*Samples Received*
A fantastic evening sipping and talking Steele Wines with a few wine friends across the country, Robert Larsen of The Larsen Projekt and Jed Steele of Steele Wines.
Steele Winery is located in Lake County which is north of Napa County and east of Mendocino County. It has the designation of being one of the least populated grape growing regions with a population of 65,000 residents in this mountainous area, of which you will find 32 wineries and 8,800 acres of wine grapes. While the Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc grapes are varieties most popular to the region you will find Syrah, Zinfandel, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petite Sirah, Tempranillo, Chardonnay, Barbera and Riesling.
Owner/Winemaker Jed Steele has been making wine in California for over 50 years. His longevity in the wine business has allowed him to develop key relationships with some of the very best growers and work with many different varietals. His varietal production is limited to around 1000 cases so that he can continue to produce small batch hand crafted wines.
We started the evening off with the 2017 Shooting Star Sauvignon Blanc. The fruit for this wine is sourced from the Dorn vineyards in Kelseyville and has been the source for the past 25 years. Fermented and aged in stainless steel, I loved the clean crisp character of this wine. Tropical on the nose, you get guava, grapefruit and loads of citrus zest. The mouth was vibrant with crushed pineapple and fresh squeezed grapefruit. The wine reminds me of the tropics of Hawaii or was it the guava aroma. Either way a great start to the night and $15.00
Wine 2 of the evening was the 2016 Steele Chardonnay Cuvee. The chardonnay is a blend of grapes from six different vineyards (Bien Nacido and Goodchild in the Santa Maria Valley, Sangiacomo, Durell and Parmelee-Hill in Carneros and finally Lolonis Family in Mendocino. Barrel fermented with the Lolonis steel fermented. The nose shows wonderful character with pineapple, mango, baked apple and spice. The mouth is rich with apple, pear and pineapple followed by baking spice and a hint of cream on the finish. Excellent expression of good chardonnay. $24 seems like a steal (no pun intended).
The third wine of the evening was the 2016 Writer's Block Cabernet Franc and I'll declare my favorite of the night. These grapes are from the Shannon Ridge Vineyards in the High Valley where you will find sandy soils with steep slopes at 1900 feet. The nose is solid with black licorice, plum and red berry clusters and cloves. The mouth is killer with juicy cherry and raspberry followed by a soft plum and dash of white pepper on the finish. At $17 per bottle buy it by the case folks it's that good.
Final wine of our hour tasting was the 2016 Steele Styme Syrah. The grapes for the Syrah come from the Jacobsen Vineyard on Jed's property which he planted in 2002. Additionally Jed gathers some fruit from Fiora vineyard. Aged in oak 22 months in oak prior to bottling, you can age this wine for the next 10 years. The nose shows dark fruit, spice with a dusting of cocoa powder and a hint of smoke. The mouth fantastic with red berries and blue berries surrounded by chocolate and barrel spice. Only 175 cases produced and a great price at $38.
Thank you Jed and Robert for including me in this excellent tasting. Folks stop by the tasting room at 4250 Thomas Drive Kelseyville Ca. I highly recommend you taste their portfolio.
Cheers
Dan
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