Oak Leaf Vineyards does not really exist as a vineyard;it also has No Vintage!. It is simply one of the labels produced in The Wine Group’s, Ripon, Calif. wine production facility. Oak Leaf wine is a private label non-vintage wine sold by The Wine Group (the same folks who make box wine) exclusively to Wal-Mart stores. The Wine Group’s other labels include such well known brands as Corbett Canyon, Inglenook, Mogen David, Franzia, Almaden and Glen Ellen wines. The firm recently relocated their operations center from San Francisco to Livermore, California.

Oak Leaf Chardonnay is an ultra-inexpensive wine designed to take on Two Buck Chuck and anyone else. Surprisingly, it is very drinkable, even if could be better— I doubt it could be at its price point! The nose is mild, with pineapple, green apples and a touch of oak; a nice light gold color.  Medium to light bodied with a nice crispness (especially if it is consumed at the right temperature). On the palate, there’s more oak than fruit, with weak pineapple, citrus, pear and apple notes. This Chardonnay has a spicy finish with an acidic bite. The finish is pleasant and lingering.

I think everyone would be surprised to find the Oak Leaf wines as cheap as $3. For its price, Oak Leaf Chardonnay is a truly extraordinary value. It may not be what you take to impress your friends, but it is certainly an unpainful drink! A good B-/C+.

Thank you very much to the folks at Hook & Ladder Winery!

About 6 months ago these nice folks sent 6 bottles of wine our way for sampling purposes. We have run two separate tastings on their wines and have some very nice news.

Both of these wines come from California and are really nice. Unfortunately, because we obtained these wines ‘gratis’ from the gracious folks at Hook & Ladder, we have no idea how much the wines cost (we have yet to find them for sale in our favorite stores). Nonetheless because of the very special way in which we obtained the wines, and their high quality, we felt it only appropriate to feature them in our BLOG postings (rather than only listing them in our wine database).

The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon is quite special. This wine opens with pleasant aromas of leather and berries. The wine itself sports a full, robust body with dominant flavors of black cherry & plum. The wine has a nice finish of lingering berry, oak and leather. Using our rating method we give the wine an A-.

The second wine featured is almost as good (but not quite). It is a 2006 Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley of California (a really pretty area). This wine opens with what we’d call a wonderful “Pinot”odorus aroma; if you like Pinots you know what we mean. The dominant flavors are of cherry, blueberries and currants. The one down-side is that the flavors don’t linger as long as we would have them. In our scale this fine wine rates a B+.

Again thank you to everyone at Hook & Ladder.