Harvest 2012!

I often equate wine to the ice cream business. Do you ever see anyone looking somber or unhappy as they’re licking an ice cream cone? Ever see frowns in an ice cream parlor? Chances are, you haven’t. Same thing goes for those who imbibe with wine daily or scan the shelves in a wine shop with great joy and excitement, looking for the next exciting discovery.

Assuming that one is not already involved in the winemaking and production side of the business, every wine industry professional that’s been in the business long enough explores the notion and dreams of someday making their own wine. Why wouldn’t we? The majority of us pursued a career in the wine business for the pure passion and joy one can reap from learning, drinking, sharing and exploring wine. Let’s face it; it’s also a great mood enhancer.

It’s amazing how strong the pull is for many people to pursue a career in wine. I mean I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met in the industry who went to school for something completely unrelated to wine. In fact, it’s not uncommon to meet someone who left a stable job and career they spent years and really, a lifetime educating and preparing for, only to leave and find work in the wine business; and often for far less pay. The only logical explanation for someone transferring to an industry where Mother Nature holds your livelihood hostage year after year is that we are all crazy. Why, why, why do we do it? Simple — it makes us (me) happy!

I’ve been in the business now for about seven years now and at this point; I’m definitely a lot more serious about the prospect of making wine. Once this idea of a possible career track in wine production became a little more real for me, the next logical step was to partake in a harvest internship. This is exactly what I did this past harvest-2012. In the coming weeks, I’ll recap my experiences and the many aspects of what I learned during my time at Roar Wines. Until then, thank you for reading!

Me crushing it during a routine punch down.

 

New directions….well sort of.

When I first started this blog, my intention was to capture all of my wine experiences after the closing of my store, The People’s Wine Shop.  As loyal followers of The Grape Crusader blog can attest, 99% of the content on here are reviews of wines I’ve tasted, while the other 1% are blog posts stating that “I’m back” or “more posts to follow.”

While I’ve enjoyed immensely writing these reviews and interacting with many of you, I’ve come realize that the reason why I haven’t been very consistent for the past three years is that posting reviews started feeling like a chore.  Yikes!  I don’t like “wine” and “chore” in the same sentence.  In fact I’ve even recently started to grapple with the idea of shutting the blog down, because of this chore like feeling.  I just can’t get myself to do it though, for doing so would mean I’ve called it a day in the wine business…at least according to this blog’s mission.  So what now?

I apologize if this post is lacking any sense as it’s being done in an off the cuff sort of fashion.  I just wanted to get my thoughts out on paper before I lost interest and momentum.  More to follow on another post about my next adventure in the wine business (there I go again with the “new post soon” bull).

 

 

Wine Review – 2006 Scherrer Winery Syrah Russian River Valley

Yes, I know that this is a horrible picture, but I’m still using the i-Phone 3. You’re welcome for the laugh.

Always one of my favorite producers, Scherrer Winery does everything well in the cellar. Whether its zinfandel, cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, chardonnay or their superb rose, Scherrer crafts some of the best wines for both near-term drinking and for the long term. This 2006 Syrah Russian River Valley is another standout from Fred Scherrer. The wine has a wonderful perfume of both blue and red fruit as well as a firm structure, flavors of berry and spice and a fair amount of freshness that you don’t often find in syrah.  I tend to think of syrah as more of a roughhouse, hard edged and wild type of wine, but this one definitely veered towards the more feminine and elegant side, which made it all the more interesting.

The best chance you’ll have in obtaining wines from Scherrer is to join his mailing list.  There are no minimum order requirements, prices are very fair and they offer a winery pick up option, which gives you a chance to taste current releases and the occasional back vintage and barrel sample.  The website also allows you to order from a bevy of back vintages of all varietals, which is a great way to back fill your cellar and also taste older wines to help you assess future purchases from this winery.

 

2009 Regis Bouvier Marsannay Clos du Roy

It may be more of a product of my search and discovery process more than the region’s wines themselves, but I usually have a hard time finding good, affordable Burgundy that tastes downright delicious. Sure, I’ve tasted a few Premier and Grand Crus along the way that were absolutely stunning, but most often wines I’ve tasted in this arena are way out of my price arena and are usually not “ready” to drink anyway. I want something that I can easily swipe off a retail shelf or order by the glass in restaurant, like this glass. 

Fresh, balanced, lush, perfumed and spicy are just a few of the words to describe this awesome glass of 2009 Regis Bouvier Marsannay Clos du Roy.  I had this past Saturday evening at Spruce restaurant in San Francisco. This was the kind of Burgundy that makes me ecstatic when I find it.  Because I tend to come across more insipid, drying and frankly, unexciting Burgundies on restaurant BTG lists and retail shelves, stumbling upon this one made me, hmmmm….smile?

I know, not the best picture, but just wanted to make sure that you saw that this review was legit.

The importer of this wine is Kermit Lynch, so I’m not surprised at the quality and individuality of this wine.  Any retailer carrying a handful of Kermit’s wines will be a good bet and good starting point in tracking this wine down.  Of course, if you live in San Francisco or the East Bay, you can easily pop your head in Kermit’s shop in Berkeley.

 

2007 Sean Thackrey Andromeda Pinot Noir

Recently, I’ve been very curious about the wines of Sean Thackrey. They were recommended to me by a wine guzzling friend of mine as must-trys and frankly, with a URL for his website titled www.wine-maker.net instead of the typical – http://www.yourcompanyname here.com, I had to try it.
I purchased the 2007 Thackrey Andromeda Pinot Noir with plans to pair it with a lamb dish I was preparing for the weekend. The lamb was going to be rubbed with Ras el Hanout, a North African spice I have also been curious about ever since it caught my attention on the addictive Top Chef reality television series.

 
The wine certainly did not disappoint. This is definitely not a wine for those looking for a lighter styled, sub-13% alcohol, elegantly crafted pinot noir. This pinot noir was THAT type of pinot that would cause some to ask – “Is there any syrah in this?” And while the color would lead you to believe there would be, the flavor of the wine still had the pinot-nicity character you’d expect in a 100% bottled pinot noir. This wine was intensely flavored, mouth-filling, deeply layered, deeply nuanced and downright delicious. There was also exoticness in the flavor that mirrored the exotic character of the North African spiced lamb on the table.

If Thackrey’s other wines are as singular and exciting as this one, I will certainly seek them out. If you’re looking for a truly unique and exciting wine, you should do yourself a favor and buy some of his wines.

 

I’m Back…

After trying out self-hosting of the Grape Crusader Blog for one year, I’m back to this free version. 5 or so posts over the course of 365 days and $150 in self-hosting subscription fees didn’t really make much financial sense, so I’m back. Now let’s see if I can catch up.  You can just look at this pic for now until I get organized again.

Here's a picture of a bottle we drank last year that I wish we had another bottle of. Arrrgh!

 

The Grape Crusader Has Moved

We apologize for not being more consistent with the posting of our wine reviews in the past month or so.  I’ve been busy juggling my search for a day job while also making changes to my night job by setting up a new home base for this blog.

With that, here is the new url and web address for The Grape Crusader blog.

www.grapecrusaderblog.com/Home

You’ll see a few aesthetic changes to the blog, but not much, for now at least.  The biggest change and the main reason why I’ve switched to a different platform is that our new home now allows us to place advertisements on the blog.  The blog is definitely a labor of love and a hobby for us, and all we expect from any advertising revenue we receive are resources to support our..ahem..sipping habits, which in turn provide you, our loyal readers with these independent wine reviews.

We’ll be doing our best to minimize the advertising clutter so the content, not the ads are what stand out on the front page.

I do hope you continue to read and enjoy the wine reviews and we appreciate your continued visits to the The Grape Crusader blog.