How to hold your own wine-tasting party
Western vintners craft the most amazing array of wines in the world, from Cabernet to Viognier. To find the best this year, we teamed up with some of the West's most prominent wine experts, including Master Sommeliers, teachers, and writers (click here to read about our process and judges).
The results showed some interesting trends. The only winning Cabernet Sauvignon was in the Steal of the Year category, while a Zinfandel took the Special Occasion Red spot. Last year, very few Chardonnays were even nominated; this year, three won in our tasting (our judges sensed a return to balance between oak and fruit in this variety). Finally, two Syrahs were winners. This might be our next big red.
Here are Sunset's picks for 2006.
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| Rob D. Brodman |
| Red and white of the year |
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STEAL [SPECIAL_CHAR {151}] UNDER $15[I {Red}]
Columbia Crest "Grand Estates" Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 (Columbia Valley, WA; $11)
Rich cassis, cedar, and mocha — a "grand" value.
[I {White}]
Alexander Valley Vineyards "New Gewurz" Gewürztraminer 2005 (North Coast, CA; $9)
Lively apple, with honeysuckle and tasty minerals.
WINE OF THE YEAR [SPECIAL_CHAR {151}] $15 to $30
[I {Red}]
JC Cellars Ventana Vineyard Syrah 2002 (Monterey, CA; $30)
Smoky and earthy, with dark berries and black pepper.
[I {White}]
Talley Vineyards Estate Chardonnay 2004 (Arroyo Grande Valley, CA; $26)
Spicy apple crisp flavors, with a long, creamy finish.
SPECIAL OCCASION WINE [SPECIAL_CHAR {151}] $30 to $50
[I {Red}]
Peachy Canyon "Especial" Zinfandel 2004 (Paso Robles, CA; $37)
Like a potful of heirloom plums cooked slowly on the stove, then spiced with black pepper.
[I {White}]
Ramey Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay 2003 (Carneros, CA; $49)
Toasty oak balanced with citrus, light tropical fruit, and minerals.
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| Rob D. Brodman |
| Best red over $50: Pax Castelli-Knight Ranch Syrah |
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DEEP POCKET WINE [SPECIAL_CHAR {151}] over $50[I {Red}]
Pax Castelli-Knight Ranch Syrah 2004 (Russian River Valley,
CA; $55)
Juicy red berries and currants with white pepper and smoke — rich and sexy.
[I {White}]
Grgich Hills "30th Anniversary" Chardonnay 2003 (Carneros, Napa Valley; $73)
Intense and elegant — orange zest wrapped in honey. This wine marks the win of Mike Grgich's 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay over all the white Burgundies in the now-famous 1976 Paris Tasting.
UP-AND-COMING WINE REGION OF THE YEAR
Santa Rita Hills, CA
Morning ocean fog and afternoon onshore winds have turned Lompoc, California, into one of the West Coast's hottest addresses for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Uniquely oriented from west to east, the Santa Rita Hills — a cool subappellation of the Santa Ynez Valley — produces beautifully structured Pinots, including Sanford, Melville, Fiddlehead, and Sea Smoke.
WINEMAKER OF THE YEAR
Paul Draper, Ridge Vineyards
Arguably the dean of California winemaking, Paul Draper has advocated balance — no overripe, prodigiously alcoholic wines — for more than three decades. His 1971 Ridge Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon took fifth place in the 1976 "Judgment of Paris" tasting, and in the even more stunning rematch this year, it swept the field. And while recently, place has become everything for most winemakers, Draper's known it all along; he's always produced single-vineyard Zinfandels (try his Lytton Springs). 17100 Monte Bello Rd., Cupertino, CA; 408/867-3233.
WINE PRO OF THE YEAR
Evan Goldstein, M.S., VP of Global Wine Education, Beam Wine Estates
Master Sommelier Evan Goldstein, who started out on the floor of Square One (chef-owner: Joyce Goldstein, aka Mom), was the youngest person in his day to earn the M.S. title. He's packed enough info into his new book, Perfect Pairings, to make mini sommeliers of us all. University of California Press, 2006; $30.
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| Rob D. Brodman |
| The Green Award goes to John Williams of Frog's Leap vineyards. |
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BEST TASTING ROOMNavarro Vineyards, Anderson Valley, CA
California wine touring gets back to its roots in the casual, friendly tasting room that's the hub of Anderson Valley traffic (and home to some of its best-crafted wines). On your way up through Boonville to Mendocino, stop and take a bottle of Navarro's Méthode à l'Ancienne Pinot Noir and some smoked salmon from the deli case out to one of the tables under the trellis and taste Anderson Valley. 5601 State 128, Philo, CA; 707/895-3686.
THE GREEN AWARD
John Williams, Frog's Leap
Not only does John Williams farm organically, his entire winery is solar-powered and heated and cooled geothermally. And the new tasting room and offices, built with renewable, low-impact materials, are LEED-certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. Bonus: Frog's Leap wines are yummy. 8815 Conn Creek Rd., Rutherford, CA; 800/959-4704.
BEST WINE BAR
Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant, San Francisco
Wines by the taste, glass, or themed flight show off interesting varieties, regions, and styles. Nab some cheese from Cowgirl Creamery and a crusty loaf from Acme Bread Company, and watch the Marketplace crowd from the Wine Merchant bar. 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco; 415/391-9400.
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| Rob D. Brodman |
| Best wine bar: San Francisco's Wine Merchant |
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WINE TREND OF THE YEARElegant wines from cool-climate regions
The search is on for ever-cooler places to plant — where grapes ripen slowly, develop layers of flavor, and hold on to their important acid. The Sonoma Coast, the Willamette Valley, Santa Rita Hills, Washington's Columbia Cascades region … all produce crisp and interesting whites, complex and structured reds. But do take a sweater when you visit.
How we chose the winners
To find the best wines, regions, and places to taste this year, we asked a panel of 12 wine professionals (below) to nominate candidates they thought were potential winners in each award category. For all categories except the wines themselves, we compiled the nominations on an official ballot and asked the judges to rank their first three choices. Surprisingly, there were no ties; first place for each award was close but clear.
For all the wines nominated (just shy of 150), we invited the wineries to submit their bottles for a blind tasting here at Sunset's headquarters in Menlo Park, California (not all the nominated wines were submitted). Judges rated the wines on a 20-point scale. The only thing the judges knew about each wine was the varietal and price range (labels and other identifiers were obscured). Our Wine of the Year, Special Occasion Wine, and Deep Pocket Wine Awards are based on their composite scores — again, no ties. For our Steal of the Year, our professional judges narrowed the field to three whites and three reds. Then we poured those six for the participants in the Sunset Wine Club tasting seminars held during Sunset's Celebration Weekend at our headquarters in May, 2006. The participants rated the wines and selected the Steal of the Year (we think of the winning wines as our People's Choice awards). |
| Charles Gullung |
| Western vintners craft the most amazing array of wines in the world. |
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One caveat: Not surprisingly, a couple of the judges themselves were nominated, either directly for an award or for a business they're involved in. In those cases, we asked them to abstain from voting in that category.Our judges
Bob Bath, M.S. Owner, RLB Wine Group, Robert Bath Imports, St. Helena, CA
Shayn Bjornholm, M.S.: Beverage director, Canlis Restaurant, Seattle
Evan Goldstein, M.S.: VP of global wine education, Beam Wine Estates, Healdsburg, CA; author, Perfect Pairings
Paul Gregutt: Wine columnist, the Seattle Times; author, Northwest Wines
Karen MacNeil: Director of wine studies, CIA at Greystone, St. Helena, CA; author, The Wine Bible; television host, Wine, Food, and Friends
Peter Marks, M.W.: Director of wine, Copia, Napa, CA
Elaine Marshall, Certified Wine Professional: Wine-selection panel member, Sunset Wine Club
Burke Owens: Associate director of wine, Copia
Tysan Pierce: Sommelier, the Herbfarm, Woodinville, WA; instructor, International Sommelier Guild
Leslie Sbrocco: Author, Wine for Women; wine columnist, San Francisco Chronicle; host, Check, Please!
Sara Schneider: Senior wine editor, Sunset
Debbie Zachareas: Wine director and partner, Bacar Restaurant, San Francisco; partner, Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant, San Francisco
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