Pedroncelli Shines

Our welcome kit at the 2009 Wine Bloggers' Conference (here and here) included all sorts of goodies, from chocolates to thumb drives, and one half-bottle of wine, a Pedroncelli 2005 Dry Creek Valley Merlot Bench Vineyards.

The conference was a few weeks ago now, but we only just opened the bottle. We honestly did not know what to expect, but we were quite pleased with what we tasted. We were still more pleased when we learned the price. The 2005 we enjoyed is no longer available, but the 2006 retails for $14 (for a full bottle). We would not have been surprised to learn that it retailed for twice as much, or even more.

Two things set this wine apart. First, it tasted like a Dry Creek Valley wine. We have long enjoyed the wines from Dry Creek, although we associate it more with Zinfandel and Rhone varieties. We are now extremely curious to try Pedroncelli's versions of those wines, but this Merlot holds it own. What comes through as Dry Creek is a sort of dustiness, and perhaps some black olive.

The second thing that sets this wine apart is the spiciness. Not long ago we did an experiment with some bland wine. We took 10-oz. apple juice jars (empty), and filled them with the bland wine and a pinch of different spices from our cabinet, from ginger powder to Chinese 5-spice. We waited a couple of months to let the spices integrate into the wine, and then tasted them. Do try this at home--it's a great way to learn how to identify spice notes in wines.

Extremely large fennel bulbs

This Merlot had pronounced notes of clove and allspice, with a touch of nutmeg and even coriander, which we found delicious. Whether or not those spices appeal to you, they were fascinating in this context. And context is everything. For example, fennel is not our favorite spice in the world, and we are not huge fans of anise liqueurs, but we love an anise note in our wines, at least on occasion.

We look forward to trying more Pedroncelli wines, and encourage you to do the same.
(Reminder: as stated at the head of this post, the reviewed wine was a free, if unsolicited, sample.)

WBC '09

We have spent the weekend at the 2009 Wine Bloggers' Conference. We do not wish you bore you with the nitty gritty, behind the scenes workings of this blog, but we thought you would like to know what we have been up to. This conference far exceeded our hopes, let alone our expectations.

Armed with what we have learned, we hope to write stronger, more detailed and concise posts. We also may revisit some past posts to strengthen and elaborate upon them.

In the meantime, we would like to thank the organizers and sponsors of the conference, including the Open Wine Consortium, Allan Wright and Zephyr Adventures, and the Napa Valley Vintners, among many many others (see the Sponsors page for a complete list).

We had a great time sampling the dry wines of Portugal, and we were reunited with the wines of Rueda and Sherry, from whom we have been parted for far too long. Expect to see posts on all three topics soon, with any samples (none, actually, but we did get to taste) or other influences duly noted, of course.


On Saturday the Napa Vintners generously hosted a great day. Unfortunately, most of the wines we tasted are too expensive to merit attention on this blog. All the more reason to thank Stags' Leap Wine Cellars, Palmaz, Quintessa, Newton, Parry Cellars ("Hi, Sue!"), O'Brien Estate ("Hi, David!") and Domaine Chandon for their time and wines. If you, dear reader, would like to learn more about any of these wineries or their wines, please do ask.

We would also like to thank Jim Gordon for his excellent keynote address, which focused on quality writing as the basis for any decent blog. We aspire to rise to the challenge.


David Yorgensen, O'Brien Estate Winemaker