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by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

Failla & Peay Burgs - April 21, 2010

We tried tonight (4/21/10) Failla & Peay Burgs from the Extreme Sonoma Coast:

  1. Peay Estate Chard SonomaCoast (13.9%; www.PeayVineyards.com) 2007: Light gold rather cloudy color; strong appley/light melony/Chard light pencilly/nutmeg/oak slight minerally/earthy nose; tart rather appley/Chard/light melony/honeydew light pencilly/oak bit minerally flavor; fairly long appley/ spicy/ nutmeg/Chard/melony finish; very good acid & balance & structure; needs a yr or so and should go out 6-8 yrs. $54.00
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  2. Failla Chard EstateVnyd/SonomaCoast (14.1%; 50 cs) 2008: Med.gold color; rather ripe/melony/ Chard fairly pencilly/toasty/oak aromatic nose; rather soft ripe/melony/Chard some toasty/oak/pencilly flavor; short soft/fat light melony/Chard some toasty/pencilly/oak finish; rather attractive nose but very soft/fat/flat on the palate and not much flavor; seems lacking in acidity and lots of very ripe character. $47.00
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  3. Failla Chard KeeferRanch/RRV (14.1%; 325 cs) 2008: Med.light gold color; somewhat low-key earthy/lean light melony/Chard very light toasty/oak slight yeasty/minerally interesting nose; somewhat soft earthy/spicy light melony/Chard bit toasty/charred/oak/light butterscotchy flavor; med.long bit earthy light melony/Chard some butterscotch/oak finish; rather interesting Chard in the nose but not quite delivers on the palate; bit on the pricey side; should develop some. $43.00
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  4. Peay Estate PinotNoir SonomaCoast (14.2%; 300cs) 2008: Med.light color; strong ripe cherry/black cherry/bit appley/Pinot light/delicate pencilly/Fr.oak slight earthy/chalky nose; tart lean bright cherry/PN light earthy/appley some pencilly/Fr.oak light tannic delicate/bright flavor; long bit tannic bright/cherry/PN
    light pencilly/Fr.oak finish; a bright/pretty/delicate Pinot for drinking over the next few yrs. $45.00
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  5. Peay Pomarian Estate PinotNoir SonomaCoast (www.PeayVineyards.com; 14.2%; 585 cs) 2008: Med.color; bit riper/richer more intense black cherry/PN some pungent/toasty/oak/smokey slight earthy bit Burgundian nose; less tart richer/deeper/black cherry/PN some toasty/oak some tannic flavor; long bit hard/tannic richer/black cherry/PN some toasty/oak/smokey slight Burgundian/earthy finish; a bit bigger/richer more intense Pinot; needs 2-6 yrs yet. $55.00
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  6. Failla PinotNoir PeayVnyd/SonomaCoast (275 cs; 13.8%; 30% WholeCluster) 2006: Med.dark color; very attractive Burgundian/smokey/toasty/oak some black cherry/PN slight earthy/dusty some complex nose; tart rather Burgundian/smokey light black cherry/PN slight tannic/bitter/hard some complex/earthy flavor; long bit tannic/hard light black cherry/PN/subtle some smokey/toasty/oak finish; needs several yrs yet; a rather interesting somewhat Burgundian-style Pinot. $54.00
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  7. Failla PinotNoir SonomaCoast (13.8%; 500 cs) 2008: Med.color; very fragrant/perfumed/black cherry/PN light toasty/pencilly/oak slight herbal very aromatic nosetart very bright/cherry/PN light toasty/smokey/oak bright/zippy/sweet fruit flavor; long bright/cherry/PN some toasty/pencily/oak finish w/ light tannins; a very pretty/attractive Pinot. $39.00
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  8. Drew PinotNoir McDougallRanchVnyd/SonomaCoast (14.7%; 270 cs; Planted: 1998) 2008: Med.dark color; slight alcoholic ripe/black cherry/PN some smokey/pungent/oak/charred pretty big nose; soft rich/ripe/black cherry/PN some charred/oak almost sweet/lush flavor; med.long soft ripe/black cherry/PN some charred/toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; nose suggests a bit of smoke taint but not in flavor; lots of rich/textured fruit and more SBC in style than SC. $37.50
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  9. Failla PinotNoir PearlessenceVnyd/SonomaCoast (13.2%; 90 cs; Drk: 2017-2019) 2008: Med.dark color; lovely/perfumed strong black cherry/PN very perfumed/aromatic/spicy light toasty/oak nose; tart rich/very spicy/black cherry/PN/RCCola light toasty/oak slight tannic flavor; very long perfumed/aromatic black cherry/PN/very spicy light toasty/oak finish w/ modest tannins; a lovely/perfumed/spicy Pinot that's near ready to drink or a yr out. $45.00
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  10. Failla PinotNoir HirschVnyd/SonomaCoast (13.9%; 475 cs) 2007: Med.light color; strong pungent/smokey/ozone/toasty/oak very spicy/licorice/black cherry/PN very perfumed/complex nose; tart/lean bit hard/tannic rather earthy/pungent/light licorice/black cherry/PN some toasty/oak flavor; long bit hard/tannic strong/black cherry/licorice/PN some toasty/pungent/oak finish; a lovely/complex nose but a bit hard on the palate and needs several yrs. $65.00
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  11. Failla PinotNoir OccidentalRidgeVnyd/SonomaCoast (13.8%; 475 cs) 2006: Med.dark color; light earthy/black cherry/PN bit closed/shy light toasty/oak slight confected/earthy unusual nose; softer pencilly/toasty/oak fairly lush/ripe/black cherry/PN somewhat simpleer/restrained/low-key flavor; med.long soft/lush/black cherry/PN light pencilly/oak w/ light tannins; not the brightness of the others and seems a warmer-climate Pinot; seems a bit on the simple side, almost Siduri in style; may develop some. $60.00
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  12. Failla PinotNoir EstateVnyd/SonomaCoast (13.8%; 125 cs) 2007: Med.light color; attractive smokey/pungent/charred/oak strong black cherry/PN/RCCola lovely/perfumed nose; tart/lean/tight some tannic/hard bright/spicy/black cherry/PN/RCCola some pencilly/toasty/oak flavor; long somewhat tannic/hard/lean spicy/PN/black cherry some toasty/pencilly finish; lovely perfumed nose but a bit hard/tight on the palate; needs some 2-5 yrs of age; should develop into a lovely Pinot. $65.00
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  13. Failla PinotNoir Vivien SonomaCoast (Estate/Hirsch/OccidentalRidge/Keefer vnyds; 14.1%;
    www.FaillaWines.com; 100 cs) 2006    : Med.color; slight funky/earthy strong black cherry/PN/ripe light toasty/oak/charred fairly complex/perfumed nose; softer/richer/lusher ripe/black cherry/PN rather toasty/charred/oak strong black cherry/PN/licorice/RCCola flavor w/ light tannins; very long tart/rich/lush very strong black cherry/PN some toasty/charred/oak slight earthy/Burgundian finish w/ smooth tannins; bit more balanced/complex/drinkable than the others; really lovely Pinot. $70.00
And the usual stuff from TheBloodyPulpit:

Failla: I thing EhrenJordan is making some of the most interesting wines in Calif these days; though he doesn't get all that much recognition. His reputation is from his work at Turley, which I think is a bit skewed still from what HelenTurley did to those wines early on. The present Turleys are, I think, much more reflective of his style.

His whites can sometimes be a bit it or miss. The '08 Estate Chard was rather disappointing; seemingly on the soft/fat/overripe side. Hard to understand. But his Pinots and his Syrahs are spot on. Not particularly big wines; but more about balance & restraint. I think they'll make some very interesting old bones. The wines tend to be a bit on the pricey side, but some are actually worth it.

TomHill

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