Cowhorn 2011 Wine Releases

Cowhorn Wine celebrated the release of two of its new wines yesterday at a wine club party at the winery  (in southern Oregon).

You can order the 2011 Spiral 36 and the 2011 Sullivan Steele Sauvignon Blanc starting now. Both are highly recommended.

Spiral 36 ($28) - a white Rhone blend of Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne - tends to sell out, so be forewarned and belly up to the bar now if you want to be sure to get some. Food & Wine magazine called it one of Oregon's top wines.

In contrast to its famous, northern Pinot Noir cousins, southern Oregon doesn't get much attention and Cowhorn is one of the few to grow Rhone varietals. However the climate is California-like with hot, dry weather in the area near Jacksonville, an hour drive northeast of tourist mecca Ashland.

The Sauvignon Blanc ($22) is a collaboration with a grower/neighbor Terry Sullivan in nearby Talent, Oregon, who grows organically grown Sauvignon Blanc.

All Cowhorn wines are made from certified biodynamic grapes.

Like me, Wine Spectator wine critic Matt Kramer is a big fan of Cowhorn's wines.

For more on Cowhorn, check out this post from 2011 or visit their web site.

Congratulations! Tablas Creek's Organically Grown Wines Win High Parker Praise

Robert Parker loves Tablas Creek. Probably it's from his long term love of all things Rhone - and his historical adoration of the Perrin family's Rhone wines.

(I'm not generally a Parker points person myself, but it doesn't hurt to bring it up.)

Click on the image to make the red wine scores appear and the image display larger

Parker's adoration has transferred to American soil, and the wines of Tablas Creek, perhaps the most outstanding winery in Paso Robles (and one of the very, very few in that area that has certified organic grapes). So hats' off to the fine scores Tablas Creek's wines have been raking in from the Wine Advocate of late, including the 6 Tablas Creek wines I am writing about in my app (the ones you can buy for $20 or less from retail outlets).

Whites

• Cotes de Tablas Blanc - 88 pts
• Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc - (1/2 bottle) - 90-92 pts
• Roussanne - 89-91 pts
• Vermentino - 90 pts

Reds

• Cotes de Tablas - 88 pts

Although the Patelin wines are also wonderful, they are sourced from a variety of vineyards including some that are not organic. I am sorry to see yet another organic brand source its affordable blends from non organic vineyards when hundreds of tons of organic grapes get blended into nonorganic wines. (Can't we figure out a better way to do this?) I hope Tablas Creek will look harder at sourcing Patelin with all organic neighbors.

(Other brands that drive me nuts about this - much more because they loudly proclaim their greeniness, whereas Tablas does not - are Benziger and King. If you're going to build a brand identity around organic or biodynamic, please don't dilute your brand by offering mostly nonorganic or nonbiodynamic wines. It may take awhile but people will notice. And, Note to Benziger - don't make us pay more for organic or biodynamic. Paul Dolan does this a bit too with his biodynamics.)

Kudos to Beckmen for putting only biodynamic estate fruit into its red Rhone blend - Cuvee le Bec - a continuing and now preferred alternative to Tablas' Patelin - that Parker also loves - and one that's priced under $20.