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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.

Some New Grenache/PetiteSirah - January 27, 2010

We tried last night (1/27/10) some New Grenache/PetiteSirah:

  1. Ch.de Montfaucon ComtesseMadeleine AC: CdR Blanc (40% Viognier/30% Marsanne/10% Clairette/ 10% bourbolenc/10% Picpoul; MeBaC: 13%) 2008: Light gold color; rather stoney/minerally/chalky light floral/pear classic RhoneBlanc nose; tart rather stoney/minerally lean bit austere light floral/pear flavor; med.long stoney/minerally light floral/pear/Viog finish; a very nice RhoneBlanc w/ classic stoney/minerally character and a nice fragrant Viog lift. Good price at $16.00
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  2. Ch.de Montfaucon AC: CdR (50% Grenache/20% Syrah/15% Cinsault/15% Carignane; MeBaC;
    14%) Rodolphe de Pins/Montfaucon 2007    : Med.dark color; very attractive strawberry/Grenache light earthy bit rustic nose; soft fairly bright strawberry/Grenache slight earthy rather clean/spicy bit tannic flavor; med.long cherry/strawberry/Grenache slight earthy/rustic finish w/ lighht tannins; needs a yr or two; quite a pretty little CdR at a very attractive price. $11.00
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  3. Ch.de Montfaucon BaronLouis ACL CdR (40% Grenache/15% Syrah/15% Cinsault/10% Carignane/ 10% Mourvedre/10% Counoise; MeBaC; 14%) 2007: Med.dark color; stronger/deeper more intense strawberry/ Grenache bit plummy somewhat earthy slight oak rich/lush nose; soft lush/deeper strong Grenache/strawberry/ plummy bit spicy/earthy some tannic flavor; very long some tannic deeper Grenache/strawberry/plummy slight oak finish; needs 2-5 yrs; a very good Jr. CdP at a very good price. $18.00
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  4. Vin de Monsieur le Baron de Montfaucon Vin de Pays du Gard (15 Rhone varietals co-fermented;
    13.5%) 2007    : Med.dark color; rather leathry/barnyardy/bretty some earthy/dusty/old vines slight volatile strong blackberry/strawberry/Grenache very CdP-like complex some oak nose; rich spicy/earthy slight pungent/roasted/CdP strong plummy/strawberry/Grenache big/structured mouthfilling flavor; very long rather tannic rich/spicy/plummy/strawberry slight horescollar/leathery finish w/ some tannins; needs 3-8 yrs; a very good rendition of CdP; fairly priced at $40.00
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  5. AmbythEstate Grenache(61%)/Mourvedre(28%)/Syrah(11%)Mark'sVnyd/PasoRobles (Biodynamic/ DemeterCertified; U/U; 13.3%; No added sulfites) 2006: Med.light slight murky color; pleasant Rhonish slight volatile some raspberry/perfumed more bright fruit spicy nose; soft bright/cherry/raspberry/spicy slight fumey attractive flavor; long bright/zippy cherry/raspberry/spicy finish w/ light tannins; seems more bright fruit but sorta delicate & fragile; rather overpriced at $45.00
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  6. AmbythEstate Grenache(61%)/Mourvedre(28%)/Syrah(11%) Mark'sVnyd/PasoRobles (Biodynamic/ DemeterCertified; U/U; 13.3%; www.AmbythEstate.com) 2006: Med.light slight murky color; much more earthy and less bright fruit slight bretty/funky deeper more dark fruits nose; tart more rich/earthy/Rhonish bit deeper/clunkier/blackberry slight bretty/funkky bit more Rhonish flavor; long earthy/blackberry more Rhonish finish w/ light tannins; less bright fruit; overpriced at $45.00
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  7. Novy Grenache JudgeFamilyVnyd/BennettVlly (14.5%) 2007: Med.color; attractive plummy/ strawberry/Grenache light vanilla/pencilly/Fr.oak somewhat Pinotish nose; tart bit lean bright/strawberry /Grenache/jammy/ cherry some vanilla/pencilly/oak bit hard/tanic flavor; med. bright cherry/plummy/ strawberry/Grenache some vanilla/oak/pencilly/smokey somewhat tannic/hard finish; seems rather tight & lean and needs a yr to soften up; not the usual soft Novy Grenache but having more structure. $21.50
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  8. VIE L'Imaginaire/The ImaginaryOne Grenache SBC (14.5%) 2007: Med.dark color; slight Rhonish deeper/plummy/ raspberry/Grenache/spicy some toasty/oak/charred quite spicy nose; rather hard/tannic/astringent deep earthy/strawberry/raspberry/Grenache some toasty/charred/oak slight Rhonish/peppery flavor; med.long rather hard/tannic deep/strawberry/Grenache/plummy some toasty/charred/oak finish; needs 2-6 yrs; more of a deeper/plummy Grenache fruit and tannins that clamp down on the palate. $39.00
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  9. Turley PetiteSyrah PesentiVnyd/PasoRobles (14.3%) 2007: Black color; intense chocolaty/licorice/ peppery/ PS some herbal slight jammy massive/huge fruit some pencilly/oak nose; soft quite tannic huge fruit chocolaty/licorice/blackberry/PS/peppery some pencilly/oak flavor; very long soft/fat chocolaty/ licorice/ blackberry/boysenberry/PS light peppery some pencilly/oak finish w/ ample tannins; huge massive fruit but not overripe or very Paso/jammy; needs age but a bit on the fat/porky side and may not age well. $40.00
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  10. Turley PetiteSyrah LibraryVnyd/NapaVlly (14.4%) 2007: Dark/black color; bit leaner/tighter/closed some peppery/PS/blackberry almost Zin-like slight toasty/oak very interesting nose; soft very hard/tannic spicy/peppery/PS/blackberry light toasty/oak huge/mouthfilling flavor; very long big/tannic/extracted/ hard some peppery/PS/blackberry rather spicy finish; less huge fruit than the Pesenti but better structure for the long haul; one of the best Library PS's yet; needs much age. $43.00
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  11. Turley PetiteSyrah TurleyEstate (14.6%) 1999: Very dark color w/ slight bricking; some funky/musty slight pungent/metallic/ozone slight cedary/pencilly slight wet dog fur/funky bit plummy/alcoholic quite strange nose; soft somewhat funky/metallic/pungent bit earthy little fruit some cedary/pencilly bit wet dog fur/ funky flavor; med.long slight tannic/dried out metallic/pungent slight cedary/pencilly finish w/ little fruit; a rather acrid character like being around a welding operation; a strange/funky wine that evolving in a very strange direction; not altogether unpleasant but decidedly strange.
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  12. Branham PS NapaVlly (14.8%; www.BranhamWines.com) 2006: Very dark color; slight herbal very spicy/ blackberry/PS/peppery slight earthy/dusty bit licorice/pungent attractive PS nose; soft/fat fairly rich/ lush blackberry/PS slight peppery/earthy/licorice smooth flavor; med.long blackberry/PS soft/ripe/lush/ round slight licorice/peppery finish w/ little tannin; a very pleasant/drinkable round/soft PS for the short term. $32.00
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  13. Carlisle PS DCV (14.8%; 45% DelCarloRanch/55% TeldeschiRanch; 0% new oak; 85 cs; U/U)
    2007    : Black color; lovely blackberry/PS/boysenberry slight pencilly/toasty/oak quite spicy more bright/
    DCV/Zin-like nose; soft some tannic bright/blackberry/PS/raspberry/Zin-like light pencilly/oak structured
    some tannic very balanced/rich/lush flavor; very long rich/ripe somewhat tannic strong/bright/blackberry/
    raspberry/Zin-like light pencilly/oak finish; needs 3-8 yrs and should go out further; loads of bright
    DCV fruit that resembles Zin as much as PS. $34.25
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  14. Carlisle PS YorkvilleHighlands (14.1%; 28% new Fr.oak; U/U; 155 cs) 2007: Black color; more fragrant/ perfumed lovely very peppery/PS/blackberry some toasty/charred/oak/smokey quite peppery/spicy nose; tart some tannic very peppery/blackberry/PS structured/tannic slight herbal quite spicy/peppery some toasty/ smokey/charred/oak rich/mouthfilling flavor; very long/lingering rather peppery/cold-climate strong blackberry/PS/spicy slight herbal some charred/toasty/smokey/oak fairly tannic/structured finish; needs 3-10 yrs; a very interesting rendition of PS w/ its strong peppery character. $34.25



And the usual blatherings from TheBloodyPulpit:


1. Ambyth: This is a fairly new wnry down in PasoRobles. Dedicated to Organic and BioDynamic farming and winemaking. Demeter certified. Normally, these are not an attraction for me to buy a wine. But they released their GMS blend in a sulfited and non-sulfited bottling, so I was interested in doing this comparison. I have had ThierryAllemand's SansSufre Cornas at HdR and was mightly impressed with it, so I expected to see dramatic differences in this Ambyth release.

The wines were definitely different. The non-sulfite version had much more bright cherry/Grenache fruit to it and the sulfited one had more depth, more extract, more earthy/Rhonish character. They both showed some rather funky winemaking. The sulfited version seemd more delicate and perhaps a bit fragile and suggests it will crash & burn within a few yrs. Both wines seemed on the pricey side and equivalent to some Southern Rhones you can get for 1/3'rd the price. I didn't dislike the wines, found them rather interesting; but feel no compelling reason to revisit the Ambyth wines anytime soon. Unless, of course, they get some big scores from MrParker; in which case I'll decide I really like them after all.
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2. Montfaucon: This was a producer with whom I was not familiar. When I was ordering recently from K&L, the $40 price for a Vin de Pays du Gard sorta caught my eye, so I ordered all the ones they had. The $40 wine pretty much delivered the goods, despite its pedestrian appellation and reminded me of a pretty good CdP. The other wines were fairly priced and decent values; particularly the Blanc. Their WebSite (www.chateaumontfaucon.com) is very well-done & informative. With a background at UCDavis and experience at Henschke and VieuxTelegraphe, Rodolphe de Pins took over the family estate in 1995; upgraded the estate, planted new vnyds, etc. Located right across the river from CdP. I was impressed and will try the wines again.
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3. Branham: A name I'd heard of but had never tried their wines. When I was assembling a tasting of Rockpile AVA wines, of which they have several, I also ordered their RRV Chard, SonomaCoast Pinot, and this NapaVlly PS. Having tried these three wines, I've found them very attractive, quite drinkable, and very fairly priced. TN's on the Rockpiles to follow.
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4. Turley: Turley is held up as the poster child for over-oaked, over-the-top, alcoholic, over-xtracted Calif wines. Much of this is, I think, a remnant of HelenTurley's days at the winemaking helm and not an accurate reflection of EhrenJordan's winemaking style at Turley (which is in marked contrast with what he does under the Failla label). It is, to me, however, the PetiteSyrahs (Turley spelling, not mine) (and the Charbono) that Turley really excells in. I can't recall one over 15% and their alcohols are usually down in the lower-14% range. These are, to me, consistently some of the greatest PS's being made in Calif. Parker typically labels them as 20-30 yr wines. I have my doubts about that blanket statement, but I'll yield to his greater experience in tasting 30 yr old Turley PetiteSyrahs. I don't see the Pesenti, with its low acidity, going out 20 yrs...but who knows. I am puzzled by the strange way the '99 Estate is evolving.
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5. Carlisle: HoHum...two more terrific Carlisle PS's. PS can oftentimes be on the coarse/clunky side w/ not a lot of fruiit. Mike consistently manages to get plenty of PS fruit into his wines, w/ a perfume that you only usually see in Syrah. Thoughh they usually have plenty of tannin, they have a balance that I think will take them out yrs. I liked both of these PS quite a lot. The DCV has a ton of bright raspberry fruit that makes it resemble Zin as much as anything; something I usually find in DCV PS and Syrah. The YH was, to me, a much more interesting/complex PS w/ a lot of peppery character that I like in PS and Syrah.

TomHill

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