 |
-
Rosenblum ContraCosta Zinfandel '96: Light plummy CC Zin light blackberry
nose; light spicy/plummy licorice/smokey light blackberry Zin flavor; another
nice drinking CC Zin.
And so.... about 40 wines.... a decent morning's work. Kent plies me with
a few bottles I haven't tried, and quick adieu to all the Rosenblum folks
and off I head about noonish for Sacramento. Get really drowsy almost to
Davis, so stop for a bagel and a short nap. And then on into Sac and Corti
Bros. Groceries. I hadn't seen Darrell Corti since up at the Aspen Food
& Wine Festival some 3 years ago, so I made the pilgrimage to Sac an
important part of my itinerary. Darrell usually modestly describes himself
as merely a grocer. In point of fact, his knowledge of wines, of foods,
of languages, of any subject you care to name... is, to me, absolutely
incredible. Best of all, Darrell is eager to share is knowledge with anyone
that is interested in learning. The simplest of questions can sometimes
turn into a 15 minute, or longer, lecture. I often come away from my visits
with him with my head reeling and spend a fair amount of time the next
day doing a core dump to my notebook. This years visit was very much in
that vein. The Corti Bros. Grocery store is an absolutely amazing place
with so much stuff that I've never seen; from high-end balsamic vinegars
to all sorts of pastas, potato chips, jellies, condiments.... you name
it. The wine part is not particularly big; but it is a very eclectic collection.
The aisles have all sorts of wines of which I haven't a clue what are.
So Darrell leads me up & down the aisle telling me what to buy and
what not to. End up getting some 3.5 cases to be shipped back the New Mexico.
After about an hour of this, it's off to Darrell's home for dinner and
a "few" wines to try. Joining us are Kevin, Darrell's assistant in the
wine department, and John, English prof at SacCity College. As usual, the
menu is very simple but unbelievably tasty:
-
Sliced Colombo Salami Georges Blanc Rabbit Pate Macherroni in Ragout of
Mallard & ?? & Porcino Mushrooms
-
Cold Sliced "Premier Lean" Prime Rib Roast Beef with Fred's HorseRadish
& Sauce Soubiese (onions cooked in butter & pureed): This beef
has a great flavor & very unsual texture. It comes from a friend of
Darrell's in Colorado who imports the semen of double-muscled Piemontese
cattle (that are very low in intra-muscular fat) and then applied (by whatever
process of which I'm not the least bit interested in!) to our cattle, Belgian
Blue in this case. The flavor was very unusual and hard to describe and
the texture was almost that of a flank steak.
-
Yorkshire Pudding made from the scant amount of fat from the roast beef.
-
Radicchio and Butter Head Lettuce Salad: which catalyzes Darrell to lecture
for five minutes or more in the various types & production of Raddicchio
but, alas, I didn't take notes
-
Fresh Pears & Parmagiano: incredibly simple but incredibly tasty; some
of the ripest, most delicious pears I've ever had and the tastiest, freshest
Parmagiano I've ever had.
-
Stunning dessert. Bernachon Chocolates: probably the best chocolates I've
ever had.
And the wines were, of course, an education:
-
Mt. Pleasant Individual Vineyard Lovedale Australian Semillon '84:
Dark gold color; strong pungent/oaked slight oxidized tobaccoy/pungent
very complex nose; soft very lush smooth very complex figgy/ pungent/tobbacoy/
oaked flavor not unlike an old dried-out Sauternes; old Aussie dry Semillons
are amazing and one of the world's unrecognized vinous treasures.
-
Chamberyzette Apertif a la Fraise (French vermouth flavored with
wild strawberries): beautiful fragrant delicate strawberry nose; lighht
off-dry perfumy aromatic strawberry flavor; a really lovely apertif.
-
Joseph Swan Light Wine Gamay '71: pungent smokey oaked pencilly
dusty complex nose; very pungent charred/ smokey/toasty/ pencilly/ cedary
dusty flavor; not much fruit left but an interesting charred/burnt oak
& dusty character; very interesting and not at all unattractive
-
La Quadratira del Cerchio ("Squaring of the Circle") Prima Viaggio NV
('95): A blend made by (??) winemaker who consults in 3 different regions:
basically Sangiovese from Brunello blended with Refosco & Schippettino
from Fruili and Montepulciano de Abruzzo de Marche: Intense very peppery/dusty
nose; very ripe very black peppery dusty lush bit floral/plummy flavor;
a very interesting complex very well-made wine.
-
Gallo Sonoma Alexander Valley Barrelli Creek Vineyard Barbera '94:
tiny production of only 70 cases: beautiful complex licorice/pungent very
spicy Barbera nose; tart light oaked very spicy-spicy sausage complex young
flavors; one of the best Gallos I've had; quintessential Barbera fruit.
-
Cape Mentelle Margaret River New Zealand Zinfandel (14.9%) '92:
Very strong minty/ menthol oaked dusty little fruit nose; tart bit rich
very spicy minty/ menthol bit milky/oaked dusty/earthy flavor; very atypical
of Zin & more like a Languedoc or Cucamonga red.
-
Castello di Brolio Casalferro Vineyard Toscano '95: 100% Sangiovese:
Very spicy complex toasty/pencilly oaked some cherry/black cherry Sangiovese
nose; rich very spicy cherry/black cherry very pencilly/new oak flavor;
a very Calif style Chianti some like the Flora Springs or Luna.
-
Sella & Mosca Anghelu Ruju Vino Liquorso Tradizionelle di Alghero
Risau '79: A Sardinian wine, fortified to 19%, made like a port from
Monica & Canniolo varieties: very perfumed very fragrant rather ruby
port-like nose; sweet bit oxidized ruby/young tawnet port-like flavor;
a rather interesting fairly complex port.
-
Gonzales Byass Finest Dry Oloroso Sherry '63: Beautiful complex
very smokey roasted espresso pungent nose; dry very complex astringent
pungent/ espresso/roasted very smokey flavor; incredible complex sherry
very much like a very old Madeira.
-
Zedda-Piras Mirto di Sardegna NV: A Sardinian liquer made with mytrle
berries macerated in alcohol with sugar syrup added: Strong complex piney/
rosemary alcoholic nose; complex rosemary/pungent/piney sweet flavor; very
interesting stuff not unlike some cough syrups.
Since we had only been at table some 5 1/2 hrs, the night was still young.
So Darrell proceeded to educate me on fine tea. By this point, having not
done any spitting and very little dumping, my notes start to get a bit
sketchy. The tea was Tieguanyin style (Iron Goddess of Mercy) and my notes
say something about breast flower fragrance and the tea leaves being lightly
crushed between a maiden's breasts. Sorry on this one!! The first steeping
was nearly colorless but had this incredible delicate aromatic fragrance
to it. Subsequent steepings became more pungent & slightly coarse,
but still very fragrant. Clearly tea I've got to learn more about. So,
the clock is pushing 1:30 a.m. and I'm in a bit of a fog. Darrell probably
could have gone on another hour or so, but I just don't have his stanima.
Bid adieu to Darrell (Kevin & John long ago having left the table)
and head West, finally crashing about 3:00 a.m. over in Fairfield. Don't
recall ever getting onto I-80 or going thru Davis, but must have at some
point.
Wednesday (1/21/98)
Sleep in late (7:30am), up and do some fencing drills to shake out the
cobwebs from the previous night, and head on over to the Napa Valley for
a 10:00 am appt at Swanson Vineyards with Marco Cappelli. I've followed
Marco's wines from the very start ('88?) because his first one was a Zinfandel;
and his passion for Sangiovese and, more recently, Syrah. I first met him
about 6 years ago at Aspen when he was on Darrell's panel/tasting of Zinfandel.
His early efforts seemed a bit heavy on the pencilly/vanilla French oak,
but the last few vintages that oak has been a bit more restrained. His
wines have a bright very spicy racy style that I find most attractive.
Though he doesn't make Zin any longer, I've really liked his Sangiovese
and, particularly, the Syrah. The new Alexis wine, Syrah/Cab blend based
on the Aussie model, is also impressive. I meet up with Marco at the rather
small winery on Manley Lane; and immediately have this strange feeling
of deja vu. Turns out, I had visited here around 1975 when the place was
Cassayre-Forni Wnry. Weird. Swanson owns two Vineyards from which their
grapes are sourced; their Oakville Vineyard down on the valley floor to
the east of Oakville, and the Schmidt Vineyard a bit further south and
on the western foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains below Mt. Veeder. The
Schmidt Vineyard is a more recent acquisition and has some old vines Syrah
on it from which Sean Thackery made his early Orion Syrahs. They have new
plantings on Schmidt of Syrah, taken from the old vines there, and some
of the Durell clone; plus new Sangiovese plantings. They also have new
Syrah plantings on the Oakville Vineyard to blend into Syrah for the Alexis
wine. Swanson also makes Chard, Cab, and Merlot; but my interest was in
Marco's Sangiovese and Syrah. So, on this bright sunny morning, with the
morning espresso finally starting to kick in, we head for the barrels:
-
Swanson OakvilleVineyard Sangiovese '97: Bright ripe berry/slight
cranberry nose; tart rich bright black cherry/cranberry flavor; that classic
Calif tartness but good fullness & richness
-
Swanson Schmidt Vineyard Sangiovese '97: spicy more vibrant cherry
nose; tarter more lean bright vibrant cherry/bit cranberry flavor; bit
tarter & leaner
-
Swanson SchmidtVineyard Sangiovese 428 rootstock) '97: tarter yet
with more of a minty/menthol/eucalyptus rather spicy black cherry.
Marco points out that the Schmidt has a bunch of eucalyptus trees bordering
the Vineyard and that the throw off some fuzzy stamens or something that
he feels infects the wines from Schmidt. They're paying with the neighbor
to take a bunch of these trees out.
-
Swanson Sangiovese (blended Vineyards?) '96: Stronger more black
cherry/deeper nose; richer fairly lush black cherry Sangiovese with some
pencilly oak; another outstanding Sangiovese a bit more reigned in on the
oak; lovely stuff
-
Swanson Sangiovese Rosato '97: made from the juice they bleed off
the skins (sasegenage or some such term) to get a darker Sangiovese: really
bright vibrant spicy/cranberry nose; tart bright cranberry flavor; this
is always one of my favorite Calif roses.
-
Swanson Oakville Vineyard Syrah (to blend into Sangiovese) '97:
rather soft fat lighter bright blackberry/Syrah character; not the depth
of later ones tasted
-
Swanson Sangiovese '95 (from bottle): Lush bright cherry/black cherry
some pencilly/oak nose; tart rich very spicy black cherry/cherry some pencilly/
tobaccoy oak flavor; another lovely Sangiovese in their string.
-
Swanson Syrah (barrel frmtd, 6-7 yr old vines, Schmidt Vineyard) '97:
bit roasted big blackberry/Syrah nose; tart rich light pungent/roasted
big ripe blackberry/ Syrah flavor
-
Swanson Syrah (barrel frmtd, Durell clone, young vines) '97: less
roasted/pungent more big ripe blackberry/Syrah nose; softer lusher less
pungent/roasted loads of blackberry fruit flavor
-
Swanson Syrah (Durell clone, extended maceration) '97: bit less
fruit more earthy/ clunky in the nose; harded more tannic/backward more
dusty/earthy more funky flavor still with lots of blackberry Syrah fruit
-
Swanson SchmidtVineyard OldVines Syrah '97: harvested a bit earlier
for more acids: strong roasted/smokey/dusty loads of blackberry fruit nose;
bigger richer stronger roasted/pungent/dusty loads of blackberry/Syrah
fruit flavor; not as lean & narrow from the previous '97 Syrahs; gonna
be killer stuff.
-
Swanson Old Vines Schmidt Vineyard Syrah '96: more vanilla/pencilly/oaked
spicy bright blackberry/ black cherry/ Syrah nose; very spicy some pencilly/oaked
bright blackberry/Syrah bit more roasted/pungent flavor; more towards the
Cote-Rotie rather than Hermitage part of the Syrah spectrum; beautiful
Syrah.
Then Marco cracks some bottled Syrahs from their archives:
-
Swanson Old Vines Schmidt Vineyard Syrah '95: the current release:
lots of pencilly/oak loads of ripe blackberry/Syrah fruit nose; some pungent/roasted
lots of pencilly/vanilla oak ripe blackberry/Syrah fruit flavor; very much
as I remember the sample we had in tasting 2 months ago.
-
Swanson Syrah (OldVines, Schmidt Vineyard) '94: bit less pencilly
oak & more bright blackberry fruit; softer less oak more ripe fruit
flavor; also much as I recall it over a yr ago.
-
Swanson Syrah (Old Vines, Schmidt Vineyard) '93: more licorice/pungent
less oak loads of blackberry/Syrah nose; softer bir ripe lush fairly pungent/licorice
intense blackberry/Syrah flavor; starting to show some complexity, less
pencilly/vanilla/oak but still loads of blackberry fruit. and again from
the barrel:
-
Swanson Alexis (55% Syrah, 33% CS, 12% CabFranc) '96: rather pungent/smokey/
licorice more deep/Aussie-like sweet oak rich black cherry nose; big ripe
pungent/licorice/smokey black cherry flavor; seems more Aussie/sweet oak
than the '94 I had; really beautiful wine.
Marco's Syrahs I have always liked very much from the first '93 vintage.
They are loaded with ripe intense blackberry/Syrah character, lots of pencilly/vanilla
Fr. oak; but seem to have much more structure than most from Calif of that
style; definitely world-class Syrah in a Calif style. And I've liked his
Sangiovese from the git-go; loads of cherry/black cherry fruit; more lushness
than most from Calif; not Chianti Classico (not sure THAT'S the model I'd
want anyway!), just great Calif Sangiovese.
Marco packs me up with bottles of the current releases of Syrah, Sangiovese,
and Alexis and I head back north on Hwy 29. Stop North of St. Helena for
an unannounced stop at Folie A Deux to check up on long-time friend
Scott Harvey. He's having lunch in his home there so makes room for me
at his table. The menu:
-
Orville Redenbacker Popcorn: white, crunchy, loads of Iowa cornfield flavor,
bit salty
And the wine:
-
Schloss Johhanisberger Riesling Auslese '71: Dark gold color; intense
earthy/botrytis peachy/complex/pencilly nose; off-dry intense buttery/peachy/
botrytis bit earthy flavor; beautiful complex old German Riesling (thanks
to MattMan).
Didn't stop to taste but just wanted to see what he made this year of the
'97 vintage:
-
1 ton Grand Pere Shenandoah Valley Barbera
-
15 t GrandPere SV Zin
-
25 t D'Agostini SV Zin
-
25 t Eschen Fiddletown Zin
-
GoldenVineyard SV Zin
-
BowmanVineyard SV Zin
-
Twin Rivers Vineyard Zin
-
10 t CliftonVineyard SV Syrah
-
5 t ??? Vineyard SV Syrah
-
2 t MattlichVineyard SV Syarh
-
5 t SteinbeckVineyard PasoRobles Syrah
Clearly he's got a lot of interresting stuff coming down the road. The
ZAP wines Scott poured were very impressive, best he's done with Zin a
FaD thus far (see below). Head on up into Calistoga & get another espresso.
Stop by Enoteca to take a look-see at Margaux Singleton's new wine shop.
Small part of Fred's antique shop but a very nicely- done selection of
fairly scarce,interesting wine.Then back South and stop at The St. Helena
Wine Merchant and pick out a mixed case of stuff to ship home. Then on
south to Idylwood Lane for a stop at Villa Helena Winery. I've followed
the Villa Helena Viognier from the start, liked quite a few of them, was
aware that they made other varieties, so wanted to find out a bit more
about them. Due to a cross-up in communications, owner Don McGrath was
over in Sacramento, so his wife, Lidia, gave me a short tour & tasting:
-
Villa Helena Viognier '96: fragrant aromatic peachy/pear Viognier
nose; tart lean bit minerally fresh pears/light peachy/Viognier flavor;
bit leaner than usual but a nice almost Condrieu character to it Villa
-
Helena Charbono '95: Deep dusty plummy/earthy nose; bit too hard/tannic
rather plummy flavor; bit clunky & rustic
-
Villa Helena Dulcinea (sweet Semillon/SB blend) Special Select Late
Harvest '94: Deep gold/ brown botrytis/peach syrup bit oxidized nose;
soft rich very sweet lush peachy/ botrytis some tobaccoy/pencilly flavor;
on the coarse & clunky side
-
Villa Helena Ferraro Vineyard Amador Late Harvest Zinfandel '85:
14.4%, 3% r.s: smokey oxidized very raisened/overripe nose; sweet raisened/tobaccoy
rather tired/oxidized flavor Clearly, the Viognier is, by far, the best
of their lot. The other wines are interesting but a bit on the rustic/clunky
side.
Head back north up Hwy 29 to Calistoga, across to Santa Rosa & check
into a motel. Get in some more fencing drills, catch a few winks of shut-eye,
get cleaned up and then off to the NW Santa Rosa suburbs for tasting and
dinner with Mike Officer & his family. I'd had chatted a bit with Mike
over the last year a bit on some of the Wine BB's I hang out on & when
he noted I was going to be in the area, asked me to stop by for tasting
& dinner. After several days of big/restaurant meals; it was really
nice to dine "en familie" at a relaxed pace. Doing most of the meal was
his wife, Kendall.
Also there to spice up the evening was daughter, Rachel (about 6 years),
and son, Riley (about 4). Rachel is a real sweet-heart, very friendly &
open, Riley wasn't too sure about this big stranger, though. Mike &
Kendall both work in The Cite 3-4 days a week, so with that commute, must
lead a pretty hectic life keeping up with the two little ones. Mike has
been a home winemaker, here in his garage, for a number of years. He plans
to go commercial in rented/leased space this year with the '98 vintage.
The one thing that really impressed me about Mike's operation was the quality
of the grapes/Vineyards he's able to finaggle as a home winemaker. He currently
manages a small Vineyard of a friend's that he plans to source grapes from,
that was planted about 1918. A recent viticulture/typing of what he thought
was an old Zin Vineyard revealed that it's actually 75% Mourvedre/Mataro,
25% Petite Sirah & Mondeuse/Refosco, w. 1 Folle Blanche vine and 1
Syrah vine. This last vine is something of immense interest; one wonders
how this lonely Syrah vine got there, where it came from, and how it's
related to other Syrah clones in Calif. Maybe someday there will be a famous
"Officer" clone of Syrah??? So, it's out to the garage to taste a few wines
(only took notes on the '96 versions):
-
Carlisle Cellars Teldeschi Vineyard Zinfandel '97 & '96: Very
spicy slight coffee/toasted coconut spicy raspberry/light blackberry nose;
lean racy/spicy toasted coconut light blackberry flavor
-
Carlisle Cellars Rossi Ranch Vineyard Zinfandel '97 & '96: More
blackberry more richer/lusher light licorice/toasted oak nose; tart lean
racy very spicy fairly alcoholic raspberry/blackberry some toasty/oaked
flavor; bigger & richer than the Teldeschi but structured & tannic
-
Carlisle Cellars Teldeschi Vineyard & ??Vineyard Petite Sirah '97
& '96: Rather spicy/fruity some licorice/pungent toasty/oak flavor;
med.tart spicy berry/peppery rather fruity flavor; much more spice &
fruit than most PS's; a very well-made delicious Petite
-
Carlisle Cellars Old Vine Blend (Mourvedre/Mondeuse+others); lots
of plummy/lush bit earthy/dusty nose; rather hard/tannic ripe plummy light
toasty/oaked flavor; needs age, a very interesting red wine.
Mike's wine struck me as a rather lean racy stylish sorta claret-like reds;
not the rich lushness of many; sort of in the style of Bannister/Haywood/J.Fritz/
maybe even Martinelli (witho the funky character they have). In fact, the
Martinelli JackAss '96 I had @ ZAP (& liked a lot) reminded me of Mike's.
And he gets good oak; used barrels from Williams/Selyem. The wines may
be home-made; they are certainly not amateur wines; very professionally
done. Eventually, Mike hopes to give up his "day job" and become a full-time
winery owner/maker; but that's down the road aways.
So, Rachel & Riley had finished their meals, the cartoons they were
ashowing, so we adjourned to the dining area for a really delicious &
simple dinner:
-
French Bread with Olive Tapenade & Herbed Chevre
-
Al Dente Green Beans Mashed Potatoes
-
Pork Loin Farci with Apricot Sauce
-
Apple Crisp that really hit the spot.
And the wines:
-
Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec '96: lean stoney/earthy slight musty nose;
tart clean crisp simple lean stoney/earthy flavor; nice pleasant drinking.
*Fritz Roger's Reserve Zinfandel '95: Rich very lush huge blackberry some
dusty/ oaked nose; rich tannic big blackberry dusty/old vines oaked flavor;
by far the best Fritz Zin I've ever had, a huge wine.
-
Santino D'Agostine Vineyard Zinfandel '79: this was Scott Harvey's
first own-Zin that he made as Santino's winemaker that he gave me for dinner
earlier in the day, decanted like a degorgement upside down on Mike's front
lawn: loads of pungent/charred/toasty/licorice/toasty oak rather dusty/complex
nose; big pungent smokey/charred/toasty/dusty complex finish; not much
fruit left & drying out a bit, but still very interesting to drink;
much like the Swan '71 at Darrell's the night before.
All-in-all, a really nice evening with some great folks; one of the most
enjoyable evenings on this trip. The evening was highlighted (note: highlighted,
not marred) by two crisies: Riley, playing with a box of powdered sugar
on the kitchen floor, managed to open the box & bag & dump half
of it on himself afore I rescued it from him. So we both have our lower
halves covered with powdered sugar. And these are bags that I have to struggle
with to open with my bare hands.... the genuius of a small but curious
little boy. And then Rachel couldn't find her blankey when it was time
to go to bed... but a 5 minute search uncovered it. Been there, done that
one before. Ahhhh, the chaos of kids..... can't be beat. So, back to the
motel and crash.
Wednesday (1/22/98)
Up early for some fencing drills in the parking lot and over to the
Coddington Mall for a morning espresso. Then over to Forestville to see
Rod Berglund and taste at Joseph Swan Cellars. Joining me is Brad
& Maureen Harrington from San Diego; he from the West Coast Wine Discussion
Group BB I post often to. What a trip down memory lane this visit was.
I hadn't been to the actual winery at Swan's since the winter of '74 or
'75, when I was tasting there with the irrascible Joe Swan himself. He
also had another guy working in the cellar that day that some may have
heard of; guy by the name of Joel Peterson!! I hadn't actually met Rod
before at all; and had been only spotty in following his wines; mostly
the Zins; of which the Frati Ranch is always one of the best made in Calif.
His wife, Lynn, I once met back around 1979 when I went to Joe's house
(he was in Burgundy at the time) to pick up a case of his wine. Don't actually
remember her... but sure do remember that little red bikini as she came
in from the pool out back to turn it over to me!! Rod updates us on what
all's going on at Swan these days, where his grapes are coming from, describes
the various Vineyards, and such. Then it's into the barrels to taste a
few things:
-
Swan SaraLee's Vineyard Pinot Gris '97: Lush rather fragrant/floral
nose; rich & lush but a metallic/hard underbody with a floral flavor;
nice wine much in the style of Trimbach PG.
-
Swan Angelo's Old Vine White '97: Bit reduced/pungent rather dusty/earthy
some grapey nose; tart metallic hard earthy flavor; interesting, needs
age
-
Swan Wolfspierre Estate Vineyard Chardonnay '97: Attractive ripe
Chard/melony very spicy nose; hard quite spicy/ripe melony Chard flavor
Swan SaraLee'sVineyard PinotNoir (Dijon clone) '97: Light color; rather
light cherry/ dusty nose; spicy spearmint bright cherry flavor; rather
Oregon in style
-
Swan Sara Lee's Vineyard Pinot Noir (Clone 667) '97: Stronger more
spicy PN/cherry some pencilly nose; bit deeper more earthy black cherry
flavor
-
Swan Sara Lee's Vineyard Pinot Noir (??? clone) '97: deeper yet
more black cherry dusty earthy nose; bit softer flavor but much like Clone
667
-
Swan Steiner Vineyard Pinot Noir (Swan clone) '97: Bit reduced some
earthy/black cherry dusty nose; lovely lush very spicy very black cherry
some dusty/tobaccoy flavor
-
Swan Estate PinotNoir '97: Deep black cherry dusty/earthy very spicy/complex
bit tobaccoy/pungent nose; a very spicy big Pinot Swan Estate CabFranc
'97: Med.color; fragrant spicy/earthy slight smokey/ pungent nose; tart
astringent bit candied/hard Christmas candy pungent/ earthy flavor; aytpical
of CabFranc witho the usual herbal tones
-
Swan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon '97: Med.dark color; strong perfumed
talc dusty/smokey nose; rather astringent perfumed/perfumed talc dusty
some black cherry flavor; a bit like the Dehlinger CS but more Wagnerian
Swan Mourvedre '97: Vineyard planted in 1910: Very strong black peppery
nose; very spicy pungent/smokey/black pepper dusty flavor; thi is gonna
be a killer Mourvedre sometime.
-
Swan Steiner Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon '97: Dark color; strong
green olive herbal bit eucalyptus peppery nose; tart herbal cassis distinct
green olive flavor; a pretty big hard Cab right now.
I was particularly impressed by Rod's Pinots, and that's clearly where
his passion lies. The Zins we will taste down at ZAP on Saturday. Order
a mixed 1.5 case to ship back home to NM. Make a quick run with Brad &
Maureen over to DeLoach to pick up 3 btls of Estate Zinfandel '96 to demonstrate
"dusty" at the Bacchus Bash on Sunday. Bid adieu to Brad&Maureen 'till
Sat and head north to Healdsburg. Stop at he Oakville Grocery (Healdsburg
branch) for another espresso and a sandwich &head over to Dry Creek
Vineyards. I've followed Dave Stare's wines from the very first '72
Gamay; very underrated and reasonably priced wines. His wines these days
are the best he's ever made. As I'm tasting there Dave comes in from lunch,
recognizes me, and we visit for 10 minutes or so, then his daughter, Kim
Stare Wallace, another long-time friend, join us. I get introduced to Molly,
their computer geek (who sure doesn't look like one!!) whom I've traded
e-mails with before. I had stopped by to say hello with Don Wallace, but
he's off elsewhere, so catch him the next day. Head south down Hwy 101,
across thru San Rafael and Oakland and over to Alameda.... once again getting
the Webster Tube on the first shot!! Check into the Marina Village Inn,
grab my gear, & head over to the Pacific Fencing Club there in Alameda.
Alas, unexpectedly, no one is there,it's shut up tight. So back to the
Inn, catch a few winks, update notes, and then off to Rosenblum Cellars
for the evening's Zinfandel & Good Eats function.
This has always been a good ZAP function; smaller & much less crowded
than the main ZAP tasting. Usually, it's just been restaurants in the East
Bay area that provide the food. This year, it appeared that they opened
it up to more restaurants/ food purveyers. Alas, too much time being the
oeno-weenie taking notes & talking to winemakers & friends to try
any of the food. The wines this year seem a bit less impressive than in
previous years; perhaps the wineries were saving their big guns for the
Friday night dinner/auction. Nevertheless, managed to get thru 20 wines:
-
Fife Napa Valley Vielles Vignes Zinfandel '96: Fairly spicy light
raspberry nose; soft light bit dilute simple light raspberry light Fr.
oaked flavor
-
*Fannuchi Zinfandel '96: Very dark
color; very strong blackberry ripe dusty Zin nose; very rich extracted
blackberry/peppery spicy some oaked flavor; a big rich bit rustic style
of Zin; seems the best of the bunch here tonight but at at stupid price
of $32; I'll pass on that.
-
Coturri Chauvet Vineyard Sonoma Valley Zinfandel '96: Very dark
color; rather hot/volatile/ aromatic/ perfumed intense blackberry very
ripe dusty nose; soft very intense blackberry/ boysenberry off-dry rather
wet dog fur/oxidized flavor; dreadful oxidized/wet dog fur/ fecal finish
with ample tannins; classic Coturri weird
-
Jeff Rundquist Massoni Ranch Amador Zinfandel '96: pleasant simple
raspberry light oaked nose; soft slight Amador/briary light raspberry/
blackberry light oaked flavor; better than the '95 but underwhelming with
little Amador character Storybook Eastern Exposure Zinfandel '95: light
attractive raspberry bit simple nose; soft forward drinkable raspberry
flavor; nice drinking but simple
-
Newlan Napa Valley Zinfandel '95: rather bretty/dusty some charred
oak low fruit nose; tart lean rather hard bit bretty oaked low blackberry
fruit flavor; a rather lean & hard Zin
-
Vigil Mohr-Fry Ranch Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel '94: rather stewed
fruit Lodi/earthy/ dusty nose; soft plummy/earthy light blackberry flavor;
lots of stewed fruit/ Lodi/earthy character
-
Amador Foothill Ferraro Ranch Zinfandel '95: lush forward ripe blackberry
nose; softer lusher blackberry/ raspberry spicy light oaked flavor; much
more forward & less lean/tart/austere than previous ones
-
Sobon Estate Couger Hill Zinfandel '96: pleasant ripe blackberry
dusty bit simple nose; soft ripe blackberry flavor; fairly soft & drinkable
for Sobon '96
-
*Rosenblum St. Peter's Church Zinfandel
'96: forward lush blackberry spicy some oaked nose; soft ripe blackberry
lush forward bit dusty light oaked flavor; much richer and more Rosenblum
lushness than the '96's on Tues
-
*Rosenblum White Cottage Napa Valley Zin
'96: bit more dusty/aromatic ripe blackberry/ black cherry nose; soft
forward lush ripe blackberry/ black cherry dusty buttery/ oaked flavor;
bigger & richer & a serious Rosenblum Zin
-
La Lonis Private Reserve Redwood Valley Zinfandel '95: strong raspberry/
Mendocino tomatoey lush bit dusty nose; soft lush spicy blackberry toamtoey
dusty flavor; big & ripe & lush with good Mendocino character
-
Madrona El Dorado Reserve Zinfandel '96: dusty/earthy/mushroomy/metallic
some blackberry Zin nose; soft earthy/dusty mushroomy light blackberry
flavor; lots of that ElDorado/earthy character
-
*Hidden Cellars Mendocino Heritage Ford-Hitzman
Zinfandel '95: Strong blackberry/dusty/ tomatoey/black cherry earthy
nose; soft rich dusty old vines blackberry fairly extracted flavor; good
acidity & big & ripe & extracted; best Hidden Cllrs Zin yet
-
*Coturri Family Estate Sonoma Valley Zinfandel
'96: deep intense dusty very ripe black- berry some oaked nose; soft
rich very intense blackberry mouthfilling huge flavor; huge extracted blackberry
& less weird than most
-
Coturris Coturri Family Estate Sonoma Mountain Zin (14.25%) '96:
intense dusty/blackberry rather bretty/horsecollar unclean nose; soft off-dry
intense blackberry/dusty rather horsecollar/unclean/bretty some oxidized/wet
dog fur flavor; interesting but typical rustic/unclean Coturri
-
*Sierra Vista Herbert Vineyard El Dorado
Zinfandel '96: dusty/earthy rathe blackberry smokey/ pencilly oaked
nose; strong dusty/mushroomy/earthy pencilly/oaked light blackberry flavor;
a bit short on fruit but very interesting Zin
-
*Haywood Rocky Top Los Chamizal Vineyard
Zinfandel '95: strong blackberry/dusty old vines ripe some toasty/oaked
nose; rich lush buttery/oaked very ripe blackberry dusty/ old vines Zin
flavor; one of the best here tonight
-
Montevina Terre d'Oro Amador County Zinfandel '95: light raspberry
nose; simple light raspberry flavor; Amador Zin in the SutterHome style;
dull
-
Clos du Lac Summer Zinfandel '96: strange strong blackberry dusty
nose; shallow simple fruity rather dull flavor
The real disappointment/embarrassment was Ravenswoood. They were
only pouring the Alexander Valley '95 Zin. It would have been much better
for their reputation just not to show at this event; it did them no good
tonight. Sometimes to just say "No" is the right thing to do. So.... a
few really good Zins, a bunch of pleasant ones. Gotta kiss a few toads
to find the prince. But probably the best part of the event was the chance
to meet some of my friends from the various Wine BB's. Ruth/Saaz and her
husband Stacy, who sorta just looked like he was along for the ride, was
a treat. And finally get to meet Bacchus/Russell; one of the most special/
warmest human beings I've ever met; and his SO, Victoria. Plus several
others that made the event so great. Hook up with Kent Rosenblum to line
up some early morning BB activity, then off to the Marina Village Inn and
crash about 11:00pm after a bit of reading/updating notes.
Friday (1/23/98)
Kent had offered to invite me as a guest at his athletic club over in
Oakland for some morning basketball activity; so up at 5:00am to meet his
5:30 pickup. He finally shows up a bit afore 6:00am; which is pretty good
as I expect he had to shut down the winery & probably didn't hit the
bed before 1:00 or 2:00 am; and we won't ask how many ports.... one of
Kent's passions!! So thru the Posey Tube to Oakland and out on the court
for about 1.5 hrs of non-stop BB action. Hadn't done that much in a number
of years. Although white guys can't jump, I didn't shame my race!! Then
back to the Marina Village Inn, clean up, and head north to meet up with
Norm Roby.
I first met Norm when he was writing for Vintage magazine (shhhhh; that
was NOT the high point of his wine journalism career) at a dinner at Darrell
Corti's about 1974. Although I have followed his writings fairly closely
since then (since I regard him as one of the few wine journalists around
that has any competence or an original idea in his head), I had lost personal
contact with him. Until several months, when an e-mail dropped out of CyberSpace
onto my terminal, asking if I was THE Tom Hill he once knew. So we made
arrangements to get together on this trip. Heading up Hwy 101, I stop at
Traverso's in Santa Rosa to check out their wine. Tempted by a few things,
but don't buy anything. However Darryl Groome of Geyser Peak/ Venezia is
there also buying some stuff for a tasting; hard to miss his accent; so
chat a bit with him. Then on up to the Oakville Grocery (again) to hook
up with Norm. Go down the street and bond over a cup of espresso, catching
up on a 20 yr gap in our lives. Thought we'd taste a few wines before lunch,
so head west to visit Rabbit Ridge and taste thru some 8-10 of their wines.
Run into friends from San Diego; long-ago school chum Chuck Wilson, and
Ron & Judy Ridgeway, all up for ZAP. The RR wines are pleasant enough
but all pretty dominated by pencilly oak. The 3 Puffs Rabbit Ridge Estate
Reserve '96 (you sure blew that one, Charlie) is nice, pretty oaked, but
overpriced by $10 at its $30 price tag. Stop at Rochioli but no one there.
So back to Healdsburg, pick up my car, and follow Norm out to his &
Ginny Mills home on Dutcher Creek Road. It's drizzling pretty steady, it's
very overcast & gloomy; but Ginny's lunch certainly brightened up the
day:
-
Sauteed Chicken Breasts on a Zuchinni/Curry Coulis
-
Mesclun Salad with Roasted Walnuts
And the wines:
-
Bridgeman Washington State Syrah '95: attractive pleasant gamey/dusty
slight herbal nose witho the very strong oak of most WashState wines; soft
pleasant light gamey/ herbal/dusty flavor; a pleasant interesting Syrah,
neither Calif or Rhone-like
-
Benessere Napa Valley Sangiovese '95: fairly rich oaked some blackberry/black
cherry Sangiovese nose; tart hard rich black cherry/ toasty Fr. oaked flavor;
needs some 3-6 years of age; pretty big & rich Sangiovese much like
the Luna or Flora Springs.
-
Dehlinger Estate Chardonnay '95: lovely ripe melony/Chard some toasty/Fr.oaked
nose; rich firm structured very spicy ripe melony/Chard some toasty/oaked
flavor; a really lovely Chard with some structure & spiciness to it
We chat a bit longer about his New Releases Newsletter, wine activities
on the 'Net, and various other topics. Then I depart south, stop at Dry
Creek Vineyards, visit for 30 minutes or so with Don Wallace, than
back onto Hwy 101 for the trip into The Cite. Traffic is not so bad, make
good time down there, and check into the Chelsea St. Inn on Lombard St.
Catch a few winks, then walk the 3-4 blocks to Claudia & Dave's for
dinner. Dave did a stint in a very good restaurant up in Vail for about
a year, so really can crank out a good meal. Claudia just gets back from
Los Angeles at the same time I arrive; but Dave is well on top of the dinner:
-
Blau Castello Souffle with Sliced Apples & Mixed Greens
-
I can't believe it; I forgot to take notes on the main course: vaguely
recall some little birds and mashed potatoes... sorry, Dave; I do remember
that it was outstanding!!
-
Soft Chocolate Souffle with Orange Zest & Orange Creme Anglaise: and
absolutely killer chocolate dessert made with Venzuealean El Rey chocolate
And the wines, as usual, were (mostly) outstanding:
-
Clos du Val Napa Valley Chardonnay '90: slightly musty/perhaps corked
dusty light valve oil rather tired nose; tart lean dusty/earthy dried out
flavor; probably never much of a Chard to which time has not been kind
-
El Molino Napa Valley Pinot Noir '90: very spicy very black cherry
lots of toasted/oak complex nose; beautiful very spicy ripe black cherry
toasty/pencilly oaked flavor; a beautiful complex very Burgundian Pinot
-
Clarendon Hills Shiraz '94: very intense essence of blackberry some
toasty oaked nose; soft very rich essence of blackberry/Shiraz lots of
sweet/vanilla oak flavor; a huge rich drinkable Aussie Shiraz
-
Ridge Zinfandel Essence (13.4%; SaH: 40.3%; 17.2% r.s) Paso Robles
Dusi Ranch '93: sweet very intense essence of blackberrys bit alcoholic
some jammy flavor but no raisened or late harvesty character
Another great meal with the most special of friends. Walk back (least I
think I did) to the Chelsea St. Inn in a bit of a fog &
crash.
Saturday (1/24/98)
Up early, off to the nearby park for some fencing drills on the tennis
courts, then down to Chestnut St. to have a morning espresso. Recopy some
notes, read all about Monica in the newspapers, then walk the 5-6 blocks
to the Ft. Mason Heritage Pavillon for the big ZAP tasting. Chat a bit
with Paul Draper as he enters the bldg, then finally follow the mob in
with Gary Eberle when the doors open.
This large venue, with very few tables scattered about, is rather difficult
to take much in the way of notes. Nonetheless, I give it my best shot.
The notes are a bit sketchy, but not because of the alcohol. I had along
my trusty red spitoon and actually didn't drink but one wine (the Eberle
Sauret, when I was finished). The following notes are in alphabetical,
not chronological, order:
-
*Alberbrook Dry Creek Valley George's Vineyard
Zinfandel '96: dusty smokey old vines some blackberry nose; fairly
rich big blackberry dusty flavor; best Alderbrook Zin I've ever had
-
Amador Foothill Murrill Vineyard Amador Zinfandel '96: attractive
Amador/briary blackberry nose; fairly soft ripe light blackberry flavor;
forward for an Amador Foothill Zin this young
-
Bannister Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel '96: attractive fairly spicy
light raspberry nose; soft buttery/oaked raspberry flavor; nice Zin
-
*Biale Old Crane Ranch Zinfandel '96:
spicy lush blackberry sweet oak/pencilly nose; soft rich lush blackberry
vanilla/oak flavor
-
Biale Sonoma Monte Rosso Zinfandel '96: lovely fragrant spicy raspberry/blackberry
nose; fairly soft rich spicy raspberry/blackberry pencilly/oak flavor;
not the usual lean & taut Monte Rosso
-
*Biale Aldo's Vineyard Zinfandel '96:
very spicy perfumy ripe blackberry vanilla/oak nose; soft lush blackberry/dusty
some charred oak flavor
-
Biale Val Secci Sonoma Zinfandel '96: forward lush blackberry nose;
ripe very raspberry/ spicy falvor; nicely done Zin Canard Napa Valley Zinfandel
'96: simple light blackberry nose; tart lean light blackberry flavor; unexciting
-
*Buehler Estate Napa Valley Zinfandel '95:
ripe pungent/pencilly/licorice toasty blackberry nose; soft smooth pencilly
ripe blackberry dusty flavor; wonderful balance
-
*Cline Cellars Contra Costa Big Break Zin
'96: strong plummy CC Zin dusty nose; big rich plummy dusty CC Zin
blackberry flavor; another Cline winner
-
Cosentino California The Zinfandel '96: lots of minty/menthol/ pencilly/oaked
some raspberry nose; spicy raspberry very minty/menthol oak flavor
-
Dashe Cellars Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel '96: strong dusty raspberry
light oaked nose; pleasant light blackberry oaked flavor; nice Zin but
just that DeerPark BeattyRanch Howell Mountain Zinfandel '95: bit funky/bretty/some
unclean Zin; not a lot of fruit nor Howell Mountain character
-
Deux Amis Sonoma County Zinfandel '96: buttery/oak bright raspberry
nose; pleasant very buttery/Am.oaked spicy raspberry flavor; nice raspberry
Zin Dover Canyon Templeton Gap Paso Robles Zinfandel '96: ripe blackberry/jammy
very grapey fresh fermentation nose; soft very ripe blackberry/jammy flavor
-
**Eric Ross Old Vines Occidental Zinfandel
'95: very intense ripe blackberry very dusty/ old vines Zin flavor;
a big killer Zin
-
**Eric Ross Old Vines Occidental Zinfandel
'96: same very intense blackberry bit jammy very dusty old vines flavor;
another killer Zin
-
Eberle Steinbeck Vineyard Paso Robles Zinfandel '96: attractive
fragrant raspberry/blackberry nose; tart strong raspberry bright bit lean
flavor
-
***Eberle Sauret Vineyard Paso Robles (16.6%)
Zinfandel '96: beautiful lush very fragrant aromatic perfummy ripe
blackberry light pencilly/oak nose; soft rich very lush blackberry very
spicy perfumy/aromatic dusty old vines flavor; carries the alcohol very
very will; Gary's best Zin yet; wonderful stuff
-
Fife Vineyards Red Head Vineyard Redwood Valley Zinfandel '96: bright
pleasant clean raspberry Zin nose; some pencilly/oaked soft simple pleasant
raspberry flavor
-
*Folie A Deux Old Vine Amador D'Agostini
Vineyard Zinfandel '96: strong blackberry/briary some pencilly/oaked
very fragrant nose; soft lush very spicy blackberry/briary some oaked/cedary/pencilly
flavor; very good Amador Zin
-
*Folie a Deux Fiddletown/ Eschen Vineyard
Zinfandel '96: strong dusty blackberry/black cherry some tobaccoy nose;
rich lush blackberry/black cherry dusty/old vines flavor; doesn't have
that usual hard as nails Eschen tanins
-
*Folie A Deux Amador Syrah '96: black
color; deep dusty very intense blackberry/ Syrah bit gamey/dusty/roasted
flavor; best Syrah here at ZAP!! :-)
-
**Fritz Roger's Reserve Zinfandel '96:
beautiful lush ripe blackberry dusty/old vines very spicy/licorice nose;
strong dill/Am.oaked intense blackberry/dusty old vines flavor; another
killer Roger's Reserve
-
Gallo Sonoma Estate Barrelli Creek Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel '95:
pleasant dusty raspberry bit bretty flavor; nicely done but just that Karly
Warrior Fires Amador County Zinfandel '95: deep dusty Amador blackberry/briary
nose; soft rather dusty/earthy light briary flavor; pleasant enough King
Estate Oregon Zinfandel '94: deep dusty pungent low fruit some toasty/oak
nose; strange dusty/cranberry light lean flavor; unusual wine
-
*Lamborn Family French Connection Howell
Mountain Zinfandel '95: deep HM/dusty some blackberry pencilly oak
nose; roch some blackberry dusty/HM flavor; best LF in years
-
*Martinelli JackAss Vineyard Russian River
Valley Zinfandel '96: lovely bright raspberry very spicy pencilly/
charred/toasty oak nose; tart hard very spicy/raspberry rather charred/toasty
oak flavor; lotta people didn't like this Zin; unusual but I liked it a
lot
-
Midnight Cellars (14.2%) Dusi Ranch Paso Robles Zinfandel '96: Lush
spicy blackberry/jammy nose; elegant blackberry/jammy black cherry flavor;
lots of PR Zin character
-
Milano Winery Sanel Valley Mendocino Zinfandel '95: light bit dusty
light blackberry nose; off-dry very ripe simple dusty/blackberry flavor;
nice for the $12 price
-
Peachy Canyon Especial Paso Robles Zinfandel '96: bit light very
ripe blackberry/jammy nose; soft ripe jammy/blackberry flavor; bit on light
side
-
Peachy Canyon Dusi Ranch Paso Robles Zinfandel '96: ripe peppery/blackberry
jammy spicy nose; fairly rich peppery/spicy blackberry jammy flavor; a
good PC Zin
-
Preston Dry Creek Valley Estate Zinfandel '96: light pleasant simple
raspberry Zin
-
Preston Dry Creek Valley Estate Zinfandel '90: slighht bretty some
complex/smokey raspberry nose; soft spicy raspberry/licorice flavor
-
**Ridge Vineyards Pagani Ranch Zinfandel
'96: classic plummy Pagani very ripe blackberry some oaked nose; big
ripe blackberry pungent plummy black cherry cola flavor; another killer
Pagani
-
*Ridge Vineyards Lytton Springs Zinfandel
'96: bright fragrant forward very spicy raspberry/ blackberry some
oaked nose; ripe raspberry/blackberry some buttery/oak flavor; another
lovely LS
-
*Ridge Vineyards Paso Robles Dusi Ranch
Zinfandel '96: light blackberry/earthy bit jammy/PR nose; soft very
lush ripe blackberry jammy/bit boysenberry/dusty flavor; a very nice drinking
Ridge
-
**Ridge Vineyards Lytton Estate ATP Zin
'96: much bigger/richer blackberry some plummy/ black cherry bit oaked
nose; big rich some tannic hard ripe blackberry/ dusty flavor; beautiful
Zin more like Geyserville than LS
-
Ravenswood Monte Rosso Vineyard Zinfandel '96: light color; fragrant
spicy bright raspberry nose; tart bright spicy raspberry clean flavor;
nice but just that
-
*Ravenswood Cooke Vineyard Zinfandel '96:
deep lush dusty/blackberry/licorice riep spicy pungent nose; big ripe lush
blackberry/boysenberry dusty flavor; a classic Rvsnwd Zin
-
*Renwood Jack Rabbit Flat Amador Zinfandel
'96: fragrant bright raspberry/blackberry very spicy nose; tart spicy
raspberry/blackberry some briary flavor; more like DryCreek Zin than Amador;
very nicely done Zin
-
**Saddleback Old Vines Napa Valley Zin
'95: intense blackberry/dusty toasty/pungent oak nose; big rich charred
oak intense blackberry flavor; killer Zin loaded with lots of toasty oak
**Saddleback OldVines NapaVlly Zinfandel '96: same intense blackberry/dusty
flavor with a bit less charred/toasty oak
-
*Saucelito Canyon Estate Arroyo Grande
Zinfandel '96: vety ripe blackberry/jammy very spicy dusty nose; soft
lush rich blackberry jammu very spicy dusty flavor; another very good SC
Zin
-
St. Francis Old Vines Sonoma Zinfandel '96: very intense blackberry
some pungent/oak nose; soft rather tannic blackberry/dusty flavor; doesn't
seem so overwhelming milky/Am.oak as previous ones
-
Schuetz-Oles Korte Ranch Zinfandel '96: strong blackberry/dusty
nose; fairly rich blackberry dusty old vines flavor; not as hard &
lean as before Sobon Estate RockyTop ShenandoahVlly Zinfandel '96: big
blackberry/dusty bit bretty/ funky nose; ripe blackberry/dusty briary flavor;
bigger than the '95
-
*Sobon Estate Fiddletown/ Lubenko Vineyard
Zinfandel '96: classic licorice/pungent/smokey dusty some blackberry
nose; rather tannic/lean rich licorice/pungent flavor; always my favorite
of the Sobons
-
*Storrs Santa Cruz Mountains Zinfandel
'95: deep dusty smokey pungent blackberry nose; tart dusty ripe blackberry
pungent Santa Cruz Mountain earthy flavor; their best Zin since the stunning
'91
-
**Swan Vineyards Frati Ranch Russian River
Valley Zinfandel '96: deep ripe blackberry/boysenberry/dusty slight
bretty/horsecollar pungent nose; big ripe dusty/blackberry/pungent/licorice
boysenberry flavor; another killer Frati
-
*Swan Vineyards Zeigler Vineyard Russian
River Valley Zinfandel '96: strong ripe blackberry spicy aromatic nose;
lovely lush ripe blackberry dusty very spicy flavor; seems Rod's best Zeigler
yet Easton OldVines Shenandoah Zin '96: intense blackberry/Amador briary
nose; bit tart lean tannic ripe blackberry/dusty flavor
-
**Easton Eschen Vineyard/ Fiddletown Zin
'96: calssic Eschen black cherry blackberry some briary nose; big rich
smokey black cherry/blackberry some tannic flavor; Bill's best Zin yet
-
*Tria Napa Valley Zin '96: beautiful
fragrant spicy raspberry pencilly/oaked nose; light spicy raspberry elegant
pencilly flavor; very Pinot-like **Tria DryCreekVlly Zin '96: deep dusty
very spicy pencilly/blackberry nose; soft lush blackberry very pencilly/cedary
oak flavor; lovely elegant Zin Truchard Estate Zin '96: lovely minty/menthol
oaked some blackberry nose; very soft lush blackberry blackberry/dusty
some charred/oak flavor; much cleaner than the '95
-
**Turley Hayne Vineyard Napa Valley Zin
'96: big deep ripe blackberry very peppery/dusty nose; very big rich
intense blackberry licorice peppery dusty flavor; a classic extracted Turley
Zin Turley
-
Hoot-SmalleyVineyard White Zin '97: light pinkish/salmon color;
tart clean bright cranberry flavor; at 19.3%, right up there with the Sutter
Homes.
-
Wellington Vineyards Russian River Valley Zin '96: attractive dusty
light blackberry nose; soft lush blackberry bit earthy flavor; nice drinking
zin for $14
-
*Wellington Vineyards Sonoma Valley Casa
Santinamaria Zin '96: strong blackberry some oaked dusty old vines
nose; soft big ripe lush blackberry forward fruit flavor; good value at
$16
-
Windsor Vineyards Old Vine Russian River Valley Zin '96: light soft
pleasant simple raspberry Zin; rather unexciting at $14
-
Carol Shelton Signature Alexander Valley Zin '95: pleasant blackberry
fruity nose; soft buttery/oaked light blackberry flavor; pleasant but just
that
-
Zoom ContinenteVineyard Old Vines Contra Costa Zin '96: fairly lush
blackberry plummy some CC/earthy nose; soft plummy ripe flavor; much like
the early Clines
So.... some 64 wines tasted in about four hours.... an awfully shabby performance.
Knew I should have trained harder for this event. Missed a few important
wines like the Geyserville. To me, the best wine of the day was the Eberle
Sauret; probably Gary's best Zin ever; lots of alcohol but still everything
in balance and not overripe tasting. The discovery was the Eric Ross
Zins. Located on the old Sea Ridge property and taking their grapes
from the old Morrelli Vineyard; the wines were some like the old Ridge
Occidentals. I was impressed across the board with the Biale Zins.
The Ridge Zins were just as good as the '95's. I sure didn't see
a lot of signs that the "96's are a "light" vintage as others did; maybe
not as extracted as the earlier vntages, maybe not as alcoholic as earlier
vintages; but certainly not "light".
Again visit with a few friends in the business and from the 'Net and
help close the place down at 5:00pm. Walk back to the motel. Go across
the street to check out the Plump Jack wine shop. Not overly impressed.
Then join San Diego friends Chuck Wilson and Ron&Judy Ridgeway for
dinner across the street at a Cuban/Tapas restaurant. The food was quite
tasty, the wine just OK; the company splendid; but feel out of the wine-geek
mode & didn't take any notes. Back to the motel, recopy & flesh
out some notes, and then crash.
SuperBowl Sunday (1/25/98)
Sleep in 'till 7:30, go down to do some footwork drills, and then do
a morning espresso. Read the newspapers, recopy notes; then Dave &
Claudia pick me up & it's off to the Tuscan Inn for the Bacchus/Russell
ZAP Tasting Rump Session. This is a special Bacchus Bash that Russell has
organized for a lot of us who post regularly to the WS Zinfandel board;
of which he (Bacchus/Russell) is probably the most frequent & dedicated.
The chance to meet in person many of the people I correspond with in CyberSpace
frequently was one of the high points of this trip. But as poor as I am
with names, having to remember 2 for each person (real name & sign-on
moniker) is almost hopeless. So forgive me, you all, when we meet again
& I can't dredge up the right name!
Russell's idea was to have some of us so-called Zin experts serve up
a Zin to everyone that demonstrated some particular facet of Zin. My job
was to demonstrate "dusty", a term I often use (really, overuse) to describe
a unique taste in old-vine Zins. Like the "Rutherford dust", that ethereal
quality is sometimes difficult and virtually impossible to describe. When
I first had the DeLoach Estate Zin '96; that was a wine loaded with dusty/old
vine character. So I picked up some bottles a few days earlier for my coming
out afore my Zinfans. But..... say wot.... there was not a speck of dust
to be found in that wine this day. I was totally humiliated & embarassed
in front of all these ZinFans, booed & hissed at for my abject failure,
and hooted off the center stage, retreating to my table with my tail atwixt
my legs!! After several of these short guest lectures/tastings, all of
which, unlike mine, received a stirring round of aplause, we then entered
a free-for-all phase; opening single, sometimes special, bottles each atendee
had brought. Ever the oeno-weenie; I took notes on most of them before
just sitting back, drinking some Zin, visiting with new friends, and watching
a bit of the game (Russell made sure a TV was there).
The wines, in chronological order:
-
Biale Dyer Ranch Zin '92: slight dried out some raspberry/Am.oak
some complex nose; tart bit dried out light raspberry some Fr.oaked flavor;
getting a bit tired and dried out; drink up
-
Thunder Mountain Dusi Ranch Paso Robles Zin '92: wine made by Milan
of Santa Cruz as a home winemaker: very ripe very jammy blackberry some
dusty/old vines nose; soft light lush blackberry dusty/old vines bit dried
out flavor. The first bttl of this displayed a lot of wet dog fur/oxidized
character but the other two btls did not; lovely & complex but nearing
its peak if beyond
-
**Ridge Lytton Springs Zin '93: brought
by Dave Jones: lovely lush blackberry dusty complex oaked perfumed nose;
rich lush balanced dusty ripe blackberry complex oaked flavor; one of the
best Ridge LS I've had in years
-
*Swan Frati Ranch (15.6%) Zin '95:
very strong old vine/dusty deep blackberry/ boysenberry some pencilly oaked
nose; very intense big ripe blackberry very dusty old vines boysenberry/framboise
flavor; huge & intense PunchDown MonteRosso Zin '94: this was a home-made/near
commercial wine brought by its maker: pungent licorice pretty ripe blackberry
nose; tart spicy bit lean bright raspberry/blackberry slight oak flavor;
as good as any of the MonteRossos tasted on Sat
-
St.Francis Pagani Ranch Reserve Zin '94: very strong Am.oaked smokey
pungent some blackberry fruit nose; very soft very strong milky/Am.oaked
very ripe plummy flavor; still quite good but doesn't seem to be going
anywhere
-
De Loach Estate Zin '96: strong raspberry oaked clean nose; very
tart lean bit hard tannic bright blackberrys/raspberry character; where's
the dust??
-
Lytton Springs PrivateReserve Zin '85: rather musty/funky somewhat
alcoholic pungent licorice vanilla/brandy barrel nose; soft rich some blackberry
rather hot/alcoholic bit musty flavor; a bit funky but interesting; drying
out & should be drunk
-
*Saddleback Napa Valley (14.3%) Zin '94:
intense pungent/smokey/toasty/charred very intense blackberry/boysenberry
nose; tart rich mouthfilling very pungent/ charred/toasty/smokey intense
blackberry/dusty flavor; loaded with dusty/ blackberry fruit & charred/toasty
oak; killer stuff of a unique style
-
Grape Leaf Cellars Alexander Valley Zin '97: an amateur wine brought
by Tom ??: lovely lush ripe blackberry nose; off-dry very peppery/blackberry
flavor; lots of fresh fermentation character
-
Black Sheep Amador County Zin '92: strong licorice/spicy sausage
briary/pungent nose; rich very pungent licorice spicy/briary flavor; this
was BS's first really good Zin & still is very good; subsequent efforts
have not been as good as this one
-
**Hanna Pourroy Vineyard (13.5%) Alexander
Valley Reserve Zin '96: very strong very lush intense blackberry/boysenberry/cassis
nose; very ripe very rich intense blackberry some milky/Am.oak flavor;
that Alex Valley softness but very intense fruit
-
Sine Ann Oregon Zin '96: very spicy very peppery earthy/dusty bit
metallic nose; tart metallic dusty hard tannic smokey pungent flavor; verrrry
interesting wine if atypical that needs age
-
Spenker Lodi Zin '95: intense jammy/blueberry plummy/earthy/mushroomy
nose; very soft fat lush plummy/blueberry some dusty/earthy/Lodi flavor;
a good drink Zin for a good price
-
*Sea Ridge Occidental (13.5%) Zin '91:
intense pungent/toasty licorice rather funky blackberry nose; intense blackberry
very licorice Dr.Pepper/cola very dusty toasty/oaked flavor; one of the
best bttls of a rather eccentric & variable Zin
-
*Gary Farrell Russian River Valley Zin '95: pencilly/oaked bright
fragrant raspberry slight mushroomy nose; tart very spicy very bright raspberry
flavor; an absolutely superb great drinking Zin
-
*Martinelli JackAss Hill Zin '95: my
first tasting of this since ZAP'97, where I thought it a badly flawed wine:
bit stinky/reduced bit fecal low key blackberry/boysenberry some charred/toasty
oak nose; soft rich lush blackberry charred oak funky bit unclean flavor;
a bit on the weird side but I found it an interesting Zin
-
Ravenswood Monte Rosso Napa Valley Zin '93: dusty/old vines rather
bright raspberry blackberry oaked nose; tart bit lean spicy light raspberry
some toasty Fr.oak flavor; getting a bit better with age
-
La Lonis Mendocino Reserve Zin '94: dusty/earthy ripe blackberry
nose; soft rich blackberry/dusty some oaked flavor; good Mendocino character
-
**Buehler Napa Valley Zin '80: one
I brought from the archives that has been so impressive over the last 5-6years;
Zins DO age: strong pungent licorice complex smokey some blackberry/plummy
rather dusty almost Barolo-like floral nose; lush big blackberry pungent/toasty/smokey
cloves/spicy very complex flavor; drying out a but but still a big complex
old Zin
-
Buehler Napa Valley Zin '81: some pungent/toasty bit charred less
fruit nose; softer more dried out some blackberry rather charred/toasty/pungent
flavor; not the depth or fruit of the '80
-
Joseph Swan Northern Sonoma Zin '84: pungent dusty/earthy some oaked
little fruit nose; soft flat light raspberry some dusty/oaked flavor; interesting
but a bit tired & drying out
-
Ridge Park-Muscatine Howell Mountain (13.7%) Zin '86: dusty old/vines
licorice HM dusty nose; soft spicy dusty low fruit complex pungent flavor;
not going anywhere fast but not up to earlier vintages
-
Rafanelli Dry Creek Valley Zin '94: dusty old vines pungent blackberry
rather bretty nose; soft spicy blackberry/dusty bit bretty/oaked flavor
-
Lo Lonis Mendocino Zin Private Reserve '95: slight volatile aromatic
ripe blackberry nose; soft bit fat lush blackberry bit hot flavor
-
Rabbit Ridge Grand Reserve Sonoma County Zin '95: strong pencilly
oaked some toasty dusty blackberry nose; soft very pencilly/very oaked
toasty light blackberry flavor; loads of oak but needs fruit Steele DuPrattVineyard
Mendocino Zin '94: strong pencilly/Fr.oak toasty/smokey little fruit nose;
very strong very pencilly/oak spicy light blackberry flavor; all JedSteele
winemaking & little DuPratt Zin Conrad Viano Reserve Solano ContraCostaCnty
SandRockHill Vineyard Zin '94: very ripe plummy CC blackberry bit overripe/raisened
nose; very soft fat spicy CC/plummy flavor; bit on simple side
-
David Bruce Late Harvest Sweet (17.5%) Zin '71: stinky/pungent/licorice
bit musty very alcoholic no fruit nose; off-dry pungent/licorice smokey
very hot/ alcoholic/brandy-like dried-out cough syrup flavor; weird stuff
dominated by the alcohol: this is a wine I brought to demonstrate that
high-alcohol Zins can age; this one is DOA.... deader than a doornail
-
Peachy Canyon Eastside Zin '95: rather pungent blackberry/jammy
nose; light blackberry jammy dusty flavor; like the other PC '95's, a bit
on the light and thin side
-
Storybook Estate Reserve Zin '91: earthy/dusty little fruit nose;
lean light raspberry oaked bit hard/lean/thin flavor; needs more age??
-
Sobon Estate Fiddletown Lubenko Vineyard Zin '95: rather pungent/licorice/smokey
some blackberry nose; rather dusty/pungent hard tannic bit lean light blackberry
flavor; lots of pungent/Lubenko character but lost some fruit LaLonis Orpheus
Petite Sirah '95: deep pungent peppery dusty oaked nose; very soft fat
light peppery dusty flavor; nice but just that
-
**Dunham Washington State Cabernet '95:
very intense smokey/herbal pungent/toasty intense WAState Cab fruit nose;
big rich intense smokey/pungent/earthy rather herbal/WAState Cab flavor;
a big huge Can that needs age
So, some 34 wines this afternoon. Some were absolutely stunning, most were
very good, and a few had seen their day. Drop out of the wine-geek mode
and go back and drink some of the better ones, visit with the people, and
watch the last as the Broncos pull it out... much to the anguish of Scott/WilWine....
the totally obnoxious behavior by Judson & Russell for the Bronco victory
not helping his demeanor in the very least.
Ride back to the Chelsea with Dave & Claudia, but the festivities
are beginning to catch up, so we eschew dinner out that night. I catch
some shuteye, up around 8:30pm and head up the street for dinner. I had
eaten at Prego back in the '70's when the Italian food wave was just hitting
it's stride. The meal was absolutely terrific. Tonight's meal:
-
Canellini Bean Soup with Winter Vegetables
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Grilled Scamorza & Bread with Anchovy Butter & Fresh Rosemary
-
Duck Ragout Gnocchi with Fresh Porcini
-
Hazelnut & Pecan Crostatta
and the wines:
-
Sturm Tocai Friuli
-
Rosso de Montalcino
Alas, the food and the wine were imminently forgetable. So sad. Back to
the Cheslea Inn and crash.
Monday (1/26/98)
Up very early, back down to the San Jose Airport, onto the plane home,
lots of ZZZZ's along the way; and back to the real world.
So, it was a great trip.... good food, good wines, special friends...
can't be beat. Grand total of 260 wines, for those into numbers. Sorry
no 100 pt scores or lists.
TomHill
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