This flight features 4 wines to showcase the breadth of flavors found in California wine.
Guenoc Lake County Sauvignon Blanc 2006
Clean, light-bodied and straightforward value in Sauvignon from the home front. P&B in Middletown, up above Calistoga in the new star zone for Sauvignon Blanc 13.5% $10 at the Wine Emporium langtryestate.com
This winery just won sweepstakes red at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition for one of its single vineyard bottlings from the Sonoma Coast. This regional bottling is a great value; it’s an elegant Pinot with expressive cherry fruit flavors. P&B down in Saratoga, that’s right, in the southern end of the silicon valley, in one of the poshest spots at the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains. 14.5% $28 at the Wine Emporium savannahchanelle.com
True to form, Trentadue winemaker Miro Tcholakov hits this wine with some heavy lumber, creating a rich and decadent Zin awash in oak, GP&B in Geyserville. 15% $32 at the Wine Emporium trentadue.com
Altamura Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2004
I was lucky to be introduced to this winery when I worked at Draeger’s in the late 90’s. They were a little under the radar screen and priced to sell compared to other Napa heavyweights. Since then, their reputation has become more widely known and their prices have crept accordingly. That does not, however, detract from the quality of this wine, as it is in a sense, a value wine when compared against its triple-digit brethren. The wine is super-packed with flavor, with appropriate oak and an as yet tight structure. The tannic intensity is buffered by the layers of flavor. P&B in Napa Valley 14.2% $75 at the Wine Emporium altamura.com
