Kings River Winery - 2015 Chenin Blanc

During the 1960’s and 70’s here in California Chenin Blanc was a popular wine. If a wine glass contained California Chenin Blanc in the 1970s or ’80s, the chances were high that it was poured either from a jug of nondescript blended wine or a bottle of semisweet, inexpensive single-varietal Chenin from a North Coast producer. Chenin Blanc was one of California’s first popular white grapes, planted throughout much of the 20th century. It became popular in bulk blending juice, which was labeled as California Champagne or Chablis resulting in an inexpensive, palate-friendly single-varietal wine with residual sugar. Both versions were typically lackluster, with some exceptions. Once found in cheap blends, the grape is gaining popularity among boutique producers. Some 50 years later there only a handful of wineries in California make this wonderful crisp and delightful wine that originates from the Chenin Blanc grape. Over the past decade, artisanal winemakers have launched a new California wave of limited-production Chenin Blanc wines from the Central Valley, Sierra Foothills, Mendocino, Santa Barbara, and are striving to change the reputation of California Chenin Blanc for good. Kings River Winery in Sanger California produces a genuinely nice bottle that we will review here in California Corks’ “Zip Sips”

Treasure Island Wines – 2018 – Pine Mountain
Did you know that Sauvignon Blanc is the parent grape that produced Cabernet Sauvignon? It’s true, back in the seventeenth century in southwestern France, an accidental breeding occurred between a red Cabernet Franc grape vine and a white Sauvignon Blanc grape vine. The results are what we know today as one the most popular grapes among American wine drinkers, Cabernet Sauvignon.

Treasure Island Wines 2018 Pine Mountain Sauvignon Blanc is produced by using some of California’s exceptional wine grapes. Vineyards where the fruit comes from vineyards that stand at an elevation of 2,200 to 2,800 feet in elevation just northeast of Cloverdale, CA. The Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon fruit grown in this region deliver intense color and flavors. Rightly so for Jim Mirowski, winemaker and owner produces excellent wines at his winery located on Treasure Island below the Bay Bridge and in view of the city’s skyline of San Francisco. 

Yribarren Family Vineyards 2016 San Joaquin River Syrah
Syrah is a black grape variety that most commonly makes medium to full-bodied dry red wine. Syrah is a big-bodied, dry red wine. Not only is Syrah flavor-packed, but it’s also one of the darkest colored inky wines you can find. Deep purple in hue with not much translucency, Syrah’s violet and velvety elegance is backed by big fruit and crunchy spice. This is a delightful wine that will please many that are still searching for a red to enjoy as well as those that have been enjoying their reds for some time. 
Pairing Syrah with Food.

Syrah starts out with a bit of a punch on the opening palate. As such, we don’t want to be eating food alongside Syrah that’s in any way bland. The first thing that comes to my mind is dry-rub brisket or well-seasoned pork, which is both juicy and savory. I like to think of Syrah as juicy, savory, and spicy — especially New World wines, where you experience black and blue fruit punch backed by tannin and cracked pepper spice. Yribarren Family Vineyards 2016 San Joaquin River Syrah provides those that have it in their glass the taste of delightful dark fruit, blackberry and a hint of dark chocolate, while not sweet the fruit make it very enjoyable and both those that are new to Syrah or red wines and those that have been enjoying them for some time will find very pleasant. 

Fäsi Estates Winery – 2013 Malbec Reserva – from Argentina Vineyard – Uco Valley

Ok, I know this is not a California wine. In my defense and the wines, it is only proper to recognize this endeavor of a Central Valley winery and vineyard owner, Ralph Fäsi, who just happens to hold interest in vineyards located in the Uco Valley of Argentina. While on one of my visiting Fäsi Estate Winery I was able to taste this wonderful Malbec.

Malbec vs Merlot
Malbec and merlot both originate from the Bordeaux Region of France and are used in red wine blends. Both grapes and the wines they produce exhibit flavors of dark, juicy fruits and notes of tobacco and vanilla. While Merlot is softer than Malbec, with less intense tannins. Both wines pair well with red meat. 

Fäsi Estates Winery – 2013 Malbec Reserva Taste and Flavor Profile
This 2013 Malbec Reseva is a dry, full-bodied wine and shows itself off with a rich, dark fruit nose and flavors like blackberry and red plum. The 2013 is juicy and jammy, with notes of vanilla, tobacco, dark chocolate, and oak with medium acid and moderate tannins and they pair very well with food. High-quality Argentinian Malbec's effectively reflect their terroir, with high altitude wine boasting red fruit flavors like cherry and raspberry and more floral notes. French Malbecs are typically on the earthier side. I am looking forward to doing more California Malbec reviews in the future.

In old Armenian, Karmir, means crimson red. Bob Bagdasarian winemaker and winery owner at Kings River Winery has taken several wine grapes known to be teeth-stainers, Alicante Bouschet, Tempranillo and Syrah and has created crimson in the glass. I meet Bob sometime back while visiting his winery with Lance Huntress with Huntress Media shooting some video to for a video collage for a few Central Valley wineries (you can take a peek at the video by using the link at the end of this post). Bob was a gracious host and took the time to give me the grand tour of the winery and the vineyard. I will be doing some video reviews on several of Kings River Winery wines in the weeks to come. During a recent visit Bob was at the winery and he asked which wines I had selected during the visit. I let Bob know I would really like to feature one of his wines that many people might not be so familiar with and Bob suggested his 2015 Karmir.

Karmir is a blend of 60% Alicante Bouschet, 20% Tempranillo, and 20% Syrah. 

About Kings River Winery