Welcome to the Wine Buying Guide

As a wine enthusiast living in the San Francisco Bay area, I have the luxury of being able to head off to local wineries at a moments notice to taste or buy wines. As a result, my wine collection is a mixture of wine club offerings and limited release wines that I've picked up at the wineries and are usually available only at those wineries. I realize, however, that not everyone has that opportunity. Their source of wines is typically the local grocery or package store where they either buy an old standard, look for a recommended wine, or employ a hit or miss strategy for trying new wines. With the growth of the internet, online wine purchasing opportunities are now plentiful. The question, though, is what to buy. Yes, just about all of the wineries now offer their products through internet sales, but which of those wines are worth the effort and shipping costs? This blog is dedicated to providing information for wine lovers to assist them in their online buying decisions. As I visit local wineries, I will relate my findings through the blog to give readers an idea of what wines I find that I'd recommend to others. These are usually wines that I buy myself, or wish I could buy if I had an unlimited budget for wine purchases. Each entry will provide information about the location of the winery, varietals with which the winery specializes, the costs of the wines, website links, and my own recommendations. If they have had their wines rated by some of the better known reviewers, such as Robert Parker, I will mention that also, as well as the winery's own tasting notes, if they are particularly helpful or entertaining. To give you a sense of my tastes, I tend toward Pinot Noirs and Zinfandels. I've run across numerous other varietals that I enjoy, but I'm always particularly interested in Pinots and Zins. A good Cabernet Sauvigon or Chardonnay hits the spot, too. Favorites include Kunde Century Vines Zinfandel, Sonoma-Cutrer The Cutrer Chardonnay, La Crema Anderson Valley Pinot Noir, and Valley of the Moon Old Vine Zin. The trouble here is, unless you've visited the winery, you've probably not tasted these wines. There are many wonderful, small production wines out there and I hope to pass on my favorites through this forum.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Papapietro Perry Winery

Across the parking lot from Kokomo, at 4791 Dry Creek Road in Healdsburg, is the Papapietro Perry Winery tasting room.  Aside from being a fun name to pronounce ...Papapietro Perry... the winery makes some wonderful wines.  Pinot Noirs mostly, though they do have a tasty Zin on their list and a Chardonnay they typically sell out.

We visited a couple of weekends ago and were treated to some of their best stuff, starting with the 2008 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir ($46, 1220 cases).  This wine received 92 points from the Pinot Report and 90 points from Wine Spectator.  Their tasting notes describe the wine as, "Medium ruby color; deep, complex, rich aromas of red cherry and cola with some nice earthy notes. Rich, ripe, bright red cherry flavors with earthy, cola notes; silky texture; good structure and balance with a lovely long finish. This is a rich and silky Pinot with bright fruit and nice length, delicious and perfect for grilled chicken. Drink now through 2015." 

While we were impressed with the RRV, what really grabbed us was the 2008 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($46, 780 cases).  The Sonoma Coast received 94 points from the Pinot Report and 91 from the Wine Spectator.  It had an unusual taste, which I couldn't identify, and was very good.  Their website says, "Medium deep ruby color with deep, complex, spicy dark cherry aromas with earthy, forest floor notes; complex, deep, spicy dark cherry flavors with forest floor notes; silky texture; some oak, good structure and balance with a lovely long finish. Deep, complex and delicious Pinot with great structure and balance."  Maybe it was the forest floor notes that I coundn't quite put my finger on.

Next up was the 2008 Elsbree Vineyard Pinot Noir ($54, 730 cases) from the Russian River Valley.  Elsbree received 94 points from the Pinot Report as well. They describe it as, "Medium ruby color; complex red cherry and spice aromas; complex, deep, red cherry flavors with spice and earthy notes; good structure and balance; long finish. Spicy and deep Pinot with great structure and fruit flavors. Benefits from a little time in the glass."

The 2008 Leras Family Vineyard Pinot Noir ($54, 1020 cases) was poured after that.  It received 93 points from the Pinot Report and 92 points from the Wine Spectator.  Their website says, "Medium ruby color with complex earthy red cherry aromas; rich, deep and complex red cherry and earthy flavors with hints of tea and cola; some tannin and oak with good structure and balance leading to a long finish. Bright, lush, delicious Pinot that is amazing to drink all by itself. Wow, this is really tasty!" And it is...really tasty, that is.

We were then treated to a taste of the 2009 Russian River Valley Piont Noir ($46).  It received 94 points from the Wine Spectator and impresses with cherry and spice notes.

Last was the 2008 Elsbree Vineyard Zin ($38, 580 cases).  The website calls it, "Medium ruby red color with a wonderful nose of sweet raspberry and blackberry with a hint of spice and smoke . It is elegant and balanced with flavors of dark berry fruit, with a hint of spice and pepper, leading to a long full finish of sweet fruit and oak. Smooth tannins add structure and mouth feel, but don’t overpower."  It's an impressive Zin.

While all the wines were very good, we walked out with the Sonoma Coast Pinot and the Elsbree Zin.  I also came across a bottle of the 2007 Charles Vineyard Pinot from the Anderson Valley in my cabinet.  That particular vintage is sold out and we didn't taste the 2008 vintage ($54) on our last visit, but I remember being particularly impressed with the 2007.  My bet would be that the 2008 was wonderful as well.

Their wine club ships twice a year, and you can select gold (2 cases), silver (1 case), or bronze levels (1/2 a case).  They have other perks for members, including winemaker dinners, reservation of their patio for private parties, and discounts ranging from 10 to 20 percent, depending on the level.  Their website is http://papapietro-perry.com/.  If you are a Pinot fan, this is a winery you should know about.
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Location: Sonoma, CA, USA

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