P.S. I Love You More than Old Pop Hit

When I hear "New Frontier" I think of the Old West, or maybe Star Trek. Okay, schmaltzy opening for a quick wine review.

But there are still a few new frontiers even in old wine country. Lake County, just north of Napa, likes to refer to itself as one of those new frontiers. The fruit grown there has been sold to others for years. It has been a great place to grow fruit or even buy property at more reasonable prices than the incredibly unreasonable Napa Valley.

But now more wineries are popping up on the national scene with good wines for your consideration. The "P.S. I Love You" line in the headline refers to a joint marketing effort by a group of California winemakera who grow and make Petite Sirah wines.

I'll write more about Petite Sirah over the coming weeks. Jo Diaz, the able marketing coordinator for the "PS" groups, signed me up for samples and I'm now sitting on several bottles of Petite Sirah at several different price points.

A column defining the grape will probably be forthcoming. But to greatly oversimplify, there is noting petite about Petite Sirah.

I opened a Line 39 bottle of Petite Sirah to have with my homemade chili tonight. Line 39 represent the latitude of the winery property in Lake Country. Roy Cecchetti's winery has gotten noticed the past couple of years with nice words from Wine Spectator Online, Wine Enthusiast, Impact/Shanken Communications, and others.

All Petite Sirah wines are big and bold - some just smoother than others. The Line 39 bottle had nice richness and was certainly big and bold - just the way most describe Petite Sirah. It has very dark fruit, some acidity, and until fully opened up - some astringency. But after the wine has time to breathe, it is enjoyable big red wine.

It's probably most impressive when you consider you can pick this up at your nearest wine shop for a really surprising SRP of $10.

The Line 39 is a great, and inexpensive introduction to Petite Sirah!

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10 of Grape Sense's Top Wines of 2012

Each year lists of top events, products, and moments dominate the media around New Year's. Grape Sense has celebrated 10 top wines each year since 2009.

My list isn't necessarily the 10 best wines tasted; it's 10 of the best wines sampled at a value price point (under $25) in the past 12 months.

In no particular order, here are 10 of the most enjoyable and easy to find value wines of 2012.

Clayhouse Adobe White - The Clayhouse line of wines always deliver well above the $14 suggested retail price point. The white is 49 percent Viognier, 26 percent Sauv Blanc, 19 percent Grenache Blanc, and 6 percent Princess. The wine has floral, identifiable orange, peach, and honey flavors. It's an awesome summer sipper.

Michel Gassier's Costieres de Nimes Nostre Pais White - I love Grenache Blanc.  Two wines make this year's list featuring the grape. It is a smooth and light on the palate wine with hints of lime. It gets big scores from critics. $18, though I've seen it lower!

Gauthier Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir - Finding under $20 Pinot Noir is a bit of a needle in a haystack. An aside, this wine normally retails at $30 but I've seen it on numerous occasions under $20. It has great strawberry, smoke and spice!

Sineann Red Table Wine - The words "Pinot Noir blend" normally should scare the heck out of you but this wine works. A noted Oregon Pinot producers dumps Pinot, Cab, Zin, with bits of Cab Franc and Merlot into this wine. It's crazy good. No, make that - CRAZY good for $17.99.

Santa Barbara Sauvignon Blanc - Nothing beats a nice crisp Sauv Blanc with seafood. If you can pick this one up for $11.99 like I did you have an outstanding value. California still makes some the world's most interesting whites.

Mondavi Private Selection Meritage - It's one of the best 'supermarket' lines available and the Meritage might be the best of the bunch. It's a blend of Cabernet, Merlot, Malbec, and Petit Verdot from Monterey County. At $11, or cheaper, it's great wine.

Ca de Rocchi Montere Ripasso - Ripasso has been hot in the wine world. It's a Valpolicella region in northern Italy. Serve this Italian with pasta and your guests will think you spent much more. It's big, rich wine for $18. (Couldn't find a winery website.)

Obra Prima Reserva Malbec - I mentioned this wine in my last column but it needs to be on this list for great value. It's a big wine with huge dark fruit, chocolate, and a balanced finsih. At $17, it's good as Malbec gets in the price range.

Oliver 2010 Shiraz Reserve  - An Indiana wine makes the list again this year with an asterisk. I like this wine so much I'm breaking a rule. The wines here all retail under $25, except for this one at $26. You think you know Oliver wines? Taste the Shiraz blind with friends and see how many are surprised.

Domaine Virgile Joly Blanc - I stopped putting the wines in order a couple of years ago, but if there was going to be a No. 1 on this year's list it might be this $12 white from France's Languedoc region. This is goregous Grenache Blanc at a value price.

So there is the list for another year. I could review my blog posts and probably come up with an entirely different 10 on another day. But these are wines I'm confident would not disappoing any wine drinker!

Here are links to my previous Top 10 picks:

2011

2010

2009

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

Quick Thoughts on Five Great Wines with Wine Buddies

A big group of wine friends gathered the Saturday before Christmas with some great food items and six great wines. I have notes on five of the six and all five were big winners.

This will be some quick notes on wines you should buy if you see them in your nearest wine shop. I'll list them in the order we drank them that night.

Craggy Range Kidnapper's Vineyard 2011 Chardonnay - The Craggy Range Chard really surprised me. I'm not sure I've ever had a New Zealand Chardonnay before! Based on this one, I might try a few more.

Any time I'm talking Chardonnay I add the disclaimer that I'm generally not a fan. I liked this Chard second best only to better Chablis wines. It doesn't have any taste of oak but sees a bit along with mostly stainless steel. I liked the wine's mouth feel, richness, lime and spice. Not all of the wine dudes agreed, but I also got a rich apple flavor - like apple pie.

It has mild acidity and a pretty soft finish but was still enjoyable. The guys around the living room all liked the wines. I found some online reviews, out of curiosity, that scored the wine well but were rather harsh in description. I didn't find anything harsh about the wine. If you like Chardonnay in a softer style, try this one!

Craggy Range Kidnapper's Vineyard 2011 Chardonnay, $18-$22, Trade Sample, Highly Recommended.

Oliver 2010 Shiraz Reserve - Yes, that's Oliver as in Oliver Winery near Bloomington Ind. Oliver, along with several other Indiana wineries, get lumped into the perception Indiana winemakers only make cheap and sweet wines. There was a time that was an accurate description but not any more.

This is probably the single best Indiana red wine I've ever tasted. I poured the wine blind for the dudes and they all loved it. I asked the most experienced wine drinker in the room if he would have objected if I had suggested a Northern Rhone Syrah before revealing the wine's origin. He thought the French connection made sense after I told the group it was Syrah.

Of course they were surprised but also delighted. Indiana wines have come a long way. Bill Oliver is darn proud of his better bottlings and they sell! And, in the Indy International Wine Competition, tasted blindly as well, this wine was awarded an infrequent Double Gold Medal.

The wine has a great mouth feel with the kind of spice you'd expect from good Syrah. It is very balanced and beautifiul wine.

Oliver 2010 Shiraz Reserve, $26, Very Highly Recommended

Denner Vineyards 2007 The Ditch Digger - This Paso Robles wine is an absolute rock star on any wine rack! I might even be ready to argue that this Denner wine is one of the signature bottles from the Central California region.

This is a big rich red wine with fine balance that's hard not to like for any red wine fan. The blend is 40 percent Grenache, 33 percent Syrah, 20 percent Mourvedre, and 7 percent Cinsault.

The wine has deep blackberry, cherry and chocolate flavors. It has generally been very highly praised with this vintage garnering 93 points from Wine Spectator and 91 points from Robert Parker.

It's big fruit with nice balance and even a freshness that is really desirable in many of the big Paso Robles wines. It's not cheap, but worth every nickel.

Denner Vineyards 2007 Ditch Digger, $50, Very Highly Recommended

Gary Farrell 2009 Carneros Pinot Noir - The Carneros is no Russian River Valley but is a wine you will occasionally find on internet flash sites and special sales. At 50 percent off the list price, this is a great buy.

The wine has a definitely tart cherry if you don't pick out anything else on the palate. The acidity and finish is very average but this is nice drinkable Pinot. It's hard for me to criticize a drinkable Pinot with good fruit at $20 Had I forked out full retail of $40, then this brief review would read differently. But it's good Pinot Noir for $20 it just doesn't live up to a $40 price point or the Gary Farrell Russian River Valley wines.

Gary Farrell 2009 Carneros Pinot Noir, SRP $40, less elsewhere, Recommended.

Domaine Du Gravillas 2007 Lo Vielh - I've been saving this bottle for a special occasion and could not think of any time better than three days before Christmas with my best wine buddies!

This is great wine.

It's probably a grape many wine drinkers have never even heard of before - Carignan. It is grown in a few spots around the world but most commonly in Southern France.

John Bojanowski and his wife Nicole discovered a now 101-year-old vineyard of Carignan on their Domaine du Gravillas property and have used the grapes as part of the crop that goes into this wine.

Carignan is funky and rich. It's tart yet very drinkable. Carignan is not for beginning wine drinkers - or wimps. John takes this big funky grape and delivers a wine with soft tannins and full-rich fruit. It is stunningly good.

I have to say I was surprised and I was not that the majority of my seven friends tasting the wines above picked the Carignan as their favorite of the night!

Domaine Du Gravillas 2007 Vielh, $35, Very Highly Recommended.

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Something Warm to Drink on Snowy Day

Almost everything shut down in Indiana today!

A drink doesn't always warm the soul and any health guide will tell you alcohol will not keep you warm.
But if you're locked inside during the heavy snow,  something nice and warm to drink might make the blizzard seem less bothersome.

If you have a bottle of red wine in the house and a few basic spices, you are all set to make warm, mulled wine.

A dark fruity red wine will work best. If you are a big red wine drinker try a fruit-driven Zinfandel or Syrah/Shiraz. Any good Indiana Concord grape wine works great as well.

The fun thing about making mulled wine is you can pick the ingredients you like. A basic recipe for a bottle of red wine would include a small amount of sugar (to taste, if needed), a hint of lemon or orange juice, cloves, and cinammon.

Photo:MyRecipes.com

Get out the sauce pan (no aluminum!) and heat up the wine over low heat. Slowly add your spices and other liquids. Do not let the wine come to a boil. Alcohol will reach the boiling point much quicker than water.
Let the ingredients get friendly for 10-15 minutes until it steams. Pour the mulled wine into mugs with an orange or lemon slice, add a cinammon stick if you have one, and you have a warm evening drink that will delight.

Don't hesitate to experiment with your mulled wine concoction. Just taste your warm winter evening beverage as you try different ingredients.

It won't get the sidewalk shoveled, but you'll care less about the snow!

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com