(About 1800 above the valley floor)
Though dropping three figures on bottles that don't bubble is a thing of my past (I struggle to remember buying my last $100+ bubbling one too), I've enjoyed a fair amount of Peter Michael's wines poured for me by family, and poured on me by friends (that's how we roll when we make it rain!). In no way is this meant to be a discussion of their wine quality, just a statement that this is an amazingly picturesque place. Among being way the funk up in them thar hills in Knights Valley--> It is freakishly manicured, like Augusta manicured.
No, I didn't get a private tour (I'm still checking my mail looking for my invite). I have just made a couple rides way up and above their vineyards (praying on each descent that my brakes don't fail).
In wine, we talk a lot about "place", which to me is slightly different than terroir. Terroir is that part of place and people that shows through in the glass. To me, place is simply where the grapes are grown.
Peter Michael has place, ridiculous place-- Place that may just be worth a few extra bucks.
(I would like to host the Popeyes Online Wine Pairing Challenge in their party space on the left)
(Lady Dirty in for a quick visit from the ATL!)
cellarrat's Alan Baker displaying pure moustache power!
I'm a little slow throwing my first dinner party here in Healdsburg. Last night a crazy group of folks descended on Chez Dirty for a night of wine, grilled lamb, and more wine.
Cast: The Beer Wench, Shana Ray, Serena, Alan, Pedro, and the newest Sonoma county resident, Eric Hwang.
Some fun bottles without a stinker in the mix.
The Bottles:
Whites:
A wildly bright and rocky refresher. Open opening, I thought this bottle was "off"- it has some true funk. But after being open for 10min, it was singing. Thanks to the folks from Terroir for picking this out for me.
Green apple and lime in a glass, with decent rockiness and a little salt. Straight ahead juice. Dug it.
Another metamorphis wine- Tropical flavors up front, lush, and huge. This settled down to rock, smoke, toast, and citrus. Deep juice. I like it.
Yo. Deep. Almost heavy. Diggidy. Let this baby open up and warm up. I was afraid it was going to be shutdown being an 06, but it was crazy delicious.
One of the few West Coast Riesling I have had that hits you with mineral and rock first, fruit second. This is their "off-dry" which I prefer to their bone-dry Riesling. I think by off-dry, they are really just saying that they have one even drier- This is a pretty dry Riesling. Wild acidity, crisp, tart, citrus, stone, and steel.
Reds: None taken. Dug the 13.5% on the Teira Zin, 05 Radio-Coteau "La Neblina" super rich and textured, 07 Spot-On Syrah ripe fruit and black pepper, 05 Unti Reserve Syrah- YO!
Slideshow:
Thank you! I am completely humbled by the support I've been given from the food, wine, media, and music communities. A list of blogs, media outlets, and businesses that declared "Dirty For Goode" can be found here. It is mind-blowing. Within just a few weeks,the "Dirty For Goode" network reached millions of people. That is the power of social media-- Getting people to share a message, a dialog, and to listen, cooperate, and partner with each other through various, no / low cost platforms.
The Murphy-Goode Top 10 fly out to Sonoma on 7/18. We'll go through 4 days of interviews, activities, and I'm sure we'll do some slow-sippin'!
We've got a long way to go, and a short time to get there-- I'm West Bound....
At one time or another, we've all had our favorite indie record shop, record label, book store, writers, etc... In wine, this is Tenbrink Vineyards!... On the edges- lots of them-- (the freeway, winemaking, convention, in spirit).
People may be more familiar with Tenbrink if I reference Abe Schoener's Scholium Project. Abe makes his wines at Tenbrink and also helps Tenbrink's owners Steve and Linda with their own Tenbrink Wines...
I'm very familiar with Scholium's wines- I own a lot, I like them a lot-- They are both intriguing, challenging, and have a spirit that is part wild, part ancient, and part modern art.
To be honest, lady Dirty and I found Tenbrink by accident- We were driving back to our hotel in Fairfield when I saw the small sign saying "Tenbrink Vineyards." Recognizing what it was, I immediately pulled over to snap a few shots. At the same time, Linda Tenbrink was taking out the trash, and we started chatting. Before we knew it, we were in their winery shooting photos, tasting wine, and walking through the vines.
Steve and Linda are great spirits. Laid back, fun, passionate people on a mission to make world class wines in an area, Suisun Valley, (pronounced sosoon) more known for fruit trees and Jelly Beans.
During our visit, Steve started climbing on stacks of barrels and grabbing tastes of his Chardonnay, Tempranillo, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Wild stuff-- Each wine, a statement. I wasn't sure at first if these would be more toned down than Abe's Scholium wines, or if they'd push forward with the same spirit, I think they push just as far... This shi* is for real, a lot of fun, and their wines were shocking, powerful, and made you stop to digest.
In a five day trip through Napa and Sonoma, Tenbrink was our last visit, stumbled upon by accident, and one that just screamed fate, good fortune, and the path.
These are wines and people worthy of attention.
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