Castoro Cellars Viogner

Brownbag newcomer Leora brought this 2007 Viogner from Castoro Cellars to the Brownbag v. Paso Robles event. To mixed reviews (something to remember when organizing a wine tasting night - don't treat it like a no holds barred competition [even though I do]).

It opened up with a good floral nose but some found that its magnolia scented flavors gave way to a perfume-y, bitter fruit forward flavor. Brown Bagger Dennis said it tasted like lemon head candies which reminded him of seeing Superman 3 in Rogue River, Oregon, so maybe it made him sad to think of Superman getting mean and flicking beer nuts at supersonic speeds at the mirror behind the bar where he was drinking. I mean, I think Superman 3 is the one where he turns mean, and he has to battle Richard Pryor and a super computer - God being a screenwriter back then must have been a dream job.

Anyway... Some of the panel found the wine to have flat tannins with a lingering finish and a hint of bitterness.

It personally did not bring me back to any Superman movie screenings nor did I think it bitter. The one criticism I had of the wine is that it lacked the crispness of a viogner that I like. It had more of an oaky, chardonnay character which is why the group decided that the best food pairings would be bacon wrapped scallops and sausages with sauteed collard greens.

RATING: 2 Screwcaps
LABEL: Castoro Cellars
GRAPE: Viogner
PRICE: $9.99

ROBERT HALL'06 Rhone de Robles

So, the last weekend in May, the Brown Bag Sommeliers took on the promising Paso Roble wine region. Basically half-way between Los Angeles and San Francisco, Paso offers rolling hills, beautiful live oak trees and some delicious wines at great prices.

To the East of the 101 Freeway there are countless acres under cultivation that produce powerful, full fruit reds. They get pounded by that strong California sun all Summer long setting up big sugar content resulting in high alcohol but still flavorful wines.

Now West of the 101, the carefully cultivated hillsides still get a lot of sun, but they also benefit from the cooling breezes coming off of the Pacific Ocean. This area has become home to vintners making Rhone style wines attracting such winemakers as the Perrin Brothers who are famous for Chateuneuf du Pape du Beaucastel who make great Rhone wines at Tablas Creek.

The area West of the 101 is a great area to go winetasting, so it was only fitting that we started off our Paso Robles night with a Rhone Style wine.

The first wine up was this delicious Robert Hall 2006 Rhone de Robles. A blend of Grenache, Syrah, Cinsaut, and Counoise grapes, this wine was peppery with hints of tobacco and dark stone fruits. Because of the California growing conditions, this wine is slightly more fruit forward than a French Rhone will be. But it has a great balance with firm but silky tannins.

This is a wine that would age nicely. We all agreed that a great food pairing would be a hamburger topped with a crumbly blue like Humboldt fog( which I initially thought was a weed reference - this is California and Humboldt is Humboldt - anyway I was quickly corrected that this was not a pot smoking joke but a sincere food pairing suggestion).

This wine is a winner. Unfortunately, not for the Brown Bag Sommeliers. It was brought by my Rebel-Without-A-Cork - brownbagger Aaron who claimed he just wanted to celebrate his victorious football club - they'd just won a good match.

Just because the price disqualifies it for Brown Baggery doesn't mean I don't want to drink this wine again. It was a huge hit.

So, thank you Rebel-Without-A-Cork( I'll need an acronym for that one) for sharing a delicious wine.

RATING: Would have been high but is out of price range
LABEL: Robert Hall '06 Rhone de Robles Central Coast
GRAPE: blend of Grenache, Syrah, Cinsaut, Counoise
PRICE: 27 dollars

(Although, I just saw that BevMo is having an on-line sale for this for 14.99 - check it out - seems like the same wine and it would be a steal at this price)