The Wine Commonsewer™

2007 Frei Brothers Reserve Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

TWC doesn't do many white wine reviews, but Shelley Walker came by and she needed some assurance that she was safe. You're not likely to find much white wine here at Casa de las Rocas Grandes, but I scrounged up a dust laden bottle of Frei Brothers Sauvignon Blanc from the bottom shelf of the rack. Why does she now fell safe, Gentle Reader? Repeat after me, Brothers and Sisters......

Lips That Touch White Wine

Shall Never Touch Mine

Before she married that cheatin', tattooed biker dude, I would end with: except Sandra Bullock's. But were done now.

Frei Brothers Vineyards

Shelley liked the Sauvignon Blanc and we whipped up some sauteed mushrooms with what she didn't drink.

Crisp and light with grapefruit and citrus plus a little melon. I asked what kind of melon and she responded that it certainly wasn't watermelon.

With foggy, damp mornings and warm, sunny days, the Russian River Valley provides and ideal climate for Sauvignon Blanc grapes.

Sidebar: Though TWC is loath to bring it to your attention, Gentle Reader, some two centuries back, Sauvignon Blanc was wedded to Cabernet Franc and the joyful result of that marriage was Cabernet Sauvignon, the crown jewel of wine.

Parker bestowed 90 points......

The outstanding 2007 Sauvignon Blanc is about as good as this varietal can be. Flinty fig, melon, and honeyed grapefruit aromas and flavors emerge from this tank-fermented and aged 2007. This medium-bodied, refreshing white is not put through malolactic, which provides additional crispness.

Tasty as this wine is, you need to step on it and pick some up now, as Sauvignon Blanc is not a wine for the cellar. You'll find it from $10.00-$16.00.

Note: TWC reviewed the wine last year and it is still holding up well.

Serve it with grilled shrimp marinated in spicy lime sauce.

As Always,

TWC

Image appears courtesy of E&J Gallo

2007 Frei Brothers Sauvignon Blanc & TWC's 100 Point Scale

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Parker was ebullient, bestowing 90 points on the 2007 Frei Brothers Sauvignon Blanc.....

The outstanding 2007 Sauvignon Blanc is about as good as this varietal can be.

Spectator? Not quite so generous with a throw away 88 points.....

Subtle, with fresh slate, grapefruit, tangerine and mango flavors that are ripe and mouthwatering, with just the right touch of acidity and a clean, refreshing profile. Drink now.

88? TWC is frequently amused with the 100 point scale because it is but a simple Jedi mind trick. There is no 100 point scale. There is only a 15 point scale because anything below 85 points is, well, Night Train, or worse. [raises eyebrows and chuckles to himself]

Excuse the digression. More to the points (heh) 88 points is weak, this is a good wine. Crisp, clean, minerally. Medium bodied with citrus, apples, a hint of tropical fruits. All of which adds up to a wine that pairs perfectly with mesquite grilled shrimp served with drawn garlic butter.

The Frei Sauvignon Blanc hails from the Russian River Valley appellation of Sonoma where morning fog and hazy afternoon sunshine provide a long mellow growing season and the perfect micro-climate for the grapes.

Bonus:

TWC rarely assigns a numerical score to a wine but when he does it goes something like this:

• 96-100  Varying Degrees of Perfection
•   93-95  Superb! Wow!
•   91-92  Excellent Wine-Often Special Occasion Wine
•   88-90  Drinkable Every Day Wine
•   85-87  You Pay Your Money & You Take Your Chances
•   75-85  Boone's Farm
•    0-75  Thunderbird & Night Train

As Ever,

TWC

2006 Frei Brothers (Reserve) Alexander Valley Cabernet (Revisited Tres)

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

TWC was rather lethargic about his first encounter with Frei Brothers Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon some time back. In the interim the opportunity to revisit the wine arose, and, surprisingly.....It was like night and day. Dead serious here, this cannot possibly be the same wine that was plucked from the shelf at Fry's in Tucson last summer (no, Fry's does not sell those kind of chips).

Bottle numero uno did not appear to be tainted, corked, or otherwise spoiled. Then again, a mild affliction is often difficult to spot, leaving the wine lifeless, flat, and lacking the depth of aroma we enjoy. As I recall the wine was a decent, drinkable wine, just not huzzah!

Bottle numero dos clearly exhibited the characteristics one would expect from an Alexander Valley Cabernet as evidenced by the winery's tasting notes:

Our Cabernet Sauvignon was crafted to express the best of Alexander Valley, showcasing ripe, rich, jammy dark red fruit flavors balanced with a touch of sweet vanilla and toasty oak.

Uhh, yes. It was. This rich, full bodied wine is 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot, & 4% Merlot and was quite tasty. Not quite the Frei Brothers Dry Creek Cab, but certainly an excellent wine with which to impress that sweet little doll babe you keep running into at the elevator.

This is a nice little mini tour of the Alexander Valley from Sonoma Uncorked.

Explanation of cork taint here plus one unconventional way to avoid a sink pour.

As Always,

TWC

Not Your Father's Thunderbird

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Nick Gillespie saves me the trouble of reviewing what promises to be a fascinating look at the impact of the Gallo family on American viticulture.

.....Tuccille is back with a new book that explores the lives and times of Ernest & Julio Gallo, the California brothers who went from relative obscurity to being the biggest winemakers in the world.

Gallo Be Thy Name: The Inside Story of How One Family Rose to Dominate the U.S. Wine Market is a mesmerizing story of true crime, murder, Prohibition, family drama, and capitalism. It is also an engrossing social history of the last 100 years of America and explains how we went from a nation that gulped Thunderbird, Ripple, Boone's Farm and other Gallo-created plonk to a country of refined Chardonnay Cabernet and Zinfandel sippers.

There, fixed that for you, Nick.

Coincidentally, TWC is putting together a comprehensive look at Gallo family premium wines which begins here.

TWC on Prohibition's decimation of the California wine industry here.

If you can't see the video, look here.

As Always,

TWC

2006 Gallo Family Frei Ranch Vineyard (Dry Creek) Cabernet Sauvignon

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

This well crafted wine is stunning. Sometimes it really is just that simple.

Terroir.  We've come to understand that terroir isn't the exclusive, definitive determinant of the character of a wine that we once imagined it was. While the question of terroir is no longer cast immutably in stone, it is unquestionable that  soil and place enhance and contribute to the skills of the wine maker, which is why Oz Shiraz is distinguishable from California Syrah, despite the commonality of the varietal. Both, after all, are made from the same grape, but there is no mistaking Australian Shiraz.

As a rule, Dry Creek wines rarely disappoint and the Frei Ranch Cab is no exception in its celebration of the magic that is Dry Creek Valley. The Gallo family had a long association with the Frei brothers dating to the end of prohibition and ultimately purchased the ranch in the late 1970's. Concurrently, the vineyard was replanted, the result of which is this single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon blended with just a tease of Petit Verdot.

Occasionally one finds a wine like this where it is immediately apparent from the aroma of the bouquet that something special is happening in the glass. In these rare instances there isn't any waiting for the wine to open up, from the first sip to the dregs, one is treated to the promise of Dionysus. And the overt reaction is simple. This wine is really good.

The Frei Ranch Cab is a gorgeous full bodied wine with black fruits, hints of a rich earthiness on the nose and palate, firm tannins, and a long and mellow finish. Enjoyable today and, I suspect, for the next decade or so.

Best part? It's forty bucks US. From the winery! Gotta be less elsewhere if you can find it. Repeat after me: I've had wines costing twice this much that weren't half as good. Yes, it's a mantra and another illustration of the basic principle stating that sometimes the relationship between the price of a wine and its quality is tenuous.

Frei Ranch Vineyard at Sunset

You'll want to pair this wine with herb roasted prime rib, medium rare mesquite grilled New York steaks, or a succulent, falling-off-the bone roast pork. Okay, lamb too.

Winemaker's Notes:

This wine shows tremendous depth with dark, ripe fruits and toasty complexity from oak barrel aging. An intriguing top note of spicy strawberry jam lends an almost ethereal quality to the aroma. In the mouth the wine is full, rich and chewy. The mid-palate shows enough density to suggest long-term aging for those who can resist all of this wine's current charm.

As Ever,

TWC

Photo appears courtesy of Gallo Family Vineyards

2006 Frei Brothers Cabernet Sauvignon (deux)

 Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Last week TWC reviewed Frei Brothers Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve. I'd already fallen into the role of useless brother-in-law, a frighteningly easy transition I might add. Hence, sampling a few wines in the balmy desert evening seemed a perfect way to finish off a day spent soaking up the dry Tucson sun on a pink, blow-up pool floatie (Shaddup) and wondering where the cocktail waitress had scampered off to. Sadly, William could not join in the good times because he had to WORK. 

I'd heard some good things about the Frei Brothers and was anxious to try it, particularly since it happened to be on sale. My expectations were high and I was disapointed. I didn't dislike the wine just found it more expensive than it ought to have been.

In response to my tepid review I got a note from Gallo's Michael Heintz the other day who offered some additional perspective.....

Thank you for your posting on Frei Brothers Reserve Cabernet.  I was sorry to see that you didn’t find the wine worth the price.  Hopefully you’ll give some of the other varietals and try, and enjoy them.

I wanted to let you know that we still make Gallo branded wines from Sonoma, and they definitely did not flop.  We still produce the Sonoma Reserve tier, which is broadly available.  The higher end wines (single vineyard designates and Estate wines) are made in very limited quantities and are not available everywhere.  We also make a winemaker’s signature tier, which is not distributed at retail, but is available through the tasting room in Healdsburg.  This tier pushes the envelope a little further and is made in extremely limited quantities.

And as far as Frei Brothers goes, this is not a substitute for Gallo branded wines.  We produce this brand as a tribute to the Gallo family’s 70+ year relationship with the Frei family, from whom the Gallos purchased several vineyards and the winery facility in Dry Creek Valley in 1978.  We launched the brand in 2001, several years after the launch of Gallo’s Sonoma wines.

As I mentioned to Mr Heintz, the Gallo premium wines that I referred to were available in the early to mid 1980's and I had understood that these were a different undertaking than the upscale wines that came later. I was fortunate enough to find a case or so of them languishing on the bottom shelf of an old liquor store that no longer had a clientèle nterested in more than jug wine and Bud. These cabs were phenomenal and, unfortunately, I drank them all. :-)

TWC will try the Frei Brothers cab again.....I usually do that because sometimes you get an off bottle or an off night and everyone deserves a second chance.

As Ever,

TWC

2006 Frei Brothers Cabernet Sauvignon (Reserve)

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

The 2006 Frei Brothers Cab is a half decent Alexander Valley wine. What it is not is a $25.00 wine. Nor is it a $16.00 wine, which is what the price worked out to after applying the Arizona exchange rate and the Fry's Grocery discount for having a phone number that tied into the Ralph's grocery network somehow.

Parker gifted these guys with an 89. The wine may have potential, but it in no way compares to Gallo's foray into the premium wine market twenty (or so) years ago. Wait! Yes, that's right Frei Brothers is just a Gallo label, not some upscale Alexander Valley winemaker.

In the early 1980's, when Ernest and Julio were still alive and kicking, they created some really good premium red wines. The marketing team advised them to drop the Gallo name, which was loaded with jug wine connotations, but the brothers were proud. They turned to each other, shrugged, turned back and said, but our name is Gallo. Predictably, the wines didn't sell well and the line was eventually abandoned. A shame, too, as these wines were very well crafted. 

Rachet forward to now and everything has flipped. Marketing has a great name but the wine is marginal, at best, a ten dollar wine. Best thing that can be said about it is that over the last two decades, Gallo has set aside more than six thousand untouched acres of land for posterity.

Winery Notes:

Our Cabernet Sauvignon was crafted to express the best of Alexander Valley, showcasing ripe, rich, jammy dark red fruit flavors balanced with a touch of sweet vanilla and toasty oak

TWC Notes:

This wine is just okay and amply illustrates the premise that TWC yammers about on a regular basis. There are wines that cost half as much that are twice as good.

As Evoir,

TWC