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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.

Booker and Wind Gap Wines - July 7, 2010

We tried last week (7/7/10) some Booker & WindGap Wines:

  1. WindGap TrousseauGris Fanucchi-WoodRdVnyd/RRV (195 cs; #542; 13.3%; www.WindGapWines.com) PaxMahle/Forestville 2009: Light gold rather cloudy color; somewhat floral/perfumed slight Mosel valve oil rather stoney/minerally/chalky perfumed talc quite interesting rather AltoAdige-like nose; tart rich/textured stoney/minerally light floral/earthy rather AltoAdige/Kerner-like flavor; med.long light floral/perfumed talc rather stoney/minerally slight valve oil finish; much like some of the AltoAdige whites but more richness & texture; interesting wine; best GreyRiesling ever. $25.00
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  2. WindGap PinotGris WindsorOaksVnyd/ChalkHill (12.5%; 162 cs; #1267; 12.7%; 175 cs) 2008: Ligh gold/orange very cloudy color; quite fragrant/floral/orange blossom very slight oxidative quite interesting floral/perfumed nose; tart/austere orange blossom/floral slight appley slight oxidative/phenolic flavor; long appley/pear some floral/orange blossom slight phenolic rather austere finish; made with some extended skin contact; a very interesting/intriguing wine that requires thinking outside the box. $36.00
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  3. WindGap Chard Yuen/JamesBerry&BrosseauVnyds/CentralCoast (12.9%; 525 cs; #557; 12.7%;
    575 cs) 2008    : Light gold color; lovely lemony/citrusy/melony/Chard very fragrant/perfumed almost floral/Riesling-like complex nose; fairly tart lemony/citrusy/spicy/melony/Chard slight earthy/orangey fairly rich flavor; very long/lingering slight earthy/chalky/minerrally strong spicy/citrusy/lemony/Chard; a very interesting Chard that is not green or eviscerated at all. $40.00
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  4. WindGap Chard SonomaCnty (266 cs; 13.8%; #886; 13.7%; 275 cs) 2008: Light gold color; bigger/richer tropical fruit/melony/Chard/floral/spicy/mango light smoky/spicy flavor; long spicy/melony/ Chard/tropical fruit/mango bit smoky/spicy finish; more mainstream Chard w/ a bit of oak; lovely Chard. $44.00
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  5. Booker White PasoRobles (65% Roussanne/35% Viognier; 14.8%; www.BookerWines.com) 2007: Med.gold color; strong pineapply/floral/honeysuckle/perfumed bit alcoholic slight Mosel valve oil very slight hazelnutty quite perfumed/aromatic nose; soft glycerined/ripe pineapply/floral/honeyesuckle slight earthy rather rich/lush light smokey/pungent/oak flavor; med.long ripe/floral/honeysuckle/honeyed slight alcoholic finish; big & ripe w/ lots of aromatics; some like a Jaffurs Roussanne. Lovely Rhone blend. $30.00
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  6. WindGap Syrah SonomaCoast (#186; 12.7%; 375 cs; 2% Viog; 425 cs) 2007: Dark color; strong green olive/tapenade slightly underripe smoky/roasted/Rhonish slight cranberry/blackberry/Syrah very Rhonish nose; tart/lean slight underripe/green olive/tapenade strong Rhonish/smoky/roasted bit coffee complex flavor; long green/tart/lean strong roasted/green olive/tapenade/coffee very Rhonish some tannic/lean/hard complex finish; lots of acidity and loads of Rhonish character; outside the box for Calif Syrah; can't predict where this will go but have to believe it will become something very interesting. $40.00
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  7. Booker TheAlchemist PasoRobles (79% Syrah/19% PV/ 2% CS; 15.9%) EricJensen 2007: Very dark color; ripe blackberry/Syrah/slight blackcurranty bit jammy/ripe rather toasty/charred/oak nose; rather tannic/hard/bitter/astringent ripe plummy/blackberry/Syrah somewhat toasty/oak flavor; long tannic/hard/astringent ripe/jammy/blackberry/Syrah slight blackcurranty/Cab finish; a powerfully extracted wine w/ lots of hard tannins; hard to tell if it'll ever shed those tannins and become pleasant drinking. $40.00
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  8. Booker Vertigo PasoRobles (90% Syrah/10% Grenache; 15.9%; 30 months in barrel) 2006: Med.dark color; rather spicy/blackberry/Syrah some hot/fumey/EA/alcoholic rather Oz-like very strong nose; soft rather hot/alcoholic/fumey/EA slight spicy/blackberry/Syrah light toasty/oak very ripe/jammy flavor; med.long ripe/jammy some blackberry/Syrah light toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins; rather alcoholic/fumey, a bit over-the-top, and not that much fruit. $55.00
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  9. Booker Vertigo PasoRobles (75% Syrah/25% Grenache; 15.7%) 2007: Very dark color; strong blackberry/Syrah/licorice/ boysenberry/very ripe light toasty/oak nose; soft big/ripe/lush/boysenberry /Syrah light toasty/oak jammy slight alcoholic flavor w/ fair tannins; long ripe/jammy lush/boysenberry/ blackberry/Syrah light toasty/oak somewhat Oz-like finish w/ some tannins; big/bold/ripe style that needs 3-5 yrs; good for that style. $50.00
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  10. Booker Fracture PasoRobles (100% Syrah; 16.1%; 30 months in barrel) 2006: Dark color; very ripe blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah slight alcoholic/EA rather perfumed/aromatic intense/lush/big fruit very light/toasty oak nose; soft rather tannic/astringent some hot/alcoholic/fumey big/blackberry/Syrah/ boysenberry somewhat hot/alcoholic/fumey light oak flavor; med.long very ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/ Syrah some fumey/alcoholic fairly hard/tannic finish; a bit on the overripe/fumey side but loads of blackberry fruit. $55.00
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  11. Booker Fracture PasoRobles (100% Syrah; 28 months in barrel; 16.1%) 2007: Very dark color; slight volatile/alcoholic very ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/chocolaty/licorice slight herbal some toasty/oak nose; big/ripe/lush intense boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/chocolaty/licorice some tannic light herbal some toasty/oak flavor; long very lush/ripe intense chocolaty/boysenberry/Syrah slight alcoholic finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs. $50.00


And the usual trash talk from TheBloodyPulpit:


1. TrosseauGris: This variety is what used to be known in Calif as GreyRiesling. Mostly it made pretty ordinary wines at the hands of large-production winemakers. It was interesting to taste what the grape can give in the hands of a competent winemaker. Don't think the variety is going to set any fires, though. I assume these are rather old vines in that vnyd.
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2. Booker: These are the wines made by EricJensen. Followed him from the very start, when Mary Baker poured his wines at the BlackOak BarBQue one year. Deinitely made in a big/ripe Paso style. A couple of them seemed a bit over the top & alcoholic/hot, but, in general, I thought they were good examples of that style. In particular, the White was absolutely first rate, again in a bigger/riper style. Will buy them again.

TomHill

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