**** Chez Ray Pinot / Zin (Zinfandel), Valley Oaks Vineyard, Lodi, CA, 2003

Posted by Ben in 2003, General, Other, Pinot Noir, lodi, zinfandelAug 4th, 2010 | No Comments This is a combination of pinot noir and zinfandel from 2003 vintage Lodi grapes, fermented with Pasteur Red yeast and pressed at dryness.

In the glass, this is light to medium red.  Served at room temperature, aromas are a bright and blooming red raspberry fruit.

The palate is sweet, rich and layered, showing ripe, ripe red currant, elements of sweet pepper and ash, and a lively - but not overpowering - acidity.  Wonderful highs and lows, easy sweetness and still some drama. Four stars. Terrific for Lodi grapes.

Mango Wine

Posted by Jack Keller's WineBlog in General, OtherAug 3rd, 2010 | No Comments Approximately half of all tropical fruit grown commercially are mangoes. It is, without question, the most consumed fruit in the world. It also makes a delightful wine that goes down well with most meals and over ice. I have made mango wines over the years and have had two great recipes sent to me from Australia and Florida. Recently, I noticed some Ataulfo mangoes that were shriveling. I knew this was a sign of ripeness, but they looked bad and people weren't buying them. I called the produce manager over and offered him half price for the lot. For reasons known only to him, he took my offer and I bought 18 mangoes for $4.50. The combined weight of the peeled, deseeded flesh was 6 1/4 pounds, just enough to make two gallons of wine. In an act of daring, I decided to make just one. Read more....

Back Pain and the Carboy Lifter

Posted by Jack Keller's WineBlog in General, OtherAug 3rd, 2010 | No Comments In 1977 I picked up a stack of bricks, lifted them just above waist-high, and leaned back to center the weight over my hips. While doing this, the disc was compressed between my L2 and L3 vertebrae and the cortical rims met and actually snipped off a piece of the outer disc called the annulus fibrosis, allowing the jelly-like center (the nucleus pulposus) to escape. I was in spinal traction for three weeks while the pulposus retracted into the disc and it healed just enough for me to be released from traction in a corset. Luckily, there are no surviving photographs of me and my corset. But, I have had a "bad back" ever since and lifting more than 40 pounds often puts me in pain. My recent bout of lower back pain has made Martin Benke's Carboy Lifter a Godsend once again. I had to rack seven carboys over the weekend and the Lifter made it easy. Just crank the carboy up to about 30 inches and rack in place. Simple. Read more....

*** Chez Ray Summer White 2010 – Homemade Wine Tasting & Review

Posted by Ben in 2010, General, Other, chardonnay, gewurztraminerAug 3rd, 2010 | No Comments Chez Ray Summer White 2010 is a blend of two just-fermented wines made from frozen grapes from Brehm Vineyards... the 328-06 2006 Columbia Gorge WA Gewurztraminer and the 335-06 2006 White Salmon Vineyard WA Chardonnay.  Both were fermented cool - at about 60 degrees fahrenheit - using Cote des Blancs yeast.


The blend is 50/50, with 3 teaspoons sugar per 750 ml bottle.  Color is faint yellow with the merest of green hint.  The nose is sweet hay.  Served cool, this shows a first hit of tangy sweetness on the mid-palate.  Clean acids and light fruit support the sugar, creating a tingle in your cheeks.  I'd try again, so three stars on the Spirit of Wine scale.

***+ Chez Ray Petite Sirah (PS4), 2004, Lodi, CA – Review and Rating

Posted by Ben in 2004, General, Other, petite sirahJul 30th, 2010 | No Comments Original Review, March, 2009: The 2004 Chez Ray Petit Sirah comes from Lodi, CA, fresh grapes. In the glass, it is a deep red, almost opaque in the middle, moving to medium red at the edges. Quite unusual for such color after a few years in the bottle.

Aroma is oddly piquant, bringing your nose into what seems like a massive explosion at a perfume factory housed in a barnyard. Weird stuff indeed. The perfume is flowery and violet, but like you're actually inside the flower, not smelling its aroma.

On the palate, this is a rounder, richer, gentler version of the aromas, rolling and gliding along your tongue. Few acids; fewer tannins. But the pure concentration causes this to linger.

I want to try it again, so that is three stars on the Spirit of Wine scale. A plus is added for its exquisite oddity.
-----------------

Updated Review, over a year later, now 6 years from vintage date, July, 2010:  Consistent color and aroma.  The palate is so round I am concerned it will fall over to senility soon.

Following long decant, two days under vacuum in partially-filled bottle:  Just enough to cause it to roll-over, now crossing over pleasant to the "vegetable-y" side of taste.  

Making Mustang Wine

Posted by Jack Keller's WineBlog in General, OtherJul 29th, 2010 | No Comments The mustang grapes are ripening all over Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. I've received a number of emails, snail mails and phone calls concerning making this wine. The most common questions this year, as in many years in the past, have to do with (1) how much juice does "x" pounds of mustang grapes yield and (2) why does one dilute the juice to reduce acidity and then add acid blend to the must? Read more....

When Can We Call It Wine, Revisited

Posted by Jack Keller's WineBlog in General, OtherJul 29th, 2010 | No Comments Back on May 27th I asked the question, "When can we call it wine?" I've received several replies worthy of note. One answered another question I asked in that entry and I concede his point. A second offered a point of his own that I also conceded. A third dug up a California regulation to offer a legal view of when we can call it wine. Read more....

Chez Ray Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel, 2002, "Kit Wine"

Posted by Ben in 2002, General, Other, zinfandelJul 28th, 2010 | No Comments Tasting notes courtesy of Todd:

Chez Ray Old Vines Zinfandel 2002: Young jammy nose with evident alcohol; Fruit forward on palate with grape jam flavor & lively acidity. Bark & alcohol in medium finish.

Earlier description of this wine here.

My New Website

Posted by Jack Keller's WineBlog in General, OtherJul 23rd, 2010 | No Comments I finally put up my new website, Free PC Services. I have been working on it for three months – probably no less than 4 hours a day (12 hours some days) since late April – and decided to publish it even though it isn't anywhere near where I wanted it to be when I debuted it. The web site is a selective cataloging of free programs for your desktop, laptop or notebook computer. Read more....

Website Housecleaning

Posted by Jack Keller's WineBlog in General, OtherJul 23rd, 2010 | No Comments I took down the counter on my "Winemaking Home Page". This may not seem like a big deal to you but it was to me. I agonized over it for weeks. When I discovered the "big discrepancy" I started looking for another counter that provided the service I expected (at a minimum, the ability to reset the count from time to time when it proved inaccurate). Read more....