WineDay: Teacher's Pet

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by Fred McMillin
for February 28, 2000

Teacher's Pet

Edgar Vogt, (pictured), is a busy teacher. The local spring catalogues of S.F. State University and S.F. City College show he's giving a total of five courses in the next few months.

Furthermore, he does all the heavy lifting for my Scott's Panel tastings. So what's the best-tasting wine he's poured in the last six months?...I'll call it, "Teacher's Pet".

The Runners-Up

Edgar rated all of these EXCELLENT.

5th—Pinot Noir by David Bruce, Santa Cruz Mountains, '97, $35.
See the Nov. 29, 1999 WineDay titled, "In a Class by Itself".
4th—Pinot Noir by Steele, Mendocino County, DuPratt Vineyard, '97, $28.
3rd—Syrah by Jade Mountain, Mt. Veeder, Napa Valley, Paras Vineyard, '97, $52.
See January 26, 2000 WineDay for more about Jade Mountain.
2nd - None. Instead we had a tie for the best.
1st - One was the Harrison '97 Cab, Napa Valley, $54.
It's covered in WineDay, Feb. 10, 2000. We did not write up the other winner previously, so here it is, our Wine of the Day.

The Teacher's Pet

1997 Oakstone Syrah Port, El Dorado
Only $12 for 375 ml.

The winery's brochure states modestly, "Varietal Ports are made according to the influence each year's weather has on the grape varieties." Earlier, the weather had the right influence on Merlot. Our Dec. 4, 1997 WineDay covered the resulting outstanding Port in the article, "This Merlot Steals the Show". In 1997, the weather favored Syrah. Prof. Marian Baldy in her University Wine Course says the best California Ports come from small wineries that produce them as a specialty item. Edgar has spotted one of them.

Postscript

Speaking of university wine courses, co-proprietor and winemaker of Oakstone, Dr. John Smith, is well known at San Jose State U. for his course on the chemistry of wine. He sure gets the molecules lined up right in his Ports. Production is small, so phone (916)620-5303 and grab the latest release, even if the Syrah is sold out.

About the Writer

Fred McMillin, a veteran wine writer, has taught wine history for 30 years on three continents. He currently teaches wine courses at San Francisco State and San Francisco City College. In 1995, the Academy of Wine Communications honored Fred with one of only 22 Certificates of Commendation awarded to American wine writers.

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