wine clubs

Loosey goosey Dusi!

It’s raining cats and dogs, and we’re driving around in the mud, trying to find Dusi Vineyards. As it happens, J Dusi Wines is tucked away in the family home in the middle of a vineyard just outside of Paso Robles, and is hidden in the 80 year vines of the vineyard. This is like stepping back in time, to an era when there were more cows in Paso Robles than wine; to an era of farming, of family, and of community.

As we enter the house, Janell and her mom greet us with coffee, which was welcome at 9:30 on a chilly wet day. Mom was in the kitchen cooking up a storm for the wine club party that night, and Janell sat down with us at the table to tell us the story of her wine, and the family tradition. Janell Dusi is turning her family business on its head, becoming the first Dusi to make wine and not just grow it. Her great grandparents, Sylvester and Caterina Dusi began farming this land in the early 1920s, and started business after business, including vineyards, farms, restaurants, and the now defunct Dusi Winery. She was born on this vineyard, and raised among the vines that her grandfather Dante planted with his two brothers, the sons of Sylvester. In 1945, vineyards were few and far between in Paso, since it was a large rural farming community. With the farm, came the Italians, and the rich tradition of Zinfandel and field blends. Th brothers planted a classic field blend, and head trained the vines, with no irrigation. 65 years later, the traditions remain the same.

This fourth generation winemaker hand picks during harvest, and enlists the entire family to help – including her nieces and nephews, who are young sprouts in the field. This family tradition is dying in California, and it’s refreshing to see a tried and true farm family, albeit farmign wine. Growing up int he vines, Janell learned all she could about grape farming, but she always wanted her Grandfather Dante to teach her how to make wine. When she was 16, she made her first wine, and continued making an Italian style zinfandel every year after that. Each vintage asked and answered a different question in winemaking, and Janell learned by doing, under the careful gaze of Grandpa..

Now, she’s in her 3rd vintage of J Dusi wines. The two original vineyards are about 1/4 mile away from the family house; the first is 40 acres, that was planted in 1943 with an Italian field blend of Carignane, Alicante Bouchet, Petite Sirah, and who knows what else. in 1945 a second parcel was purchased nearby. In the beginning, the family sold their grapes to surrounding wineries, but as the grape market fell in the 1950s, the Dusis ventured in to winemaking to make their way through the grape glut. Their first foray in to finished wine was about 8-9 years under the label Dusi Winery, and when the grape prices came back up, they stopped making wine and started selling grapes again.

One of the unique properties of this area is the large diurnal temperature swing during the course of day. This vineyard in particular can go from 99+ degrees on a hot summer day, to below at night on that same day. This gives the fruit some unique character. That, combined with dry farming, give the vines some vigor as they are forced to struggle a bit – classically, this makes a lovely wine. First up, the 2008 Dante Dusi Ranch Zinfandel. This was bright raspberry with white pepper, bold blackberry juice and hints of other spice box flavors. I found it to be viscous and lingering (in a good way). Only 850 cases were made, and since 90% of the home ranch fruit is sold to other wineries, this is a rare gem. Janelle really wants to showcase the whole ranch in one bottle and not segment the wine out. These wines are Representative of the terroir of the property as a whole, and this zin in particular showed a lot of juicy red fruit, with just a hint of oak, followed by a lot of cherry cola.

The 900 cases of the 2009 Zinfandel was just released. This was a totally different wine – and rather unexpected in the zone of big, jammy, raisiny Paso zins. The herbaceousness really struck me, and while it might have been a bit closed, it was herbal with bay leaf , dusty black pepper, a hint of red raspberry coming out under tobacco and leather. There were chewy bark lots of spice.

Finally, the 2009 Fiorento which was recently bottled. This blend of 50% Zin, 25% Carignane, and 25% Syrah showed dusty blue fruit, and was lean and racy but refined, with dusty blue fruit, and strong chewy notes from the Syrah. With only 50-60 Carignane vines on the property, they are hand picked to ripeness to make sure that the perfect fruit is selected.

We could have stayed and talked to the Dusi family for hours – about dry farming, about old vine zin, about restrained California Zinfandels, about Paso Robles’ best changes at Rhone. But alas, another appointment was calling. I did however not leave empty handed! I brought home some Zinfandel to share with my friends, and am looking forward to trying the 09 again after it settles down a bit.

Thanks for such a great visit Janell!

Send me your Kiwis, your Brie, and more!

Nov 22nd, 2010

by winebratsf.

1 comment

Have you ever wanted to experience more wines from aruond the world, without getting your Sommelier credential? If you’re like me, you might know a lot about a small area but not so much about other areas. The international Wine of the Month club is a great way to experience more of the world of wine. The 12 person professional tasting panel selects 2 wines of various price points or styles, and expands your tasting selections monthly.

Starting at $30 a month for 2 bottle or red or white, or one of each, you can commit to as little as 2 months to try things out. this is a great feature, since many wine clubs these days ask for at least a year commitment. The wines included in each of the shipments are less distributed wines that you might not discover in your local wine shop,a dn can be great values.

In my sample shipment, I received a New Zeland Pinot Noir and a Cabernet Sauvignon from California, both of wihch retail for ~$13.

The Sherwood Estate Pinot Noir hails from one of the most famous New Zeland areas for Pinot Noir, Marlborough. They owners, Dayne & Jill Sherwood, have been making wine since the 1980s, and were early adopters in the region and are creating Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc from this area. The Pinot has tons of cherry and strawberry fruit, and is light to medium bodied. It’s chewy plum note is a bit bold, backed by lots of spice. A swirl in the soiree and the strawberry raspberry juice pops out, with a racy acid wash (think Bon Jovi in 1988). This would be great with chicken salad, it’s lacking some of the nuance that you expect in or fruit. It lacks the nuance of a more expensive bottle of wine, but it would make an excellent party wine at a fair price point.

The 2007 Cannoncall Cabernet Sauvignon intrigues me. I am always somewhat dubious of kitchy labels, and am particularly wary of a California appellation wine – given that I drink primarily California wines, I have come to expect more AVA specific bottlings. But here goes. The nose comes across with anise, black pepper and baking spice with blackberry, plum tart and duck in

cherry glaze. The flavors are lost a bit under a perfumed sawdust, but the bright plum, cassis and blackberry shines through. Again, the oak is overpowering, and the tannins need to mellow out a bit. Another great party wine, i might bring this to a BBQ and let it open up a bit. After pouring my 2nd taste through the trusty soiree, the tannins have softened up. I still think there is too much dusty oak, but the dark black fruit is shining through with a bit of toasty finish. This would be great with ribs or hamburgers and is a great everyday value.

The International Wine club is a great idea for someone who wants to explore – and might not have a big budget. it’s very difficult to find wines in this price point and these two are nice examples of inexpensive, quality wines. I wish that wines <$15 backed off the oak monster though – have a few tastes of these and you’ll need to take the 2×4 splinters out of yoru mouth! I recommend trying the Premier Series to explore more wines on a budget, where you can customize your selections to be white, red, or one of each. For those of you who have more green to spend, the Masters Series is still affordable at $45 for 2 bottles, and really challenges your palate. For the elite few, you can go for the Collectors Series. For $70 a month, you get 2 bottles of only the best will do wines – which in the rest of the world, is NOT a $125 Cabernet with a bird on it.

Happy Drinking!

These samples were provided by the International Wine of the Month Club. give it a shot, you can find some interesting stuff!

A smattering of tastings – WBC Day 1

Aug 1st, 2009

by winebratsf.

2 comments

Where does the time go? The Second Annual Winebloggers Conference has already come and gone, and I am left wondering “what the heck was that bus that rolled over me “.As one of the voices behind the curtain of the WBC Scholarship, and as a huge cheerleader, proponent and fan of the WBC, I am pleased, shocked, elated, bummed, and catching my breath after the weekend.

On our first day, the rag tag Twisted Crew (@sonadora, @thebeerwench, @winehiker, @eljefetwisted, @ryanopaz, @gabriellaopaz, @houstonwino, @winewonkette) and I pulled up to the Flamingo after fighting what seemed to be an eternity in Central Valley and Infinion drag racing traffic followed by the usual Friday flow in to Santa Rosa. Arriving at 12:30 or so, I didn’t spend much time with the sponsors, something which I regret doing. Partially because many of them were familiar to me, partially because I was just plain exhausted due to unfortunate events the day before, I found my fellow people and sat down to eat some lunch.

I was excited to see so many of my friends, both those that I know in person and those that I knew only online, as new recruits tot he WBC posse. After catching up, albeit breifly, with some regulars, I was circulating the room trying to spy new faces while inspecting their name tags without looking like I was completely crazy. Fortunately, I caught up with a few new regulars.

After lunch, we attempted to do the speed tasting sessions, but well for reasons so many have discussed, it failed. Miserably. Like died on the operating table failed. In its stead, we heard about the Wine Blogger Awards. Unfortunately, I had purposely planned to skip this male dominated prom king style popularity contest, and moving it up unfortunately resulting in people not being there to accept thier awards. Eventually the wireless supposedly turned back on but as I tried to tweet my tasting notes, the wireless only stayed up for 10 seconds at a time, I gave up and just enjoyed the wines. Sorry folks, no tasting notes from me.

After the speed tasting, we beat a hasty retreat to our short but sweet annual Anti-Conference BYOB session in the small space at the front of the hotel. We did get to enjoy a large plethora of wines from attendees, and I really look forward to this time to meet new folks, try new wines, and just have a good time in an unstructured way.

Not wanting to miss a beat, we then made our way out to the pool for a very crowded very crazy Sonoma Grand Tasting. Not wanting to get crushed in the milee I pretty much avoided this, and found a spot at a table with Wine Biz Radio’s Randy Hall, his wife Jen and her amazing goat cheese, as well as some fellow bloggers. There, we shared some wine, I opened some wine,

Chritophe (@cork_dork) from Titus opened some wine, and we made our own tasting. PS for next year, PLEASE do no try to squeeze 250 people in to a space meant for 50, it just doesn’t’ work. I am sorry I missed many great wines, but I count myself lucky that I have tasted many before so didn’t really feel like I was losing out. It was just too much of a mosh pit to really enjoy your self and so instead, I opted to find an empty poolside table and sit with my buds catching up. Jen, Randy Hall’s wife, had brought some of her homemade goat cheese to share and with some wine to sip on, we snacked and chatted the afternoon away.

Oh – I forgot to mention. During all portions of the Speed Tasting and Sonoma Grand, I was readily accosted for my unusual jewelry of Wie BLogger Bling. It looks like my ribbons and charms were a hit, yet again! Yes, t

his was the idea, and I am pleased that so many of you enjoyed the camradierie of being a Naughty Wine Minx or saying tot he world Screw It! More WIne! That was the intention behind the blogger bling, as there were so many people I didn’t know and knew I wouldn’t get a chance to meet; I was pleased that it afforded me the opportunity to have random strangers become aquaintances via a common love of all thing wine and silly.

After the Grand Tasting, we made our way in to the dinner session, where I had a tizzy of a time finding not only a seat, but a seat at a table where I at least recognized one face. I know i know, I was going to mingle, but even this cowgirl gets the “I’m shy” blues and wanted a friendly face. I sat down with my favorite Cellar Rat Alan Baker, and we had a great time trying our wines and catching up, while I went table hopping to poach different wines. The table layout was that most tables were hosted by a winery, and we had a few of their wines plus others on our tables. Since I wanted a variety, I found Brad Cooper’s table (@bradinator) and poured a nice big taste of his Black Cloud Pinot Noir. WOW! Who knew such beauty came out of of British Columbia in a bottle! (Hey, @winebard stop throwing things at me).

Even though I was operating at 45% sanity, both physically and mentally, after dinner I wandered in tot he after hours tasting hosted by Russian River Winegrowers. I was please to see many wineries I knew here, and was able to taste some more treats, and chat with the locals on what was new. In there, I met up with Julie from Windsor Oaks, whom I’ve written about before here. Julie is a pioneer in the industry and is working hard to make sure that she is in tune with not only bloggers, but with what her customers want and need. I was so pleased to get a gift of their Unoaked Chard, which is just a lovely treat. Anyone in the area, MUST stop by and try their wines! They will welcome you as one of their own, and the wine is pretty good too .

I tried and tried to stay up for the after after after party but I just couldn’t do it. My body and my brain gave out. I’m sure I missed out on a lot and I’m bummed, but well, Saturday was another day!

(How long til WBC 10?)

Customer Service done RIGHT

Mar 17th, 2009

by winebratsf.

5 comments

As many of you may have read, a fellow blogger recently had a terrible experience with her wine club. Myself, and another blogger and wine industry insider also experienced terrible customer service. In this time of crazy economics and failing companies, I am pleased to report a customer focused and attentive wine club. Recently, I participated in a consumer panel on wine clubs. As a direct result of this panel, where this winery was in attendance, I am thrilled to see their new wine club come to fruition.

Windsor Oaks Vineyards & Winery is a 710 acre property that is nestled in a hilly area just ouside of Windsor, straddling the Chalk Hill AVA. Since Windsor Oaks is known for growing premium fruit that is often sold to ultra premium winemakers, it stands to reason that their own efforts will be nothing less than exception. Producing classically influenced wines, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay is a particular specialty. They sell fruit to over 35 other wineries, and having tasting many of these other wines, it is some of the best in Sonoma. Add in the fact that Windsor Oaks is sustainably farmed, and you have a win-win.

During my visit this weekend for Barrel Tasting, winemaker Julie Lumgair immediately greeted me with recognition and was excited to tell me what they had developed for their loyal customers. The Estate Friends Club has three levels: Oaks; Estate; and Summit. Each level of the wine club enjoys the benefits of discounts, exclusive offerings, and club events. To take this further, they also offer discounts on select lodgings for out of town visitors, and customized tours of their property including (no I’m not kidding here) barrel tasting, picnic lunch, and hikes through the vineyards at a discounted members only price. All with wine of course! For a winery that is only open to the general public 15 days a year, these perks are a real treat, and an incentive to join the club. They even had a Club Barrel, where all the new members signed the end as a stamp of a secret society that no one else is in.

Furthermore, different levels of the club have more benefits. The mid-level Estate Club members recieve a 20% discount on all wines which is the average club discount. The real key to this and the higher level Summit Club is that you can choose your own wines. Yes, you read taht right. You – the customer – CHOOSE which wines you get in your shipment. Of course, if you have a moment or just can’t decide, Julie will be happy to pick the cream of the crop for you. Additionally, you can have a complimentary tour of the property for 2, and additional guests get a discount.

The flexibility that Julie has built in to the club shows that Windsor Oaks is not only dedicated making world class premium wines, but also is dedicated to its customers. They listened to what we wanted, and they acted. In this market, where more and more people are not buying wine at all – but rather drinking their cellars, this is a key component to attracting new business.

Did I mention they make some tasty juice as well? Given that they have created a reputation of being the best of the best, the value of Windsor Oaks’ wine is actually quite good. I personally really enjoy the unoaked Chardonnay ($29 retail). It is made sur-lie, and fermented in stainless steel without malolactic fermentation occurring. This gives a bright, fruity chardonnay, with tons of citrus and stone fruit that i really love.

Another personal favorite is theirs is the 2006 Pinot Noir. This is a very limited wine, with only a few barrels made each year. It’s made in a full bodied style, which I enjoy for a sipping wine. The bright Cherry, strawberry and baking spices pair amazingly well with the mushroom & truffle soup they were serving. YUM! The Pinot retails for $35. For a Pinot of this caliber, this is actually excellent QPR for the region.

I hope other wineries will take Windsor Oaks customer focused model as a shining star, and realize that although you can be a small production, highly allocated gem – you don’t have to be snotty.

I”m going to do a little switcho chango myself, and swap out one of my old wine clubs that has gone a bit stale for this one, since I know I can’t go wrong! Hppy drinking!