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I normally prefer a more acidic backbone to rose, but this had slurpable bing cherry fruit with some nice bitter notes that made this Bonny Doon wine a nice quaffer! Softer and rounder than I normally prefer, but that fruit flavor was quite nice. I should note that the Mouvedre bottling was pretty amazing as well. Extremely ferric ("bloody") flavor that was uniquely delicious!
2011 Laurel Glen Cabernet Sauvignon. I love LG cabs, but one thing I notice, even under the new ownership, is more significant vintage variation than found in many California cabernets! This was Randall Watkin's inaugural vintage under the new team, and it is a lean, balanced, polished, lovely California Cabernet, with elegant black anise fruit, balanced oak, a savory edge. Lovely stuff. The 2012 is a much riper and more fruit-driven vintage (and the owner loves that vintage) but I really like this version!
Also: New winery in Glen Ellen. Kivelstadt Cellars. http://www.kivelstadtcellars.com/ This was a big discovery for me, actually. I expected more of a "vanity project" (the owner is the son of a Northern California commercial real estate developer) but these are quite serious wines, actually. The focus is on the Rhone, but they also feature Pinot. Their Rhone blend rose was quite savory and fresh in character-closer to Provence than, say, the Bonny Doon pink discussed above. The Rhone blend was a lovely polished, peppery blend with balanced acidity. A highlight was the Syrah, which is quite nice in a smoky, licorice-y way that went very well with red meat that evening. The one odd note was the Pinot, which lacked "Pinosity" but was quite delicious in its own way (I would have tagged it as a Syrah perhaps!
).A very nice new winery project in a lovely red brick historic building.