Recipe for a successful red-eye flight:  2 dramamine tablets, 2 warm sweaters, 1 damn fine bottle of wine, 15 minutes to burn and 2 plastic cups.  I have known about this winery for a while but never felt rich enough to check it out.  Then I heard a piece on public radio about dry farming.  As in, whatever water falls out of the sky is what we’ll use, nothing more.  This vineyard is the dry farmer’s poster child (at least in the wine world).  Seems they’ve been doing it for years… and churning out excellent wines in the process.  I had to taste for myself.  Its truly fine stuff.  Smooth and tasty.  And the Zinfandel has a rather approachable price tag…

paid: $19

scored: 90

My welcome home gift after a week in the bowels of… Cleveland.  It was pouring rain here so no hope of actually hitting the trailhead.  This cab is earthy and light, surprisingly soft tannins, with nice fruit and a bit of…spinach.  Not completely kidding there.

paid: $20 (on sale from $26)

scored: 89

My fiancee had a glass of this lovely syrah while we were out at Shana Thai restaurant in Mountain View.  I had a little taste, and spent the next 30 minutes regretting my decision to have a glass of Hoegaarden.  Difficult to say much from that and the other taste I managed to steal when she went to the ladies room, but this is a wine to seek out.  Very fine.  Shana makes a killer pumpkin curry, too.

paid: $10 / glass

scored: 90 (initial impression)

Hum, I didn’t even realize when I bought this that I was getting an 04 instead of the 03, which I love.  I noticed because I had the impression that it wasn’t as good as I remembered… but only by a hair.  A bit smaller on the palate and finish maybe.  I’d really like to try a vertical tasting from this winery.

paid: $15

scored: 89

The Edge comes in at an unusual and relatively unpopulated price point.  It has a very smooth and simple bouquet on the nose and on the palate.  Perhaps its most noteworthy aspect is the relatively dry fruit structure.  In this regard it is more reminiscent of a European wine than a CA effort.  A little bit of Merlot and Cab Franc round out the finish.  Enjoyable and worth the price.

paid: $18

scored: 89

One of my personal grrrrrails (insert Eric Idle accent) is a gorgeous cab for $10.  I doubt that will ever happen, but I keep getting closer.  I first tasted the Chevalier in March 2008 when I flew to CA for an interview.  Its just as fine the second time around.   I’m not going to say a thing about it, other than to give it about 30 minutes to open up - if you are lucky enough to find it.

paid: $15

scored: 90

In a region where the going price for a bottle of cab is $50, its a treat to find the Merryvale.  Same great Napa fruit, only a bit rougher around the edges.  The finish has more tannin than (sharpness) than you’ll find in a Cakebread or Stag’s Leap but make no mistake:  this is a very solid effort.

paid: $18

scored: 90

This wine was totally decent.  Smooth, a bit of fruit, but really not much going on.  Glad I tried it, probably wouldn’t seek it out again.

paid: $12

scored: 86