Wine Review: Artezin Mendocino County Old Vine Zinfandel 2016

Holy crap, it feels like I've had this bottle forever. To be honest I've been kind of dreading it, because Artezin looks like a great thing with a great crew behind it but... it's *yuck* Zinfandel. I'm not going to get into my issues with Zin for the hundredth time, but let's just say that myself and Zin have issues.

Artezin, a part of the Hess Family Wine Estates, was founded in 2002 and has had Randle Johnson as its winemaker since the beginning. Artezin is focused on expressing classic Old Vine Zinfandel from Mendocino and parts of Sonoma by working with family-owned farms that have been growing Zin for generations.

The 2016 Mendocino Zinfandel is 84% Zinfandel, 14% Petite Sirah, and 2% Carignan. It was aged for fifteen months in French and American oak, and has an ABV of 14.9%.

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Wine Review: Jenny Dawn Cellars Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir 2016

To learn more about this winery, that will be based out of Kansas by November of 2018, check out my review of their 2016 Chardonnay. I suggest you do that anyways because that Chard is pretty awesome. Doooo iiiiit. Go ahead, reeeeeeeead it. Here's the link again.

Like their Chardonnay, I know very little about the winemaking process. I do know that it was fermented in stainless steel and aged in French oak barrels for eleven months. And that the ABV is 13.8%. So with that said, it seems like a perfect time to talk about the music I'm listening to while reviewing this wine.

Today's music selection is one of the most iconic sountracks of the 1990's: Demon Knight. As a kid I loved Tales from the Crypt. I watched the show, I read the comic books. Hell, I still have the comic books and will still open one up every once in awhile. The show made a movie in 1995 called "Demon Knight" and it was amazing for a fifteen year old like myself, buuuuuut... it really doesn't hold up at all. The soundtrack, however, will hold up for eternity. 

It starts off with Pantera's Cemetery Gates, which is just incredible. Ministry's Tonight We Murder pops into my head all the time. Then there's Machine Head, Megadeth, Melvins, Rollins Band, Biohazard, and Sepultra. It's a metal eargasm. The song that launched Filter's popularity, Hey Man Nice Shot, made its big debut on this album and opened the movie. And how can you forget Gravediggaz, basically a Wu-Tang Clan spinoff, and their song 1-800-Suicide. So yeah, this wine is seeing some headbanging action tonight. Now let's drink some wine!

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Wine Review: Jenny Dawn Cellars Sta. Rita Hills Chardonay 2016

As soon as I saw that I had been followed on Twitter by Jenny Dawn Cellars I knew I had to try their wines. Why? Because even though they're not settled in yet, Jenny Dawn will be a Kansas winery by the end of 2018. KANSAS! Cool, right?

How could you not throw your support in for people wanting to make fine wine in Kansas? Seriously, I don't see how any wine lover wouldn't be excited about people making wine in non-traditional (or what we consider non-traditional) places. I've seen snobs scoff at the idea and I want to stick my middle finger an inch away from their stupid faces. Russian River started off as lumber yards, now get your head out of your ass. Ahem... anyways... in all honesty, I just wanted to try some wine from Clark Kent's home state.

JENNIFER MCDONALD
IMAGE CREDIT: bizjournals.com

But because they were just founded in 2016, their first vintage was both sourced from and made in California. They will continue to buy their fruit exclusively from California, but they'll have a winemaking facility up and running in Wichita by November of 2018. It'll be the base of their operations and will also include a tasting room, store, and event venue. They're also planting an apple orchard in Wichita to make apple wine, which is basically apple cider but with higher alcohol. All of this will make Jenny Dawn Cellars the first urban winery in Wichita.

Speaking of firsts, Jennifer McDonald is also the first African American CEO of the winemaking industry in the entire state of Kansas. She founded Jenny Dawn Cellars, named after a Kansas wildflower, with fellow entrepreneur Lesley Selvidge. Both of these lovely ladies have a ridiculous amount of degrees and education. Meanwhile, some dumbass that graduated from a tech school for offset printing is about to review their wine. Let's drink! I've got their 2016 Chardonnay and their 2016 Pinot Noir!

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January Wine Pick: Merotto Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG "Colbelo" Extra Dry

This WINE PICK of the month was written for the Luke's of Cape Cod website.

Prosecco is a region in northeast Italy's Veneto, given the classification of a DOC. This means that wine must meet specific requirements in the vineyard and winemaking to officially call itself and be labelled a Prosecco DOC. Without going into too much detail, Prosecco is a sparkling wine fermented and secondary fermented (where it gets the carbonation) in big stainless steel tanks called autoclaves, and it's made mostly from the Glera grape variety.

The quality tier above DOC in the Italian classification system is DOCG, and within the Prosecco DOC is the Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG. Valdobbiadene is a village among the hills of Trentino in Veneto. Because they're known to produce impressive Prosecco well above the average quality, they've earned themselves the DOCG classification.

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Wine Review: Beronia Rioja Gran Reserva 2008

December is A Very Rioja Christmas on TheWineStalker.net!

Beronia is named after the ancient Celtic tribe called the Berones that inhabited the land that is now La Rioja in the 3rd century BC. The Beronia winery, however, was established in 1973 CE by a group of Bosque businessmen and founders of a gastronomy society who visited Rioja and decided they wanted to make wine there.

This whole month is dedicated to the wines of Rioja, and three of them are from Beronia. I've already reviewed their 2014 Crianza and 2012 Reserva, and now I'm on their 2008 Gran Reserva. Because I will be reviewing so many wines this month, I'm going to keep the reviews short and sweet.

The 2008 Gran Reserva is 90% Tempranillo, 8% Graciano, and 2% Mazuelo. The grapes are hand selected from their oldest vineyards, and then selected again at the winery from only the best bunches of those previously selected in the vineyard. It goes through slow and controlled fermentation with periodic pumping over, then twenty-six months of barrel aging in French oak, and thirty-six months of bottle aging. It has a 14% ABV.

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Wine Review: Beronia Rioja Reserva 2012

December is A Very Rioja Christmas on TheWineStalker.net!

Beronia is named after the ancient Celtic tribe called the Berones that inhabited the land that is now La Rioja in the 3rd century BC. The Beronia winery, however, was established in 1973 CE by a group of Bosque businessmen and founders of a gastronomy society who visited Rioja and decided they wanted to make wine there. One of the very cool things about their bottling is the braille embossing on the back label.

This whole month is dedicated to the wines of Rioja, and three of them are from Beronia. I've done their 2014 Crianza, now I'm on their 2012 Reserva, and then their 2008 Gran Reserva. Because I will be reviewing so many wines this month, I'm going to keep the reviews short and sweet.

The 2012 Reserva is 97% Tempranillo and 3% Graciano. The grapes are hand selected from their oldest vineyards and undergo a slow fermentation in temperature controlled vats with periodic pumping over. It sees twenty months of aging in barrels of American oak staves and French oak tops, and eighteen months of bottle aging. It has an ABV of 14%.

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Wine Review: Beronia Rioja Crianza 2014

December is A Very Rioja Christmas on TheWineStalker.net!

Beronia is named after the ancient Celtic tribe called the Berones that inhabited the land that is now La Rioja in the 3rd century BC. The Beronia winery, however, was established in 1973 CE by a group of Bosque businessmen and founders of a gastronomy society who visited Rioja and decided they wanted to make wine there. One of the very cool things about their bottling is the braille embossing on the back label.

This whole month is dedicated to the wines of Rioja, and three of them are from Beronia. This here is their 2014 Crianza, then I'll do their 2012 Reserva, and then their 2008 Gran Reserva. Because I will be reviewing so many wines this month, I'm going to keep the reviews short and sweet.

The 2014 Crianza is 91% Tempranillo, 8% Garnacha, and 1% Mazuelo. After being harvested the grapes undergo a few days of cold maceration, and then fermented at low temperature with periodic pumping. It sees twelve months of aging in barrels of American oak staves and French oak tops, then three months of bottle aging. it has a 13.5% ABV.

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Wine Review: Maetierra Dominum QP Quatro Pagos Reserva 2009

December is A Very Rioja Christmas on TheWineStalker.net!

Pictured: roasted chestnuts, goat milk gouda, wild mushroom brie, and Maetierra Dominvm QP Quatro Pagos Reserva 2009. Cheeseboard, accessories, and wine courtesy of Rioja.

Here's the thing: I have minimal information on this winery. I've tried to dig up as much info as I can but it's just not out there. From what I can see, they don't even have a website. I've requested a brief history of the winery, so if this review is posted like this then a) I did not receive one b) I'm dead or c) I'm in a coma. Happy Holidays, everybody!

What I do know is that the 2009 QP Quatro Pagos Reserva is mostly Tempranillo with some Graciano and Garnacha. I do not know the percentages. The wine is called Quatro Pagos because the grapes come from four different areas of Rioja, and all from old and low yielding vines. It's aged for fifteen to eighteen months in new French oak, and the final ABV is 14%.

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Wine Review: Bodega Ontañón Rioja Reserva 2005

December is A Very Rioja Christmas on TheWineStalker.net!

Pictured: Ornament, decorative towel, bottle Santa hat, bottle scarf, and Bodega Ontañón Rioja Reserva 2005. All courtesy of Rioja.

The family owned Bodega Ontañón goes back five generations, but it wasn't until the 1980's that this family decided to not sell its grapes to wineries and instead start making their own wines. This decision was made by the current owners, Raquel, Rubén and María Pérez Cuevas. Located in Quel (within Rioja Baja), Bodega Ontañón has 250 hectares of vineyard land at high altitude in the Sierra Yerga Mountains.

Their 2005 Reserva is 95% Tempranillo from the La Pasada vineyard that was planted in 1979, and 5% Graciano from the La Montesa vineyard. The Tempranillo was aged for one year in 60% American oak and 40% French oak, and after blending and bottling it's bottle aged for two years before release. Ontañón only produces a Reserva on outstanding vintages, and 2005 is the current release for their Reserva. It has an ABV of 13%.

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Wine Reviews: Best of Fall 2017!

Tomorrow is the last day of Fall and Winter officially begins on Thursday. So here's the best of the wines that I reviewed for the season!

#5. Left Coast Cellars White Pinot Noir 2016

Region: Willamette Valley, Oregon
Review Release: October 8th, 2017

The color of the wine is a light copper. There's aromas of peaches, pear apple sauce, lime peel and dried oregano. It's medium to full bodied in the mouth with a slight touch of sweetness that's balanced out by perky acidity. There's flavors of tart juicy lemons, peaches, and oranges. It finishes with oranges on the center of the tongue and tart lemon on the sides of your mouth making your body salivate to provide protection against the acidity.

This is what I would call, in the most distinguished terms available to my vocabulary, "nommy nommy".

READ THE FULL REVIEW / WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO

QUALITY VS PRICE RATING

Price: $24

Rating: 4.5/5 = Recommended / Highly Recommended (what does that mean?)

#4. CVNE Viña Real Rioja Gran Reserva 2010

Region: Rioja, Spain

Review Release: December 14th, 2017

The color of the wine is garnet. It kicks up quite the complex nose with aromas of wet cedar, cooked blackberries, grape jelly, eucalyptus, licorice, black olive, and leather. One of those wines I could just smell all night. On the palate it's medium bodied with a rich mouthfeel, soft tannin and mellowed acidity to create an impressively balanced elegance. There's flavors of tomato, cilantro, onion... shit... wait... I'm eating chips and salsa... hold up, let me cleanse my palate. Okay, there's flavors of blackberries, graphite, black olives, tobacco and mocha. It finishes super smooth with long lasting flavors of blackberries, graphite, and black olives.

DAAAAAAMN! This is gorgeous. It's gorgeous.

READ THE FULL REVIEW / WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO

QUALITY VS PRICE RATING

Price: $47

Rating: 4.5/5 = Recommended / Highly Recommended (what does that mean?)

#3. Moraga Estate Red Wine 2013

Region: Bel Air, Los Angeles, California
Review Release: November 9th, 2017

The wine is garnet in color. And oh the mocha. Thhaaaaa mochaaaaaa. And the vanilla, too. This nose is KILLING IT with those coffee beans, cocoa beans, and vanilla beans, man. I freakin' love it! There's also cassis and black cherries playing the fruit role, with cedar and charcoal and mint as a supporting cast. It's medium to full bodied with a dusty mouthfeel and hot tannin. There's flavors of black cherries, juicy plums, burnt caramel, and ancho chiles. It finishes hot and dry with flavors of plums, pencil shavings, and ancho chiles.

Alright, guys. This is $175. That's a lot of dough. Is it worth it? Does it stack up to its competition in its price range? Yes and yes.

READ THE FULL REVIEW / WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO

QUALITY VS PRICE RATING

Price: $175

Rating: 4.5/5 = Recommended / Highly Recommended (what does that mean?)

#2. Matchbook The Arsonist 2015 Chardonnay

Region: Dunnigan Hills, California
Review Release: October 29th, 2017

There's aromas of a grilled corn muffin slathered in butter, an assortment of melon and pears, vanilla ice cream, and pineapple lollipop. On the palate it has a medium bodyweight, a mouthfeel that's ridiculously rich and smooth, and an acidity that's ninja stealth until it reveals itself on the finish. There's flavors of melon, pineapple, canned pears, and vanilla. On the finish you're left with pears and banana for quite a long duration.

Although this is only the second vintage of Arsonist Chardonnay that I've reviewed for this blog, it's the fourth vintage that I've had. And they've all been insanely delicious for $20. Perfect score! Mark it down!

READ THE FULL REVIEW / WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO

QUALITY VS PRICE RATING

Price: $20

Rating: 5/5 = Highly Recommended (what does that mean?)

#1. CVNE Rioja Reserva 2013

Region: Rioja, Spain
Review Release: December 5th, 2017

The color of the wine is garnet, and like the Crianza it's pretty transparent. The nose is so toasty! I love it! I mean, I don't even think I want to drink this. I just wanna smell it. Can we make this a fragrance? Or a candle? The toasty oak is just so captivating, and that's joined by violets, wild berries, licorice, sticky fresh herbs, and vanilla. I'm already in love with this wine before I even taste it.

On the palate it's medium bodied with perfectly balanced tannin and acidity, but carrying an ethanol burn. There's flavors of cherries, blackberries, licorice, vanilla, and leather. It finishes boozy and with flavors of blackberries and leather.

Oh, fuck yes. This is awesome. Snatch it up!

READ THE FULL REVIEW / WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO

QUALITY VS PRICE RATING

Price: $28

Rating: 5/5 = Highly Recommended (what does that mean?)

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