Pulling The Cork

Taste & Talk 2007 Seven Artisans Petite Sirah

We hope you have enjoyed our first Taste & Talk with Jeff Miller of Artisan Family of Wines.  Part 1, Part 2,  Part 3 and Part 4 of the interview can be found by clicking on each of the links and so far we have reviewed the 2008 Red Côte Rosé, 2005 Sly Dog Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2006 Seven Artisans Meritage.

We are now down to the fourth and final wine from Jeff and Artisan and today's episode of PTC TV is a review of the 2007 Seven Artisans Petite Sirah.  The video tasting note below includes some comments from Jeff about the vineyard where he grew the Petite Sirah, his approach to crafting this wine and some thoughts on the tannin and alcohol components of the wine.  The wine is 100% Petite Sirah, 14.9% ABV and there were 475 cases produced. 

As always the written tasting notes (taken over two days of tasting) are below.  We decanted the wine for 2 hours before the video tasting.

Please note:  Pulling The Cork received this wine as a sample from Artisan Family of Wines.

2007 Seven Artisans Petite Sirah - USA, California, North Coast, Suisun Valley
Decanted for 2 hours.  100% Petite Sirah.  14.9% ABV.  Very deep, dense and intense blue/purple and the color only diminished slightly as it got to the edge.  The nose was huge and intense with aromas of ripe blackberry, plum, blueberry and a touch of rose petals.  The bouquet was fresh ground black pepper, cinnamon and a hint of sage.  A pretty complex nose.  In the mouth this was full bodied and chewy with very firm and big tannins.  The tannins were very pronounced and typically mpoyh drying for Petite Sirah.  There was some good acidity which, if you aren't paying attention, could get overlooked behind the tannins - but the acidity is there. The flavor profile was ripe dark cherries, blackberry, plum, blueberry and briar patch with more black pepper, sage and some clove.  The finish was long with the 14.9% alcohol almost completely masked behind the fruit and spice.  Blacberry, plum, black pepper and cinnamon lingered. 

Day 2 - Now open for 24 hours, the aroma and bouquet were the same as Day 1 and almost as intense.  The flavor profile was the same with the fruit coming much more to front and becoming a bit more lush.  The big tannins were still very present but a bit more soft and playing in better harmony with the acidity and flavors than the previous day.  Still very full bodied with a long finish.

A complex wine that is spot on correct for the varietal with the acidity and tannin structure to age well for 10-20 years.  The big tannins may scare some off and this wine is not for everyone but for $17.99 this is another good value from Artisan Family of Wines.  Highly recommended! 50+5+13+17+8=93 pts (click here to learn more about what these number mean)

Taste & Talk 2006 Seven Artisans Meritage

Recently we finished our first Taste & Talk segment with Jeff Miller of Artisan Family of Wines.  The four episode conversation was an excellent start to this ongoing series of conversations with wine makers, winery owners, vineyard managers and others associated with bringing wine to your table.

Part 1, Part 2,  Part 3 and Part 4 of the interview can be found by clicking on each of the links and so far we have reviewed the 2008 Red Côte Rosé and the 2005 Sly Dog Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon.

Today on PTC TV we are tasting and reviewing the third of four wines from Artisan Family of Wines - the 2006 Seven Artisan Meritage.  As is our standard operating procedure the written tasting notes can be found below the video.  Enjoy!

2006 Seven Artisans Meritage - USA, California, North Coast, Suisun Valley
Decanted for 3.5 hours.  89.5% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, .25% Malbec and .25% Petit Verdot.  14.1% ABV.  The wine was clear with a deep purple or garnet core and slight ruby out toward the edge.  The nose revealed rose petals, ripe red cherries, leather, cocoa powder and black cherries.  The nose was fairly intense, medium intensity I would say.  In the mouth this was full bodied with a pretty good balance of acidity and tannin though a tiny bit on the tannic side.  That said the tannins weren't bitter or rough but firm and well structured.  The flavor profile was ripe red cherries, black cherries, chocolate, earthy mushroom, a subtle but very nice tobacco leaf and black currant.  There was a bit of vanilla and cedar lingering behind the flavor profiles but it was very subtle.  The finish was pretty long with more ripe red cherries, cocoa powder, mushroom, vanilla and cedar lingering.  A fairly complex wine with the acidity and tannin structure to age well for 5-10 years.  Nice layers of flavor in the mouth and the wine improved as it got more air in the glass and decanter.  For $17.99 this is another good value from Artisan Family of Wines.  This is very Bordeaux in style but at a fraction of the price of many better wines from Bordeaux.  The price is incredibly low for a wine of this quality.  Highly recommended! 50+5+13+16+7=91 pts (click here to learn more about what these number mean)

Taste & Talk 2008 Red Côte Rosé Artisan Family of Wines

We launched our Taste & Talk series by sharing parts of our conversation with Jeff Miller, Partner Owner and Head of Winemaking Operations for Artisan Family of Wines. 

In Part 1 Jeff shared some background on Artisan Family of Wines, the origins of the name and how he got started in wine making.  Jeff then talked about his winemaking philosophy, vineyard management approach and whether or not being a small boutique winery allows him to take more risks or forces him to play it a bit more safely in Part 2 of our conversation.

Today we are going to break into our conversation with Jeff to taste and talk about the first of four wines from Artisan - the 2008 Red Côte Rosé.  The Rosé is 65% Rosé of Merlot and 35% Rosé of Syrah, 12.5% alcohol by volume and the suggested retail is $12.99. 

I am not a big Rosé fan but after our chat with Jeff it seemed he was trying to do some things a bit different with this so, at the very least, I was intrigued to give it a go.  Here is the video tasting note(written notes are below) and it includes Jeff sharing some information on how he made this Rosé.

Please note:  Pulling The Cork received this wine as a sample from Artisan Family of Wines.

2008 Red Côte Rosé Artisan Family of Wines - USA, California, North Coast, Suisun Valley
Clear and bright the wine in the glass was a pale cranberry/strawberry in color.  The nose was moderately strong aromas of strawberry and orange blossoms with undertones of lime.  The bouquet showed some vanilla and a hint of spice.  The mouthfeel was light bodied with a good balance of acidity and sugar.  Much more lively acidity than other Rosé I have had but enough residual sugar to add depth.  The flavor profile was moderately complex with fresh strawberries, kiwi and a touch of tangerine with some minerality, vanilla and a very subtle touch of baking spice.  The vanilla and strawberry notes played off one another to give it a strawberry creme flavor. The finish is just a bit to the plus side of moderate with strawberry creme, kiwi and orange zest as it lingered. There is a little more complexity to this Rosé than many others I have had but I have to stop just short of calling it complex.  It is a very good wine for the price and a really nice summer wine. By far the best Rosé I have ever had!  Recommend this highly and drink it now! 50+5+12+16+5=88 pts (click here to learn more about what these number mean)

Taste & Talk With Jeff Miller of Artisan Family of Wines - Part 1

Today we are introducing our Taste & Talk series; an ongoing feature here at Pulling The Cork in which we will be talking to wine makers, winery owners, vineyard managers and others associated with a particular wine or series of wines leading up to video tasting notes on those wines. 

As we have been saying all along, and we know we sound like a broken record, tasting notes are rather incomplete without being placed into context.  Learning about the history of a winery, the region, the terroir, the wine maker, the winery owners, the stories and all of the other information about a wine is really critical to a full understanding of that wine and the subsequent tasting note. 

We launch Taste & Talk with several posts featuring excerpts from our conversation with Jeff Miller.  Jeff is the Owner Partner and Head of Winemaking Operations for Artisan Family of Wines.  We spent about an hour on the phone with Jeff and really learned alot about him, Artisan, his philosophy of winemaking, his wines and a ton of other interesting things.  We will be presenting parts of this interview in a series of posts leading up to our video tasting notes on four of Artisan's wines. 

Today's excerpt from our interview will focus on some basic background on Artisan, how Jeff became a wine maker, the origin of the Artisan name and how Artisan began.  Future excerpts will include our conversation about Jeff's wine making philosophy, his vineyard sources, unique challenges of being a small production winery, the economy, his fantastic wine blog and so much more.  Oh, and video tasting notes on 4 wines from Artisan.  So let's get started with the premier of Taste & Talk.