This afternoon, I went to downtown to find some special and great wine, so I visit the wine shop -- vinocruz. The wines I want to find are Mount Eden Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains 2004 (#13 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2008) and Ridge Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountain Estate 2005 (#2 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2007). As expectation, it is really hard to find any of them, and I got the same answer at vinocruz.
vinocruz is a wine shop only selling local wines, i.e. wines made in Santa Cruz. The great thing is they have a wine tasting service, and the wine list is updated weekly. So, if I visit there frequently, I think I can taste all wines from Santa Cruz. 😛
OK, the wine list today is -- Testarossa Chardonnay Castello 2007, Silver Mountain Pinot Noir Miller Hill 2005, River Run Malbec 2004, Mount Eden Cabernet Sauvignon Saratoga Cuvée 2004 and Zayante Vineyards Zinfandel 2006.
First, Testarossa Chardonnay Castello 2007. The most special is it has some banana and honey aromas at the begining. The taste is majorly citrus, and has a lingering remain.
Silver Mountain Pinot Noir Miller Hill 2005. The most impressive is the smoky smell and the taste of spice. The tannins are smooth and silky.
River Run Malbec 2004. This is my first time to have Malbec wine, so no comments. However, the blackberry smell is good. 😛
Mount Eden Cabernet Sauvignon Saratoga Cuvée 2004. It is not a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, instead, it mixes 13% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 3% Malbec and 1% Syrah. The black currant fruit smell is my major impression.
The last one, Zayante Vineyards Zinfandel 2006, is the most incredible one. The reason is the strawberry smell, really strong smell, when you draw in the glass. Just like you have a cup a strawberry wine on the table, and you can smell it while you're sitting by. And the taste is a balancing fruit, tannins and acid. I like this one most today.
Although vinocruz does not have Mount Eden Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains 2004, I took a Mount Eden Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains 2005 instead before leaving. I think this 2005 will bring me a lot of fun while having it. 😀
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