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And the usual provactive/inflamatory thoughht from the
bloody pulpit:
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Roussane?... or Viognier?: Since the belief that much of the Roussanne
planted in Calif may, in fact, be Viognier; I was very interested in tasting
these two side-by-side in an attempt to get a better grasp at what Roussanne
varietal character is. The Alban Roussanne is certified true Roussanne.
The Randall Grahm Roussanne is suspect as being Viognier, and is probably/likely
not certified. The BonnyDoon "Roussanne" had much of the very same aromatics/perfumes
I do find in many Calif Viogniers. From the nose, it is very plausible
Viognier. Yet on the palate, though it did have much Viognier character,
it also had a sort of hardness that I often associate w/ Roussanne. So,
all-in-all, I CAN see that BonnyDoon as actually being Viognier. But whatever
it is, it's pretty delicious white wine at a very good price. OTOH, the
Alban Roussanne is killer stuff. It has very similar aromatics, rather
floral- like, to Viognier; but a different can of floral/honeysuckle perfume.
And it also has this slightly oxidized/earthy character I find in most
of the great Rhone Blancs. It'll be interesting to watch this wine evolve.
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Twisted&Bent: My tendency/preference is to serve the RhoneBlancs at
a somewhat warmer temperature than most white wines, which I did with this
one. Still, it came across more as a huge/powerful/oaked Chard (and a terrific
one at that) w/ a little bit of high-toned character coming in the nose
from the Roussanne. I felt that the Roussanne had been obliterated by the
oak level and the Chard. But when I went back to it later at room temperature;
THERE was all that amazing fragrant floral/honesuckle perfumey Roussanne
character intertwined w/ much less dominating charred/Fr.oak. A stunning
wine at room temperature; not for the faint-of-heart. Probably a lot of
folks will dismiss this as another over-oaked Calif cult wine; but I was
highly impressed with it. It'll be fun to watch this wine, too, evolve.
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RobertCraig Syrah: I've had a number of rather impressive RobertCraig Cabs,
so had very high expectations for his first effort at Syrah. It is a rather
pedestrian/dull version of Syrah; not as good as the $12 Qupe CentralCoast.
It tastes like it is probably from FrenchCamp Vnyd; not the best source
of Syrah grapes in the world. At $12-$14/btl; this would be a mildly interesting
Syrah. At $25, a big PASS on this wine.
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Jory wines: These two btls were given to me by Dan Lewis for our group
to try. The Cucamonga Grenache comes from this very old, 100+ yrs, vnyd
down near the Ontario Airport. That's one of the sad things about flying
into Ontario is to look out the plane window and see all these scattered
blocks of abandoned vnyds. So sad. However, this is probably NOT an area
for growing primo grapes. It's pretty hot down there and this Grenache
showed a lot of that hot-climate character that you often find in Lodi
Zin. The dusty/old vine character was definitely there. But it also had
a lot of that sort of thick old Calif-red style of wine to it. It's a rather
interesting wine and shows what a good winemaker can do w/ less-the-prime
grapes. I was, it must be mentioned, much more forgiving of this wine than
others in our group. I liked it for what it was.... an expression of very
old Grenache grown in Cucamonga... exactly what it advertises itself to
be. The RedZep (mocking Randall's Cigar Volante) is another good effort
in a string of good RedZeps. Good tasty easy-drinking red wine.
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ChristopherCreek Syrah: Despite my less-than-enthusiastic review of this
wine; I actually thought this '97 Reserve was the best ChristopherCreek
wine I've yet had. This is a fairly old planting (for Calif) of Syrah,
where the wine was first produced in the early '80's as Rancho Sotoyome
(pretty dull & ordinary wines). So CC has some very good (presumably)
grapes to work with. The Wasermans hired a new winemaker a few yrs ago,
but his expertise is slow in changing the wines, as far as I can tell.
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Ravenswood Icon: This is the Ravenswood Rhone blend. The '96 was a tasty
red but spoke more of Ravenswood winemaking than of Rhone wine. This '97
version is far, far better wine. Loads of ripe/juicy fruit; very well made
red that will benefit from some ageing.
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Swanson Syrah: I've followed Marcco Capelli's Syrahs from the very first
when they acquired this vnyd (formerly went into the Thackery Orion Syrah)
and have always liked them. This '97 version is much in the same mold of
the previous ones. It was released some 6 months earlier than usual for
some reason. This '97 shows all the ripe Syrah fruit that previous ones
did, but seems a bit more restrained and balanced, not as intense and tannic
and structured, less new Fr.oak than any yet. It still has a bit of that
characteristic minty/menthol character that it always has. There is (was)
a stand of eucalyptus trees on the neighbor's property adjacent to this
vnyd. Marcco has been concerned by the minty/ menthol character in this
wine as being too strong (I always found it there, but pretty moderate
in intensity), so a few yrs ago Clarke Swanson paid the neighbor to take
down most/all these eucalyptus trees.
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Guigal Chateau d'Ampuis: what a ripoff is this wine!! No fruit to speak
of, very unclean/ bretty; little roasted Cote-Rotie character; thin &
austere on the palate. All the regular Brune&Blondes from Guigal I've
had have been far better than this wine. It almost seems to be a wine contrived
for folks that want to spend big $$'s on a fabled Guigal Cote-Rotie but
can't find the single vnyd stuff. I wouldn't pay over $20 for this wine.
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Alban Lorraine: named after John's wife; from a part of his lower Syrah
block that lies to the south and has a stoneier/rockier soil than where
the Reva comes from. The first Lorraine was a barrel of John's Syrah that
John bottled up and apparently most was consumed at his wedding to this
lovely Irish lass, and little made it out into commercial channels. This
was the '95 vintage. The '96 version was a bit more available and seems
to be evolving into one of the best Calif Syrahs I've had. Amazing stuff.
The '97 version strikes me as a bit more rounder & lusher & forward
than the '96 was as this point in time. In the '96 vintage; his Lorraine
was clearly one big step above his Reva Syrah. In the '97 vintage, the
difference in the two Syrahs doesn't seem as striking. But just picking
nits here, they're both pretty amazing Calif Syrahs. And wait'll the Seymour
vnyd starts producing Syrah in a yr; it's going to be a killer wine.
TomHill
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