 |
And all the usual florrid pap from the bloody pulpit:
-
SQN Omadhaun & Poltroon: which translates roughly as chicken-shit &
dunce because of the difficulty they had in raising these two components
of this wine: another big success from Manfred & Elaine Krankl, this
is one of the few blended wines I would truly call synergistic. It
had a lot of huge barrel-fermented M-L Chard but so much more than that;
a fragrant high-toned character that was not (to me) identifiable Roussanne
but something you never find in pure Chard itself. This is a huge wine
but still has all the acidity & structure to age for quite a while,
but who knows what it will evolve into. Another great example of the primo
grapes that John Alban grows; they can produce such big rich wines yet
still have plenty of acidity. The 15%+ alcohol in this wine was not
at all evident and the flavors were not a bit on the overripe side. The
packaging is typical Krankl packaging. Big massive bottle that I
wouldn't want to lift a case of. When I unwrapped the tissue from the bottle
I got quite a start. There is sholder button (like on Ch. Haut-Brion btls)
w/ a bright e+m label (for Elaine & Manfred). For some reason, that
triggered the memory of my Electricity & Magnetism (termed E&M)
graduate course in the Physics Dept where I struggled mightly & barely
survived Maxwell's Equations. Still bear the scars of that encounter and
no fond memories of Prof Dragsdorf. Ugh!! At any rate, a superb wine from
the Krankls. Just released and worth seeking out.
-
Roussanne in Calif: I've preached this sermon before and the superb Bonny
Doon reinforced it: Roussanne is where it's at in Calif for white wines.
Sutter Home & K-J may even figure it out in 10 yrs. Actually, a K-J'd
(leaving a tad of residual sugar) Roussanne might not be that bad at all,
not unlike Zind-Humbrecht. The '96 Bonny Doon Roussanne was one of the
finest Roussannes I'd ever had last year. The new '97 version is even better;
big rich lush and very perfumey/aromatic. It's hard to drink this wine
and not think a big Alsatian Tokay/Pinot Gris like Zind-Humbrecht or Weinbach.
Calif has done so miserable in (Alsatian-style dry) GWT and Riesling. Here's
a clear success in that style of wine. Keep your eyes on this variety;
it's going places. And the prices are still very reasonable.
-
The Qupe Bien Nacido Cuvee '95: The early versions of this wine have not
particularly jazzed me. It seemed typical Qupe Chard (slightly volatile)
but didn't see that the Viognier brought anything to this wine. Now the
wine seems much less Chard-like and has some really beautiful aromatic
high toned notes, not obviously (to me) as Viognier. Quite a complex wine.
-
The Rosenblum LePaws Mourvedre: Not as rich & Mourvedre-like as his
previous ones. There was just something about this wine that I couldn't
put my finger on that was just a little..... different... strange. A sort
of an "artifical" character to the wine I couldn't identify, like Kent
had used not his normal techniques to make it. Nice drinkable wine at a
good price but not my cup of tea. But it should sell well at that price.
-
The Hamel Syrah: I had seen a few reviews of this wine that had described
it as "lighter" than previous ones. I would hardly term it that at all.
It is is a very big extracted huge Syrah. I would say that perhaps, like
in Zin, the '96 vintage brought a bit of leaness & racy character to
the wine. It seemed to have some high-toned aromatics (Zin-like) to it
that I didn't find in his previous two. And not as rough and rustic as
the previous ones. But it's a terrific Syrah that will be fun to watch
age. Maybe their best one yet. Another superb effort from Kevin & Yvonne
Hamel. Keep your eyes on these folks!
-
The Ojai Calif Syrah '94: This wine was sooooooooooooo good. It was a
Larry Archibald mystery wine & I guessed it to be a Qupe LosOlivosCuvee
from the '90 or '91 vintage. It has really developed a good complexity
but still has the structure to improve another few yrs and hold for ????
As I see all the frenzied activity of people chasing Colgin, Bryant Family,
Screaming Beagle, etc... for feel sort of smug knowing that I can drink
Ojai Calif, Edmunds St.John Calif, and Qupe Central Coast Syrahs at prices
below $20/btl. Not as profound, maybe, as those above Cabs, but just (to
me) as good drinking.
-
Horton Vineyards: I'd had a few of the Horton Vineyards wines (Viognier,
Norton) wines from Virginia before and always thought "These are awfully
good wines for East Coast wines"!! Now my thought is just "These are awfully
good wines" Period. The first Horton Viognier I had had was
the '94 and was mightly impressed with it; not Calif Viognier, not Condrieu,
but pretty good Viognier. Both the '95 and '96 Viogniers didn't impress
me much. But this '97 is absolutely first rate Viognier w/ some interesting
Condrieu/minerally-like character. The Syrah..... easily the best East
Coast red I've ever tasted and every bit as good as most of the Calif Syrahs
in that price range. Dennis Horton grows a plethora of varietals trying
to identify what works best in Virginia. Clearly Viognier & Syrah are
two such. I'd like to try some of his other varietals. Impressive wines
that should not be dismissed just 'cause they come from back East.
TomHill (gloating just a bit for beating Bernie & Bruce L. to
the 'Net w/ the post on the SQN!!)
Return to the Tom Hill Archive Index
|
