Various Wines - |
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Notes and impressions from a tasting of various wines - Saturday, July 7, 2001, at the Wine Exchange in Orange, CA. Seventeen wines were poured. |
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Overall impressions: a very wide selection of wines here, including a few I've seldom seen. The big hits for me were the Turley Tofanelli Zin, and the Glen Fiona Syrah. Beyond that, the Atalon was a brawny chewy wine in Merlot-colored clothing. The Mt. Eden Chard was excellent, but it's gonna cost you. Biggest bargains: the Turley Juvenile and the Sobon Reserve Grenache. Disappointments include: the Flowers Chard, Panther Creek Pinot, and the Dalla Valle Sangiovese. The Flowers had a seriously funky nose; the Panter Creek just didn't seem very together; and the Dalla Valle didn't seem to know whether it wanted to be from Italy or California. |
2000 Vinum
Cellars Chenin Blanc - California. $7.99. Light
yellow color. Nose that is very fresh and smelling like a fruity
bisquit. Tasty and crisp mouthfeel; nice fruit, long finish. 2000 St.
Innocent Pinot Gris - O'Connor Vnyd, Willamette Valley. $11.99.
Light yellow color. Slightly sweaty and swampy, but has a fresh
fruit quality throughout. Tasty mouthfeel, lightly pineapple is
taste, with a crisp and fruity finish. 1999 Flowers
Chardonnay - Sonoma Coast. $34.99. Light-medium yellow color.
Skunky and gamey, with a fleshy stemmy quality in the background.
Flavors of green apple, pineapple, and a touch of lemon and smoke
on the palate, with little of the skunkiness apparent in the nose.
Didn't appear to be corked, so maybe this will blow off. 1998 Mount
Eden Chardonnay Estate - Santa Cruz Mtns. $43.99. Light-medium
yellow color. Nose of pineapple, apple, oak, and toast. Sweet chewy
mouthfeel, with nicely integrated flavors of apple, lemon-lime peel
and toast, with a long finish. 1999 Dalla
Valle Sangiovese Pietre Rosse - Napa Valley. $32.99.
medium-dark ruby color. Racy and spicy in the nose, with oak, black
cherry, and a hint of licorice. Slightly astringent mouthfeel, spicy,
with some rubber and and oak flavors, and a long finish. 1997 Altamura
Sangiovese Affinity - 70% Napa Valley, 30% Monterey. $29.99.
Medium-dark ruby color. Nose of spicy sweet black and bing cherry,
anise, and clove/mint. Spicy mouthfeel, excellent balance, sweet
and somewhat chewy consistency, with a long finish. Definitely California
style. 1999 Panther
Creek Pinot Noir - Shea Vnyd, Willamette Valley. $38.99. Medium-dark
ruby color. Seems a bit corky and stemmy in the nose, with notes
of oak, anise, and black cherry. Off-sweet tasty fruit, somewhat
astringent and oaky in mouthfeel, very long finish. 1995 Teldeschi
Terranova - Dry Creek Valley. $12.99. Dark ruby color.
Nose of chocolate-covered cherries, with floral, licorice, and plummy
notes. Sweet and slightly overripe mouthfeel, with flavors of chocolate
and ripe bing cherry, with a nice cherry aftertaste and long finish.
Blend of Carignane, Zinfandel and Petite Sirah. 1999 Andrew
Murray Espérance - Santa Barbara Co. $17.99. Dark
ruby color. Sweet, lush and floral nose. Seems very concentrated,
with aromas of dark berry, shoe polish, and stemmy notes. Fleshy
and spicy mouthfeel, chewy consistency, and a nice grip to the long
finish. Blend of Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvedre. 1999 Sobon
Grenache Rezerve - Shenandoah Valley. $18.99. Medium-dark
ruby garnet color. Ripe and slightly stemmy nose, with aromas of
raspberry, buttered toast, and anise. Sweet chewy mouthfeel, very
ripe raspberry/strawberry fruit, lsightly coarse mouthfeel, but
with integrated tannins and long finish.
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1998 Glen
Fiona Syrah - Walla Walla Valley. $35.99. Dark ruby color. Dead
ringer for an high-end Languedoc, with lots of tarry, cheese toast,
floral and licorice aromas. Ripe tar-like flavors, with cheese,
sweet oak, and blackberry through long finish. 1997 Atalon
Merlot Mountain Estates - Napa Valley. $54.99.
Dark ruby color. Nose of dark cherry, meat, stem, and tar-like,
with a background herbaceous quality resembling Cab Franc. Huge
off-sweet mouthfeel, black cherry and cassis flavors, with a bit
of tar and licorice leading to the well-oaked long finish. So much
for plush and plummy! 1999 Rosenblum
Petite Sirah Pickett Road - Napa Valley. $19.99. Black
purple ruby color. Nose has tons of tar, black cherry, and shoe
polish. Huge chewy off-sweet mouthfeel, that while tasty, aso seems
a bit austere. 1999 Turley
Zinfandel Juvenile - California. $19.99. Very dark ruby color.
Floral and fruity in the nose, with a big dense boysenberry/blackberry
aroma. Very chewy and concentrated in mouthfeel, with a delicious
ready-to-drink taste and long finish. 1999 Turley
Zinfandel - Tofanelli Vnyd, Dry Creek Valley. $27.99. Very dark
ruby purple color. Big, dense, floral and fruity nose, with tar,
brown sugar and shoe polish complimenting the boysenberry fruit.
Chewy and concentrated, with a nice sweet toasty long finish. 1999 Turley
Zinfandel - Grist Vnyd, Napa Valley. $37.99. Very dark ruby
color. Slightly stemmy nose, with olive and oak accenting the raspbberry/boysenberry
fruit. Rich chewy mouthfeel, lots of boysenberry flavor, very nice
balance, and long finish. 1999 Bonny
Doon Muscat Vin de Glaciere - California. $12.99. Medium-dark
yellow amber color. Sweet orange rind and pineapple in the nose,
with a decent mouthfilling concentration of fruit - or the perception
of fruit. |
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Mail & Comments - Eric Anderson
