2004 Chappellet Pritchard Hill Cabernet Franc

Opened a bottle of the 2004 Chappellet Pritchard Hill Cabernet Franc this weekend and was pleasantly surprised that this wine, while young, is very smooth and drinkable, no real need for aging this wine. I will read more about it as time permits, but it was a nice smooth wine, good round berries, nice finish, no noticable tannins.

2003 S.P. Drummer Cabernet

I stopped at HMB Wine & Cheese today and tried the two current releases by Scott Peterson, owner of the S.P. Drummer labal. His flagship wine is a blend of Cabernet and Cabernet Franc from Napa Valley. A newer wine is a Merlot blend from Sonoma County. I tasted both of these wines, and they were quite good! Scott Peterson (no, not the famous one) was there also, and he has a deep background in crafting wines from California, having worked at Kendall Jackson, Villa Mt. Eden and Conn Creek.

The 2003 Cabernet is a dark, deep-colored, viscous wine with good complexity that should develop nicely for several years. It is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon and 45% Cabernet Franc. The wine was aged for 18 months in French Oak and should benefit from a few more years in storage in the bottle. The wine sells for $52, and I will give it a rating of 90. Only 938 cases were made.

The 2002 Merlot blend is also a very nice wine, with excellent color and complexity with a smooth finish, a big wine for a Merlot.

Obester Winery, Bottle and Cork Days

Obester Winery is my local winery here in Half Moon Bay. The main reason my wife and I go to Obester, is their special Bottle and Cork Days. We save our empty wine bottles (after cleaning them, of course) for several months and bring them over to Obester, to watch them get filled with the latest bargain table wine. To us, this is better than "two buck chuck" even though the cost is $4.45 per bottle. While not the type of wine I would put in the cellar, some of these wines sold at the bottle days are really nice for everyday wine drinking.

I have seen another winery do something like this in Sonoma County years ago, but Obester actually fills the bottle, inserts a fresh cork, and provides a new label to identify the wine. The entire process takes place while you wait, and you can taste the wine while in line, a really well-run operation. Check their website for details on these days.

Kathryn Kennedy Wine Tasting in Half Moon Bay

My local wine merchant, Half Moon Bay Wine and Cheese, is having a tasting of wines by Kathryn Kennedy on April 21, from 1-5pm. I will try to find out more information this weekend about the event, but given the winery, this could be a great opportunity to taste some top notch wines.

2005 Rusack Pinot Noir Santa Maria Valley

Earlier I tasted the Rusack Pinot from Santa Barbara County (2005), now I have a bottle of Rusack Pinot from the Santa Maria Valley. This is another great Pinot from Rusack, with big berries, full-bodied for a Pinot, with a nice smooth finish. Like the Santa Barbara, this one seems like it could age nicely in the cellar. It is not low-priced at $32.00/bottle, but I will rate it 91/100.

Cycles Gladiator Pinot Noir Central Coast 2005

I am always interested in finding that awesome Pinot that costs very little, so I like to taste some inexpensive bottles in search of that type of wine. So I picked up a bottle of Cycles Gladiator Pinot Central Coast 2005 and tasted some this weekend. In short, this one is no bargain, at least for me. It is reasonably priced at $11.99, but that's where the bargain ends. It does have a colorful label with an unclothed redheaded woman flying around with a cycle. It is a chewy, smokey, highly tannic type of Pinot that is not much fun to drink. Maybe it would improve with some aging, or maybe the bottle I tasted from is a bad one. But overall, I don't think I can recommend this Pinot, sorry.