Into the lion's den
One of the many services that the omnipresent Google offer is something called Google Alerts. Anytime your company is mentioned in the news you can sign up, for a fee I’m certain, to receive an alert that it was mentioned and in what publication. I have been aware of the service for some time but was reminded recently when I wrote my “Wine and Rock & Roll” column that took Rombauer Vineyards to task about some of their stylistic decisions.
Shortly after the column ran in the press I received a visit from the local distributor that handles Rombauer. They asked if we would be willing to taste through the full Rombauer portfolio with one of the representatives from the winery. It seems that my column received a fair bit of commentary within the winery. We agreed immediately. Part of the challenge with Rombauer is that as I pointed out in my first column, the wines tend to sell themselves based on the reputation and the style of their two biggest sellers the style I don’t find appealing. It is a challenge since you don’t often enough get to try all the wines they make; it is more of a put the wines on the shelf and let them go arrangement. They are vintage consistent and the style is predictable at least for their Chardonnay and Zinfandel, the aforementioned “work horses” of their lineup.
This past Friday Danielle Ball who is the Western States Sales Manager for Rombauer came by the shop to taste through the portfolio of wines with me. It was not quite as daunting as my headline would lead readers to believe. I was actually looking forward to trying the wines and having an open discussion with someone from Rombauer about the wine they make. Danielle was more than gracious and completely charming, even at times helping with some of our customers that were in the shop on this typical busy Friday.
She had a thorough command of the vital statistics of Rombauer, and was well versed in each individual wine we tasted. We agreed that the winery is to some degree “hamstrung” when it comes to the Chardonnay and Zinfandel. Much like a chef is at popular restaurant where they can’t change the most requested menu selections or risk alienating their most loyal clients. Similarly if Rombauer were to drastically depart from the style of the Chardonnay and Zinfandel they produce it would cause an insurrection with their customers and have lasting and negative effects on their business. We get it, we would do the same!
Tasting through the remainder of the wines though was great, and educational. Their 2015 Sauvignon Blanc which is largely unoaked, a scant 10 percent is fermented in neutral oak barrels was fabulous. Classic California in style with loads of pink grapefruit flavors and citrus and mineral aromatics we ordered it for the shelf immediately. It is exactly what we want from California Sauvignon Blanc. The 2013 Rombauer Merlot was also very good. The oak was there but in modest and well balanced proportions to the Napa Valley Merlot fruit. Ripe dark cherry is the overwhelming presentation in the wine with hints of chocolate and some baking spice but very well balanced.
We tasted 2 different Cabernets the 2013 Napa and 2012 Diamond Selection, for those who like full bodied age worthy Napa Cabernets look no further. Both wines had all the right components and were well assembled and exhibited good balance. Given the ripeness of these great back to back years for California though the wines still need some time in the bottle. A lot of extraction and firm dry hefty tannins will calm with age producing lovely wines with durability for some 20 more years I predict. This was my first experience with these 2 specific bottlings and I was impressed with the lovely fruit but can only imagine how good they will get with a bit more age.
I greatly respect both Danielle and the winery, it isn’t easy to meet with and taste with wine industry professionals that are less than enthusiastic about your life’s passion. They did it though and handled it like true professionals. While the “lion’s den” may have been headline overstatement it was likely not the easiest appointment to make. I’m glad they did. If there is a topic you would like to read about or if you have questions on wine, you can email George@thedinnerpartyshop.com, or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d’Alene Press.
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George Balling is co-owner (with his wife Mary Lancaster) of the dinner party, a wine and table top décor shop located by Costco in Coeur d’Alene. George worked as a judge in many wine competitions, and his articles are published around the country. You can learn more about the dinner party at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com. Be sure and check out our weekly blog at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com/home/blog-2. You can get all of these articles as well as other great wine tips by friending us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/#!/dinnerpartyshop.