Belle Glos RRV Dairyman Vineyard Pinot Noir

Belle Glos Russian River Valley Dairyman Vineyard Pinot Noir 2015

Following the pair of Belle Glos Pinots we had at two restaurants on our summer getaway to our Destiny Cove vacation rental the last week, when we returned home, I pulled from the cellar the third label in the series of vineyard designated labels from this producer. We had this with a home grilled pizza and it was a  delicious accompaniment.

Last week we had the Belle Glos Clark & Telephone Pinot Noir at the Beach Walk Café, Henderson Park Inn, in Destin FL, then the Belle Glos Las Alturas Pinot Noir at Firefly Grill Effingham, IL

We hold all these labels from various vintages in our cellar collection, so we tried the Belle Glos Dairyman Vineyard Pinot with home grilled pizza on the deck for dinner. 

Each of the Belle Glos Pinot Noirs are produced from top growing areas along the California coast: the Santa Lucia Highlands of Monterey County; the Sonoma Coast, Sonoma County; and the Santa Maria Valley, Santa Barbara County. 

The wines showcase the distinctive climatic and terroir differences of the sites, notable for the amount of fog, wind, sunlight and soil type at each site.

The Belle Glos Pinot Noirs are very distinctively packaged with the top third of the bottles being dipped in red wax at an angle to form the  signature capsules protecting the corks.

The name Belle Glos (pronounced BELL GLOSS), honors Winemaker Joseph J. Wagner’s grandmother, Lorna Belle Glos Wagner, a co-founder of Caymus Vineyards."  Wagner is a fourth-generation winemaker from a family with farming and winemaking roots in the Napa Valley since 1906.  

Belle Glos Sonoma County Russian River Valley Dairyman Vineyard Pinot Noir 2016

As reported in these pages, in the midst of summer, its was a nice departure from the big bold hearty Syrah's/Shiraz's we enjoy, and the robust Bordeaux varietals to the finer, more refined, less bold and burdensome Pinot Noirs. Each of these tastings were delightful and frankly, exceeded our expectations for a ideal accompaniment to our various entrees. 

As noted, each of the Belle Glos labels is from a designated vineyard in the different popular coastal influenced growing regions suited to growing Pinot Noir. This vineyard designated label is from their source in the Russian River Valley in Northern California, Sonoma County. Situated in the southern alluvial plains of the Russian River Valley, Dairyman Vineyard’s proximity to the Pacific Ocean results in a cool morning fog and afternoon coastal breezes that elongate the growing season.

While the Russian River Valley is a large and diverse appellation with multiple climate zones and soil types, as it meanders from the inland mountain and foothill valleys westward to the Pacific, it is best known for cool-climate varieties, with Pinot Noir as the most popular. 

Russian River Valley grapes benefit from the persistent late afternoon flow of Pacific Ocean fog through the Petaluma Gap and along the Russian River Valley that ensures slow and steady ripening and the preservation of grape acidity. 

Historically Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs had bright red fruit and delicate earthy, mineral notes. But changes in viticultural and winemaking practices have led to stylistic changes in some of the region’s wines. Adjustments to canopy management, among other techniques, have resulted in riper fruit and bolder wines as well. These show flavors of black cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and darker, loamy earth tones, accenting traditional Pinot Noir notes of strawberry, raspberry and light cherry.

The terroir of the site results in small, concentrated and flavorful berries, producing bright cherry characteristics, brown spices, and a keen minerality overlaid with a rich, velvety mouth feel. Named as a result of its history, once an old dairy farm, the pastureland was planted to Dijon clone Pinot Noir in 2000, preserving the longstanding agricultural history of the property.

Winemaker's Notes - "Dark ruby red in color with satisfying aromas of boysenberry, dark cherry and mulberry along with delicate hints of baking spices, dill, cola, nutmeg and vanilla. On the palate, bold flavors of cranberry, ripe plum, cherry and super-ripe strawberry are uplifted by gentle notes of cocoa powder and sweet fig for a generous and silky mouthfeel. This tremendously complex and broad-shouldered wine finishes with grace."

 

Like the earlier Pinots mentioned above, this was delightful, enjoyable drinking, bright ruby colored, medium full bodies, expressive black cherry and plum fruits with spicy notes of nutmeg, vanilla and sweet mocha with a smooth, almost elegant, balanced lingering finish. 

 

RM 91 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2823880

https://belleglos.com/

https://twitter.com/bellegloswines 

BÖEN Tri-appellation Pinot Noir

BÖEN 'Tri-Appellation' Pinot Noir for pleasant casual high QPR sipping

We opened this casual sipping Pinot Noir with biscuits, crackers and artisan cheeses. This is from Joseph Wagner, fifth generation Napa Valley winemaker, who grew up in the wine business working alongside his father Chuck Wagner, famed legendary founder and winemaker at Caymus Vineyards. 

One of the cheeses we enjoyed was Delice de Bourgogne, a French classic triple crème cheese that originated in the Burgundy region of France. Authentic Delice de Bourgogne has a white, bloomy and pungent rind because of the Penicilium Candidum mold.

A tribute to small scale industrial French cheese-making, this is from Murrays Cheese on Bleeker Street in Greenich Village, New York. We discovered it there during several of our dining experiences at their wine and cheese restaurant there, then were surprised and delighted to see it available at our local Mariano's grocery cheese department, after they sold out to their parent Krogers. Mariano's Delice de Bourgogne is a pasteurized triple creme (75% butterfat in dry matter) that marries full-fat cow milk with fresh cream, producing a rich forward cheese. Unlike many straightforward triple-cremes, this one has a thin, pungent mold rind that imparts straw and mushroom aromas, complementing the buttery yellow, sweet cream interior. 

While this is best served with Champagne, being from Burgundy it is also enjoyed with Burgundian Pinot Noir such as this one. We found its pungent forward sharpness is softened for pairing with red wine by adding a bit of honey. 

Joseph learned his way around a vineyard long before he was able to drink wine. By the time he was nineteen, he knew that he would continue his family’s winemaker legacy, working alongside his father at Caymus Vineyards. 

In 2001, Joe created Belle Glos, with a focus on vineyard-designated Pinot Noirs from California’s best coastal regions.

This is another Joe Wagner project; he chose the name BÖEN, a translation of ‘The Farm’, as a constant reminder that the wine he produces is indivisible from the land that it comes from, that "first and foremost, I am a farmer.” His wines are crafted to reflect the vineyard sites where they are sourced.

BÖEN wines are produced as an expression of  Pinot Noir and Chardonnay made in his signature style of rich, ripe fruit flavors balanced with bright acidity and judicious hints of toasty oak. The BÖEN portfolio consists of several vineyard or appellation specific wines that tend to offer high QPR - quality price ratios.

BÖEN Tri-appellation Sonoma County, Santa Barbara County, Monterey County Pinot Noir 2020

This 100% Pinot Noir is actually a blend of grapes from three different California counties, netting out to be 45% Sonoma County, 29% Santa Barbara County and 26% Monterey County, hence referred to as a Tri-Appelation blend. 

This is the entry level Pinot of the line-up and offers great value in this every day sipper. 

We first discovered this wine as the WBTG - wine by the glass offering at a favorite fine dining local restaurant. We have since found it at Cosco, which tends to be quite discriminating in their wine selections and offerings, generally providing significant QPR throughout. I wrote about COSCO and their wine offerings in a recent blogpost.

Winemaker Notes for this release: "Dark Plum in color with ruby red highlights. On the nose, luscious notes of raspberry swirl along side dark plum notes accompanied by hints of rosemary and sage. Rich and well balanced with bright blackberry, Bing cherry, dark chocolate and a hint of caramel on the palate. This wine is sure to please with its rounded mouth-feel, and long, smooth, velvety finish."

Not your typical fruit forward California style, it leans more toward old world style, ruby colored, medium bodied, bright dark cherry fruit with vanilla, herb, tobacco and earth, with nice body and mouthfeel.

RM 88 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4167518

https://boenwines.com/

https://twitter.com/boenwines  

@BoenWines

Quilt Napa Chardonnay 2016

Quilt Napa Valley Chardonnay 2016

I picked this up for a moderate priced, easy drinking, casual sipper. We opened it for holiday dinner and found it uninspiring and it was hardly touched ... set the remaining 2/3 bottle aside in the fridge for several days and pulled it out again and found it remarkably enjoyable. It's generally available at ~$30, relative to its 'published or release price of $35, it can be found in discounters for $27.

The Quilt label is named as the wine is "From A Patchwork of Prime Napa Valley Vineyards". This is a project of Joe Wagner, son of legendary Chuck Wagner of Caymus fame. Joe's signature is noted on the label. 

As mentioned above, it was much better the second time around for this bottle, reopening several days later, it was much more settled and enjoyable.

Quilt Napa Valley Chardonnay 2016

The Winemaker's Notes 

"A medium-bodied wine offering a complexity of flavors and a silky texture. Aromas of Fuji apple, buttery and toasty oak, honey dew melon and Meyer lemon are supported and lifted by flavors of apple tart, caramelized pineapple, buttered toast, salty popcorn, lemon curd and melon. The finish is long and satiny."

I found it light straw colored, medium bodied, with only slightly moderate complexity, but nicely textured, the initial notes of subdued melon, tart apple and buttery toasty oak gave way on the second tasting to a interesting, hedonistic predominant tone of subdued butterscotch, rather one-dimensional, but very appealing.

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2927737

https://quiltwines.com/