I purchased my first Radio-Coteau wines about two years ago. When I first got into wine as a hobby, I spent a lot of time looking around at different wineries, trying to understand my own taste and refine it through the expensive process of tasting lots of good wines. Now, two years and over 350 wines later, I have a better sense of what I like both in a wine and in a winemaker’s approach to his or her product.

Radio-Coteau embodies a lot of the things that I care about in terms of wine grape growth, harvesting, and vinification. As their Web site puts it, the name Radio-Coteau “reflects a commitment to capturing reflections of soil, seasons, people and place” (link to source). This commitment is evident in the more subtle choices that Sussman makes, such as the unfiltered and unfined end product of his hard work. The idea is to let each of the diverse vineyard sources that Radio-Coteau relies upon for their grapes shine through in the finished wines.

With this background in mind, I decided to dive into my cellar and try a 2004 Radio-Coteau release that I had not yet opened: the Cherry Camp Syrah. This Syrah comes from the Cherry Camp vineyard, which was originally a cherry orchard just after the turn of the 20th century. At the turn of the 21st century, Vince Pedroia planted Syrah vines on the land, using a few clones of the Entav variety (and possibly other clones and vines as well). The year 2004 marks the first release of Cherry Camp Syrah from Radio-Coteau.

I decided to decant this wine for about an hour; my recent experience with young West Coast Syrah has taught me that decanting is a very good idea. Here are my thoughts on this wine, which I drank with some roast chicken stuffed with Shiitake mushrooms and wild rice:

• Aroma: Subtle smoky, leathery, tobacco bouquet. Very subdued compared to most of the Syrah I have tried.

• Flavor: Spicy, woodsy, meaty on the palate at first; evolved into a black cherry, blackberry and raspberry, roast meat, and spicy/smoky melange that was quite good.

• General impression: Very nice! My wife liked it, and that’s extremely rare for a non-Pinot. Worth buying again; needed 60 minutes in the decanter.

Again, it’s important to reiterate that it took about 60 minutes of decanting before this wine would yield anything at all; very tightly wound, as they say, and promising but extremely dense up front. And, once again, this wine reminded me why it’s so hard to buy a young wine at a restaurant. If it takes 60 minutes for the wine to taste the way it should, what are you supposed to do as you wait at your table for an hour? Keep eating the free crostini?

So, the big question: When I receive my Radio-Coteau allocation offer for their 2006 Cherry Camp Syrah, will I buy more? Yes, I think so. But I’ll need to sit on it for about 5-7 years this time around.

In 2007, I tried over 150 different wines.  Some of them were wonderful, some of them were total crap.  Let’s focus on the good rather than the crap.  Without further ado, here are my favorite wines of 2007 in no particular order; the ones with links mean I really liked those wines, or else their Web site was easy to locate:

• 2005 El Felino Malbec - For the money, this wine is terrific!  This Paul Hobbs offering is a good deal, although it’s the product of a partnership in Argentina and not from Hobbs’ US-based vineyards.
• 2004 Magnotta Cabernt Franc Icewine - My favorite ice wine of 2007, this Cabernet Franc Icewine from Ontario is amazing.
• 1998 Balthasar Ress Spatlese Riesling - My favorite Riesling of 2007…one of the most perfect, subtly balanced wines I have ever had.
• 2006 Odisea Dream Albarino - I may have temporarily ended my Journey Membership for budget reasons, but I’ll really miss getting more of this wine…my favorite Albarino of 2007 and one of my favorite 2006 wines overall.
• 2006 Odisea Muse Rose - My other favorite Odisea wine, this one is amazing every year. 
• 2004 Clearwater Creek Cabernet Sauvignon - Easily the best quality to price ratio of any new wine in 2007; terrific stuff, hard to find, quite the back story too…
• 2002 Reininger Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon - A great discovery!  I didn’t like Washington Cabernet before I tried this wine.  I like it now.
• 2004 Lachini “Ana” Vineyard Pinot Noir - Wonderful Oregon Pinot, better than the “S” in my estimation.  More macho.
• Everything that Le Cadeau produces - All of their Pinot Noirs are outstanding!
• 2004 Williams Selyem Central Coast Pinot Noir - As I said in my original note, “This wine is good.  Darn good.”
• 1998 Domaine Drouhin Laurene Pinot Noir - Starting to hit its stride in 2007; I can’t wait to try some in 2008.
• 2004 Sea Smoke Ten Pinot Noir - Worth it at $69.  Worth it at $250?  Not really, but maybe in 3 years?
• 2000 Betz Family “La Serenne” Syrah - Perhaps the luckiest find of 2007 for me; amazing stuff, worth tracking down.
• 1997 Argyle Extended Tirage Brut Sparkling Wine - Wine Spectator went gaga over this Oregon wine…I can see why.

So, what was my favorite wine of 2007?  It’s a three-way tie…between three different Zinfandels.  I know, I know, the heresy!  But hear me out: These three Zins are totally amazing.  Track them down, drink them, enjoy them, and then reconsider everything you know about American Zinfandel.

• 2003 Peter Franus Brandlin Vineyard Zinfandel
• 2005 Radio-Coteau Von Weidlich Russian River Valley Zinfandel
• 2004 Robert Biale Grande Vineyard Zinfandel

Taken together, these three wines would probably cause brain damage.  Aesthetically speaking, they are all that good.  I’d say the Peter Franus and Radio-Coteau are a bit more impressive than the Biale, but I did like the Biale enough to drink the whole damn bottle and then stumble into a citrus orchard after dark.  Always the mark of a good wine when you start trying to grab lemons off someone else’s trees!

So, we’ll see how much I can post over the next few months.  My guess is that I won’t post much of anything, unfortunately.  But that could always change!  I have had some noteworthy wines lately, and I do continue to drink wine whenever possible, but it’s still not all that common.  Or at least, I don’t drink wine as often as I’d like.  In many ways that’s probably for the best, but whenever I make roast chicken for dinner I really want the flavor of a nice red wine.

Stay tuned, and send me donations if you want to see more of my effusive afflatus.

The best wine I have tried lately has to be the 2001 Conde de Vimioso Reserva, a “Vinho Regional” from the Ribatejano area of Portugal. I originally bought this wine for Wine Blogging Wednesday #38, but I ony got around to opening this wine a few nights ago.  Whoops.  Anyway, it’s darn good! Here are my notes on the 2001 Conde de Vimioso Reserva:

• Aroma: Spicy black cherry and leather, blackberry jam; very focused fruit bouquet without much distraction at first, but with a bit of smoke on the end; opens into a more cocoa and toffee bouquet with bright acidity.
• Flavor: Buttered black bread, blackberries and black currants, a mild briny spice on the mid-palate and then that same sweet buttered bread aftertaste; after some air time, the wine becomes more acidic and tannic, with a twist of port on the finish.
• General impression: A really nice wine at first, leaves me wanting more right away; settles into a slightly tannic, full-bodied red wine that could age longer and be even better. Sort of like a Silver Oak Alexander Valley but with more vanilla and brown sugar notes on the first day; the second day was a little hotter and more acidic at first, but then became settled and nice once more.

Other wines I have tried lately and enjoyed:

• 2006 Erath Pinot Noir - A young, fresh fellow that tastes good now; very reasonably priced under $20 (people who don’t drink much Pinot will be very impressed with this wine if you tell them it costs $35-$40).
• 2005 Selbach-Oster Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese Trocken - The name is a mouthful, and so is this wine…mild, very faintly sweet Spatlese; needs more bottle aging for sure.
• 2002 Van Duzer Dijon Blocks Pinot Noir Willamette Valley - Hot damn!  Delicious wine.  Big, vibrant aroma and flavor, very fruity; very nice…the age helped a lot.
• 2005 Lachini ‘S’ Pinot Noir - Not ready yet, keep yours in the cellar if you have some.
• 2004 Domaine Ehrhart Pinot Auxerrois Val St. Gregoire - Nice, balanced, smooth white wine; refreshingly mild lemon zest with a pine needle aftertaste; smoother with salty food and seafood; worth buying again for this price ($10!).
• 2006 DiStefano Sauvignon Blanc - Delicious apricot and citrus flavors, rich bouquet, absolutely worth getting again with seafood or curry!  Good value, too, at $15 and under; very strong for a Sauvignon Blanc.
• 2003 Hestan Cabernet Sauvignon - Dove into my private stash for this one; Took 60-90 minutes to open up, but when it did it was quite good…very floral and spicy, with jammy fruits and meaty backbone. Nice, lots of character; not a typical CA Cab.  Not quite worth $80/bottle, though, but maybe someday when it matures more fully.
• 2004 Avignonesi Vino Nobile de Montepulciano - Made with nothing but the Prugnolo Gentile clone of the Sangiovese grape; blackberry, raspberry, pepper on the nose and palate; deeper earthiness began to show after 20 minutes; dry tannins after 30 minutes; nice but not overwhelming, probably needs some bottle aging.

And finally, a trio of dessert wines from the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada:

• 2004 Henry of Pelham Riesling VQA Niagara Ice Wine - Rich, creamy, smooth, sweet; very nice!
• 1999 Stoney Ridge Gewurztraminer VQA Niagara Ice Wine - Pure caramel apple with hazelnuts, very tasty and smooth but a little different from the other two so hard to compare directly.
• 2004 Magnotta Cabernet Franc Ice Wine - Sweet, sugary pomegranate dessert wine, very nice; my favorite of this trio.

As you can see, I’ve been trying to beat my record from last year, when I consumed about 160 different wines.  I’m up to about 120 this year, and the holidays promise to be exciting for wine!

Apparently the 2000 La Serenne Syrah was sourced from the Boushey vineyard in the Yakima Valley.  I’ll assume that’s a good thing as I know very little about the individual quality of Yakima Valley vineyards.  But I know what I like, so we’ll see how this wine fares.  Here are my notes: 

• Aroma: Confused at first, wants to show earthiness and black fruit but there’s something holding it all back so it clearly needs some time decanting; after about 45 minutes, things get interesting as the bouquet comes together with black currant preserves, leather, and tobacco.
• Flavor: Potent Kalamata olives, smoky bacon, black fruit, briar, and a stinging tobacco charge that’s almost like taking a drag on a really nice cigar; gorgeous, dry tannins emerge fairly swiftly, along with deep black currant, blackberry, and roasted walnut flavors.  Wow.
• General impression: Stains your teeth and stings your tongue with flavors; very complex and requires a lot of time to sort itself out; after each sip, you look forward to the next one.

Overall, La Serenne rates a 9.5 on my “ball buster” scale, which I just invented as a way to describe this wine.  Wow, it’s a nice wine!  It’s well worth a purchase at $35, although I doubt you’ll be able to find it that cheap.  All of the 2005 wines are sold out through the winery, and when you look at the aftermarket you probably see what I see: $45 is the absolute lowest price for any “La Serenne” Syrah from any year.  For a single vineyard, single varietal wine, that’s about right these days.  Perhaps I should go get more….

POSTSCRIPT: I went back and found no more of the La Serenne, but there was one bottle of La Côte Rousse sitting on the shelf.  I grabbed it and ran.  I paid first, though, before running.  So I’m excited to see how these two Syrah releases compare.  Also, I finished the La Serenne bottle tonight and it was dynamite!  Had a nice menthol aftertaste that was really compelling…I wish I had purchased both bottles when I had the chance.