Raffaldini kindly sent me a bottle of their 2007 Sangiovese Reserva. They must be pretty confident it’s a good wine, because I am notoriously critical of Yadkin Valley / Swan Creek red wines (not so much the whites).

My wine “reviews” are simple affairs.

1) I prefer dry wines over many of the artificially sweetened wines so popular in this area to make the wine palatable to local wine drinkers.

2) I hate the “green” taste that seems to work it’s way into almost every NC red wine due to poor viticultural and winemaking practices

3) I really dislike wineries that vehemently argue that their wine is good. Even when all it would take to discover the opposite is a simple anonymous feedback card in the tasting room, or followup their visit to the winery with an email opinion request. It just makes no sense to put out junk wine.

4) I am better suited to reviewing red wines because I’ve got a lot more experience with tasting red wines from all over the world and all price points.

Raffaldini has always seemed dedicated to proving that good to excellent wine can be produced in North Carolina. At considerable cost, they’ve removed several varieties that weren’t well suited to their area and experimented with others. They are never satisfied and are always striving to better themselves, their understanding of grapes and their wines. And all of that is evident from the time you set foot on their property…from the amazing views, to the old style villa winery, to the beautiful gardens and culminating in many of their wines.

That brings me to my initial impression of the 2007 Raffaldini Sangiovese Reserva. The nose was very satisfying. It was robust and filled me with happiness. Who cares what comprised the nose, just be happy that the wine presented itself well. Even writing now, 10 hours later, I am looking forward to having another glass this evening and hoping that the wine is complex enough to actually get better after 24 hours of being opened.

The wine itself was one of the best North Carolina red wines I have ever had. I really enjoy Chianti, and have some very nice bottles in my cellar. So, while I don’t have nearly the experience with Sangiovese that I do with other varietals, I’ve drank enough of it to appreciate when the wine has done the grape justice.

Some times I will have a favorable impression of a NC red wine, only to be a little let down later in the evening when I’m left with a residual yeasty taste in my mouth. This has evened happened once or twice with my own wine. I am not sure still what causes this. I’ve read various opinions from others. And in my own experience it’s not always there…the other night I had a bottle of Ella that was just fabulous, and left no yeasty impression in my mouth. But several weeks before I actually poured out a bottle of my own wine after experiencing it. Maybe it results from unfiltered wines at times? Needless to say, none of that from the Raffaldini Sangiovese Reserva on this night.

Tomorrow night I am going to take this bottle over to some friends to get their opinion and to try it again on a different night. I have a bottle of the 2005 Raffaldini Sangiovese I might bring it along and have them blind taste test each of them to get their opinions on each.

What’s also great about this wine, is that it’s priced reasonably at $17.00. I think it’s worth $17.00. At $17.00 it’s a very nice showcase of the best that North Carolina can offer. I don’t say that very often!

If you are a winemaker and thinking that I say nice things when the wine is free, please think twice about sending me your wines, I don’t like to drink too much North Carolina wine. I’m not sure it’s healthy in most forms. Plus, if I don’t have nice things to say, for the most part, I am not writing anything at all. With so many wineries struggling now, they don’t need me piling on them…people seem to be figuring out which wineries are putting out some decent wines and which ones aren’t. It’s not that difficult.

Been a long long time since I posted on this blog. The world has just gotten a wee bit too crazy to justify spending much time here. I am sure all of the winery owners in the area are thankful. But just to make sure that I am not forgotten, I’ll write a short blurb about the 2009 Elkin Wine Festival. We went with some friends and had a great time. The Chamber did a bang up job once again. I don’t even have one complaint. Unless you count that five years later, the wine in the Yadkin Valley is still borderline horrible.

Thankfully the McRitchie’s are still here. Their wines are just outstanding all around. Elkin Creek still puts out some nice stuff. Grassy Creek has a couple of winners. Raffaldini seems like they’ve stepped back some…no one was as impressed as in the past.

Everything else was barely drinkable. But as long as the McRitchie’s don’t leave town there is always at least some consistency to look forward too.

Back to my grapes. Last year my wife and I were gone for the entire month of May. That is a crucial spray period, that coupled with the drought, and the birth of Ella and my desire to test the minimum number of sprays required to still take a crop, took a toll on the grapes. I had poor fruitset, and some Downey got in and I never got it out…it spread quite rapidly near harvest and the grapes never really ripened. It was just sort of a mess. We didn’t take a harvest.

2009 so far has been different. My dad helped me fix up my sprayer, and I took down a bunch of the deer fencing (which helps with my tractor turns) and we stayed in town during May. I’ve sprayed three times so far, mostly Sulfur and ProPhyt. I’d also some foliar nutrients that I mixed in the last spray. The rain was much needed this spring. My plants look the best ever, except the Pinotage got hit by something that wiped out maybe 30% of them. But they ripen too early anyways, they might have to be pulled. The Barbera has roared back strong, the Cariminere are struggling, and the merlots / Cab. francs and Cab. Sauv. look great. The best ever. I had some very nice fruit set and no disease has been spotted yet.

I am going to try and stay on top of things this summer. Might have to reread my blog a bit to determine what I will spray next. I’ll probably do one spray of pristine and sulfur and then stay away from that to avoid resistance. Maybe then I’ll do another sulfur / prophyt and then a couple of Bayleton in July before the clusters close.

Should take a nice crop if I can stay on top of things. No Beetles yet. But with all the rain, I expect they might be a little heavier this year and much heavier next year.