was somewhat unyielding. There was a nice nose of red fruits and floral notes, but on the palate it was structured and herbal, with taut acidity.

The sample of Cabernet Franc was the first harvest from recently planted vines, and will not be a part of the Monte Bello assemblage. The nose showed ash or fireplace, with notes of brambles and coffee beans. On the palate there was lots of tannin and some earth, but very little fruit.

Cabernet Sauvignon makes up the bulk of Monte Bello. This sample showed smoke, brambles and blackcurrant. On the palate there was smooth black fruit backed by earth, light tannins and a touch of dried herbs.

The final component of Monte Bello is Petite Verdot. It's a late ripening grape and thus does not always get ripe enough to be included in the blend, but when it does it adds spice and a violet note. Since 2010 was a cool year it was doubtful whether the fruit would ripen fully; the winery went to the trouble of laying reflective film between the rows to help the process; it worked. The sample had a great nose, with floral violet notes. On the palate there was rich, black fruit and good acidity with a smoky finish and good tannins that were not too pronounced.

So on to the first assemblage of 2010 Monte Bello. The initial breakdown is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merot, 5% Petite Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. The volet notes of the Petite Verdot were evident on nose; there were notes of fireplace and black fruit. At first tasting it seemed taut and tannic; there was some black fruit, meaty and mineral notes. It seemed particularly difficult to judge at this early stage; I got the impression that it's going to take longer than average to show itself fully. On second tasting, which saw much more air, the fruit became more evident. It does give the impression of being a long-lived vintage.

For comparison we then tasted a 1992 Monte Bello poured from 375ml bottles. This turned out to be an interesting example of how bottle variation is amplified with age; one sample showed cedar, leather, black fruit and herbal notes, with a rich, layered, earthy finish. In contrast a second sample from a different bottle was somewhat earthy; the nose showed barnyard and herbs, with black fruit, earth and leather flavours. Both were of excellent quality. 94

Down in the main tasting room they were pouring the newly released 2008 Monte Bello. It's come together nicely since the barrel tasting two years ago; the nose has violet, mint, meat and brambles. It's young and structured, with rich fruit and mint but overall seems slightly thinner than recent vintages. It will be interesting to retaste in a year or two. 92

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It can't have escaped the attention of any regular readers that updates have been few and far between recently, for which I can only apologise and blame various factors including the day job, not one but two catastrophic computer failures and my own laziness. However with Christmas and the New Year over it's time I got back to updating the blog, and where better to start than with a report from the final Bloggers' tasting at Ridge.

Since Chris Watkins, the Monte Bello tasting room manager began these quarterly events we've had the opportunity to review an impressive vertical of Lytton Springs Zinfandels, compare our views on recent Monte Bello vintages with those of Robert Parker (he was completely wrong about the 2007) and compare vintages of Rhone varietals released to ATP members.

For this tasting Chris promised us a different theme, which turned out to be an anagram; certain letters from the wines spelling out the words WINE BLOGGER. This explained the rather eclectic list of wines that we were offered.

The usual core of Wes, Richard, Amy and myself were joined by Fred Swan of NorCalWine and Allan Bree of Gang Of Pour, who came bearing gifts; more of which later.

So onto the wines:

2007 Monte Bello Chardonnay
Huge nose; lots of lemon, white flowers, with nice oak and vanilla
Lots of wood on the palate, nice white peach, ice cream. Long finish.
Needs cellar time, obviously. Really good. 94+

2008 Buchignani Ranch Carignan
Light nose - dried berries - raspberry, cranberry and smoke.
Light, tart and tannic, with some redcurrant fruit. Lighter finish. 87

2008 East Bench Zinfandel
From the Dry Creek Valley; one of my favourite Zinfandel appellations. Produced from younger vines.
Nose of spicy berry, pepper and coriander.
black raspberry flavours, with dark chocolate notes. Drinking well now. 90

2007 Lytton Estate Zinfandel
Sourced from a block planted with young Primitivo clones, blended with 4% Carignane and 3% Petite Sirah.
Nose doesn't immediately suggest Zinfandel - Earthy and woody with caramel notes.
Rustic and herbal with notes of maraschino cherry and thyme. Needs time. 91+

2003 Geyserville
A blend of 76% Zinfandel, 18% Carignan and 6% Petite Sirah.
Nice amethyst colour. Slightly musty nose suggesting old books, and tart raspberry
The oak is still quite evident; floral raspberry and espresso flavours. Still young. 92

2002 Nervo Zinfandel
Source from a head trained, dry farmed vineyard in Alexander Valley and blended with 8% Petite Sirah.
Deep red colour with some bricking. Interesting feminine nose, dried herbs (lavender)?, showing some heat.
Nice mature fruit; probably at its peak. Nice notes of Raspberry coulis and leather 91

2002 Lytton Estate Grenache
Deep red, no sign of browning. Nose shows earth and wood, slightly musty. A lot in common with the Zinfandel from earlier. In the mouth there's plenty of sweet fruit; golden raisins and wild strawberry.

2003 Syrah, Lytton West
Co-fermented (rather than blended) with 9% Viognier
Nose shows black fruit, plum and pepper, with some floral notes from the Viognier.
Some residual sweetness, with gamey notes. The tannins are still prominent. 90

2007 Old School Zinfandel
100% Zinfandel. Formerly known as Independence School (Can you believe they changed the name just for the sake of an anagram?)
Nose of tart raspberry, and a hint of something odd - at first I thought aldehyde. Palate was jammy and sweet, with notes of raspberry syrup. I found that the residual sugar made it seem one-dimensional. 87

2003 Independence School Zinfandel
Blended with 9% Carignan and 3% Petite Sirah. It had the same odd aldehyde note, which suggests it's a vineyard characteristic rather than a flaw. Not as sweet as the 2007 bottling. Good tannin, with flavours of raspberry and brambles. A little rustic. I felt the blend provided more structure and complexity than the 2007,
but still not my favourite. 89

The flight finished with a 2000 Monte Bello
Great complex nose with notes of herb, mint and meat. Lithe black currant and brambly fruit. Meaty, musty tannins, medium to long finish. 93

We were then offered a flight of three wines that Alan had brought. Served blind, we were told that it was a vertical from the 1990s. They turned out to be three Pagani Ranch Alicante Bouschets, though I utterly failed to recognise the similarities between the three wines. In each case they are blended with around 25% Zinfandel.

1993 Alicante Bouschet Pagani Ranch
This reminded me of a Lytton Springs Zinfandel. Earthy, with cherry and redcurrant flavours. Nicely integrated tannins. Very smooth. 92

1994 Alicante Bouschet Pagani Ranch
This made me think of Petite Sirah. Somewhat reductive, stinky nose. Earthy, with lots of tannin and flavours of redcurrant and herb. Would appear that it still needs time to sort itself out. 88++

1997 Alicante Bouschet Pagani Ranch
This was my favourite wine of the whole tasting. It had a lovely feminine nose, with floral notes. Everything came together, the fruit was delicious 95

The last wine was a 2007 Zinfandel Geyserville Essence
Blended with 23% Petite Sirah 16.9% residual sugar and 13.5%ABV
Powerful, concentrated nose of raspberry syrup. Obviously very sweet, with lots of raspberry fruit. An interesting, complex wine. 92++

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I've been an iPhone user since the first generation unit was released - in fact I'm still using the same one. I love it, despite the fact that it's made by Apple and forces you to use iTunes to do anything. It's probably the handiest gadget I've ever owned; a phone, camera, map, notepad and web browser all in one package.

One of the selling points of the phone is its extensibility through dedicated utilities and games; it's such a huge market that there are even TV commercials for iPhone apps. The wine world is no different; there are dedicated winery apps; Ridge has one which has details of current releases, photos, events and a link to the store. Then there's Cor.kz which offers an alternate interface to Cellar Tracker's inventory management and tasting note database.

I recently got an email announcing a new free app covering the wineries of the Santa Cruz Mountains, so thought I should try it and see how it compares to the competition. I already have a review copy of Winery Quest Pro.

I thought that I'd reviewed the Winery Quest app in the past, but it doesn't appear to be on the site. Not sure what happened there. There are two versions; a 'basic' version costing $4 and a 'pro' version costing $8. It's effectively an interface into the Wine Questers web site, showing the same winery data in an easier to read format. This means that if you're in a cellphone blackspot - such as large parts of the Santa Cruz Mountains - then it can't get any data. The interface opens up with a scrollable list of over 20 regions, from Mendocino to Temecula. The Santa Clara Valley wineries are classified as "Gilroy - Morgan Hill", so wineries outside that area such as J Lohr, Coterie Cellars or Casa de Fruta aren't counted. Overall the interface is a little confusing, but after a while you start to get used to it.

Winery Quest's key selling point is the accuracy of its maps - the developer visits each winery with a GPS rather than relying on Google's address mapping software; if the winery hasn't been visited then it's not on the list. Unfortunately the choice of icons results in a map that looks rather cluttered. The data is further limited to tasting rooms that are regularly open to the public, which means that many smaller wineries that are appointment only or only open at certain times aren't listed.

There are a number of 'just because we can' features, such as a 'spin the bottle' game that randomly selects a winery for you to visit. Overall it's a tool for someone who wants to plan a trip to a wine region for the first time and visit a few tasting rooms; it's not intended to be a guide for the serious geek looking to discover new hidden gems. The price may seem a little high for what you get, but it's less than a typical tasting room fee.

The new app, which bears the unwieldy title of Santa Cruz Mountains Winery Directory (though given the title of this blog I have very little room to talk), seems to target a similar audience. The main screen follows a more traditional grid layout of icons with functions at the bottom. Since it's a free app they've saved costs by using stock clip-art, so the differing icon styles look a little odd. Unlike Winery Quest the data seems to be stored locally, which means that it works offline. There's also elements of 'because we can' to it; for example in the list of wineries each entry has a picture next to it that's too small to be useful, is of varying size, and takes a while to load on my old phone.

The app uses the phone's location facility and groups the wineries by proximity. That would be fine if you were looking for the nearest winery to wherever you are, but if you're planning a trip it would be more useful to specify the start point, or to find wineries that are close to each other. It also doesn't help that the data isn't entirely accurate; last time I checked Ridge was still on Monte Bello Road, not at Stevens Creek and De Anza. The Google map is a little easier to read than the Winery Quest version, although the same colour pin is used for wineries and other locations which can be a little confusing.

Speaking of the maps, there's a rather unfortunate bug here; once you enter the map screen the button to go back doesn't work; the only solution is to quit and restart.

The free app has a different set of wineries to Winery Quest. For the most part they overlap, but not entirely; for example Windy Oaks is included but not Zayante. The set also includes around half of the Santa Clara Valley wineries. Once again, if there's a selection criteria it's unclear; with Fernwood and Martin Ranch included but J Lohr, Creekview and Jason/Stephens missing.

Overall for a free application it's hard to be too critical; it's worth the 2Mb or so of space that it consumes and presumably will continue to be updated since it must intend to somehow derive revenue from advertising.

Looking on the app store I see that there's also another app called Wineries Locator. It costs $5 but the reviews look terrible.

Maybe I should learn how to write iPhone apps.

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At the end of August Big Basin Vineyards opened a new tasting room in Saratoga. Wes and I took a trip out to the winery and called in on the way to see the place and taste the current range.

The tasting room is in a brand new building on Highway 9, next door to Cinnabar - the address is at 14598 Big Basin Way. The room is light and airy, with a large L shaped bar and some comfortable seats. The walls are decorated with photographs of the vineyards taken by the owner and winemaker Bradley Brown and artwork by Matt Jones, whose work is used on several of the wine labels.

Tasting for a flight of 6 wines is $10, refunded with $100 purchase. There is currently a 2 for 1 promotion. You can also purchase wines by the glass; since the tasting room is open until 7PM on Fridays and Saturdays that makes it an ideal place to meet up prior to dinner.

2009 'Aura' Rose of Syrah, Monterey County
Floral nose, with notes of rose hip. While not sweet it doesn't come across as bone dry; it's fruity with a slightly bitter finish and flavours of crisp red apples. Light acidity. $18 89

2007 Alfaro Family Vineyard Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains
I've often found the wines from the Alfaro Family vineyard to be rather tannic and unyielding when young, but Bradley's treatment doesn't show that at all. The nose has sweet candy and dried cherry; in the mouth it's richly textured and spicy with flavours of dried cherry and white pepper, and a tart finish. $42 91

2007 Syrah
This is a 50/50 blend of Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey County fruit.
The nose is soft and plummy, the fruit is smooth and light fruit with some tart berry notes and a light finish. $28 88

2006 Rattlesnake Rock Syrah, Santa Cruz Mountains
The flagship estate wine; when I've tasted previous vintages it's been a really big textured wine. This seems lighter than in other years; the nose is fairly restrained with dried currant notes. However it's still pretty big and rich; there are layers of layers of dried fruit, herb and minerals and a longish finish showing those mineral notes again. $54 92

2007 Mandala, Santa Cruz Mountains
This is predominantly estate Syrah, with around 14% Cabernet Sauvignon from a vineyard in Los Gatos blended in. Surprisingly the Cabernet seems more prominent; the nose shows blueberry and pepper, with a balsamic note. On the palate there's blueberry and blackcurrant with oak and tannin showing on the finish. $39 91

2007 Coastview Syrah, Monterey County - Gabilan Mountains
Interesting nose; more assertive than the Rattlesnake Rock with herbal notes, some green pepper and nice black fruit. In the mouth it's another big, richly textured wine; concentrated black fruit flavours with some candied orange peel and meaty notes, leading up to a long finish. Nice smooth tannins; really a delicious wine. $48 93+

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I get a lot of emails from wineries announcing particular tastings or promotions. I don't usually post them here, largely on the grounds that I can't do them all (translation: I'm too lazy). But there's a particularly bizarre event this weekend at Poetic Cellars - pairing doughnuts with wine. And not just sweet wines either; there's a chocolate doughnut paired with a Cabernet Sauvignon. I wonder what Homer would say.
For more details go to poeticcellars.com

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