Ultimate California Wine Blog

Milat is another small family-owned winery which lies on the main stretch of Highway 29 in Napa. One of the immediate draws is that it is one of the few tasting rooms that stays open late, until 6:00 p.m. What is little known about Milat is that the family has been growing and supplying grapes to winemakers from their 22-acre ranch since 1949.

Although they only produce under 4,000 cases of wine, they do so under two labels; the Milat label and another called Pine Station. The Pine Station label are those grapes that are not worthy of the single-varietal blending and make up a few of the blends produced under the Pine Station moniker.

The tasting room is small and relatively unadorned. Sometimes there is something nice about a no-nonsense approach to what a tasting room is for; one goes to taste wine and the need for t-shirts and decorations and jewelry is secondary. The bloke pouring wine the day I was there was a member of the extended family – a nephew or something, but was extremely engaging and gregarious. A great time was had by all.

2004 Milat Chenin Blanc – A blend of 73% Chenin Blanc, 25% Chardonnay, and 2% unknown. With 1.5% residual sugar, the clear bright offering showed a hint of sweet white melon. The slightly effervescent mouth entry was generally pleasant and would be fine on a hot afternoon. $18.00

2004 Pine Station Rosé – A very odd blend of Merlot, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay, this rosé is made with Epernay yeast which gives it a slightly fizzy mouthfeel. The aromas were of fresh, bright currant and cranberry. Simple and easy without too much sugar, but little outstanding flavor and no finish. $9.00

2002 Pine Station Red – 44% Cabernet, 29% Merlot, and 27% Zinfandel. Dominate wood aromas of oak, cedar, and pine, then some exotic Moroccan spice presents itself in the back of the nose. A tad to woody for my tastes. Flavors include black fruit, cumin, coriander, and a distinctly sage finish. Medium bodied. $18.00

2002 Zinfandel – Intense ripe red cherry layered with light spice. Fresh and smooth, a medium-bodied zinfandel with some clove on the end. $23.00

2001 Cabernet Sauvignon – Initial aroma of green bell pepper then dark herbs. After a swirl or two, black plum and oak present themselves. A tad harsh on the mouth entry. The dark fruit seems a bit thin and pale on the end. $36.00

2001 Zivior, Port-style – 95% Zinfandel and 5% Towiga Vaciona. An odd port in that it seemed a cross between a ruby and tawny, trying to determine what it wanted to be. the were dusty floral tones with a hint of nuts. The mouth entry was viscous and sweet with some depth, but not enough to entice me. $25.00/375ml

Milat ~ 1091 St. Helena Highway South ~ St. Helena ~ CA ~ 94574 ~ 707-963-0168

Here again is a blog installment about which I feel a tad guilty because it is a somewhat half-assed installment in actually documenting a winery. Well, perhaps not entirely half-assed, but my reasons for going to Chalk Hill Vineyards and Estates was not entirely to review it as a winery, but to attend their now-famous auction event, Imagine which raises funds for children’s charities. I will be writing the entire event up for another publication, so it will only be briefly mentioned here.

The Chalk Hill estate lies on a massively sprawling chunk of over 1,200 acres off a series of small dirt roads in Healdsburg. It not only includes vineyards and winemaking facilities, but is also known as an equestrian center as part of the passion of its owners, Peggy and Fred Furth. Arriving at the estate, I was driven in a tourist van past what I was told was the winery area (hence, the far-away picture).

The Imagine fundraiser was held in a building that is actually an indoor riding facility, used mostly used for dressage. Here, however, the dirt floor was covered and the party set for approximately 500 people; on one end of this open-aired, vaulted structure, a was stage set for the performance by the Russian National Orchestra, conducted by Carlo Ponti, Jr. (Sophia’s little boy), and the other end, a stage set with an impressive audio-visual equipment to be utilized for the afternoon’s auction. This festivities were an afternoon gala which closely rivals the famous Napa Valley Auction in its celebrity watching, but also notable for the culinary offerings by Chalk Hill in-house chef, Didier Ageorges.

I mention food only in passing as the luncheon was coordinated for service of only three of Chalk Hill’s eleven wines. I would love an opportunity to taste their entire line-up as some interesting varietals are being bottled; besides the standard Cab/Merlot/Chard triumvirate, Chalk Hill’s wines include a rarely-seen Carmenere, a Petite Verdot, a Malbec, and a Semillon (just to name a few). There is always a distinct advantage to tasting wines when well-paired with food, so I will add in a few additional photographs of the amazing hors d’oeuvres that were served, partly because they are so pretty and partly because they were so exceptional.

2001 Pinot Gris – Golden straw color with a faint hint of grass and floral notes in the pale wine. A swirl produced brighter clean lemon with some white melon. The acidity was distinct with a pleasant sharp tang and a supple, clean finish. It paired especially well with the Lobster and Ginger Tempura as well as the Golden Trout Caviar on Blini.

2003 Sauvignon Blanc, Russian River Valley – Well-integrated bouquet of cat piss and grass. (This is a good cat-piss wine, trust me! It is not meant in a derogatory fashion.) Tangy upon mouth entry but blossoms into velvet and cream with a little tongue warmth. Slightly mineral in the mid-palate, showing depth and balance. I especially liked this wine with the Tuna Tartare and Pickled Seaweed on Toasts.

1998 Verité – An unknown blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, although the label indicated it was 62% Sonoma and 38% Napa grapes. With a wine of slight age, this was a fabulous example of depth and complexity, at first displaying elegant wild mushrooms and earthiness layered with fresh cranberry, cassis, and blueberry. As it opened, the intensely rich jammy nose produced some mineral tones and sweet black licorice. The mouth feel was viscous and smooth, bringing forth the dark fruit but also a bit of candied berry on the back palate. Long, detailed finish that changed and developed.

No prices were available on the wines. A future visit to Chalk Hill is on my radar and must be by appointment only.

Chalk Hill Estate Vineyards and Winery ~ 10300 Chalk Hill Road ~ Healdsburg ~ Sonoma County ~ CA ~ 95448 ~ 707-838-4306

Belle Marie Winery (and its second label, Chateau Dragoo) was the last winery I was able to visit during my recent San Diego excursion and while I have categorized it under the San Diego County Appellation, that classification is actually a little false and technically should not be allowed in my Ultimate California Wine Blog. Why? Well, Belle Marie’s "claim to fame" is that not a single grape producing over 5,000 cases of Belle Marie’s wine is grown in the United States.

There is much scuttlebutt about the upcoming growth of the next wine mecca and while rumor has it that China is a growing concern, Mexico is another new producer of wines beginning to appear on various wine writers’ radars. For the past five years, Belle Marie has been cultivating sixty different varietals on 150 acres of vineyards just south of the border, in Baja. They truck all the grapes up to their facilities in Escondido for processing (and thereby have to deal with the US production laws), but these are actually Mexican wines. The one characteristic that seemed to earmark these wines was a dark sensation of iron. I can only assume it be a terroir issue and will look into where these vineyards are to determine soil quality, but I wanted to mention it upfront.

On their property in Escondido lies a castle-like structure. It was just finished a few weeks before my visit and as an annex to the tasting room, is actually a facility available for rent for weddings and parties. I just shot the picture to show the edifice with its lush gardens is seemingly out of place in this area of hot, dry, barren stretch between northern San Diego county and the beginning of Temecula.

The tasting room is much the standard of the industry, but an explanation is needed on the two labels. The Dragoo label is reserved for those wines "produced in a European style," meaning at least two years in a combination of French and American oak (this is what they told me, anyway). The Belle Marie wines only see twelve to fourteen months in 100% American oak.

2004 Belle Marie Viognier – Like the Witch Creek Chardonnay, this was the second time I perceived an aroma of hair dresser chemicals. I know that some of Witch Creek’s grapes also came from Mexico and wonder if this is another distinct Mexican terroir characteristic. Beyond this sweetish chemical scent, there was some floral qualities, but overall the wine was too harsh. $18.00

2003 Chateau Dragoo Freisa - Sweet strawberry nose that gives way to strident minerality. Soft entry thins to little else. $22.00

2000 Belle Marie Duet – A blend of 43% Grenache, 36% Barbera, and 21% Tempranillo. Pale in color and body with distinctly bright floral and red fruit notes. Then there is iron. Lots of iron. The flabby entry shows little beyond thin fruit and iron flavors. $18.00

2000 Belle Marie Maestro – 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Nebbiolo. I had an odd discussion with the lady at the counter on this one. With a bottle that was half gone, I was sure this wine was corked. She had thought the same earlier in the day and showed it to the winemaker who assured her it was fine. When I brought up the concept of taint, she reconsidered her earlier assessment and opened another bottle. The initial aromas were more dark rustic herbs and dark fruit but more course iron. And then there was more taint. It didn’t show itself until the wine had opened up a bit and made me wonder if this was how the wine was supposed to taste (considering the winemaker saw no problem with an earlier offering). It will remain a mystery. $24.00

1997 Chateau Dragoo Cresendo [sic] – 100% Petite Sirah. Port-like sweet cherry and berry nose that is raisiny with cooked fruit. Thin vanilla entry that dissipates. $26.00

2001 Chateau Dragoo Vintage Port – Made form a Late Harvest Zinfandel and Tempranillo. One wonders why – the pairing of two seemingly different grapes. The wine was not too harsh upon entry but failed in showing any depth or structure. $22.00

NV Rhapsody – Raspberry "Champagne" – Color me beguiled. This is a sparkling wine of 100% Chardonnay that is almost perfectly clear with little or no color. It is infused with an essence of raspberry which is only apparent in the bouquet. Like the St. George Framboise Eau de Vie, it is the pure and strikingly bold aroma of raspberry that appears on the nose, in a delicately defined moment. The mouth entry, belying the raspberry’s potential for sweetness, was perfectly clean and crisp and charming. $16.00

Belle Marie/Chateau Draggo ~ 26312 Mesa Rock Road ~ Escondido ~ CA ~ 92026 ~ 760-796-7557

This is a truly exciting post for me. To start, it is Wine Blog Wednesday where Brother Lenn has asked us to Drink Local. The assignment this month is to go and find the winery closest to your home. To my knowledge, I am the only blogger who actually lives in Napa so I have a distinct advantage over say, someone living in Utah… But in a way it was actually a bit difficult. My initial thoughts were that I was either in close proximity to either Laird or Trefethen. I initially posted on Lenn’s site that at least I didn’t live next to Screaming Eagle, which would have been decidedly expensive! I started perusing GoogleMaps and asked winemaker Karen Culler about a suspicious plot of vineyards that I had never noticed before and it is truly fabulous to have access to great people who can help answer questions…

A phone call or two later and some time spent on GoogleMaps and I see that a mile-and-a-half (as the crow flies) or 2.8 driving miles away from my humble abode lies a winery about which I knew nothing, Robert Biale Vineyards. So here I get to kill two birds with one stone — a brand new entry in my ongoing blog as well as a really cool installment to WBW! Serendipity was definitely at play here, as the Biale tasting room has been open a whopping two weeks!

The facilities are brand spanking new, but these guys are hardly the new kids on the block. Robert Biale’s family started growing Zinfandel grapes in Napa in the 1920s and now specializes in local historic vineyards. A third generation Napan, Robert has a reliable and dedicated crew (if Jayme, whom I met during my visit, is any indication).

Along with producing vineyard-specific zinfandels (some from 100+ year-old vines), with Al Perry heading up winemaking, additional very cool varietals now carry the Biale moniker; Petite Sirah, Syrah, Barbera, and Sangiovese. Al works closely with the growers from whence Biale’s grapes are grown and feels passionately about these grapes which are distinctly Californian.

As indicated, Jayme was the host for the day in the newly-built tasting room. It is an appointment-only establishment, but one worth seeking out, if only to hear the story of the black chicken… But go and taste and buy these wines. They are astonishing in their character and distinct disposition; worthy of aging as their depth shows, but astonishing young.

2003 Grande Zinfandel – This was the second vintage from the Rossi Vineyards produced under the Biale name. The wine is slighty cloudy dark garnet in color and at first demonstrates rich blackberry and boysonberry liqueur aromas, immediately giving way to aromas of freshly-cracked black pepper, sweet and aromatic. The mouth entry is smooth and continues the blackberry tones, but expands to reveal hints of herbs and rich, complex finish. $40.00

2002 Monte Rosso, Sonoma Valley Zinfandel – Sweet cherry nose that is distinctly berry in structure. Developed with deep floral qualities and a long, spicy finish thatis not biting or hot. The Monte Rosso is specifically 110-year old vines and the wine certainly shows its pedigree. $46.00

2002 Thomann Station Petite Sirah – From famous vineyards in St. Helena near Sutter Home, this wine is inky black red and produces a bouquet of elegant licorice, blackberry liqueur, and faint hint of ground coffee. The wine coats the tongue in a supple and velvety fashion showing some brighter acid on the front with a tease of coffee on the finish. $50.00

2002 Gaudi Carli Barbera – Very enticing dark garnet red color. Floral notes that are rustic, spicy, and elegant with a touch of candied cinnamon and a whisper of sweet anise. The entry is at first smooth, silky, and touch sweet. There is more spice on the nose than on the tongue. The acids brighten on the mid-palate and develops into a long, structured finish. $35.00

Robert Biale Vineyards ~ 4038 Big Ranch Road ~ Napa ~ CA 94558 ~ 707-257-7555

It was with some odd trepidation that I went to Orfila Winery in Escondido… You see, twenty-some years ago, what is now Orfila was home to what was then Thomas Jaeger Winery. Way back then, when I was young and thin and beautiful, I was working at the California State Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control when this incredibly handsome young man walked in and asked for a wine-making application. I asked what his affiliation was with the winery and he told me he was the winemaker. Suffice to say that I now have very fond memories of that all-too-brief era in my life, of a winery that is no more, and a young man who is… well, I’ll leave it at that. I know that the Jaegers are now (and, I believe were at that time) growers in the Napa Valley. And the young winemaker today has his own California winery. Yep, that means that some day our paths may cross again, as I continue this blog…

The buildings have not changed and the interior space has been expanded to include both the working wine barrels and selling area. Heck, twenty years ago, I don’t even remember a retail area and not sure there was one. But I do remember the barrel rooms and this set-up is expansive and welcoming as it is nice to see elements of production so closely tied to hospitality.

Alejandro Orfila is the proprietor now and as an Ambassador from Argentina, has showcased his collection of flags all around the winery walls. It is an impressive collection as our world geography has changed, so has many of the worlds’ country flags, including a pre-Apartheid South African example.

The tasting room staff are extremely pleasant, helpful, AND honest. Many of the wines tasted had been recently bottled and while the winery probably should hold them for a while before releasing, I can understand the business behind needing to have wines for guests to taste. In those instances, the staff is up front about the potential that a wine might be too tight and suggest voluminous swirling to counter that. Also, I shot a picture of an unexpected request — here is a winery that really does not want guests to spit. I imagine this has something to do with a health department regulation, but I had never seen it so blatantly enforced. Being one always spit, I simply asked for another cup to spit into. As I am out here often doing this alone, there is no way I’m going to risk a DUI for a mere tasting that requires swallowing. To their credit, they were understanding and allowed me to expunge my samples.

2004 Bien Nacido Chardonnay – Austere and clean with creamy floral tones. Lemon peel and fresh flowers on the mouth entry which warms on the finish. $15.00

2003 Ambassador’s Reserve Chardonnay – Clear, straw color with easy, crisp butter and a hint of fig. $21.00

2004 White Riesling – At 2.3% residual sugar, a fairly sweet offering showing honeysuckle and white melon. Simple and easy to drink. $13.00

2004 Gewurztraminer – Residual sugar unknown, but a sweet nose would indicate at least 2.5%. Enticing roses aromas with some white fruit. The rose aroma mirrors in the flavor and is coupled with layers of pear, honey, and white flowers. $15.00

2001 Pinot Noir – From the San Luis Obispo Edna Valley. Hints of smoke and dust on the initial aroma. A tinny mouth entry blossoms to display balanced herbs in the mid-palate but a thinning finish behind the pale berry. $41.00

2003 "Coastal Cuvee" Merlot – Overt raspberry bouquet that is incredibly young (apparently having been bottled three days beforehand). $17.00

2002 Estate Sangiovese "Di Collina" – An estate wine from the San Pasqual Valley, bright cinnamon and clove shows heightened acidity. The thin, lean entry expands to a juicy center and finishes a bit dry. $20.00

2002 "Gold Rush" Zinfandel – Dark plum and blueberry with layers of mineral qualities shows in the nose. The minerality continues in the initial mouthfeel and interestingly shows some tin and miso flavors. The finish displayed more tin and a faint hue of soy sauce. $24.00

2002 Estate Ambassador’s Reserve Merlot – Slightly murky purple tone. Dusty violet and cherry aromas. Darker bing cherry flavors coupled with oaky leather. $28.00

2002 Estate Syrah "Val de la Mer" – Dark inky color showing meatiness in the nose with a faint hint of greeness. Flavors of wild berry and a bit of dry cocoa on the finish. $25.00

2003 Muscat Canelli "Bacchus Nectar" – Not an overtly sweet dessert wine showing yellow peach and honey. Simple and easy that would work well with a custard dessert. #25.00/750 ml

NV California Tawny Port – Made of Zinfandel and Carignane, hot aromas of dark toffee and nutty butter. Sweet entry and toasted nutty finish. $20.00

Orfila Vineyards and Winery ~ 13455 San Pasqual Road ~ Escondido ~ CA ~ 92025 ~ 760-738-6500