5. Try something not from a standard wine package. Box, tetrapak, can, or flasq, you gotta try out something outside your comfort zone. There’s good stuff to be had, and the only way you’re gonna know is by experimenting!
4. Enjoy a little beer. Sometimes, to appreciate wine, you need to appreciate beer. Real beer. Craft beer. So, go on a beerwalk. Try a mixed cocktail staring an amazing local craft brew. Pick up something new at the local bottle shop, and don’t hesitate to ask for a recommendation! Just like at a wine shop, beer folk can be just as helpful
3. Head out to a new winery or wine region you wouldn’t usually visit. You would be amazed at how many wineries and AVAs there are to visit in these United States. Heck! There’s wine being made in every state of our great 50! Pull out a map, close your eyes, and randomly point to where your next mini wine adventure will take you.
2. Go the exact opposite of your favorite wine! Like white? Try red or rose. Like sparkling? Dry a port or sherry. Think that’s crazy? Nope, just the best possible way to be deviant and break out of your beverage rut!
1. Celebrate being a wine deviant on my very own, self-proclaimed #winedeviant day, Friday the 13th. Break out of the superstitious shell, and throw a little gathering where you and some friends share wines that are different from what you would usually drink. Not sure what to bring/serve? See point #2 above. And don’t forget to tweet or Facebook post your wine selection with the #winedeviant hash tag. I’d love to see how you celebrated one of two Wine Deviant days of the year!

Have fun, and don’t forget to stay hydrated!

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: