European wine tour enough to ditch the day job

Michael Lancaster is one of the many winemakers in California who grew tired of the office routine and yearned for a job that didn’t require a tie and coat.

Making wine seems the obvious alternative, but not everyone has the ability to embark on a new career without losing a nickel in the process.

For Michael it was a job as a financial analyst at Nabisco Brands in Canada that was interrupted by a long bicycle trip through European wine regions where he really fell in love with Tuscany’s famed Tignello wine. With the likes of Italy’s fabled Tignello still fresh on his palate, he hung up his tie in 1993, enrolled in the University of California at Davis and worked at various wineries before launching Tin Barn Vineyards in 2000 with two of his friends.

From the start, the partnership was focused mostly on red wine — syrah, zinfandel and cabernet sauvignon — and declined to produce chardonnay “because none of the partners liked it.” They buy all of their grapes from various growers and keep production below 10,000 cases a year.

Here are some of the wines we tasted with him during a recent Annapolis visit:

• Tin Barn Russian River Valley Zinfandel 2005 ($21). Extracted red berry fruit, medium body with good spice and vanillin oak. He calls this their “lead horse” wine.

• Tin Barn Coryelle Fields Vineyard Syrah 2004 ($30). Violet aroma, simple blackberry flavors with a good earthy and smoke component and a dash of bacon.

• Tin Barn Napa Valley Cabernet Blend Volker Eisele Vineyard 2004 ($32). This blend of cabernet sauvignon (59 percent), merlot and cabernet franc is a good value in the meritage market. Soft mouthfeel, sweet cherry fruit, fine tannins and a touch of clove and toasty oak. This is only the second release of this wine.

 

WINE PICKS

• Bonny Doon Le Cigare Blanc 2006 ($22). This blend of grenache blanc (75 percent) and rousanne is a delightful, refreshing white wine to wile away warm summer days. It has the complexity to match with seafood and other dishes, but the quaffability to make it a great patio sipper. Racey citrus and melon notes with a hint of quince and pear. Very different.

• Goldeneye Anderson Valley Pinot Noir 2005 ($55). This incredible wine, made by Zach Rasmuson, a St. John’s College graduate, is a produce of Duckhorn Vineyards.

Good complexity and texture with intense black cherry fruit flavors and an earthy, mushroom note. This is a serious pinot noir. Goldeneye’s 2006 Migration Pinot Noir ($32) is a cheaper alternative and still very appealing.

• J Vineyards Russian River Pinot Noir 2006 ($38). Big, beautiful wine with good mouthfeel and oodles of raspberry and cherry flavors. Nice earthy component gives it a burgundian feel.

• Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Syrah 2006 ($12). Excellent value from Jess Jackson and his team of winemakers. Black currant and ripe dark berry flavors with a floral nose and a soft, supple landing.

• Clayhouse Paso Robles Estate Cuvee 2005 ($32). This fruit-forward Rhone blend of syrah (54 percent), grenache and petite sirah is a delicious concoction for sipping or to serve alongside beef. Dark berry and strawberry flavors with a hint of black pepper and spice.

We’ve tasted many of these wines and Clayhouse is a label to look for.

The Hillside Cuvee ($28) is a Bordeaux-grape blend with complex aromas, good depth and rich texture.

PRICEY REDS

Wine shop owners tell us the market for pricey wines has not dropped significantly. It appears that instead of going out for dinner, many consumers are choosing to stay at home and splurge on an expensive bottle of wine.

Here are some very nice red wines for you to consider:

Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 ($54). Not everyone can afford this producer’s legendary Insignia, but the cabernet sauvignon is an overshadowed backup. Blended with just a little merlot and petit verdot, it has a Bordeaux style with a minerally, spicey bouqet followed by notes of cherries and red currants. It finishes long and soft.

Joseph Phelps Eisrebe ($50). The producer accelerates the process of using grapes frozen on Mother Nature’s schedule for this ice wine by freezing scheurebe grapes themselves. Sweet, ripe apricot notes with good acidity and length.

St. Supery Elu 2004 ($65). A meritage blend of all five noble Bordeaux grapes, it isn’t surprising this wine has a French feel. Stylish ripe berry fruit with toasty oak and fine-grained tannins. A beautiful, exquisite wine for the dinner table.

Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 ($58). Rich, complex flavors of black cherries, cassis and chocolate with big tannins and a hint of violets in the generous bouquet. Wow, quite a wine from the Russian River Valley.