Every time I drink an Oakville wine, I’m amazed at the uniqueness of the flavor.  Cabernet made from this tiny appellation in the center of the Napa valley, flanked by Yountville to the south and Rutherford to the north, is immediately identifiable by its exceptional density and powerful but sweet tannins.

The 2008 Oakville Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon is no exception.  At this young age, it pours a deep, opaque purple.  The color alone identifies this wine as something special.  The nose is sweet and round, another signature of Oakville, with a nice balance of ripe fruit and new oak flavors.  On the palate, it shows its youth with mouth-coating, biting tannins that get sweeter as the lengthy finish lingers on.  Let this baby sit for 10 years and it will be absolutely epic.  If you don’t like it then, you will be able to sell it for more than you bought it for on the 94+ point rating alone.

As I read the back label, two things are clear.  1) Oakville ranch takes winemaking very seriously.  This wine comes from 4 distinct plots in a single vineyard rising clear up to 1,400 feet.  That kind of precise selection is impressive and really shows through in the layered flavors of their wine.  2) Oakville Ranch does not believe in capitalization (see picture right).

If you collect California Cabernet, this wine is a must.  It’s a spectacular wine today for its size and weight, but like a bride before her wedding, this wine will drop weight and gain complexity as it ages.  2008 is turning out to be an absolutely spectacular vintage for Napa Cabernet.  I can’t wait to taste more!

Buy Here: 2008 Oakville Ranch Cabernet $44.95

Robert Parker 94+ points

“The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville exhibits a similar opaque purple color and appears to be slightly richer than the 2007, as preposterous as that may sound. This thick, unctuously textured Cabernet is loaded with creme de cassis, charcoal, earth and spice characteristics and displays an explosively long finish. Both vintages are great, but the 2008 might nudge out the 2007. However, this will not be definitively decided for 10-15 years. This is another 20-year wine.”

International Wine Cellar 92 points

“Good full ruby. Complex aromas of cassis, blackberry, licorice, subtle spices and menthol. Lush on entry, then utterly seamless in the middle, with harmonious acidity giving shape and energy to the intense cassis and black cherry flavors. A peppery nuance provides lift but this fruit bomb will need four or five years in the bottle to develop more complexity.”

What’s better than sitting outside on a warm evening with a cool glass of Chardonnay?  For me, not a heck of a lot, especially when that cool glass is from La Crema, who makes one of the best values in California Chardonnay hands down.  All of their Chardonnays are really good year after year and this, the lowest priced in their lineup, still shows as a premium wine.

This wine actually reminds me of the 94 point Beringer Private Reserve Chardonnay in a lot of ways.  It’s oaky and buttery, yet balanced with a persistent acidity – a truly impressive expression of California Chardonnay.  The round mouthfeel combined with crisp pineapple flavors tell me that this isn’t a one trick pony like a lot of Chardonnay in this price range.  I’ve found that most Chards in the under $20 category are very one dimensional, either huge oak bombs, or all citrus flavors with no texture.  Not the case here.  This wine goes through 50% malolactic fermentation which gives it the rich oily mouthfeel while retaining the citric acid that keeps everything in balanace.  It all finishes with nice length and purity.

La Crema is worth seeking out.  That’s really saying something for a wine priced at $13.95 – a price that is actually so good there are retailers selling half bottles for more!  I just found my new house Chardonnay.

Buy Here: 2009 La Crema Chardonnay Monterey $13.95

Robert Parker 90 points

“More tropical aromas of pineapples, orange marmalade and honeysuckle jump from the glass of the 2009 Chardonnay Monterey. Fifty percent of this cuvee was put through malolactic fermentation and it came in under 14% alcohol, not unusual in a cool year such as 2009. It exhibits abundant fruit, medium body, good depth and a seductive style. Enjoy it over the next several years.

La Crema is an excellent value winery owned by Jess Jackson with an impressive group of winemakers, including Melissa Stackhouse.”

I love finding a house Chardonnay that drinks totally guilt free because it’s cheap and tastes great. The problem is, the more great Chardonnay you taste, the harder it becomes to find a daily drinker! I’m discovering that this is a problem with all kinds of wines. Drinking great wine resets your standard for what you consider a good wine. Luckily, despite this not-so-tragic phenomenon, I’m still finding great values in the under $10 value range all the time.

We enjoyed the Lander-Jenkins 2009 Chardonnay in the back yard on a warm Friday evening. This wine is perfect for such a setting. One thing the French have been doing for hundreds of years (besides retreating), is blending grapes for added complexity. Complexity is not something usually found in an $8 domestic Chardonnay, but Lander-Jenkins blends in 5% Muscat for a little sweetness and flavor variation. It’s a really nice touch in this rich, oaky Chardonnay which also has flavors of almond and honey.

This wine is made by Rutherford Wine Company, who are best known for the Rutherford Ranch Cabernet, which is also a fantastic value. If you’re looking for a new daily drinker Chardonnay, look no further. This is a case-worthy $8 value!

Buy Here: 2009 Lander-Jenkins Chardonnay $7.99

As our guide at Hartwell Estate Winery said, “This is Cabernet country”.  The Stags Leap AVA is indeed Cabernet country ever since Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars put California Cabernet Sauvignon on the map when it won the famous 1976 Paris tasting.  Since then, wine production in Napa Valley has grown exponentially, but Cabernet from the Stags Leap District remains arguably the most sought after in the country.  This is the first in a series of posts where we will take a tour through this historical district of the Napa Valley.

A little known property on the west side of the Silverado Trial, Hartwell Estate should start to make it on the wine loving public’s radar if the quality of their product is any indication.  The winery is perched near the top of a dormant volcano, offering sweeping views of the surrounding valley.  The Tuscan inspired look was inspired by Bob Hartwell’s wife Blanca.  As is a common theme in the Napa Valley wine scene, Bob Hartwell didn’t make his money selling wine, but rather in another industry, in his case aerospace.  It turns out Velcro might actually be a key ingredient to good wine, along with a great site and a talented winemaker.

That talented winemaker is Benoit Touquette assisted by consultant (and his mentor) the famed Michel Rolland.  As expected, no expense was spared at Hartwell.  From the $35,000 cement fermenting tanks (imported from France), to the 100% new French oak all of their Cabernet calls home, everything is top notch, and it shows!  In fact, I would say the Hartwell wines were the some of the best we tasted during our three days in the Stags Leap District.

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If you aren’t on the lookout for Rhone Ranger blends from California, you are missing out on an up-and-coming segment that is providing some great values.  The same grapes that made Sine Que Non an impossible to find cult wine, have remained under the radar for some reason.  Grenache and Syrah blends, and to a certain extent Mourvedre, blend to create interesting, elegant and fun to drink wines.

Paso Robles and Santa Barbara county are producing some of the best, but Grey Stack’s Greywacke Vineyard “The Folly” is from Russian River Valley, of all places.  This Syrah and Grenache blend is an absolute stand out value at $20 and a must try for anyone looking for a departure from the norm of California Cabernet.  I like Syrah, but believe that when blended with Grenache, it really “kicks it up another notch” in the words of that annoying guy from the Food Network.

This blend is aromatic with rose petal notes on the nose.  On the palate, the Syrah contributes smoke and white pepper, while the Grenache rounds things out with rock candy and raspberry flavors.  This is a very polished wine, although Grey Stack’s own website would have you believe otherwise, saying:

“Grey Stack Cellars makes distinctive,
food friendly wines
from unique sites in Bennett Valley.
Honestly, and without a lot of BS.

Grey Stack does not make:
Intellectual wines, grown in obsessively farmed vineyards
each berry polished by a virgin using a shammy
made from sustainably farmed baby seal skins.”

The fact that they have a sense of humor makes a great wine even better.  Even better still, LA Wine Co is once again the lowest price in the country according to Google Shopping.  Another notch: this wine was the February 10th Wine of the Week from the LA Times.

Buy Here: 2009 Grey Stack “The Folly” Greywacke Vineyard $19.95

Wasn’t I just saying there is no real old vine wine in the U.S. except Zinfandel?  Now is your opportunity to taste some of the finest wine from vineyards that are 115 years old!  The location of these vineyards might be a surprise to many.

The Cucamonga Valley in Southern California’s Riverside County is the location of some of the oldest vineyards in the United States.  In its heyday, before Prohibition, it was home to more vineyards than Napa and Somoma counties combined.  But alas, many of those vineyards were let go during prohibition and later overtaken by urban sprawl as Los Angeles grew to encompass multiple counties.

The few vineyards that are left make some of the country’s best Zinfandel and Norman’s “Old Vines” certainly doesn’t disappoint.  If you’ve had Opolo’s Zins and enjoy the ripe, jammy, style, you are going to love this wine.  It’s not shy at 16.2% alcohol but the nose has more blackberry than alcohol and the taste is sweet with notes of caramelized sugar.  The concentration from the old vines is apparent in the blockbuster Zin, but the 7 years of age have calmed the tannins down and made this a perfect drinker now.

Hard times call for desperate measures and at $4.99 per half bottle (!), there is no way the winery is making money here.  Of Norman Vineyards wines, Robert Parker has said:

“Some of the finest Zinfandels ever tasted. These are jammy, full-bodied, thick offerings meant to be consumed for their boisterous, exuberant gustiness over the next 3-5 years.”

If you like Zinfandel, and I know many of our readers do, get a case of these half bottles.  Over half of the enormous stack of cases was sold yesterday after the LA Wine Co. email went out.  I wish I had taken a picture because I happened to be there buying a few bottles when they were unloading them and I was shocked at how many cases there were.  The other half will probably sell after this post goes out so order online for in store pickup or nationwide shipping.  Enjoy!

Buy Here: 2004 Norman Zinfandel Old Vines 375ml $4.99

There really aren’t very many stand-out domestic red wines under the $10 price point.  So discovering Marietta Cellars’ Old Vine Red non-vintage “Lot #52″ bottling was a real pleasure for me.  And isn’t pleasure what wine is about after all?  You don’t drink it to quench your thirst.  If you do, it might be time to take a vacation from the vino…

Pleasure is the name of the game with this wine and you don’t have to believe me.  Here’s what Robert Parker has to say about this perennial value:

“If readers have not yet learned the formula here, it is: Marietta Cellars equals high quality, modest prices and considerable pleasure!” – Robert Parker

What is it made out of?  Who cares?  It tastes like good wine.  Seriously, it’s mostly Zinfandel with a kitchen sink worth of other varietals.  This wine is fragrant, spicy and ends with a surprisingly long finish.  It has house wine written all over it and most importantly, it’s one of those bottlings you can rely on year after year for unbeatable value.

LA Wine Co is once again the lowest price in the country at $9.95, beating the competition by a minimum of 84 cents, making them the only one beating the $10 mark.

Buy Here: Marietta Cellars Old Vine Red Lot #52 $9.95

2004 Broman Syrah

How is a 2004 highly rated Napa Syrah still available for purchase in 2010, for under $20?  Great question!

If you’re a fan of California Syrah, you will be hard pressed to find a better value.  Bob Broman has been making wine in Napa Valley since 1994.  His 1999 Cabernet is one of my favorite all time wines, so I had to try his Syrah.  Broman sources his grapes from highly acclaimed Napa vineyards and that quality clearly comes through in his wines.  This particular example is from the soon to be named Oak Knoll AVA of Napa.

The 2004 Syrah is already showing the complexity of its six years of age.  An aromatic nose is followed by a sweet, rich taste.  The age is apparent by the sediment stuck to the side of the bottle; usually a sign that the wine hasn’t been abused or sloshed around in storage.  The tannins are subdued, making this a smooth Syrah, with the signature signature spice only starting to show itself on the finish.  This is a spectacularly refined Syrah, likely a product of its 28 months in French oak.  Another Broman hit, and for under $20 the value is almost too good to be true.

Wine Spectator- 91 points

“Complex and detailed, with fresh, floral wild berry, boysenberry and blackberry fruit that’s full-bodied, elegant and well-balanced, ending with a burst of dark fruit and fine-grained tannins. Drink now through 2015. 413 cases made.” (WS)

2004 Broman Syrah- $17.95

We hosted a BBQ this weekend and I knew I had the perfect wine.  Petite Sirah is big and bold enough to hold up to spicy pulled pork and, come to think of it, they actually have a lot in common.  Both are smokey, slightly sweet , a little spicy and really tasty.  Furthermore, neither are expensive, but both are amazingly fulfilling.  Is there anything better than a beautiful spring evening, time spent with good friends, pulled pork BBQ and a great bottle of wine?  I think not.

This is another winner from Hahn Family Wines, the makers of one of my favorites, Hahn Estates Meritage.  I don’t think you will find a better California red at this price point.  Grapes are sourced from throughout California’s best growing regions, and perhaps because of this blending,  the Huntington Petite Sirah is really without fault.  It’s relatively high in alcohol, but the alcohol is well integrated with ripe, smokey fruit.  It’s smooth with a nice full mouthfeel and a lingering, spicy finish.  What a great value!

LA Wine Company beats the lowest price on Google Shopping by $3!  At only $6.99, you really can’t go wrong.  Enjoy a bottle of Huntington Sirah at your next summer BBQ.

Huntington Petite Sirah 2009- $6.99

If you drink a bottle of this wine a week for the next year, that’s 52 bottles or 4.3 cases.  So you have no excuse for buying any less than that.  The 2008 Glen Ellen Chardonnay is by far the best Chardonnay I’ve ever tasted under $5 and one of the top 5 under $10!

Tonight I made a twist on Trader Joe’s Chimichurri Rice, the recipe for which you can find at the bottom of this post, and this wine was a perfect accompaniment!  The Glen Ellen Chardonnay starts with a fresh pear scent and a touch of cedar.  The flavor is crisp, with a great acidity and a clean finish.  If you had served this to me blind as a $15 Chardonnay, I would not have asked any questions nor would I have been disappointed.

I’m often skeptical of wines labeled “California” because it means that their grapes can be purchased from anywhere in the state.  Maybe I need to try more “California” wines, because this is an outright steal.  I literally don’t understand how the winery can purchase the grapes, barrels (I can actually taste oak on this wine), bottles, make the wine, and get it to the retail market for $3.99.  Wow.

Glen Ellen Chardonnay 2008- $3.99

A twist on Trader Joe’s Chimichurri Rice

This recipe is VERY simple:

1. Buy Trader Joe’s Chimichurri Rice (in the frozen section at around $3)

2. Put it in a pan according to the instructions.

3. Add 2-3 tomatoes chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

4. Marinate chicken breasts in a mixture of soy, lime juice, garlic and pepper

5. Grill the chicken, slice and lay on top of the cooked rice and tomato mixture.  For added effect and flavor, add chopped fresh cilantro.

It’s that simple and it’s very tasty.  Including the wine the meal costs under $10.  Now that’s a deal!