What's the HoseMaster Drinking?

KENNETH-CRAWFORD 2004 SYRAH LAFOND VINEYARD SANTA RITA HILLS


I haven't the vaguest idea how this bottle got into my wine cellar. I broke an opener a few days ago and left it for the Screw Fairy, maybe this was my reward. If you don't have a Screw Fairy I suggest you get one. I did a search and it turns out they're easy to find on Craigslist. Actually, I do remember at one time I was on the Kenneth-Crawford mailing list, back in the day when I was on mailing lists like Amy Winehouse is on mind-altering substances, that is, way too many, none of which seem to have conferred any talent. What's odd is that I normally avoid hyphenated wine--though I do like Dashe. But here was this bottle of 2004 Syrah from the hyphenated boys at Kenneth-Crawford made from grapes grown at LaFond Vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills which had magically appeared in my cellar. I recalled that 2004 was a vintage notable for a nasty heat spike at harvest and I was a bit concerned that the wine would be a victim of that, taste raisiny and unbalanced, like Pat Robertson. But, hallelujah, it bore not a trace of the sulfurous stench of the evangelist. In fact, it was heavenly. I fancy myself something of a Syrah fetishist, and this Kenneth-Crawford definitely had me on a leash. I surrendered to its blackberry and blueberry domination, crawled on my belly for its fine tannins, and let its acidity arouse me. And then I drank it. I had no memory of this wine, but, somehow, I was smart enough to have bought some and cellared it. It still has years ahead of it. I suspect I paid about $30 for it, and that turns out to have been a huge bargain. I loved it so much I went immediately to their website. These hyphenated boys know their way around Syrah.


The HoseMaster Score: 889,065 Points


Disclaimer: For all I know this wine was a plant. For all you know, I'm a plant. Like Alder Yarrow.

What's the HoseMaster Drinking?

ABBAZIA DI NOVACELLA 2007 LAGREIN STIFTSKELLEREI NEUSTIFT




This is a wine that's an absolute joy to drink. Every Italian wine lover is familiar with the wines of Abbazia di Novacella and their brilliant winemaker Celestino Lucin. And Lagrein is one of the great underappreciated varieties; where it shines is the Alto Adige. So you take a great winemaker, working at one of the oldest wineries in the world (founded in 1142 by Augustinian monks St. Mickey of Dolenz and St. Peter of Tork), producing wine from one of Italy's great red wine grapes, and you get this beauty. St. Augustine of Hippo (not to be confused with Kirstie Alley of Hippo), whose teachings the Augustinians follow, taught, among other things, that "Nothing conquers except truth and the victory of truth is love." Now there's a pithy little aphorism. Though I always thought the victory of truth is divorce. But I would never argue with a guy named Saint Augustine of Hippo. Unless I was Saint Ron of Oxpecker, and, believe me, I know Oxpeckers, I worked with Oxpeckers, I am certainly a long way from an Oxpecker. Baboonpecker, maybe, but no Oxpecker. Oh, where was I? Drinking this gorgeous bottle of red wine actually reminded me of drinking one of the great red wines of the Loire, with its lithe body and insistent acidity. Lagrein isn't always this compelling. Many examples are light and stupid. But in the hands of Celestino Lucin Lagrein shows its powdery, floral, cherry and almond skin beauty. This stuff is as racy as a Victoria's Secret runway show but without that depilatory smell. Tell me that doesn't make you want to try a taste.


The HoseMaster Score: 777,500 Points


Disclaimer: As a young Leo chicken I always wanted to be an Augustinian friar.

What's the HoseMaster Drinking?

Clos Rougeard 2005 Saumur Champigny

True confession time. There are countless things I've never done that I feel destined to do. Maybe we all feel that way. For example, I've never played Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet." I've never faced a little chin music from Nolan Ryan. I've never wiped that smirk off Alex Trebek's face. I never married a Walloon. Oh, there's still time yet for me to do all of these things, maybe even memorize the Bible in Pig Latin ("Et-lay ere-thay E-bay ight-lay"), but what's really fun is to finally discover something you didn't even know existed, have the curtain rise on your ignorance and the extinguished lamp on your porch finally turn on. Like the first time you heard Portugese Fado music, or smelled your own toejam. I was unfamiliar with Clos Rougeard until just the other night when I opened a bottle My Gorgeous Samantha had sent me for some special occasion or other, probably Be Kind to Animals Week. Clos Rougeard, it turns out, is one of, if not the, greatest red wine producers of the Loire Valley. How come I'd never heard of it before, much less tasted it? This was a gigantic hole in my wine knowledge, and, believe me, it takes one to know one. Clos Rougeard is one of the great Cabernet Francs in the world, and up until a day or two ago I knew nothing about it. Sort of like being an astronaut and never tasting Tang. On the basis of this one bottle, I'm now a huge fan. It was intriguing and seductive from the first sniff. In many ways it really reminded me of Burgundy, ethereal and earthy, I kept smelling truffles, and slow to reveal itself. But once it started opening up it was quite complex and intriguing. Like most great wines it showed elegance and restraint and purity. I wanted to let it open up even more, but I couldn't stop picking up my glass and tasting it. Tart cherries, truffles, a pinch of spice and a long, long finish. It was addicting, in the way of Burgundy, enchanting and powerful at the same time. It cast a spell on me. And this is Clos Rougeard's least expensive, youngest vines bottling! Holy crap. I need to try their "Les Poyeux" and "Le Bourg!" Thank you, Samantha, I have a whole new outlook on Cabernet Franc and Saumur Champigny. And my own ignorance, which is an appellation to rival the Upper Mississippi River Valley AVA in size.


The HoseMaster Score: 845,299


Disclaimer: HoseMaster of Wine is taped before a live studio audience, and yet still needs canned laughter.

What's the HoseMaster Drinking?

Denner 2007 Syrah Paso Robles

If Paso Robles is ever going to be known for anything, it's probably going to be the Rhone varieties. Amazingly, Paso Robles has somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 wineries now. Unfortunately, in that same neighborhood live only about fifteen winemakers who know what they're doing. The last time I visited Paso Robles, which was just a few months ago, it was an amazing experience. I can't remember ever tasting so many horrible Cabernet/Syrah blends in one place, unless you count Trader Joe's. My tongue still hasn't forgiven me. Both forks. In Paso Robles they've somehow managed to find a way to take the least appealing part of Cabernet Sauvignon and magically blend it with the ugliest part of Syrah to make the wine equivalent of an Ann Coulter/Glenn Beck love child. Ugly and loud, but at least it's stupid. Now don't get me wrong, I think Paso Robles has enormous potential. It just seems to be plagued with too many amateur winemakers. I say that because the folks who do make stunning wines in Paso Robles--Saxum, Linne Calodo, Tablas Creek, Lone Madrone, Villa Creek and Denner, among others--prove the appellation's quality. But there seem to be another 185 wineries trying to prove them wrong. Denner is a winery that is still just finding its stride. It sells a lot of its fruit to folks like Saxum and Linne Calodo, and then tries to imitate their style with their own wine. Mostly, it works. But along with those guys they are defining a style in Paso Robles for Syrahs that is ripe and gooey and nearly Aussie in their exaggerated swagger. There's a point where Syrah goes from blackberry to Oreo cookie, and Denner is walking that tightrope. But the 2007 is pretty good. Avoid it like a Jehovah's Witness if you love the wines of the Northern Rhone, it's nowhere near Hermitage as the Croze flies. But if intense flavors of blackberry and wild cherry make you happy, and you like gooey in your wine, albeit gooey with decent acidity to hold it together, and you like a wine with the persistence of and Erin Andrews stalker, this is your kind of Syrah.


The HoseMaster Score 543,421 Points


Disclaimer: I swear, I've never even seen my own peephole much less Erin Andrews'.

What's the HoseMaster Drinking?

Alesia 2007 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

It's a Pinot Noir world right now, at least in California, and since we are clearly the most self-absorbed of states, that's all that matters. California sets the trends for the entire country, if not the entire planet. It all starts here--bankruptcy, Google, pornography, foreclosures, Twitter, smog, Scientology--the Seven Modern Horsemen of the Apocalypse. There are so many amazing grapes in the world I almost hate to write about Pinot Noir, but, then, yesterday, it was what the HoseMaster was drinking. And loving. I've written before about the wonderful wines being produced by Rhys Vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains. "Alesia" is the Rhys Vineyard label for the Pinot Noirs produced from purchased fruit. The Rhys wines are breathtaking and very much worth the search. If you're not on his mailing list and you love Pinot Noir, well, what the hell are you waiting for? Phys on Earth? And if you're just offered Alesia Pinot Noirs at first, jump on them. The 2007 Sonoma Coast is as pure and as pretty as a castrato singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." OK, I don't know what that means either. But from first sniff to last, the Alesia is focused on black cherry, rose petal and lavender aromas that leap from the glass, caress your nose and call you Barbra. It has vibrant fruit that is still rather tightly wound, but the intensity and structure of the wine would lead me to believe its best days are ahead of it. Think of this wine as the prettiest girl in the room. The one you want to take home and spend hours with, but, sure, right, like you've got a chance in Lodi of that happening. This is a tremendous wine for $35.


The HoseMaster Score 803,777 Points


Disclaimer: Read my lips. No gnu taxes. Kudus for that.

What's the HoseMaster Drinking?

GTS Vineyards 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Nancy's Fancy Diamond Mountain


I'm an unabashed baseball fan, so once the World Series is over I slip into depression. And not just a mild depression. I get self-destructive. I actively seek out oblivion. I read wine blogs. I find WineHarlots gives me a very satisfying loss of the will to live. Reading BrixChicks for just twenty minutes has sent my brain into a vegetative state, and I have a very strict Do Not Resuscitate rule, unless it's a woman doing it and she uses her tongue. Perhaps I love baseball not wisely, but too well. So when I sat down to dinner last night and thought about what wine I wanted to drink, it came to me. Tom Seaver! Miracle Mets, Tom Terrific, Three-Time Cy Young Award Winner, and, now Diamond (where else?) Mountain Cabernet producer! A bottle of his wine would have to help. And, luckily, I owned a bottle or two. Seaver owns about four acres of vineyard on Diamond Mountain. Seaver hired Thomas Brown, famed winemaker for Schrader, Outpost and his own label, Rivers-Marie, to be his winery battery mate. The GTS 2005 Nancy's Fancy is very nice Diamond Mountain Cabernet, though showing the youthfulness of the vineyard. Brown dolled it up in a bunch of oak so it comes across a little like Brooke Shields in "Pretty Baby;" and while the oak is a bit too noticeable for my taste, the fruit does manage to stand up to it with bright cherry and red currant flavors with just a bit of green olive. I wouldn't expect a long, award-winning career from this rookie effort, but it certainly cheered me up to be drinking a wine from Tom Seaver. And it receives an extra 311 points, one for each win of Tom Terrific's great career.


The HoseMaster Score 598,311 Points


Disclaimer: I do not own a chimp named Bubbles and have never dated Brooke Shields. I did once date a chimp named Brooke.

What's the HoseMaster Drinking?

The Ojai Vineyard 2002 Syrah Melville Vineyard Santa Rita Hills


When you're looking for the best Syrah in California, where do you look? Aside from in some highly rated Pinot Noirs. In my occasionally humble opinion, the best and most consistent Syrah producer in the state is Adam Tolmach at The Ojai Vineyard. His parade of Syrah bottlings is dazzling in almost every vintage, like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade without all the hot air. (Boy, that sure reads like a joke even if it isn't particularly amusing.) Of all his Syrah bottlings, and there are about eight of them, it's his "Roll Ranch" Syrah that is consistently the most brilliant--from a vineyard in Ventura County!--and I'd encourage you to seek it out. But I also love the way he handles his Melville fruit (from Billy Buddbreak to harvest, it's his coolest climate vineyard). The 2002 Melville from the Santa Rita Hills (yes, I know, technically it's the "Sta. Rita Hills", but in 2002 it was still "Santa Rita Hills" and that's what's on the label so get off my back, OK?) made my eyes light up, my nose tingle and made me want to break into a chorus of "Sta. Claus is Comin' to Town." I don't say this too often, but just the color of the wine was beautiful--a deep and dazzling purple like Barney the Dinosaur run through a blender. The wine was a bit too cold coming out of my cellar so it took some time for it to warm and open, but when it did it revealed a lovely nose of pure blackberries, white pepper, spice, and a hint of flowers that I'd call violets. All of the purity and intensity of the nose seemed to hint at it being rather gooey and dense on the palate, but, instead, it had a firm backbone of acidity, chocolate undertones, and bright, layered fruit. I always know when I open an Ojai Syrah that I won't be disappointed, and that sort of consistency is relatively rare in the wine world.


The HoseMaster Score 877,088 Points

Disclaimer: I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves and I really fucked up my nice Caddy--the car, not the guy who washes my balls.

What's the HoseMaster Drinking?

Maison Deux Montille 2005 Corton Charlemagne


How many times have you heard a pinhead say, "I don't really like Chardonnay?" When did Chardonnay and Merlot become the Octomoms of grapes? Neither one of them deserve the scorn heaped upon them. Gruner Veltliner and Pinotage, now they deserve plenty of scorn, a scornucopia of disparagement, but that's another story. I would defy Chardonnaysayers to turn their nose up to the 2005 Maison Deux Montille Corton Charlemagne, however. This is the stuff dreams are made of, and not the dry ones. How Charlemagne got his name appended to the appellation seems lost in conjecture, some saying he once owned the hill in Corton where the only Chardonnay in this Burgundy appellation is planted; others say his wife, Mrs. Charlemagne, preferred white wine to red because it didn't stain his beard as much. What kind of a slob was he? His wife used to call him Charlemangey. But, I was thinking, wouldn't it be interesting if the United States had named wine appellations for its leaders? So, for example, instead of Finger Lakes maybe we'd have the Finger Bush appellation. Just a thought. The Deux Montille Corton Charlemagne was simply gorgeous, gorgeous the way gorgeous is meant to be gorgeous--simple, understated, naturally gorgeous. The wine possessed a superb nose of hazelnut, ripe green apples, and lemons that developed and expanded significantly over the course of the meal, adding honeyed notes and minerality. What defined this wine was its elegance, a rather vague word, but you know it when it stains your beard. The rich apple and honey flavors come through in the flavor along with the bracing acidity in perfect balance. Long and pretty and complex, it was a fantastic bottle of maligned Chardonnay.


The HoseMaster Score 866,905 Points


Disclaimer: I received this lovely bottle as a gift from a loyal HoseMaster reader. I think we can all learn from her example. And, like her gift, she's gorgeous too.

What's the HoseMaster Drinking?

Dehlinger 2003 Syrah "Goldridge Vineyard" Russian River Valley


During the current Recession we've all had to make some tough choices, find ways to spend less money. Go out to dinner less often, and when we do, register false complaints in the hope the restaurant will comp your meal. Don't leave a tip, leave coupons. Stop buying Fancy Feast and switch to regular cat food--Grandma won't notice. And the furballs get smaller. Rent panties. All of those things will help. But most of us have also had to quit a lot of winery mailing lists. I used to buy wine from dozens of producers, but now I'm down to a precious few. Dehlinger is one of them. Tom Dehlinger is as consistently brilliant a Russian River winemaker as there is, rarely, if ever, taking a false step. I buy a little bit less of his wines than I once did, but I still buy what I can afford. Whenever I open an older Dehlinger wine, like this 2003 "Goldridge" Syrah, I know I'm in for a treat. Dehlinger understands balance and restraint. At six years old, this Syrah is ethereally lovely. There's a purity here, a focus, a prettiness that defies description. Drinking the '03 Dehlinger Syrah was like biting into a sweet, ripe, red plum. Add a dash, just a dash, of meatiness, a pinch of leather, wrap it in lively acidity and chalky tannins, and, man, this was a satisfying bottle of wine.


The HoseMaster Score 875,459 Points


Disclaimer: I have never used performance-enhancing drugs. My testicles just naturally didn't descend.

What's the HoseMaster Drinking?

Seghesio 2006 Zinfandel Cortina Dry Creek Valley


I am an unabashed fan of Zinfandel, and always have been. I like that it's bombastic and unrelenting and unashamed of being way too much most of the time. It's like I have a twin! And I'm head-pruned too. "Cortina" is the soil type in the Seghesio Zinfandel Vineyard in Dry Creek Valley. (The wine was not named for the Ford Cortina, a car that, ironically, was dirt cheap.) The 2006 Cortina Zinfandel is an interesting wine. It started with a very ripe, almost late harvest, extracted, gutsy aroma that concerned me. But on the palate it showed lovely balance, some chalky finishing tannins and gorgeous fruit, where I was expecting a clumsier, over-the-top kind of Zin from the nose. This seems reflective of the 2006 vintage, the extended heat at vintage's end giving it the late harvest characteristics in the nose, but the age of the vines at the Cortina vineyard maintaining a lovely balance and freshness anyway. (I had heard of plans to blend the Cortina Zin with some Cabernet from Stag's Leap Wine Cellars in Napa in order to create a lovely "Cortina Fay" bottling, but, luckily, those were scrapped--like that joke should have been.) What you end up with is a Zinfandel with black raspberry and a pinch of white pepper flavors, with nice fruit intensity, elegant, supple, chalky tannins, and plenty of guts. I tend to like Seghesio's Cortina Zinfandel because in most vintages, including this one, it shows the power and eloquence of Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel.


The HoseMaster Score 706,865 Points


Disclaimer: All performers in this review were over 18 at the time of filming. Any resemblance to actual wine criticism is purely coincidental.

What's the HoseMaster Drinking?

Ridge 2004 Grenache Lytton Estate California

I've been a member of Ridge's Advance Tasting Program (ATP) since Harvey Steiman was in diapers. So, like, five years. I am rarely disappointed by the ATP offerings, but I wasn't particularly thrilled with the 2004 Grenache from Lytton Estate. Maybe I just don't get what Ridge is trying to achieve with this wine. Hey, far be it from me to question anything that Paul Draper, Ridge's legendary winemaster, puts into a bottle. For my money, Mr. Draper is one of California's winemaking geniuses, and the rare one that isn't self-proclaimed. I'm not qualified to carry his spit bucket. But the '04 Grenache, just released, struck me as clumsy and awkwardly tannic. I've always found the great Grenaches in the world to be graceful and luscious, but this wine is about as graceful as J. Edgar Hoover in high heels. There's some dark fruit on the nose, heavyhanded American oak as well, with a brief burst of blueberries on the palate, which fade quickly into an overly tannic finish. I'm being a bit hard on this wine (hell, it was a bit hard on me) because I've come to expect much more from Ridge. And, like Lou Dobbs' bad toupee, I don't see it getting any better with time.


The HoseMaster Score 146,333 Points


Disclaimer: No animals were killed or injured in the writing of this review, except for the cow who gave its life so that I could narf a steak with the Grenache. Thanks, Bessie!

What's the HoseMaster Drinking?

Cep 2007 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast


Here's the finest Pinot Noir in California for $25 or less. Well, that's not much of a recommendation when I think about it. What's the competition at that price point? It's like saying, "Here's the best steak dinner for under $20." So forget I said that. This is delicious, satisfying, gorgeous Pinot Noir. So don't ask what I peayed for it. It's produced by a prestigious Sonoma Coast winery that, for some bizarre marketing reason, doesn't want its name associated with Cep. So I've chosen to peay attention to their request and not divulge the winery. I have certainly had far more expensive Pinot Noirs that weren't this good. You don't always get what you peay for. "Cep" is French for root vine, which explains the label, which otherwise could be misconstrued as a divining rod. Which, I guess is what a vine root is, so maybe that's not misconstruing at all. The aroma is very feminine (by which I mean it would never agree to let me take it home unless I peayed for it), filled with red fruits, which, if you're going to hound me about it, reminded me of huckleberry. There's plenty of spicy notes, and just a tiny bit of earthiness, more mushroom than anything. But it completely overdelivers on the palate. It's just gorgeous wine, bright with acidity, not particularly tannic, not at all ponderous or overextracted; it delivers the delicacy and beauty of Pinot Noir in a beguilingly complex way. I still can't get over the price for a Pinot Noir of this quality.

The HoseMaster Score 702,006 Points

Disclaimer: Let me make it perfectly clear. I did not have sex with that woman.

What's the HoseMaster Drinking?

Villa Creek 2007 Mourvedre "Damas Noir" Paso Robles


Mourvedre has more names than P. Diddy. Mourvedre also goes by Monastrell, Mataro, Balzac (there's no honore in that), Alicante, Torrentes, Pee Wee Herman, about 35 other names, and the abovementioned Damas Noir. The grape itself, whatever damn name you choose to call it, is a very late ripening grape, one of the last grapes harvested. This, naturally, makes it difficult to ripen. In California, it's often picked around Halloween when the weather is beginning to get sketchy, the sun is getting lower in the sky, and we set our clocks back an hour in order to confuse the employees at WalMart. So one would assume it would do well in Paso Robles, a relatively hot appellation. The Villa Creek 2007 Mourvedre confirms that assumption. No problem with ripeness here, it's riper than Rush Limbaugh's jockstrap. But this probably isn't a wine for everyone, not that anyone goes out and buys a wine I like, that would be crazy, I'm not a Brix Chick, though I do love a nice breast that's been grilled under a brick, which has to hurt, because it does have some of the typical Mourvedre meatiness that isn't everyone's cup of jerky. The closest fruit that comes to mind is blackberries when I sip this, but it's the leathery, meaty, rustic character that dominates. I wish it had a bit more elegance, which the great Mourvedres can possess, but elegance and Paso Robles go together like class and the Oakland Raiders. If you're not familiar with the wines of Villa Creek, you're missing out on one of the best wine producers in Paso Robles, and if you like big, fruit-filled, bombastic wines, then get on their mailing list. Their wines are about as shy as Sasha Grey. I drank this baby with some chicken thighs, hold the bricks. Bad combination, it insulted the chicken's thighs, and nothing makes a chicken lose its tenderness quicker than that.


The HoseMaster Score 654,987 points

Disclaimer: I paid $40 for this wine out of my own pocket because no one is stupid enough, not even winery marketing people, to send me free samples. This product should be kept out of the reach of small children and Tim Fish.

What's the HoseMaster Drinking?

Thierry Allemand 2004 Cornas "Reynard"


The first wine region I fell in love with outside of California was the Rhone Valley. All of it. I fell so hard I almost changed the spelling of my first name, but Valley Washam sounded stupid. I came sort of late to Cornas, after long love affairs with Chateauneuf-du-Pape (which, translated, means "new house of David Ortiz"), Hermitage and Cote-Rotie, but Cornas is a fascinating region. Cornas is a very small appellation (unlike Ricky Skaggs, who is a small Appalachian) where the wines are required to be 100% Syrah. The classic producers of Cornas are Auguste Clape and Noel Verset (Clape is sort of Pop Cornas, rather salty), a couple of old-timers who are nearing retirement (hell, they're both in their 80's, I think, so they're more accurately nearing the Grim Reaper--which, by the way, is not Kermit Lynch's nickname). But now there is Thierry Allemand, and he has begun to eclipse those old masters. Where Clape produces wines of great stature and impermeability, Allemand crafts Cornas that is ineffably elegant. For my recent birthday (Hello, Grim Reaper!), my wonderful and brilliant friend Samantha sent me three bottles of wine; the 2004 Allemand "Reynard" was one of them. Friends, this is brilliant Syrah. Allemand manages to escape the fierce tannins so commonly found in Cornas and produces a wine of great depth and balance. It seems clear he doesn't destem the fruit from the structure and mouthfeel. But you stick your nose in a glass of this and you are instantly engaged. It has great purity and power, waves of aromas and flavors. Over the course of the meal it smelled variously of blackberries, smoke, dried herbs, violets...Wow. Every sip commanded your attention with its fantastic richness and concentration and length. And, like all great wines, the last sip was the best. I taste a lot of Syrah, far too much of it from California, but I can't remember the last time I tasted one so intriguing and complex and beautiful.


Disclaimer: I received this wine as a birthday gift from a gorgeous woman. If your erection lasts more than four hours, call your doctor. Thank him

What's the HoseMaster Drinking?

Benovia 2006 Pinot Noir Savoy Vineyard Anderson Valley


Regular readers, and even those with constipation, will recall that I have a fondness for the Pinot Noirs from Benovia, a relative newcomer in the Russian River Valley. I don't recall the origin of the name "Benovia," though the fact that it's an anagram for "A Bovine" leads me to believe it's got something to do with cows, which is udder nonsense. Though for awhile I thought Benovia was the prescription drug Sally Field was taking for her calcium deficiency. Turns out that's Crow. Doesn't matter. Benovia, with Mike Sullivan at the helm, is producing compelling wine. He went outside of Sonoma for this beauty, all the way to Philo and the famous Savoy Vineyard, a vineyard whose grapes don't come cheap. They cost a lot of Philo dough. The appeal of the Anderson Valley Pinot Noirs is their complexity and delicacy. In the 2006, it's blackberries and orange peel with an undertone of earthiness and minerality. I like a Pinot Noir that's like this--the prettiest girl in the room, but completely in charge. That says more about me than the wine, I guess, but if you're able to spend $55 on wine these days, here's a winery worth exploring.


Disclaimer: I am not now, and have never been, a member of the Communist Party. I have no interest in Benovia Winery, but if I did I wouldn't tell you anyway.