For The Love Of Port

RIDGE: http://dat.erobertparker.com/bboard/sho ... p?t=220722 for Zin

HANZELL & KUTCH for Pinot Noir

CADENCE in WA = Bordeaux Blends

V. SATTUI = Dessert wine

I love Ridge* for their Zin's and Cab's. I've not had a lot of their Petite's so can't comment there. I also love Mount Eden (not Villa Mt. Eden) and Kathryn Kennedy (may she rest in peace...and since her death there is talk of them selling the original vineyard area )

* Disclaimer, a very good and long term friend works at Ridge. But i've loved them before he worked there, now I just have an excuse to visit more often.

For Cabernet, B.R.Cohn, at least that I could reasonably afford.
For Zin, Armida.
For some blends and lesser known varietals, Hop Kiln.
And I do love V. Sattui for their dessert wines.

Diamond Creek for Cab

Moses Botbol wrote:Diamond Creek for Cab

So do I, but only their older stuff (pre mid-1990's). I haven't been a big fan of their newer stuff.

Seghesio for their Cal-Ital wines. I frequently like their Omaggio.

Andy Velebil wrote:

Moses Botbol wrote:Diamond Creek for Cab

So do I, but only their older stuff (pre mid-1990's). I haven't been a big fan of their newer stuff.

Can't say I have ever had newer than '90 either, but their 70's and 80's are just awesome. Everything a great wine needs to be it has.

If Roy changed the question to "what's the only USA wine producer you can name?" my answer would be Ernest and Julio Gallo.

...but I don't hink I will win this particular competition with that answer, regardless of the question

Current favorites, though not that i can afford these with any real regularity:
Pinot: Littorai, Kosta Browne, Rochioli
Cab/Blends: Verite, Chalk Hill, Chappellet
Gordon Brothers-Syrah, and Cab in select vintages and sweet too
Sine Qua Non-for sweets, can't afford their table wines at all.

Vice Versa (It is a Quebec Producer) joking here, though his stuff is good.

I've recently discovered a couple of interesting producer. My favourite would be Clos Saron. I've tasted quite a few Pinot Noir from Washington to Napa and so far it's the best I've tasted and the one who achieves something close to French style with USA maturity of course. I've only tasted Kutch from 2005 and 2006 though and was disapointed.

For table wines, Ridge and Tablas Creek.
For dessert wines, Ficklin.
Oddly enough, these are the only places I still have wine memberships with.

Eric Ifune wrote:For table wines, Ridge and Tablas Creek.
For dessert wines, Ficklin.
Oddly enough, these are the only places I still have wine memberships with.

Ficklin Vineyards the 1st US wine producer to have 4 Portuguese/Douro native grape varieties! Definitely one of the producers to visit if I ever make it to visit CA.

No opinion about the wines, but in what concerns about marketing and communication - Hoopes and Levy&Mccllean - I love their direct-to-consumer marketing and never thought that they would ever sent some amazing hand written cards to Porto - Portugal.

Ficklin's home vinyards were planted in the 1940's and still going. I guess that makes them at least 60 years old now.
I wonder if more people in the California Central Valley are planting Portuguese varieties given the quality of the table wines recently?