87 Points Six Sigma 2006 Michael's Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc (Lake County) $28.00.
Lots of new French oak barrel fermentation and less stirring went into the making of this wine, and it shows the yeasty richness and creamy texture of that expensive handling. Yet the underlying wine is just very good. It has very bright acidity, and slightly sweet flavors of spearmint chewing gum, lemons and limes.
85 Points Six Sigma 2006 Rooster Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc (Lake County) $20.00.
Lots to like in this dry, crisp Sauvignon Blanc. It shows ripe grapefruit, peach, lemongrass, peppery spice and gooseberry flavors, but those sensitive to aggressively pungent scents will be turned off.
87 Points Guenoc 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon (Lake County) $18.00.
Soft and gentle in the mouth with a silky texture, this very ripe Cab shows jammy blackberry, cherry, vanilla and smoke flavors. This is the best Lake County Cab from Guenoc in years.
87 Points COPAIN $26.00
Madder Lake, Lake County 2004
Sweet, raspberry-like fruit is joined by slightly peppery spice and light notes of briar and dark chocolate in both the well-defined aromas and bright, medium-density flavors of this yet-to-evolve youngster, and, if firmed up by both tannins and acids at the finish, the wine exhibits good depth and should come into its own with five years of age.
| Noggle Cabernet Sauvignon Lake County $25.00 Long Valley Vineyard 2003 |
Obsidian Ridge Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Red Hills $25.00 Lake County 2004 |
1. Anderson's Conn Valley 2006 Sauvignon Blanc Lake County $40.00 White 85
Anderson's Conn Valley 2005 Sauvignon Blanc Lake County $40.00 White 88
"Todd Anderson and his very capable assistant Mac Sawyer are turning out some attractive Sauvignons from Lake County. My favorite is the 2005, a 100% Sauvignon Blanc that shows crisp fig, grapefruit, and steely notes with good penetration, medium body, and a nice dry finish. "
2. Cartlidge & Browne 2006 Dancing Crow Lake County $12.00 white 89
"Cartlidge and Brown continues to provide rewarding and suprising tasty drinking. Their brilliant 2006 Sauvignon Blanc Dancing Crow is a medium-bodied white loaded with melony fruit notes, crisp acidity, freshness and a true Sauvignon character. Drink it over the next year. "
3. Copain 2006 Madder Lake Lake County (not yet released) red 90
"The 2006 Syrah Madder Lake is co-fermented with 5% viognier and that gives the wine an exotic, heady fell to the exhuberant aromatics. It is a wine to drink in the next 4-5 years, and is a wonderful bistro-style Rhone Valley red with loads of spicy, peppery, peach and blackberry fruit notes in a stunningly proportioned style. It is seamless and velvety textured.
4. Corte Riva 2005 Petite Sirah Lake County $60 red 92+
"Pride Mountain Vineyard's well known viticulturist, Romel Rivera produced impressive wines under his own label Corte Riva. Working closely with Bob Foley has been to his benefit and Foley's winemaking philosophy is apparent in these brilliant reds. The enormously endowed 2005 Petite Sirah reveals an opaque blue/purple color, a stunning bouquet of acacia flowers, incense, blueberries, and black rasberries and a powerful, rich, super-concentrated style. Forget this beauty for 4-5 years and enjoy it over the following two decades."
5. Rosenblum Cellars 2005 Zinafandel Snows Lake Lake County $35 red 91
"Another impressive effort is the 2005 Zinfandel Snows Lake. A blend of 87% zinfandel, 9% Petite Sirah, and 4% Syrah from, of all places, Lake County. It boasts a dark ruby/purple hue along with floral, blueberry and boysenberry characteristics interwoven with black currant, camphor, earth ansd oak notes. With crisp acidity, sweet tannin, and a long heady finish, this elegant beauty is filled with substance. Drink it over the next 5-7 years.
The promise is there in this ripe, plush wine, with its rich tannins and good acidity. It’s rewarding in herb-tinged blackberry jam, plum, violet, coffee and chocolate flavors, with a distinct white pepper edge...— S.H.
Score 91/100: Shannon Ridge 2006 Lake County Sauvignon Blanc; $16. An intriguing style of sauvignon, this is as fat as a scallop, with a leesiness that brings toasted rice to mind. While the texture is broad, the flavors are cool, clean and spicy. It's a balanced white that would work well with wasabi-spiked sushi. (2,000 cases) Shannon Ridge, Clear Lake Oaks, CA
#88: 39° 2006 Sauvignon Blanc (Lake County); $9. This is a really great price for a Sauv. Blanc of this varietal purity. It's bone dry and crisp, with stimulating flavors of lemongrass, lemons and limes, figs, peaches and melons. Makes you admire how the winery produced 12,000 cases at this quality and price.
The 2006 Fortress Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc – Musque Clone just received a review of 91 points and designated as an “Editor's Choice” from the Wine Enthusiast magazine. Check it out in the forthcoming May 2008 issue!
In addition, the wine is recommended in Santé Magazine's 2008 Annual Buyer's Guide and Fortress Vineyards was featured in Touring and Tasting Magazine's fall/winter 2007 issue! A copy of the Touring and Tasting article is on our website.
The 2006 vintage was also awarded a bronze medal in this year's San Francisco Chronicle International Wine Competition.
Fortress Vineyards began a new, night hand-harvest program for the 2007 harvest. This allows for the grapes to be picked in a cool environment and remain fresh when delivered to the winery for an early morning crush.
The picking begins at dusk and ends around one a.m. A custom-made, state-of-the-art light system was developed for this project. The
lights are mounted on a ...read the whole article (PDF).
Here is a Lake County Merlot with some structure and varietal character. Blackcherry, red currants and a smokiness prevail in the aromas and flavors of the Brassfield 2004 Merlot. Medium tannins make it a candidate for grilled rib-eye. The Brassfield property is becoming a destination in the High Valley appellation with its series of caves and a wonderful view of the area. About $16.
Lake County, Calif. – Oenophiles who missed the First International High Altitude Viticultural and Winemaking Symposium on June 14 in Lake County can now view the transcripts of the event online.
“This symposium was one of the most important events to high altitude grape growing to date,” said Clay Shannon, president of the Lake County Winegrape Commission. “The discussions that took place laid the foundation for important and continuing dialogue among ...read the whole article.
Interested parties can view the transcripts at http://www.theelevationofwine.org/transcripts/2007.
Lake County is ranked the third cleanest county in the nation, according to the American Lung Association’s report for long-term chronic PM-2.5 exposure. Lake County has complied with all California AAQS since 1988 to include visibility and hydrogen sulfide. According to the report, Lake County measured the third lowest level of year round particle pollution of all reporting counties in the country. The federal standard for the average level of particle pollution is 15 micrograms per cubic meter. Lake County measured 4.6. Lake County was ranked cleaner than such perennial clean air areas as Maui and national parks. For more information visit www.lcaqmd.net and click in the picture.
2005 Obsidian Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Red Hills Lake County, $348/case, $29/bottle
Editors Note: If you want to read all the rambling verbiage below, you may. What you really need to know is this is one of the most delicious Cabernets we've had in quite awhile, at a crazy good price. You can cellar this one too; it should age well for a decade.
A lot has been written recently about the Lake County Red Hills appellation here in California. Geographically it's but a stone's throw from Napa, and for years it's been the dirty little secret; wines from Lake County have "topped off" many a legendary Napa wine. The difference between the two regions is that Red Hills is at an elevation ranging from about 2000-3000 feet. It snows here. The soils are rugged, foreboding and volcanic; one of those places that you'd be crazy to plant grapes. This is why Beckstoffer and many, many others have flocked to this region. It's producing grapes of extraordinary flavor and quality.
The Molnar family was one of the first to plant here; their vineyard is situated on a northwest facing slope at about 2600 feet, in a vineyard that is so laden with obsidian - huge chunks and shards of shiny jet black volcanic glass- that special diamond edged cutting blades had to be used to plow the vineyards.
The cool temperatures and high elevation makes for absolutely fantastic fruit. This Cabernet is full of concentrated black fruit, big ripe cherry, floral notes, and a prevailing aroma of warm cinnamon courtesy of the 100% Hungarian Oak in which this wine is aged. We don't know of another Cabernet that receives this treatment. The tannins are noticeable but not intrusive – this wine will continue to develop for years and years. A Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa of this quality would fetch three times the price. Get this one before the rest of the world figures it out.
A recent magazine ad, published on p.84 of September's release of Wine & Spirits:
This wine's sweet, juicy cherry flavor and slightly bitter green tannins finish clean. Match it with barbecued beef ribs. (Thirty Nine Drgrees, Graton, CA).
Two Angels 2006 High Valley Sauvignon Blanc:
"Like a breath of springtime in the California hills. Hints of new green grass, acacia blossoms, clover honey and buttercup lead to notes of cassis in this bone dry crisply acidic wine, which shows how beautifully Lake County deals with Sauvignon Blanc."
In the December 2006, issue of Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Mr. Parker rated and commented on the following Lake County Wines:
2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Amber Knolls Vineyards Lake County - 90 points: "An excellent value in Cabernet Sauvignon for the Beckstoffer family, this offering indicates that a higher potential for quality exists for Lake County than previously believed. A dark/ruby color is accompanied by a classic nose of sweet black cherries and cassis reminiscent of a Rutherford cab. Pleasant spice and smoke characteristics, medium to full body and silky tannin. This pure elegant beauty should be consumed over the next 10-12 years."
2004 Syrah Madder Lake - 91 points: The 2004 Syrah Madder Lake from a vineyard planted in rocky, red volcanic soils near the shores of Clear Lake, is co-fermented with 5% viognier and 50% whole clusters. It exhibits wonderful flower, blackberry and blueberry characteristics as well as underlying minerality, gorgeous intensity, a full bodied opulence and abundant pure black fruit and ground pepper notes. This is a beauty to drink over the next 5-6 years."
When people in the wine business think of Lake County, they usually think of a hot growing region, but one that produces excellent Sauvignon Blanc. If they’re observant, they know that its new Red Hills AVA has the potential to produce superb Cabernet and other Bordeaux reds with much lower land costs than Napa or Sanoma.
Few, however know of the new High Valley appellation above the northeastern shore of Clear Lake, the large lake that gives the county its name. See the whole article (PDF)...
At the southern end of High Valley is Shannon Ridge Vineyards, a large-scale project started by Clay and Margarita Shannon in 1995. Grapes planted on the property include Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Barbera, Rhone and Bordeaux varieties, and a small amount of the unique Spanish red grape variety, Tempranillo.
Most of the vineyards are located on steep slopes that trickle down each side of the ridges and deep red volcanic soils that were originally generated by ... See the whole article (PDF)...
High above the northeast shores of Clear Lake in Lake County, CA, Shannon Ridge Vineyards includes more than 250 vineyard acres planted along the steep volcanic ridges of High Valley at 2,100 to 2,400 feet elevation.
Steep mountains ranges in excess of 3,000 feet defi ne this distinct growing area, which rise directly from the valley fl oor at 1,700 feet above sea level. Approximately nine miles long and three miles wide, its rare east-west transverse in the Californian Costal Range was created by the volcanic activity of nearby Round Mountain. See the whole article (PDF)...
Grape grower John Roumiguiere has had his fair share of challenges over the years. Perhaps the most memorable one happened thirteen years ago, when he and his father, Robert, began to develop Red Hills Ranch, the first large-scale vineyard site in what is now the Red Hills District in Lake County.
Prior to Roumiguiere's inaugural vineyard project in Red Hills, the hilly terrain was mainly covered with black walnut orchards, the rest relatively untouched. "Back then, the land just didn't look very friendly to me," Roumiguiere recalls. "The area was unproven for growing a large amount of grapes. I knew from the beginning that working with the soil was going to be a true learning experience." If you see the landscape, you'll know exactly what he meant. (Article no longer available...)
KELSEYVILLE - California's next wine frontier may well be sleepy Lake County, Napa's northern neighbor and a place better known for pears and watersports than for grapes.
Grape plantings have tripled since 1994, according to state figures. Most of the older vineyards were in fertile, low-lying places that were easy to farm but, especially for red grapes, not the best locations for high quality. Many of the new plantings are on hillsides with well-drained volcanic soils, ideal for reds such as cabernet sauvignon. Read the whole story...