Wine Tasting - Carlton Wineries, Part Deux

CARLTON WINE TASTING: PART DEUX - Carlton, OR (12/6/2008)

Kristina and I drove down to Carlton, in Oregon wine country, for the Cana's Feast Winery wine club pickup party, and decided to hit another winery in the area.

Cana's Feast Winery
Attended the wine club "pickup party", to pick up my club shipment. Food pairings were available for each wine, as well as olive oil, artisian cheese and gourmet salt tastings. A great party!

• N.V. Villa Loredan Gasparini Prosecco Montello e Colli Asolani Brut - Italy, Veneto, Montello e Colli Asolani
  Food Pairing: Baked cheese-stuffed fritter.
  Tasting Notes: Nose of honeydew melon. LOTS of activity in the mouth...fiercely carbonated, to the point where I don't want to take another sip. Swirling the wine helped a bit, but still not pleasant. Flavors were very nice, however, and it paired well with the cheese fritter offered. (84 pts.)


• 2006 Cana's Feast Winery (Cuneo) Bricco Two Rivers - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
  Food Pairing: Beef & root vegetable soup (did not eat).
  Tasting Notes: Very nice fruit, with a lovely nose of raspberry, tobacco and a floral component. Flavors of red raspberry, tobacco leaf and some earthiness. This is still quite young, with some integration of tannins, fruit and acidity still needed. For the coin, this is giong to be a blockbuster! (90 pts.)


• 2006 Cana's Feast Winery (Cuneo) Bricco Two Rivers Reserve - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
  Food Pairing: Beef & root vegetable soup (did not eat).
  Tasting Notes: New wine this year, coming from the same fruit as the regular Two Rivers bottling, but with a different oak program. Tastes just like the regular Two Rivers, but with a bit more wood. Lots of vanilla on the finish, along with tight tannins. Again, this is going to be a blockbuster wine, but costs twice what the regular Two Rivers costs. Maybe a +1 for me, as I like the vanilla finish. (91 pts.)


• 2006 Cana's Feast Winery (Cuneo) Cana's Feast Red Mountain - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
  Food Pairing: Portabello mushroom and cheese empanada.
  Tasting Notes: Delicious wine, but infanticide at this point. Compared to the 2003 I had last weekend, this is tight and green. Vigorous swirling in the glass helped with the overabundance of tannins somewhat. Still much too young to be enjoyable. Lots of earth in this one too, which I love. Going to lay my bottle down for at least 2 years. (91 pts.)


• 2008 Cana's Feast Winery (Cuneo) Counoise - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
  Food Pairing: N/A.
  Tasting Notes: Barrel sample with the winemaker. I've never had this varietal by itself before. Very interesting! Lighter than expected, with a spicy zing to it. Nice strawberry fruit, smooth, with just a hint of pepper. Light tannins. Winemaker said this will most likely go into a blend, with their Syrah, but he may pull a barrel and do a small run of this alone. I hope so! (88 pts.)


• 2005 Cana's Feast Winery (Cuneo) Syrah Bricco - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  Food Pairing: Chocolate madiera torte.
  Tasting Notes: Just tasted this last weekend. Consistent notes, and again my favorite of the tasting. Nicely paired with a tasty chocolate torte. (92 pts.)


• 2006 Cana's Feast Winery (Cuneo) Pinot Noir Tre Nova Dolcepassa - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
  Food Pairing: Lemon-poppyseed biscotti.
  Tasting Notes: Just tasted this last weekend...consistent with previous note. (85 pts.)

Zenas Wines
Decided to stop in here on the way home from Cana's Feast, and I'm very glad we did! Ended up getting two tastings (free), two nice Bordeaux wine glasses (free), and a bottle of the 2006 Meritage (10% off). Score! No food pairings at this winery, unfortunately.

• 2006 Zenas Riesling Hand-Select Montinore Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Southern Oregon, Rogue Valley
  Very dry, for a Riesling. Apricots, minerals and a touch of citrus sweetness. (83 pts.)


• 2006 Zenas Riesling Sekt Montinore Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Southern Oregon, Rogue Valley
  My first sparkling Riesling! Made in the "Sekt" style, which is a German style almost identical to the "Méthode Champenoise" of Champagne. Quite sweet, with nice bubbles that are not annoying (as the Prosecco earlier today). Pears, with a touch of nuts. Very nice. (85 pts.)


• 2006 Zenas Cabernet Franc Del Rio Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Southern Oregon, Rogue Valley
  A very tasty wine with blueberry on the nose. Flavors of blackberry, with some pepper on the finish. A very smooth wine, with light tannins and acidity. Could be paired with almost anything... (90 pts.)


• 2006 Zenas Merlot Del Rio Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Southern Oregon, Rogue Valley
  Their first Merlot release. Usually they just add the Del Rio Merlot to their Claret (now called Meritage). I like this one quite a bit. Very lush cherry fruit, with nice vanilla oak on the finish. (90 pts.)


• 2006 Zenas Meritage Del Rio Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Southern Oregon, Rogue Valley
  A blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot from Del Rio Vineyard, aged 14+ months in French oak. Very nice structure, with blackberry fruit, coffee and chocolate flavors. My favorite Zenas wine today. (92 pts.)

Even though I just spent a day last weekend tasting (many) wines in Carlton, today was a lot of fun, and I was very happy to have Kristina along with me. The weather was beautiful, the food delicious, and the wines were outstanding!

Tasting notes posted from CellarTracker