Tasting Notes: Chameleon Cellars and Bravante

Notes from a recent tasting. Overall, there wasn’t a “bad” wine in the bunch. Some were good, some were great. A few outstanding! The Chameleon Cellars wines are styled to let the fruit express itself and would be best consumed any night of the week with a good, simple food pairing. In contrast, the Bravante wines are complex, elegant examples of the potential of the fruits with good blends and the right amount of oak. These wines are built to stand up to big steaks, rich dishes, and for the most part are structured to last a few years in the cellar. Both producers are highly recommended - at least a few wines from each! In fact, I recommend that you go out and find a wine from either (or both) producer(s), drink it, write what you think, and e-mail them to me or post a comment! (These wines can be found online or at shops throughout Baltimore)

Without further ado, in the order we drank them:

2006 Chameleon Cellars Sauvignon Blanc North Coast: Tropical fruits and some mineral on the nose - honeydew, peach, apple, and jasmine on the palate - good acidity, nice crisp finish. My rating: 89 pts, GV (Good value)

2005 Chameleon Cellars Grenache - Mendocino: Nose filled with cherry and raspberry, a touch of smoke and a mild wet dirt component. Lot’s of black cherry on the palate, light then becoming fuller with medium tannins. Would be great with rabbit. My rating: 87 pts, OKV

2003 Chameleon Cellars Charbono: Nose of spruce, herbs, eucalyptus, with cherry and white pepper on the palate. Overall good balance but could benefit from a touch more acidity. The finish is medium length and brings back a hint of herbs. My rating: 87 pts, GV

2005 Chameleon Cellars Carignane: The most widely planted grape in southeastern France, this Salono County Carignane was made from hillside vines and fruit from a warm growing season. The result is an earthy nose with a touch of chocolate. Good acidity with cherry notes, light in style with a smooth finish - very interesting wine that would pair nicely with a variety of wild game. My rating: 87 pts, GV

2005 Chameleon Cellars Syrah: Brilliant color and weight to this wine. Just approaching the glass with your nose you are bombarded with red pepper and spice. A lot of fruits stand out in the wine and the medium tannins are well integrated. More Old-World in style which is a good thing! My rating: 90 pts, VGV (Very Good Value)

2005 Chameleon Cellars Petit Sirah: Coming from 112 year old vines, this Petit Sirah is very good (tasted from 3 bottles). Dark purple color, aromas of dark cherry, spice and cigar box. Big, dark fruits and black pepper on the palate - great structure, big, chewy tannins and a 30 second finish. Drink one now and lay a few down for the next 5 years when it should peak. My rating: 91 pts, OV (Outstanding Value)

2005 Chameleon Cellars Barbera Mendocino: Beautiful bright color, vibrant red fruits, tightly wound but explosive - the wine is balanced and finishes crisp - a great pizza wine. My rating: 86 pts, GV

2004 Chameleon Cellars Zinfandel, Gordon Valley (Napa): Concentrated flavors, blackberry, blueberry, earth, spice, medium tannins. My rating: 87 pts, GV

2004 Chameleon Cellars Merlot: Plum, cherry, raspberry notes. As with many of the other Chameleon wines, the fruits really stand out, but this one lacks balance of the other wines. My rating: 86 pts, OKV (OK Value)

2005 Chameleon Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon: In this first effort at a Cabernet, Chameleon did a fine job. Don’t expect the creamy, oakiness of many other Cabs as this was designed to let the fruit shine. Earth notes, blackberry, black cherry, bell pepper, medium tannins with a bite. No formal rating was recorded during my tasting but from memory it was good. At the price, it’s worth trying to see if it’s your style. NR (No rating)

2004 Bravante Merlot - $38: Plum, cherry, touch of thyme. Good mid-palate filled with fruits and some acidity that becomes balanced into soft tannins. A touch of sweet fruit returns on the finish and is highlighted with black pepper. My rating: 88 pts, GV

2004 Bravante Trio, $40: This blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cab Franc is quite good. Lot’s of black fruits and buttered toast, dried herbs on the nose. The wine is complex with chocolate, blackberry, and some sweet cedar, has great structure and balance and finishes with layers of flavors and big tannins - I’d lay a few bottles down (if you can find them!) for 3 or more years. My rating: 93 pts, VGV

2004 Bravante Cabernet Sauvignon - $50: Consistent with my previous notes: dark fruits, deep color, herb, vanilla. Not decanted this time around, but it drank nicely. My rating: 92 pts, GV

2003 Bravante Simpatico - $75: This was my wine of the night - layers and layers of dark fruits, earth, cherry, cigar box, anise, spice. Huge body, big tannins, a Cadillac among Fiats. Big, long finish, did I mention this wine is big? Pricey but worth it if you like big California Cabs (wine is roughly 80% Cab Sauvignon and 20% Cab Franc) can find a few bottles of this very limited release. For best enjoyment, lay it down for at least 5 years maybe 10 or more! My rating: 94 pts, CV (this wine has “cellar” or “collectible” value - meaning if you can afford it, definitely go for it!).

WBW #40: “Que Sirah, Sirah”

Hi everyone, welcome to the 40th edition of “Wine Blogging Wednesday” (WBW) and my first time participating. Wine Blogging Wednesday began in the Summer of 2004 as a way to bring together the wine blogging community. The idea is simple, one day each month bloggers are given a wine region or type of wine as a theme of which they must choose a bottle of wine, taste it, review it, and post in on their site. The person who nominated the theme for a particular month is then in charge of linking together all of the posts on their own blog. Over 3 years later, the event is still going strong with participation from more than 30 bloggers from around the world. For more information, see the Wine Blogging Wednesday website at: http://www.winebloggingwednesday.org/

This month’s theme, hosted by Sonadora at WannaBeWino , is Petit Sirah.

Petit Sirah is an interesting variety as far as grapes go. It wasn’t until 2003 that with the use of clonal analysis, it was confirmed to be the same grape as the Durif grape of France. In fact, it wasn’t until around 2002 that I realized that Syrah and Petit Sirah were not the same thing (everyone has to start somewhere!). I have grown to love this once orphan grape. Wines made with Petit Sirah tend to have good structure from the big tannins as well as great color and a range of dark fruits and spice. Although Petit Sirah isn’t widely planted (60 or so vineyards in California according to winespros.org), you can find it on the shelves of most any wine shop. There is quite a following for this wonderful variety, including a very cleverly named organization and website “PS, I Love You” (www.psiloveyou.com).

This month I chose to review the 2005 Vinum Cellars “PETS” Petit Sirah which comes in around $12. The name, PETS, is a common knickname for the Petit Sirah grape. This wine was dedicated to the winemakers (Ken Wilson) dog Tanker. Having 3 dogs myself, I appreciate the sentiment and wonder what I would call a wine that I made to dedicate it to all three dogs…perhaps “muddy yard” would work.

The 2005 Vinum Cellars “PETS” Petit Sirah ended up being an amazing find. Great deep plum color with an inviting nose of dark berry, fig, and a touch of black pepper. The palate is surprisingly complex with flavors of dark fruits, blueberry, buttered toast, and miscellaneous herbs and spices. The finish is long, tannins are quite refined, and just before the wine leaves, it brings a few spice notes that make you wonder “all this for $12?” (which includes a small donation to local animal shelters). Drinking great now (let it open a bit in the glass), buy a case and enjoy it for the next two (or more) years. My rating: 91 pts, OV (outstanding value).

Make sure to check out the fellow bloggers websites which can be found linked at Sonador’s page at WannaBeWino!