Now, quickly. What in the heck is Brettanomyces? Lovingly referred to as “brett”, it’s a kind of yeast, but not the kind, until now, you prefer your wine to have. Known as a spoilage yeast, it’s the kind of thing that can be a hinderance (or a help) to the wine you’re sniffing and sipping (or quaffing. whatevs. no judgement here.) Basically, Dr. Noble and staff + students identified that there are a number of strains of Brett, and that some produce funky smells, while others produce pleasant smells.

Mind. Blown.

Needless to say, I hopped over to the Aroma Wheel website and found no version of this wheel easily accessible for purchase. So, instead, I ripped the page out of my WBM magazine to keep the bugger in my handy-dandy noteboook until one exists. With new aromas to think about – savory and dairy and woody and floral – I may be carrying a weird, perplexed look on my face as I work through my next rounds of tastings, asking myself: is this an aromatic of the wine, or of Brett?

P.S. I’m happy to give you a peek of my new cheat sheet – just ask.

The Wine Aroma Wheel, developed by Dr. Ann Noble (UC Davis) helps one to quickly identify what aroma you may be smelling in your glass of wine. Simply start in the middle and work your way outward to help get a hint of what aroma your brain is trying to identify.

Now, this is not the end-all, be-all. As I have mentioned to some of you, the other important “trick” to identifying what you are smelling is to smell and taste everything. Spending time in the grocery store and smelling as you move up and down the aisles is important. Produce, bread, coffee aisle, and getting yourself reacquainted with what spices smell like is all good practice to better identifying what you may be smelling later on. By doing this aromatic “homework”, you’re in better shape to start identifying what that mystery smell is. Practice, practice, practice.

Back to the wheel. I’ll just simply say that this tool that Dr. Noble devised has helped me out on many occasion. You may notice that there are many types of aroma wheels out on the market (and via Google Image), but I say that sticking to this particular wheel is the way to go as you continue your wine deviance! They’re kinda a deal at $6 a pop, and if you’re feeling uber-nerdy, grab a shirt, too. My advice is to start with buying the Table Wines wheel (in English, for most of my readers). I’m actually going to pick up their sparkling wine wheel, because I need to focus and work more on identifying many of the descriptors in this area.

P.S. Next time you’re tasting with me, feel free to ask to borrow my wheel. Happy to oblige!

1. In my short time of being a lifelong student of wine, I’ve never thought about wine tasting in Livermore
2. Until two months ago, I hadn’t yet heard of Steven Kent Winery or La Rochelle

These two things, I’ve officially marked as tragic, but these two things have changed. Permanently, and for the better.

I can attest that a great time was had by all* meeting and speaking with Steven during the time that we were there. By the time we concluded the tasting, I was in disbelief that such great wines, and such historic vineyards, could be so. darn. close. to where I lived (currently San Jose). Needless to say, I have to now schedule a full weekend of tasting in Livermore Valley, simply to see if other can live up to what I experienced with Steven Kent Winery and La Rochelle. Oh, I so hope my wishes of joyous wine experiences come true!

The scoop: The wines from these two wineries don’t immediately fall within the regular qualifications I use to write about wines. There’s no new flavor or aroma, the labels are attractive and appropriate within the industry (in fact, the SKW label strikes me more as an advertising style logo than wine, but what the hell do I know?), the tasting rooms were great (the views were beautiful, the staff was great, and there were oven-fired pizzas the day we were there- yum!), and these varieties are all ones you’ve heard of before. No, instead, I’m writing about these wines and the wineries because this area – Livermore – is California’s oldest wine growing region, and THAT HISTORY makes this area stand out. It’s the history of Steven’s family bringing the first Mourvedre (and possible Pinot Noir) vines here in the late 1800s that makes this a story to know a bit about. It’s also important (to me, at least) to note that these two wineries each produce about 5,000 cases, so we need to make sure that we support the boutique winemakers!

The score: Most wines ended up in the 4 out of 5 range, and you’ll see that below. Overall, the quality was so good across the board, I had to post all my notes so you could see for yourself that these wineries need to be placed on your list!

The nerdy notes: strap on your reading rocket boots – we tasted A LOT of wines, and I was not disappointed!

2009 La Rochelle Blanc de Noir Sparkling Wine, Methode Champenoise McIntyre Estate Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands, 13.8% alc., $34
score: 4 out of 5
n: beautiful creamy nose, slight creamy brie note
t: very light bubbles, slight Meyer lemon note, beautiful

2011 Steven Kent Merrillie Chardonnay Landucci Block Livermore Valley, 14.6% alc, $34
score: 4+/5 out of 5 – wowza!
n: slight toasty oak, beautiful Meyer lemon, “I really just want to huff this for a while”, ruby red grapefruit
t: nice body, good acid, Meyer lemon and SweetTart tartness, nice long finish, grapefruit note

2010 La Rochelle Dutton-Morelli Russian River Valley $65
score: 3+ out of 5
n: lighter/thinner than Merrille, slight reductive, slight grassy note/hay
t: thinner, tart, regular lemon, nice finish, much better paired w/ fod (brie + toasts)

2010 La Rochelle Chardonnay Ferrington Vineyard Anderson Valley, $65
score: 3+ out of 5
n: gravenstein apple, moderate diacetyl and banana note
t: diacetyl, fennel, long finish, slight bell pepper note, nice acidity

2010 La Rochelle Pinot Noir Soberanes Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands, 14.6% alc., $75
score: 4 out of 5
n: warm, bright cherry and tobacco and black tea notes, slight lemon note upon opening
t: warm baked cherry pie, moderate to long finish, nice acid and tannin structure, rich

2010 La Rochelle Pinot Noir Donum Estate Vineyard Carneros, 14.6% alc., $75
score: 5 out of 5 – FOLKS, WE HAVE A WINNER HERE!!
n: nice forward fruit, flint/pencil lead, slight raspberry and fig, slight shitake and redwood forest floor
t: slight smoke, warmth to the fruit and supple, long finish, light black cherry

2009 La Rochelle Pinot Noir Sleepy Hollow
score: 4 out of 5
n: ripe amazing note, black cherry, redwood, tobacco and black tea
t: moderate tannin but not aggressive, really ripe blackberry and black cherry and pits

2010 Steven Kent The Premier Cabernet Sauvignon Livermore Valley 14.3% alc., $100
score: 4 out of 5
n: cassis, black tea, deep tones, slight mint on back note, cedar box, black cherry (overripe)
t: fig and baking spice

2010 Steven Kent Cabernet Franc Ghielmetti Vineyard Livermore Valley
score: 3+/4 out of 5
n: black pepper, bell pepper note, sweet oak notes, anise and fennel
t: moderate tannins, black pepper, black olive (brine hint), moderate tannin structure, walnut

2010 Steven Kent Merlot Ghielmetti Vineyard Livermore Valley
score: 3+/4 out of 5
n: black pepper, cassis, deep notes, toasty oak, fig
t: warm, mild oak notes, slightly underripe blackberry

2009 Lineage (27% Merlot, Cab Sauv)
score: 4 out of 5
n: cassis, black tea, slight asphalt, sweet oak notes (vanilla hint)
t: long finish, nose notes carry through here, sage, basil

2010 Lineage (15% Merlot, 65% Cab Sauv, 16% Cab Franc)
score: 4 out of 5
n: sage, fruit forward, slight minerality, black pepper
t: cassis, tea, nice vanilla note from oak, mild to moderate tannins, black cherry

Library tasting – now we’re really nerding out with Steven, and I really counted myself luck at this point
2006 La Rochelle Pinot Noir Russian River Valley, 15.8% alc.
score: 4 out of 5
n: big! fig and slightly smokey, slight blueberry, Rhone-like personality and worthy of a cocktail

2006 La Rochelle Pinot Noir Gary’s Vineyard
score: 4 out of 5
n: forest floor, sage, eucalyptus
t: forest floor, sage, eucalyptus plus nice full, long finish, redwood, cherry and raspberry

2005 La Rochelle Pinot Noir Sleepy Hollow
score: 4 out of 5
n: ripe raspberry and fig, black tea
t: nice, full ripe fruit, subtle, complex and slight yeast, will knock you out of your chair with how age worthy this still is

*With full disclosure, the tasting I”m about to write up was part of an organized tasting I attended with Luscious Lushes, James the Wine Guy, and BrixChicks. I was the “baby” in the group when it comes to amount of time or amount of posts written, and I was totally okay with that.

I realize that quite a few folks that read this blog or speak to me in person are always looking for recommendations of places to visit when coming into California, but maybe aren’t able to sync up with me quick enough to get a tailored list of places I recommend tasting. So…to help remedy this situation, I’ll post “New-to-you region” write-ups for your benefit, and cross-link so that you can do additional research either on my specific wine reviews, or with the wineries themselves. These write-ups will be a little different from what you’re used to seeing on this blog, but mixing it up (read: being deviant on a deviant blog) is a great thing! Without further ado, I give you Carneros!

Carneros – rich with history, and known to produce beautiful Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines. I could go on in paragraphs about how this AVA came to be…but I won’t. You know how to read, especially since I’m giving you background links.

This event, like many, are set up to enjoy the beautiful weather and vineyard scenery. The setups were varied – some places were grilling or prepping food, others allowing folks to sample wines from special barrel rooms – but the folks at every location were great! And, don’t forget to bring your DD (designated driver), so that you can enjoy the weekend. Maybe trade-off, one person driving one day, and a different person on the second day, so that everyone can enjoy and be safe!u background links. I recently attended a tasting event called April in Carneros, hosted by the Hospitality de los Carneros Association, and had a lovely time. With only 4 hours to taste, I tried my best to move through A LOT of wines, so that I could report back on the ones that struck my fancy. Heck, I even had some fun while doing it (notice the fancy hat I’m sporting as a prize from the prize wheel at )…and you should expect to have a fun time too!

As for my selections, here they are:

Toward the end of 2012, I took a two-day wine tasting trip with my cousin, Nicole. She lives out of the country, all the way on the other side of the world (read: Australia), and so my family and I don’t get to see her all that often. Because of these far-and-few-between visits (well…every other year is actually REALLY good), I’ve been trying to make sure that we get to spend a little time together. This time, I insisted that we tackle some wine tasting, and this is something I recommend you try as well.

Step 1: Identify the person you think you can hang out with for at least two days of tastings
Step 2: Pick a theme
Step 3: Plan a little, or plan a lot, but plan to have a great time!

My question to my cousin: Which do you want to taste – red, white or sparkling? Her choice: sparkling. EEeexcccellleenntt! I’ve been wanting to focus on sparkling wines, because they are actually not in my “wheelhouse” of wines (read: I kinda stink at focusing on sparkling tastings). Since we were both going to be located in the greater North Bay, I decided to theme our two-day outing as Sonoma vs. Napa Sparklers. Now, some might say “sparkling in Winter?!”. Yes! IMO (in my opinion), wine tasting in winter is the best time to go tasting, because not as many folks are around, and that means more time/opportunities to speak with the tasting room staff to learn about what you’re tasting.

Sonoma locations: J Vineyards, Korbel, Iron Horse Vineyards, Gloria Ferrer
Napa locations: Domaine Carneros, Domaine Chandon, Mumm Napa

Though many of the wines from these wineries wouldn’t have been looked at me regularly, I can’t not mention the fact that sometimes even the main Wine Deviant (me) needs to break out of looking for what is different about wines or wineries to focus on doing a different kind of activity. And this is what you should do to! Be different, and plan a themed wine tasting. Go for a specific varietal, clone or just style of wine, and tackle it! It’s time to learn!

As for our fun, here are my nerdy notes for the wines that stood out (and many of which, I purchased):

J Vineyards 2002 Brut Magnum RRV
score: 4 out of 5
n: gala apple, light yeast, opens up to creme brulee & caramel, amazing!
t: light cremant, slight creme brulee, short finish

Korbel 2008 Masters Reserve Blanc de Noir, $25 (50% Pinot Noir, 40% Sangiovese, 10 unknown/blend)
score: 3+/4 out of 5
n: fruity nose, slight taffy
t: wow! a stand-out to all the rest, not familiar with use of Sangiovese for a sparkling wine, but a fun choice!

Iron Horse Vineyards 2008 Wedding Cuvee $38, (85% Pinot Noir, 15% Chardonnay)
overall, our 1st choice here, obvious crowd-pleaser
(sorry the notes are sparse on this one…end of the day, and we were outside in the cold. I really liked it, but I was clearly ready to go home, by the way that note reads)

Gloria Ferrer Va da Vi NV (non-vintage), $22 (Muscat addition)
score: 4 out of 5
n: nice fruit, apple cider note
t: mimics the nose, nice body and light bubbles, nice sweetness to the cuvee, good fruit sweetness, good acidity, peach (white)

Gloria Ferrer Anniversary Cuveee NV (non-vintage), $40
score: 3+/4 out of 5
n: mild apple (gravenstein) and slightly creamy
t: nice creamy, yeasty notes, slight citrus peel, good finish

Domaine Carneros 2008 Brut Cuvee, $27
score: 3+/4 out of 5
n: white flower/lemon flower
t: round body, nice mandarin citrus note, good crispness, long finish

Domaine Carneros 2008 Vermeil Demi-Sec, $36
score: 3+/4 out of 5
n: slightly creamy note, honey note durig warm up and light white flower
t: nice mold fruity sweetness, white peach and pear notes, gala apple on backend

Mumm 2007 Blanc de Blancs
score: 4 out of 5
n: Granny Smith nose, tart
t: tart, granny smith prevalent, round, very good balance

Mumm 2000 DVX
score: 4+/5 out of 5
n: beautiful creme brûlée!
t: same as nose, creamy, light lemon, long finish, light green apple and slight pineapple. This wine was incredible, and a testament to what Mumm sparkling wines can do when left to cellar for a few years!