Wine Camp Blog: a points-free zone

Links for 2009-11-19 [del.icio.us]

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

Built on the Cornerstone « Wannabe Wino Wine Blog
Wannabe Wino reviews 2005 Cornerstone Cellars Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon.

Cabernet Colors - November in Yountville

Craig Camp — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:36:31 +0000

Cabernet Colors - November in Yountville

Posted via email from Wine Camp Blog/Posterous Edition

Fall colors - Napa November

Craig Camp — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:35:57 +0000

Fall colors - Napa cabernet vines near Yountville on a November morning.

Posted via email from Wine Camp Blog/Posterous Edition

Last harvest - Cabernet vines ripped out after harvest 2009

Craig Camp — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:05:39 +0000

Last harvest - Cabernet vines ripped out of a Yountville vineyard after harvest 2009.

Posted via email from Wine Camp Blog/Posterous Edition

Ripasso

Craig Camp — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:03:31 +0000

Smooth. Is there a smoother red wine made than Valpolicella? Add a touch of ripasso richness and you get a great wine bargain. Ripasso, the process of adding the pressed grapes from Amarone to Valpolicella causing it to referment, elevates Valpolicella from a lovely everyday wine to one worthy of special occations.

The 2006 Capitel della Valpolicella Ripasso from Montrasor is such a wine. Ripe, round and velvety without a touch of heaviness, it delivers an excellent wine at a very fair price - under $20.

Links for 2009-11-08 [del.icio.us]

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

NOPA San Francisco
a must on my next visit to the city
NorCal 2009, Day Five: The Allure of Terroir

Scary Harvest

Craig Camp — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:40:27 +0000

Cabernet sill on the vine on Halloween

Posted via email from Wine Camp Blog/Posterous Edition

Links for 2009-10-29 [del.icio.us]

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PDT

4 New Wines from Cornerstone Cellars | Gang of Pour On Wine
Gang of Pour reviews Cornerstone Cellars' new Napa Valley releases

Last of Summer

Craig Camp — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:57:24 +0000

A fresh tomato salad from The French Laundry Garden at Bouchon in Yountville.

Posted via email from The Wine Camp Blog

Dawn over Yountville 10/26/09

Craig Camp — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:13:36 +0000

Late October dawn over Yountville

Posted via email from The Wine Camp Blog

Late October dawn at The French Laundry Garden

Craig Camp — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:23:28 +0000

October dawn at The French Laundry Garden

Posted via email from The Wine Camp Blog

Mixed Blacks

Craig Camp — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:33:44 +0000

Mixed blacks, an old term that used to be the backbone of wines like Gallo’s Hearty Burgundy. It was a catch all phrase for varieties that did not command a premium like those that could be bottled under their own name. It also referred to a very old way of planting as farmers would plant many different varieties in their vineyards so they wouldn’t have all their grapes in one basket - if one variety had a bad year perhaps the others would do better. The ‘mixed blacks’ were the bottom of the totem pole and got bottom dollar for the farmer. Today that’s turned on its head as these old mixed planting vineyards have become a national treasure of old vines and interesting varieties.

Girard Winery has taken full advantage of one of these vineyards producing their 2006 Girard Mixed Blacks from a century old vineyard with a mixed planting of syrah, zinfandel, petite sirah, grenache, mourvedre, carignane and a few other varieties whose identity remain a mystery. All the varieties are co-fermented (always an interesting idea) and aged in a blend of French (85%) and American oak for eighteen months. What a wine this is! Loaded with explosive black fruit and layered with earthy touches of porcini and smoked meats, it fills the mouth without being heavy. Girard has avoided the ponderous, one dimensional character of so many “old vine” wines from these varieties. A crisp acid bite keeps this wine alive and it will remind Rhone lovers of a good Cornas or Crozes Hermitage, of course with an added dose of ripe California fruit.

Too few of these great old vineyards survived the rush to plant more fashionable varieties. It’s great to see a winery give such an old treasure its due.

Posted via email from craigcamp’s posterous

Chave Bargains

Craig Camp — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:49:37 +0000

Chave and bargain don’t usually go together and indeed this is one of the most expensive Cotes du Rhone wines you’ll find, but it’s worth every dime. I found the 2004 Chave Mon Coeur Cotes du Rhone tucked away on a back shelf for $20 and it was indeed a bargain. The extra few years in bottle has amplified its personality, which is rich with brooding notes of bacon, butcher shop and black pepper layered over lush, intense black fruit. It’s wonderful when great winemakers like Chave use their considerable skills to produce not only great wines, but affordable ones.

Posted via email from craigcamp’s posterous

Vielles Vignes under $20

Craig Camp — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:39:50 +0000

2006 Domaine La Milliere Vieilles Vignes Cotes du Rhone

Old vines, not filtered, under $20 and delicious, what more could you want? Actually this wine is more than delicious offering real complexity and flavor and no simple fruity stuff either, but earthy, warm complex fruit with a structured backbone that makes this wine exceptional with food. How do they do it? They have to grow and make the wine, ship it to the USA, put a importers markup on it followed by a wholesalers then a retailers markup and it still costs under $20 or $30 in a restaurant. It’s damn embarrassing for us American winemakers. Grab cases of this beauty and enjoy.

Posted via email from craigcamp’s posterous

Feds Stop Fighting Medical Marijuana Laws

Craig Camp — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:59:00 +0000

The recent decision by the Federal Government to accept state medical marijuana laws seems to have caused things to go out of control in California.

Waiting For "Just So"

Craig Camp — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:08:48 +0000

It’s a waiting game. We’re waiting for “just so”. Simple ripeness is not enough. Everything has to be just right - sugars, acids and phenolics all have to be “just so”. It’s a tough balance to achieve and in many vintages, like Godot, it never arrives. Because nature rarely offers perfection harvest is usually a battle of nerves - ours vs. Mother Nature’s and Mother Nature always wins. For small production wines like Cornerstone it’s all about precision harvesting. We focus all of our attention on small blocks of vineyards and strive to harvest at the moment of perfection when everything is “just so”. This year it seems that Godot himself has actually arrived as each of our vineyards has been coming in at the perfect point. Picking at perfection is only attained by being in the vineyards and knowing your vines. Pictured above, Cornerstone’s winemaker Jeff Keene (left) and consulting winemaker Peter Franus walk our Hardman Road Block in southern Napa near Silverado Country Club. We’ve picked half of our Cabernet Sauvignon now, but this block, a cooler site, is perhaps a week or more away. Indeed things are looking very, very good in Napa.

Posted via email from craigcamp’s posterous

Turley on Acid

Craig Camp — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:55:43 +0000

Cinsault? From Lodi? A bright, zesty high acid sub-14% wine from Turley? I guess wonders never end. Cinsault, one of the work horse varieties of southern France, rarely gets the spotlight - usually for good reason. However, like so many of the lesser known Mediterranean varieties, in the hands of dedicated vintners with good vineyards, they can produce some exceptional wines. This wine may not be exceptional, but it is delicious. In some ways this wine is more reminiscent of southern Italian wine than California with its biting acidity and earthy fruit flavors. On top of that its under $20. I plan to grab all I can find for homemade pizza this winter.

Posted via email from craigcamp's posterous

More Beautiful Cabernet!

Craig Camp — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:26:48 +0000

Sent from my iPhone

Posted via email from craigcamp’s posterous

Links for 2009-08-12 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Boisset buys Raymond

Links for 2009-08-09 [del.icio.us]

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Ink Grade Vineyard on Howell Mountain

Links for 2009-06-18 [del.icio.us]

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PDT

I Shared My Cornerstone « Wannabe Wino Wine Blog

Links for 2009-06-17 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Wine Bloggers to Gather at Second Annual Conference in Wine Country