Raisin' Rhones '98 Trip Report
For the second year in a row, I attended the Raisin' Rhones Festival in Paso Robles, sponsered by the Viognier Guild. Last yrs event was the best single wine event I had ever attended; this yrs event blew that one away. And next yr's, RR'99, June 17-18-19, promises to be even better. The amount of work and effort Mat Garetson puts into this event is mind-boggling; he's to be congratulated on the quality of RR'98 (certainly, you can't congratulate him on his bowling skills!).
The reason this is such a great event?? The amount of truly world-class wine being poured is mind-blowing. Most of the real movers&shakers in the Calif Rhone movement are here, including some from France & Australia. They know the attendees are there to learn, are passionate about Rhone varieties, and, consequently, are willing to share their time & expertise freely and pull out some of their really best wines. The seminars this yr were very well thought out, very informative, had some really terrific panel members (John Alban & Ehren Jordan did a great job of translating the French), and lots of excellent questions from the floor, from consumers, grape growers, and winemakers. The opportunity to converse, to learn, to socalize, to bowl, to share meals and great wines, with the winemakers is an opportunity you seldom get. The opportunity to meet other folks passionate about Rhone varieties, many I'd met on the 'Net, was another big plus.Finally, the number of people was sufficiently small that it was not the usual mob scene that one usually encounters at these wine things. I would guess the venue could probably accomodate twice the number of people at this yr's event. Anybody that is excited about Rhone wines & varietals is stupid (in a word) not to attend this event. I'll be there next year, without a doubt (hey... I have a bowling championship to defend!!)
In these notes, starred (*) wines were particular favorites.
Some of the highlights, for me, of the RR'98 were, in no particular order: the Edmunds St.John Durrell Vineyard vertical, the Viognier panel tasting & discussion, the two big tastings, the panel & tasting of the Aussie wines, and the chance to meet & visit with (sorta of, anyway, their English weren't too good), and compliment them on their wines with Yves Gangloff, Francois Villard, and Yves Cuilleron.
I came away from RR'98 with a number of salient impressions:
The French Rhones: As good as the Calif & Oz Rhones have been getting over the last few yrs; France is still the benchmark, I'm sorry to say. The Condrieus shown at RR'98 by Gangloff, Villard, Cuilleron were positively stunning. They have that sort of minerally/tight/elegant component that the Calif Viogniers only give, thus far, glimpses of having. The Cote-Roties and the St.Josephs shown have the roasted/lean/smokey/espresso/elegant/bacon fat character, the terrior, that only a few (like the Alban Reva and Edmunds St.Johns) of the Calif Syrahs hint of and that no amount of well-charred oak will simulate.
Grenache in Calif: There is ample evidence (Ch.Rayas and Aussie Old Vine stuff) that this variety can produce positively great wine of the quality of Syrah/ Shiraz. The new Alban Grenache '96 is terrific, definitely world-class. Grenache in Calif is probably where Syrah was 15 yrs ago; just enough good examples to see that it's a variety, given the right sites, the right clonal material, sufficiently low yields, a cool climat, will be producing great wines. John Alban is on the right track here & expanding his plantings in Grenache.
Washington State: Once they start expanding their plantings, Wash State is going to be a major player in the American/Rhone varietal scene. The expression of terrior seems to come thru more in their wines than in the Calif versions, perhaps just a bit more of the French/roasted character in the Syrah & a bit more of the French/minerally component in the Viogniers. The McCrea & the Bridgeman Viogniers were first rate. The McCrea and the David Lake/Columbia Syrahs were likewise very impressive. It's definitely an area to watch.
Marsanne: It's a variety that I had sort of dismissed as a Chardonnay wannabe; a variety that produced sort of clunky/stoney wines, often w/ a bit too much French oak applied to them. The festival was a real eye-opener to me for the quality of wine Marsanne can produce. The new Qupe Marsanne '97 is a lovely fragrant/perfumey wine. The Villard St.Joseph Blanc, 100% Marsanne, was a beautiful/fragrant/honeysuckle/aromatic wine. Best of all is how they age. Bob Lindquist brought his '93 and '89 Marsannes. They are evolving into terrific/ complex/slightly nutty old white wines, probably not wines that appeal to those seeking fresh, fruit-driven whites, but very complex wines in their own right, not a bit unlike some of the old Aussie Semillons. Sit on some of the Qupe Marsannes and in 10-15 yrs you'll get a very interesting result.
Roussanne: There's already ample evidence that Roussanne can make great wine in Calif. It may even surpass Viognier in quality in Calif. Some producers Roussannes are better Viogniers than their Viogniers are. It has much of the same aromatic/ perfumy quality in the nose of Viognier or Gewurz, but the depth of flavor and the richness and extract on the palate that Viognier sometimes lacks. Some of the better examples are not a lot unlike the Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris wines; powerfully aromatic with great richness on the palate. Keep your eyes on Roussanne over the next few yrs, we'll see some (more) great ones.
Oak in Syrah: When Syrah first came online in Calif in the mid-'70's; the tendency was to use quite a bit of new oak, perhaps an attempt to simulate the roasted/toasty quality of Cote-Rotie. In the last 6-8 yrs, most Syrah producers (save Sean Thackery) have backed off on the use of new oak it seems, and the wines are much the better for it. Even some of the Aussie Shiraz seemed to have a toned-down oak component. If any Calif Syrah producers used the amount of Am. oak in their Syrahs that most Aussies do, the wine press would be dumping all over that wine. Actually, I find that high level of Am.oak in many Oz Shiraz part of the integral character of those wines; but it can make the wines a bit tiring.
Whither Viognier???: My prediction for this variety, one that I dearly love from my first exposure to Condrieu some 20 yrs ago, is not very positive. I think a lot of wnrys are jumping onto the Viognier bandwagon with no real vision of what they want from the variety, only hoping to catch the next Merlot craze. 'Fraid Viognier is not that wave. I don't ever see it has being anything more than a niche wine, being limited by lack of consumer demand, not by geography, as in Condrieu. One of the problems, to me, with Calif Chardonnay is they all so many taste the same; same barrel fermentations, same M-L, same French oak, same leesy character. You taste one Calif Chardonnay, you've tasted them all. Not QUITE that bad, but getting there. I'm afraid that Calif Viognier may suffer that same fate. The variety makes a very distinctive wine; that very same peachy/pear character that dominates the wine. Tasting thru dozens of Viogniers, all with that same dominant character, can, quite frankly, get a little boring. The wines don't seem to reflect clonal differences or terrior or winemaking technique; they don't show a whole lot of diversity. A lot like Muscat in that respect. For now, there are enough folks out there who have never experienced great Viognier that the market should continue to grow. But I expect that its strong, assertive varietal character and lack of diversity will eventually limit its growth. But, OTOH, that same character hasn't stopped us from being inundated by all these incredibly boring Chards & Merlots. But, if I were a grower, I'd be putting my bets on Rousanne. Sorry, Mat!!
So, all in all, RR'98 was a great event. It was nice to meet some of my 'Net friends (George Palmer, Dan Ortiz, Jim Cross, Kathy Hardesty-Marks). I apologize if I was out in the "Zone" at times during the event. When I'm in my wine geek mode, I can be sorta spaced out. And having all those great wines to try was a bit overwhelming. I managed to get notes on some 135 wines, a rather shabby performance; should've trained harder. Next year!
The trip actually started the weekend before. I was joined, from time to time, by fellow wine nuts Larry Archibald/ Laura Chancellor of SantaFe, Dave Jones of SanFrancisco, Lenny Darnell of Redlands; and the plan was to head North out of LA (not Los Alamos, the other LA) wreaking widespread havoc and destruction at wineries and tasting rooms up the coast to Paso Robles. And have a few meals along the way. Since I was pretty familar with the Rhone wines of the Central Coast, the plan was to focus more on Pinot Noir on this part of the journey.
Friday (June 12, 1998)
Up very early for a half day's work, the usual double espresso at Sage Bake House in SF, then on down to Albq and a 11:00am flight out to Ontario. The epee blade flies thru security in my carry-on as the usual gamma ray interferometer antennae w/ nary a glance; though they did ask about the bottle of wine I was carrying (like I was gonna club the flight attendants w/ it?). Lots of ZZZ's along the way on an uneventful flight. Arrive in time to stop at Liquorama in Upland (a very bizarre wine store), over to my Aunt Dorothy's, and some afternoon fencing drills and hoops. My brother, Willie, comes down from Bakersfield, w/ his ferrets, for the evening. Dinner is a traditional mid-western Swiss Steak. The wine recommended to my Aunt as one of this store's best sellers, was Beringer White Zinfandel. Probably the culinary low-point of the trip (sorry, Aunt Dorothy!), but the company was good.
Saturday (June 13, 1998)
Just a day of visiting w/ relatives & reading. Of to the schoolgrounds for fencing drills & hoops in the afternoon. Get sucked into some schoolground BB action w/ some high school kids. Although old age & treachery can often beat youth & skill on the fencing piste; it don't count for j***sh** on the BB court!! At least, today it didn't. Dinner this night is at Barbi's Pizza in a strip mall, managed by my nephew Matt. Decent pizza, but the Samuel Adams was the high point.
Sunday (June 14, 1998)
Early church service w/ Aunt Dorothy and then off for the serious part of the trip. First stop is the HiFi'98 show at the LAX Westin Hotel. This is an annual show put on by Larry Archibald of Stereophile Magazine in which manufacturers bring in their latest gee-whiz stuff to show the trade & consumers. I always thought it was just a few hi-fi systems set up in some hotel ballroom. Not!!! This was a HUGE event that took over the entire 12 story LAX Westin. It was positively overwhelming. If you think wine geeks are bad when they get together & talk wines; you oughta hear the HiFi geeks.... they're far far worse!! And when you look at a single $50,000 speaker..... well, Caymus Cabernet at $70/btl seems pretty trivial!! Spend the whole afternoon having my mind boggled.
Dave Jones had arranged a meal at Jozu restuarant, who does PacificRim/Fusion cusine. My entourage included Larry&Laura, Dave, Lenny & Denise. Joining us were InterNet friends Bruce L, Todd Serota & his wife Lizette, and their tiny new daughter Reina, who slept thru this spectacular event. The food was outstanding, probably the best Fusion cusine I've had. We had a series of appetizers, entree, and dessert:
Squash Blossom Tempura stuffed w/ Lobster/Woodear Mushroom in a spicy ponzu
Sauteed Chinese Eggplant w/ Sweet Miso Sauce
Haricot Vertes w/ Shitakke & Whole Grain Mustard Vinegarette
Grilled CopperRiver Salmon w/ Celery Root Puree in Chive Blossom/Lavendar sauce
Warm Bananna Tart w/ Rum Raisen Ice Cream & Chocolate Sauce
and the wines, all brought to Jozu by our group:
*Domaine Baumard Savennieres Trie Special (13.9%) '95: Very fragrant aromatic perfumed slight steely nose; soft rich lush spicy round flavor more like CheninBlanc than Santa Barbara; very long lush rich bit steely/earthy finish. Probably the best Savennieres I've ever had, delicious stuff.
*Zind-Humbrecht Brand Vineyard Riesling '94: Lovely petrol/Mosel valve oil nose; soft bit metallic/steely lush floral valve oil flavor; very long lush floral/R finish; bit drier & more interesting than the powerful:
*Zind-Humbrecht Hengst Vineyard GWT '95: Lovely intense floral/GWT hair-oil spicy lychee nose; soft very lush rich mouthfilling pencilly bit oaked fat spicy/lychee slightly bitter flavor; very long lingering lush fat soft intense spicy/ hair-oil/GWT finish; a huge powerful Z-H fat GWT.
Jean Gros Clos de Reas 1er Cru Vosne-Romanee '93: Beautifil Pinot Noir/cherry/black cherry pencilly/Burgundian nose; tart gamey black cherry bit pencilly/toasty oaked flavor; needs several yrs; a lovely RedBurg Richard Hamilton McLarenVale Reserve OldVine Shiraz '96: strong dusty/OV strong Am.oaked light blackberry fruit nose; soft intense Am.oaked/milky dusty/OV light blackberry/Shiraz flavor; loads of Am.oak but not that much fruit.
Domaine Clavel Les Garrigues Terrior de la Mejanalle Coteau du Languedoc '95: Dusty/earthy low fruit bit gamey/brett nose; hard tannic dusty-earthy bit herbal rather closed flavor; a hard tannic rather closed wine.
*Domaine des Baummards Quarts de Chaume '96: Very intense pineapply/CB citrusy/ orangy some botrytis/peachy nose; soft very sweet intense pineapply/CB very rich some botrytis flavor; loads of intense CB fruit w/ light touch of botrytis; a lovely classic QdC.
**Zind-Humbrecht Brand Vineyard Riesling Vendange Tardive '95: Very intense R/flowery/ fruity nose w/ little botrytis; very tart flowery/R/citrusy very rich mouth- filling flavor; very sweet huge extracted Riesling; will be a killler w/ age.
Leave Jozu in a bit of a fog and drive on up to Ventura and crash (at a motel).
Monday (June 15, 1998)
Up (not so) early for a some fencing drills but couldn't find a venue in this strange (to me) town to do some hoops, the schools seemed to be in session. No appointments until the afternoon, so hang out at Barnes&Noble for several hrs. sqn
It's then on up the coast to Santa Barbara, check into my usual motel, up the street for a few hoops, and then off to dinner.
The Wine Cask is one of my very favorite stores in Calif. Find a case & half of things I can't live without & have them shipped home. Likewise, the Wine Cask restaurant is one of my very favorite places to eat in Calif, with an absolutely stunning wine list w/ lots of gems lurking in it. At dinner is Larry & Laura, Lenny, Dave. Joining us is local Santa Barbara friend Lucinda and her friend, Peter Gallagher. My menu is:
Roasted Tomatoe Soup
Duck Ravioli, squash brunoise, dried blueberry & pancetta red wine sauce w/fois gras coulis (stunning dish)
Iowa Pork Chop/Fava Bean& Corn Succotash w/ smoked bacon & sage risotto croquette, apple chutney & a violet/mustard sauce
Chocolate Dome: chocolate truffle w/ creme anglais, raspberry coulis & berries
And the wines:
Louis Roederer Brut Champagne '90
Wine Cask Reserve Chardonnay '97: ripe lush melony/Chardonnay some oaked nose; soft lust ripe melony/Chardonnay some spicy/toasty oak flavor; very nice Chardonnay for the price.
Au Bon Climat Santa Barbara County LaBauge Au-Dessus Pinot Noir '92: bit herbal/vegetal lush spicy/Pinot Noir toasty/Burgundian nose; strong charred/toasty/Burgundian some black cherry flavor; near it peak; very Burgundian Pinot.
Clos du Mont Olivet (Reserve, Cuvee Unique, NiFiltre-NiColle) '96: dusty/earthy little fruit bit funky/brett nose; soft lean dusty/earthy bit roasted low fruit flavor; an OK CdP.
Leasingham Classic Clare Valley Shiraz '95: Very strong Am.oaked some blackberry/ dusty nose; rather hard & lean & tannic very Am.oaked flavor; not as lush & full of fruit as I expected; decent Aussia Shiraz but just that.
Another terrific Wine Cask meal w/ special friends. Back to the motel for a few ZZZZ's.
Tuesday (June 16, 1998)
Over to the Miramar to hook up w/ Larry&Laura, Dave, & Lenny. We all pile into one car & head back down the coast to Oak View and a visit w/ Helen & Adam Tolmach at Ojai Vineyard. I've folowed Adams wines from the very start in his early days in the dairy barn up in LosAlamos (the not-so-famous one) w/ Bob Lindquist & Jim Clendennan. These last few yrs Adam's wine have been some of the very best made in Calif, certainly a top tier Rhone producer. His Pinots don't seem to get much notice but are, also, absolutely first rate. Although not a Chardonnay fan, Adam's Chards are also quite delicious. All in all, a producer who's really hitting his stride these days.
After catching up on a few things, a quick hello to his assistant, Sashi, it's into the barrels:
Ojai Talley Vineyard Chardonnay '97: Fragrant toasty/leesy ripe melony/Chardonnay nose; tart but rich ML/leesy very spicy/melony Chardonnay flavor.
Ojai Bien Nacido Vineyard Chardonnay '97: More fragrant melony/tropical fruit/Chardonnay nose; softer more tropical fruit/pineapply rather leesy flavor.
Ojai Sanford & Benedict Chardonnay '97: more towards the tart/lean/minerally/flinty part of the Chardonnay spectrum but a big & rich wine.
Ojai Bien Nacido Vineyard Pinot Noir '97: lush fragrant/perfumed classic BN/black cherry Pinot Noir nose; ripe lush black cherry rather pencilly/toasty flavor; another terrific BN Pinot Noir more along the '96 lines than the huge '95.
Ojai Bien Nacido Vineyard Pinot Noir '97 (lees stirred): little more richer, less elegant, more clunky & flavorful
Ojai Pisoni Vineyard Pinot Noir '97: Strong very spicy/cinammon arpmatic/perfumed/exotic nose; rich very exotic/dusty/perfumed/spicy/cloves flavor w/ lots of character; not quite as big as the '96 but a exotic/perfumed Pinot.
Ojai Stolpman Vineyard Grenache '97: Pleasant fragrant/strawberry/fruity aromatic nose; tart lighter simple strawberry/fruity flavor; rather simple pleasant enough Grenache w/ pretty aromas but just that. Thus far, the Stolpman Grenache doesn't appear to make very big Grenache, just pretty ones.
Ojai Stolpman Vineyard Mourvedre '97: deep plummy/licorice smokey nose; tart pungent plummy deep earthy ripe flavor. I've been pretty impressed w/ all the Stolpman Mourvedre I've tasted thus far; this is a Vineyard to keep your eyes on.
Ojai Stolpman Syrah '97: deep blackberry/Syrah bit dusty/gamey nose; bit tart hard lean dusty/pungent/smokey deep blackberry/Syrah slight gamey flavor; another killer Stolpman Syrah.
Ojai Roll Ranch Syrah '97: deep blackberry/boysenberry intense pure/Syrah fruit slight dusty nose; very intense blackberry/licorice/boysenberry tannic flavor; another dynamite RR Syrah.
Ojai Bien Nacido Vineyard Syrah '97: bit reduced intense smokey/gamey/blackberry/toasty/ pungent nose; very intense rich blackberry/gamey/smokey/pungent tannic flavor; bit more bigger & richer & extracted than the other two; killer Syrah again.
Ojai Thompson Vineyard Syrah '97: this was harvested at 28Brix & is sort of a late harvest Syrah that Adam's not certain what he'll eventually do with it: very ripe fruit high-toned strawberry bit fumey nose; lighter bit hot very ripe fruit some blackberry/strawberry flavor; interesting wine definitely Syrah but a bit of Zinfandel-like overtones.
Ojai Hall Ranch (Shandon) Zinfandel '97: harvested at 26Brix: very tart bright cranberry spicy lots of fruit nose; bright zippy cranberry high-toned flavor; much better & brighter & less oafish than I expected from Shandon fruit. Since I had, at the Wine Cask futures tasting, thought the Stolpman Syrah '96 was the least of Adam's '96 Syrahs, in a clear effort to embarass & humble me afore my entourage here, he pulled out a few bottles:
*Ojai Calif Syrah '96 (1/2 Bien Nacido + RollRanch + bit of Stolpman + Stolpman Grenache & Mourvedre): deep blackberry Syrah dusty/pungent nose; beautiful rich/ripe blackberry/dusty/pungent toasty/pencilly flavor; easily the best under $20 Syrah around, terrific stuff.
*Ojai StolpmanVineyard Syrah '96: intense more bright/Syrah/blackberry/boysenberry some dusty nose; bit narrower (compared to the Calif bttlg) rich blackberry/Syrah some gamey/roasted flavor. This Syrah doesn't seem nearly as closed as when I had it at WC Futures, of stature equal to BN or RR. Mea culpa!! and lastly:
*Ojai Roll Ranch Vineyard LateHrvst Viognier '97: beautiful intense peachy/Viognier rather pineapply fragrant nose; rich lush beautiful ripe peachy/pineapply Viognier flavor; unlike some of the other LH Viogniers, this still shouts Viognier in character.
Another terrific tasting. During the tasting, Helen drives up w/ the family. I'd not seen Benjamin since he was tiny. A bit on the shy side but a real cutie who charmed the group. Little Henry sleeps thru it all. I speculate to Adam that if Benjamin marries Isabella (Jim Clendennan's daughter), will there be a Benjamin/ Isabella Pinot Noir special bottling. Adam sort of shudders at the thought.
The Ojai wines, in the last 4-5 yrs, have been some of the best in Calif,IMHO. The Syrahs are world-class. The Calif Syrah is one of the few bargins around. Tasting how good this '96 Stolpman Syrah is, I would say that Adam has 3 great Vineyards that yield 3 great Syrahs. The RollRanch seems to give Syrah that is more fruit driven, more varietally focused Syrah, than the other two, but still some of that gamey/ smokey Rhone character. The Stolpman seems a bit more clunky, a bit harder, a bit slower to develop, a bit less blackberry/Syrah fruit; but amazingly good for such a young Vineyard. And the Bien Nacido, from the Hillside block, is the flagship one, but just barely, w/ more complex/gamey/roasted character but loads of blackberry fruit. The Ojai wines are ones you can buy, untasted, w/ confidence you're getting some very good, distinctive wine.
We head on back to Santa Barbara and unload at the Miramar. While the rest of them wuss out for lunch, I head over to Wine Cask to pick up a few more things & visit a bit. We then all rendezvous at the Orchid Bowl in Goleta for another training session on the lanes to fine-tune our already spectacular game afore the great Rhone-n-Bowl on Friday night. I, their humble Athlete-In-Chief, come thru with a 225, best ever in my life. Supremely confident that we are to walk off w/ the big one at Rhone-n-Bowl, I eschew further practice since my game has peaked just afore the big competition. The rest of them squeeze in another practice or two in Paso.
At the last two WC Futures tasting, I have been very impressed with the Brewer- Clifton Pinots (and the one Chardonnay that I deigned to try), so we have a late after- noon appointment w/ Greg Brewer and Steve Clifton down at the Santa Barbara Wnry where the wines are made. I had know Steve for some yrs as he worked in the Wine Cask retail end. After winemaker at Sunstone, Steve is now winemaker at Domaine Santa Barbara, the Rhone end of the Brandner wnry, up in Los Olivos. Greg is asst winemaker at the Santa Barbara Wnry. The two are young, very energetic, and clearly passionate about making the best Burgundy-style wines they can from the best Vineyard sites they can buy from. They use a lot of hands-on techniques that only a tiny operation such as theirs will permit, much of it based on the lunar cycles for the traditional Burgundy reasons. Since they're both winemakers for much larger operations, crush must be a particular stressful time for them, is my guess. The Chards (frmtd & aged in Siruge oak) are just ready to go into bottle, so we taste from the small tanks:
Brewer-Clifton Marcella'sVineyard Chardonnay '97: fragrant perfumy spicy/leesy/toasty ripe melony/Chardonnay nose; tart-lean but very rich leesy/toasty very spicy Chardonnay flavor; a tart lean Chardonnay but still lots of richness & flavor & structure.
Brewer-Clifton Sweeny Canyon Chardonnay '97: this is their western-most Vineyard and still has a 15.1% alc level: bigger richer lusher more tropical fruit lots of leesy/ ML/toasty character; a really impressive wine, wowser Chardonnay.
Brewer-Clifton Katherine'sVineyard Chardonnay '97: richer more toasty/smokey more complex more ripe melony/Chardonnay fruit pungent very Burgundian character; killer Chardonnay.
Brewer-Clifton Julia'sVineyard Pinot Noir '97: elegant pungent pencilly toasty some bright cherry/Pinot fruit nose; tart very Burgundian toasty/pencilly some cherry/Pinot flavor; a lovely elegant very Burgundian Pinot.
Brewer-Clifton SantaMariaHills Pinot Noir '97: from a Vineyard planted in '69: more fragrant bright cherry/spicy very pencilly/pungent nose; rich bright cherry/black cherry Pinot very spicy Burgundian/pungent/smokey/pencilly flavor.
All of their wines showed some of the most Burgundian character of any of these varietals made in Calif. Too bad their production is so tiny. The Wine Cask is the best source to obtain them.
So bid adieu to the rest of the Only-The-Rhonely and take a fast drive up to Los Alamos (the little one) to meet up w/ Bob Senn for dinner at the Casmalia Hitching Post. It's been about 2 months since I've had a steak & I am ready.... so this is the place to come, about the best steak you can find anywhere. Bob does the wine list for them and it is an extremely well-done list, rather smallish, but very very reasonably priced & some pretty interesting stuff. Worth the trip.
The menu was standard HP and the steak absolutely perfect. The wines:
Las Tablas Hills Cuvee Rouge '96: this is a wine from the Haas/Perrin property up on TablasCreekRd in the Adelaida Hills above Paso Robles. I had it on release and thought it was a nice wine, but just that. Four months later now, it's really starting to show nicely. Attractive strawberry Grenache bit plummy slight pungent/smokey nose; soft ripe spicy/strawberry/Grenache some plummy/ dusty/earthy/pungent flavor; a very nice CotesduRhone look-alike.
Stephen Ross Bien Nacido Vineyard Pinot Noir '96: Wow!! Lovely fragrant cherry/black cherry perfumed/aromatic some pencilly/toasty nose; soft ripe high-toned cherry/ black cherry lush/spicy pencilly/oaked flavor; a really beautiful well-made Calif Pinot w/ good Burgundian overtones.
Alban Vineyard Alban Estate Grenache '96: Wowwwww! Dark color, intense strawberry/stone fruit/blackberry/Grenache very spicy deep complex some toasty oaked nose; rich big ripe strawberry/blackberry/Grenache spicy/plummy/boysenberry light toasty/ pungent/smokey/oak flavor w/ some tannins. Even better than the terrific '95; definitely a world-class wine by any standard; like Aussie OV Grenache w/o all the Am.oak cluttering up everything.
We shut down the Hitching Post & I drive Bob back to Los Alamos in a bit of a fog via an unplanned side trip to the northern outskirts of Lompoc after we get lost (hey.. two guys in a fog wouldn't THINK of stopping & asking for directions!!). I head back down to Buelton & check into a motel & crash.
Wednesday (June 17, 1998)
Up (reasonably) early for some fencing drills but can't find a BB court worthy of my talents so give up on the hoops. Drive west to Babcock, but they're not open but the weekends. Drive over to Sanford Wnry, but they're closed for today (only). So stop at Mosby (in Buelton) and taste:
Mosby Pinot Grigio '96: soft pleasant simple fruity, unthrilling
Mosby Chardonnay '96: soft rather toasty/oaked fat, standard Chardonnay fare
Mosby Traminer Aramatico '96: fragrant some spicy GWT-like slightly bitter; the tasting room guy insists it's NOT GWT, though.
Mosby Rosato di Sangiovese '96: made from the saginee juice bled off in their Sangiovese production: bright cherry-like off-dry spicy brisk rose, nice.
Mosby Rosso di Nebbiolo '95: light lean tannic hard mean little Nebbiolo
Mosby Sangiovese '95: hard lean tart austere light cherry Sangiovese, needs several yrs, not much depth or intensity.
Head east out on Foxen Rd and run into a new winery, Rusack Vineyards, so stop to check them out:
Rusack Chardonnay '96: strong toasty rich tropical fruit/melony nose; fairly soft rich lush toasty pineapply/tropical fruit charred/oak flavor. Nice Chardonnay.
Rusack Viognier '96: low key light peachy/Viognier nose; soft delicate light peachy Viognier flavor; a pleasant light elegant Viognier but just that.
Rusack Merlot '95: trying a Merlot indicates just HOW desperate I am to find a good wine this morning: lots of toasty oak, light Merlot/fruity soft flat wine
Rusack CS '95: now you KNOW I'm getting desperate: bit herbal/CS rather strong pungent/toasty/oaked flavor; bit too much oak.
Rusack Riesling '96: very nice pleasant tart off-dry floral Riesling, pleasant
Rusack LucasVineyard Riesling '96: slight botrytis affected but very much the same as the previous one w/ a bit more intensity.
Rusack Muscat Canelli '96: low-key toned down bit dilute muscatty nose, off-dry light muscatty flavor; a pretty picnic or ski-hill wine
Rusack Soul of the Vine '96: a Muscat+Riesling Eiswein from the freezer method: attractive somewhat sweet fragrant/aromatic/grapey wine; nicely done dessert wine but nothing profound.
Drive by the Stolpman Vineyard (really beautiful looking well-maintained Vineyard. I meet Tom Stolpman and his wife at Raisin' Rhones; really nice folks) and starting to get very desperate now for a really good wine so head off for Bob Senn's in Los Olivos, where I knew he wouldn't let me down. However, just can't resist stopping for the first pretty face.... er, tasting room... that comes along, so detour to the new Longoria tasting room in downtown metropolitan Los Olivos. And bingo... I score:
*Longoria Chardonnay '96: from the HuberVineyard & Sweeny Canyon Vineyard: big ripe tart very minerally lots of toasty/oak/pungent very ripe leesy/ML Chardonnay; a terrific Chardonnay packed w/ flavor but lots of structure to it; one of the best Chards I have on this trip.
*Longoria Bien Nacido Vineyard Pinot Noir '96: Beautiful lush black cherry Pinot Noir pencilly nose; rich ripe structured very lush black cherry/fragrant pencilly/toasty/oak flavor; classic BN black cherry but very well-made Pinot.
And, despite my better judgement, I stop, a few doors down, at the Los Olivos Tasting Room, under the flagpole, prepared to take the standard rude treatment in order to taste a few wines. Surprise, surprise... there's a lady working the bar and she's actually friendly & talkative & pleasant:
Ojai ArroyoGrande Chardonnay '96: lovely lush melony/toasty/pencilly/oak nose; tart very spicy lush melony/Chardonnay toasty/pencilly/oaked flavor; another very nice Tolmach Chardonnay.
Vita Nova Santa BarbaraCnty Chardonnay Rancho Vinedo Vineyard '96: typical slightly volatile very aromatic/perfumed floral/tropical fruit rather toasty/smokey/oaked nose; big ripe lush very toasty/oak/pungent bit hot flavor.
Claibourne&Churchill Central Coast Dry Riesling '97: strong pineapply/R/floral nose; dry slightly bitter spicy/floral/pineapply flavor; very nice dry Riesling but still not Elsass.
Daniel Gehrs ElSecundo Vineyard Pinot Noir '96: light cigar-box pencilly very light cherry fruit nose; soft light cherry very cigar-box pungent flavor; lacks richness and a bit overoaked.
Qupe Los Olivos Cuvee Ibarra/Young & StolpmanVineyards '96: fragrant plummy/smokey nose; tart bit lean fragrant smokey/pungent/plummy flavor; very good Rhone blend.
So, finally, make it over to Bob Senn's Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium. The affable Bob is.... well, always affable & friendly and the LOW&SE is genuinely one of my favorite places to visit. Plus he's got some great wines. Get to meet his new assistant, Dexter, who hails from Kansas, via Tuscon. While I'm there, Steve Dooley (Stephen Ross Wnry) makes a delivery, but he's a bit rushed since he has an appointment w/ an important wine personage later in the day and has to return to Arroyo Grande. Bob, as usual, has a bunch of interesting things open and is never reluctant to open something you might have an interest in:
Qupe Marsanne '97: Attractive fragrant appley/perfumy/spicy slight butterscotch/ honeysuckle nose; soft rich aromatic/spicy/floral/honeysuckle flavor; a very attractive aromatic Marsanne at a good price.
Stephen Ross Linda'sVineyard Edna Valley Chardonnay '96: soft lush balanced light pencilly/ toasty/oak spicy/melony Chardonnay; nicely done wine.
Cold Heaven Bien Nacido Vineyard Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir G-Block '96: beautiful very spicy cherry light pencilly/oak perfumed Pinot; less clunky & more delicate & less oaked than the ABC's (her husband's Pinots).
MacMillan SLO County SauvBlanc '95 French CampVineyard (the Miller's, owner's of Bien Nacido Paso Robles Vineyard): strong toasty/Fr.oaked slight figgy/herbal nose; soft bit celery/figgy slight oxidized/toasty flavor; sorta interesting Santa Barbara.
SantaBarbaraWnry Santa BarbaraCnty Pinot Noir '96: fragrant strong toasty/oaked light cherry nose; tart slight herbal/cherry rather toasty/oak flavor
Cold Heaven Santa Barbara County Bien Nacido Vineyard Viognier '96: Fragrant peachy/Viognier slight minerally/stoney nose; soft lush ripe peachy/Viognier bit toasty/Fr.oak lush flavor; nicely done Viognier
Jaffurs Matilija Cuvee (44% Mourvedre, 31% Syrah, 25% Cab Franc; Stolpman Vineyard)'96: pleasant forward fruity light plummy/earthy nose; soft drinkable plummy/ earthy flavor; interesting drinkable Rhone blend.
So order 1.5 cs of stuff I can't live without, including the new Alban Grenache '96 and bid adieu to Bob and head up 101 towards Arroyo Grande. The amount of new plantings around Los Alamos (Beringer, K-J, others) is really impressive; lots of new grapes coming on line in a few yrs.
Bob Senn had recommended Steve Dooley's wines (Stephen Ross Cellars) when they'd first come out and I've followed his Pinots pretty closely since then and liked them quite a lot. So, in my quest to understand the Central Coast Pinots a bit better I'd made an appointment to visit Steve. He makes and keeps his wines at Talley Vineyards in Arroyo Grande and was former winemaker at Edna Valley Vineyards. He's also the winemaker for the Echelon wines, the mid-price-range Central Coast wines that the Chalone group is making. Joining me are Larry & Laura. I get to Talley a bit early so visit a bit with Steve Rasmussen, who makes the Talley wines. Steve show up shortly and we head into the barrels:
Stephen Ross Bien Nacido Chardonnay Block J '97: light pencilly/toasty/oaked fragrant melony nose; tight lean melony/Chardonnay light toasty/pencilly flavor; seems a bit tight & closed.
Stephen Ross Linda's Vineyard Chardonnay '97: rather fuller/richer same pencilly/toasty somewhat minerally/stoney flavor; very long light toasty/pencilly ripe lush melony/Chardonnay finish
Stephen Ross Bien Nacido Pinot Noir (3% Petite Sirah) '97: loads of bright cherry/black cherry light pencilly/oaked nose; delicate/elegant spicy/cherry flavor; lighter than the '96 but a loveley elegant delicate Pinot
Stephen Ross Edna Ranch Pinot Noir '97: much stronger black cherry/riper deeper strong toasty/pencilly/pungent rather black cherry/Pinot flavor; bigger & richer & more like the '96.
Stephen Ross Monte Rosso Vineyard Zinfandel '97: Steve's first Zinfandel under his label & he went a fur piece to get the grapes but since he was once at Louis Martini & knew the grapes to be very good Zinfandel & had a chance to buy some, he jumped at it: bright very fragrant spicy/raspberry/Zinfandel nose w/ very light pencilly/oak; tart bright spicy/raspberry fragrant bit cinammon/pencilly oak flavor; a bright zippy fragrant Zinfandel much like the Biales w/o all the French oak.
Stephen Ross French Camp Vineyard Paso Robles Syrah '97: rather peppery/spicy light strawberry/Syrah nose; light peppery/spicy/licorice strawberry/Syrah flavor; a bit like the early EstrellaRiver Syrahs; a lighter/elegant Syrah
The Stephen Ross wines are not big/rich/extracted style of wines but more on the elegant side and very well balanced and well-made; very nicely done wines.
Larry & Laura return to Santa Barbara and I head on up to San Luis Obispo. Plans to stay in the Chainsaw & Ostrich Feathers Suite at the Madonna Inn fall thru so try a more conventional motel. Unfortunately, there's a car show in town & things are pretty much booked up. The Holiday Inn suggests I try the Garden Street Inn, which turns out to be a terrific intimate very friendly B&B just off the downtown area; highly recommended. Before heading out to dinner I decide to check out The Wine Guy; a shop that used to be in Arroyo Grande & now moved up to San Luis Obispo. It's, by far, the best wine shop (to my knowledge) on the Central Coast between The Wine Cask in Santa Barbara, and the Bay area, well worth a stop and a lot of real gems. Ron seems to be able to get a lot of wines most that are unavailable to other stores and it's obvious from the selection that he really knows what he's doing. The stop at TWG was most fortuitous, as right next door in the old Cafe Roma location, the owners were opening The Edna Valley Bistro that very night. So I buy a wine from TWG for use later that night in EVB, make a res, & return to The Garden Street Inn. Go out and get in 30 minutes of hoops, clean up & off to dinner.
Things were, as you'd expect, a bit shakey, service-wise, at Edna Valley Bistro but the menu was very interesting and the food turned out to be excellent:
Lobster Pastrami on Toasted Sourdough Thins w/ Napa Cabbage Slaw in a Basil Mayonnaise
Frisee & Spinach Salad w/ Warm Onion Tart w/ Maytag Blue Cheese & Applewood- Smoked Bacon
Ginger Crusted Salmon over Rotelle Pasta w/ Fava Beans& Sweet Corn Succotash and Charred Tomatoes
Creme Custard w/ Fresh Strawberries & Balsamic Vinegarette Sauce
and the wine from TWG's shop next door:
Karly Amador County Marsanne (83% Marsanne, 17% Roussanne) '96: some oaked/appley simple fruity nose; tart simple fruity Am.oaked some appley flavor; a very unthrilling wine (it should be noted that this was NOT one Ron recommended to me to try, just one that I wanted to try)
Unalii Mendocino Syrah '96: pleasant grapey/light blackberry/Syrah light toasty/ oaked flavor; soft simple licorice/pungent light blackberry/Syrah some earthy flavor; a rather uninspired clunky Syrah (same caveat as above). Back to the Garden Street Inn and crash.
Thursday (June 18, 1998)
Up very early, out to the bank parking lot next door for some fencing drills, drawing quite a few stares from the early rousers, like they'd never seen a guy executing flesche attacks on a DempsterDumper before!! Clean up, have breakfast w/ a geologist type from Texas at the B&B and then on up to Paso Robles.
Immediately head out to Eberle Wnry to check in. Pick up Mat Garetson's mountain bike for use there in Paso. Mint condition... looks like it's been used by a little old lady that never went over one mile in a ride. Mat proudly shows me my... er, the Rhone-n-Bowl trophy but he forgot to have it inscribed it with the Only-The-Rhonely's name, its certain winners. I assure him that hideous thing will go on the first flight out to NewMexico, but he only snorts. Give my greetings to Sue, Kris, and Diane in the tasting room, then belly up to the bar to taste a few of the new things I'd not tried or wanted to retry:
Eberle Steinbeck Vineyard Syrah '96: attractive strawberry/fruity light cinammon/cloves nose; slight brett bright strawberry/raspberry/Syrah tart light cinammon/oak flavor; nicely done bright Syrah from young vines.
Eberle Frahlich Vineyard Syrah '96: last vintage for Eberle of Frahlich Syrah: deeper more rich/blackberry/Syrah dusty some pungent/cinnamon&cloves nose; tart fairly rich blackberry/dusty/earthy very spicy/cinammon&cloves flavor; not quite as big a previous ones.
Eberle Cabernet Sauvignon '95: deep herbal spicy/cinammon&cloves/oak bit dusty nose; ripe bit herbal smooth very spicy/cinammon&cloves some blackcurranty/Cab finish; very nicely done fairly drinkable Cab that will age well; from a producer that never seems to get the recognition he deserves for his Cab.
Winemaker Bill Sheffer then joins me & we head down into the caves to hit a few barrels:
Eberle Reed Vineyard Syrah '97: fairly big rich blackberry very spicy some pencilly oaked Syrah flavor; much bigger than the two '96 Syrahs
Eberle Steinbeck Vineyard Syrah '97: Dark color; bigger richer more intense blackberry/ Syrah some oaked earthy Syrah flavor; much much bigger & richer than the '96 Steinbeck; this is going to be a good Vineyard for Gary Eberle
Eberle Lauritson Vineyard Grenache '97: pretty spicy strawberry/Grenache nose; light dusty/strawberry/Grenache flavor; a pretty little wine that'll had some nice aromas to the Cotes du Robles.
Eberle Steinbeck Vineyard Zinfandel (14.5%) '97: big rich blackberry/spicy/raspberry Zinfandel nose; tart rich blackberry/very spicy/cinammon flavor; heads & shoulders above the '96 Steinbeck Zinfandel; going to be another terrific Eberle Zinfandel.
Eberle Sauret Vineyard Zinfandel (15.5%) '97: huge blackberry/boysenberry dusty/old vines very spicy light pungent/oaked nose; rich mouthfilling dusty/old vines big extracted blackberry/Zinfandel very spicy flavor; from a short crop, hence the intensity; not quite the 16%+ alc of the previous two Saurets but bigger & more extracted; probably Gary's best Sauret Zinfandel yet; killer stuff.
Bid adieu to Bill & go chat w/ Mat a bit about the Raisin' Rhones Festival events and Viognier Guild stuff. He can't resist hauling me down to the cellar to show me all the wines for the Festival.... probably the greatest single collection of Rhone-style wines ever assembled in one place ever. I stand in utter awe of this guy, Mat,...... certainly not because of his bowling skills (negligible) but how he can keep such a high energy level and friendly (and genuine) personality with as little sleep over the last few days as I know he's been getting. He keeps up this incredible pace (not to mention the intense after-hours partying) thru the entire festival. Lesser men would have died in their tracks.
Stop in and visit w/ Gary Eberle for awhile. He & Jeannie have just gotten back the day before from a 1+ month cruise & trip to Europe/Greece/Italy. With no obvious signs of jet-lag, he, too, seems has energetic as ever. Must be something in the water there in Paso Robles!!
Have a bit of time afore lunch, so head East on Hwy 49 to stop at the Tobin James tasting room. Pretty dull place this morning, Toby's not there regaling the tasting room crowd. But taste few a few of the oferrings there anyway:
Tobin James Ballistic Zinfandel '96: light spicy raspberry/fruity; pleasant, simple
Tobin James Cabernet Sauvignon '95: light fruity simple little Cab like, more like Zinfandel
Tobin James Cabernet Sauvignon '96: bit bigger bit more herbal/Cab character; simple
Tobin James Chateau le Cacheflo (80% Mourvedre): pleasant fragrant bit plummy, OK
Tobin James Paso Robles Syrah '96: light spicy/blackberry/Syrah nose; soft light drinkable some spicy/fruity/blackberry flavor; nice but simple
Tobin James Charissma Dessert Zinfandel '97: pressed like white Zinfandel: somewhat light raspberry/cranberry nose; somewhat sweet light cranberry/raspberry flavor; great flashy packaging but only pleasant dessert Zinfandel
Tobin James Dessert SauvBlanc '97 (17.1%): very lush very grapey/mango/guava nose; quite sweet lush exotic mango/guava flavor; an interesting dessert white
Toby has made some positively stunning Paso Robles wines in the past. Nearly all the wines here today were pretty uninspiring, nothing profound. Wonder what's going on w/ Toby??
Head on back west on Hwy49 to downtown Paso Robles for lunch at Chris Cherry's Villa Creek restaurant. A new restaurant, no sign on the outside identifying it, serves a semi-SouthWest/California fresh cusine. THe wine list is extremely well done with a great selection of very interesting things and very reasonably priced. Another outstanding addition to the Paso wine scene, where it once used to be a genuine culinary wasteland.
Joining me for lunch is Larry Roberts, a friend I had met on the InterNet (Dr.Fermento) who has been a home winemaker for a number of yrs and had just gone commercial with his first release under the Rio Seco label. Larry's hooked up w/ another couple, purchased some land on Union Rd not far from the river (which is dry most of the time; hence, Rio Seco), have put in a Vineyard and will eventually convert this bldg on the property (which once housed an indoor marijuana farm & was badly damaged when it was shut down) to the winery. They have put in Zinfandel (Cherry??, Sauret, Shenandoah clones), Syrah (Frahlich & an Aussie clone), Cab, CabFranc, and Roussanne. Anyway, we taste Larry's first wines over lunch:
Rio Seco Vineyards San Bernarbe Vineyard (Monterey) Pinot Blanc '97: ripe forward very lush tropical fruit/celery light buttery/toasty/butterscotchy nose; soft round lush ripe celery/tropical fruit/pineapply buttery/toasty/pencilly oak flavor; a very nicely done forward nicely-oaked Pinot Blanc and well-priced at $15. Only 195 cases made.
*Rio Seco Vineyards Cherry Vineyard Paso Robles Zinfandel (16.7%) '96: huge very lush ripe blackberry loads of fruit very aromatic bit volatile nose; soft huge very lush loads of ripe blackberry/jammy spicy bit licorice chocolaty/boysenberry flavor w/ no overripe/raisened/pruney character at all; carries the alcohol very well w/ only a bit of fuminess in the nose. I love the style of blackberry/jammy Paso Robles Zinfandel that the early Peachy Canyon Zins showed and this RioSeco is easily the best of that style I've seen in 4-5 yrs. Fairle priced at $20, only 182 cases & going fast. Both pretty impressive wines, especially for a first release. Larry's obviously made the jump from amateur to commercial winemaker extremely well. The lunch is light but very tasty, despite the missing ostrich burger.
Head out west to Bethel Road and a visit to Dover Canyon Wnry. Winemaker Dan Panico (formerly of Eberle Wnry) is down to Disneyland w/ son Troy for some R&R so Mary Baker ably shows us (Lenny has now joined me, coming up from Santa Maria) thru the wines:
Dover Canyon BuardoVineyard Viognier Reserve (13.8%) '97: Med.gold color; beautiful lush peachy/pineapply light toasty/oak nose; soft lush very spicy/peachy/Viognier very ripe flavor; a big Dolly Parton Viognier w/ nice touch of smokey/oak
Dover Canyon Rhone Reserve (75% Frahlich Vineyard Viognier, 25% ChequeraVineyard Roussanne; 14.2%) '97: very fragrant floral lush very spicy mostly peachy/Viognier nose; tart more appley/peachy very spicy structured bit earthy flavor; lots of Viognier character but more structured than most.
Dover Canyon Cougar Ridge Vineyard Chardonnay (13.4%) '97: lush toasty/oak/butterscotchy/cloves ripe melony/Chardonnay nose; soft rich lush very spicy/cloves melony/Chardonnay rather toasty/ butterscotchy/oak flavor; big & ripe Chardonnay very good.
Dover Canyon Merlot '96: strong tobaccoy/cedary/cinammon&cloves some ripe grapey Merlot fruit; very good but not enough to make me drink Merlot
Dover Canyon Merlot Reserve '96: Very dark color; intense Merlot fruit strong tobaccoy/cedary/cigar box pungent nose; rich ripe extracted pungent/tobaccoy smokey very ripe Merlot fruit flavor; best Paso Merlot I've ever had; this could make me drink Merlot
Dover Canyon Cabernet (Norman + Cougar Ridge Vineyards) '96: rich ripe bit herbal/Cab some tobaccoy/toasty/oak nose; rich toasty/pungent/cigar box/tobaccoy some ripe herbal/chocolaty/Cab flavor; big & rich & ripe Cab
*Dover Canyon Templeton Gap (JanKris + Cobble Creek Vineyards; 14.8%) Zinfandel '96: Very dark color, intense very peppery/black pepper some toasty/oak/smokey bit blackberry/ Zinfandel nose; very ripe black pepper/blackberry milky/Am.oaked/toasty/smokey flavor; pretty tannic & structured & not overripe; very unusual PR Zinfandel
Dover Canyon Cobble Creek Vineyard Late Harvest Zinfandel '97: Very intense blackberry/jammy bit volatile/aromatic nose; soft sweet (5% r.s.) very lush blackberry/jammy/ boysenberry flavor; much like the Ridge Essences
Dover Canyon Jan Kris Vineyard Unfltrd Zinfandel Port (18.2%) '96: Very ripe/raisened/pruney/ blackberry some alcoholic nose; tart some hot/alcoholic raisened/pruney/jammy flavor; tastes like overripe Zinfandel converted into Port; bit too raisened flavor.
All-in-all, a pretty impressive set of wines. Dan makes a pretty broad line of wines but, as more Vineyard sources become available to him, plans to focus more on Rhone varietals. Dover Canyon is, knowing what winemaking talents Dan showed out at Gary Eberle's, to me one of another really exciting wineries coming an-line in Paso Robles a wnry to keep your eye on.
Then head down Bethel Rd to the Peachy Canyon tasting room, just recently opened in the old Live Oak Wnry facility. Doug Beckett is there so we chat a bit & he's eager to show off his new '96 releases:
Peachy Canyon Paso Robles Chardonnay '97: Doug's first foray into the Chardonnay market: very ripe tropical fruit buttery/leesy/b.f. Chardonnay nose; soft fat lush tropical fruit ripe b.f./leesy flavor; nice mainstream Chardonnay
Peachy Canyon EastSide Zinfandel '96: Light color; a spicy soft light raspberry/jammy simple Zinfandel
Peachy Canyon West Side Zinfandel '96: Bit darker color; deeper more blackberry/Zinfandel less jammy nose; soft fairly lush blackberry/ripe slight dusty flavor, pleasant Zinfandel
Peachy Canyon Dusi Ranch Zinfandel '95: soft simple bright raspberry/Zinfandel; pretty light
Peachy Canyon Mustard Creek Chardonnay '97: strong toasty b.f./leesy pungent ripe melony/ Chardonnay nose; soft rich ripe lush very toasty/butterscotchy/oaked melony/Chardonnay lots of b.f./leesy character
Peachy Canyon Dusi Ranch Zinfandel '96: deep rich ripe blackberry rather dusty light oak nose soft bigger (than the '95) more blackberry some dusty flavor; noticibly bigger than the '95; good Zinfandel
Peachy Canyon Especial Zinfandel '96: Much the same but a bit bigger & richer yet Peachy Canyon Para Siempre (Cab/Merlot blend) '95: strong buttery/bit toasty oaked some herbal/Cab nose; soft ripe dusty/herbal/Cab flavor; fairly soft & forward and not that much structure.
The Peachy Canyon reds are good wines but don't strike me as profound or interesting as the ones from the early '90's. I was more impressed w/ Doug's Chards than the Zins.
Send Lenny on his way back to Santa Maria as the wind literally howls thru the Templeton Gap. Decide Pesenti is not worth stopping at so head on down to Templeton to check into the Country House Inn B&B. This is my favorite place to stay in the Paso area. The owner, Diane Garth, makes excellent breakfasts. Best of all is her son, Skyler, a really cute kid that is very personable & talkative, really neat. Best of all, he's a great Chicago Bulls fan and loves playing BB. With my once-a-yr appearances, though, he's not picking up on the swords too fast. Sky's off to Little League, so I shoot a few hoops and then pull out Mat's bike & go for a short ride. Probably doubled the total mileage on the thing. Boring ride... too flat, too much oxygen down here.
Shower & head out to Bistro Laurent for dinner. By now, my entourage has dwindled down to nothing, so dine alone for a change. As I cross the street, notice Mat & a bunch over on the Villa Creek patio downing beers. With them is Kathy Clark, from Wild Horse Wnry, out prowling the streets of Paso looking for me to find out what time my appt tomorrow was for (she'd lost my card). So clear that up, but Mat & his entourage have disappeared. I was going to volunteer my services to stuff the attendee packets, which still hadn't been done. Doug & Nancy Beckett are here w/ another couple, so greet them. Don Neel (publisher of Practical Vineyard Management management) is here dining with Dave King (owner of Vista del Rio Wnry in Paso), so renew that acquaintinceship. And then over in this one very noisy corner is a party of 5-6 people, led by the irrepressible & voluble (we'll stop the adjectives at that!) Mat Garetson. They're having a good time, so I don't intrude (until later). I tell my waitress that the guy over there in the green shirt looks familar... "Is he sombody famous??" She tosses her head back and scoffs out a reply .. "Naw, he's just some marketing guy, out at Eberle I think"!! She got that one right!!
I had eaten some of Laurent Grangien's food before at various wine functions in Paso, but never at his restaurant, which I was determined to do this time. The food was absolutely first-rate, as good as in SF (Santa Fe OR San Francisco):
Goat Cheese in Puff Pastry
Smoked Duck & Avocado Salad w/ Walnut Oil
Seafood Fricasee (Mussels, Tuna, Halibut, Shrimp, Clams, Woodear Mushrooms) in a Red Wine Sauce
Raspberry Clafoutis
and couldn't resist going for the Viognier:
Alban Vineyards Central Coast Viognier '97: rather closed light peachy/earthy/minerally/ stoney nose; tart lean appley/minerally light peachy/Viognier flavor; not as rich & big as the '96. As the wine warmed up, it started really to blossom in the glass and developed greatly into a big Viognier.
By now, at dessert time, Mat has recognized me and comes over to apologize profusely for not noticing me come into Bistro Laurent and invites me to join their table. I beat up on him a bit for his lack of couth and loss of his genteel Southern ways & make him grovel a bit more before joining them. Visit a bit with the group and get to scavenge thru their leftovers, much better than the stuff I find in the DempsterDumpsters:
Cristom Willamette Valley Viognier '96: Pleasant clean mostly appley very light peachy nose, soft ripe appley very light peachy Viognier bit earthy flavor; nothing profound & more like a Pays d'Oc Viognier.
Vieux Telegraphe CdP (en magnum) '95: when I first served this on release, my reaction was "where's the brett??". It was big ripe lush CLEAN and the best VT in quite some time (by my squeaky-clean Calif standards). This bottle was very barnyards/horsecollar/pungent but packed w/ rich flavors; a bit too stinky for my tastes but really tasty. Back to the Country House Inn in a bit of a fog & crash.
Friday (June 19, 1998)
Up early, eschew breakfast for a bit of hoops, take another boring bike ride, soak labels, read a bit, then off to my 9:30 am appt at Wild Horse, nearby.
Two wineries are always must-visits for me when I go to Paso, Eberle & Wild Horse. And I have always been amazed by what Ken Volk can do at that winery. Although their production level is fairly large (pushing 90,000 cs), focused on the standard Chardonnay, Merlot, Cab, Pinot, and Pinot Blanc; the quality level is astonishingly high and the prices most reasonable. But Ken also makes a lot of different varietals and vineyard-designate bttlgs in much smaller quantities that are only available at the tasting room or directly from the wnry. These wines are absolutely first rate and has good as anything you can find in Calif. Ken also has a passion for exploring new & unusual varietals and scouting out small Vineyards containing odd, old stuff up & down the Central Coast, especially up in SanBenito County.
Ken is an exciting person to visit with as he shares all his new ideas and latest discoveries, delivered in his typical machine-gun stocatto voice; probably as high- strung a guy as I've ever met. Rumor has it that he even sleeps sometimes; but that's pure rumor at this point, few have ever witnissed it firsthand!!
I arrive at Wild Horse right at 9:30 am and find the faithful Lenny, just up from Santa Maria that morning, already awaiting me. This is a bad day for Ken as the wine- writer Steve Heimhoff is also visiting. So Kathy Clark starts to show us around all the new things at Wild Horse. I had heard that they were expanding the wnry, but sure saw no signs of it when I drove up. But out back, there it is, this one HUGE concrete bldg going up, entirely for barrel storage room. It appears to be over 75 yards wide and long and maybe 40 ft high; massive. Ken catches up with us and spends some time detailing its construction and his plans for its use. At present, Wild Horse has barrel storage in two other wnrys and this will allow Ken to consolidate it all on the property. So off Ken goes for his other tasks, Kathy takes us into the present barrel storage room and turn us over to Matt and off we go to taste from barrel:
Wild Horse James Berry Vineyard Mourvedre '97: the James Berry Vineyard, owned & run by "Pebble" Smith, is focused on Rhone varietals and located on the West Side on Willow Creek Rd just up from Hwy 46West: deep plummy spicy bit earthy Mourvedre nose; soft rich floral/violets plummy peppery/spicy flavor; fairly firm tannic structure, very good Mourvedre.
Wild Horse Juan Navarez Vineyard Syrah '97: very dark color; big ripe black cherry/black cherry cola spicy nose; tart hard tannic very ripe black cherry cola flavor; a big hard tannic Syrah that'll be a good one.
Wild Horse James Berry Vineyard Syrah '97: black color, very intense blackberry/black cherry/boysenberry loads of fruit bit tarry/pungent nose; big rich intense blackberry/black cherry cola/spicy/peppery pungent/bit roasted huge tannic/ structured flavor; a huge Syrah that's going to be killer wine someday.
Wild Horse San Bernarbe Vineyard Monterey Syrah '97: some blackberry/Syrah bit herbal/ earthy nose; soft clunky blackberry/herbal/earthy flavor
Wild Horse Juan Navarez Vineyard Syrah '97 (from new Cooper Select barrel): same intense fruit but more peppery/spicy/oaked flavor. and then Matt trots us into the tasting room, obviously enjoying this far more than trying to juggle around barrels out in the cramped storage room. By this time, Larry and Laura have caught up w/ us, just having come up from Santa Barbara. Matt & Kathy are on a roll now, cracking open some special bottles. So we try:
*Wild Horse James Berry Vineyard Syrah '95: fragrant blackberry/Syrah dusty rather toasty pungent/oaked very spicy nose; rich hard blackberry/Syrah/dusty pungent/toasty bit earthy/roasted flavor; big hard & a bit closed
*Wild Horse James Berry Vineyard Syrah '94: strong toasty/pungent/roasted blackberry/ Syrah spicy some complex nose; big hard rich toasty/roasted/coffee/oaked big blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah tannic flavor; still needs 3-8 yrs of age; a big huge extracted Syrah that will be a killer.
Wild Horse Central Coast Syrah '96: bit reduced/stinky/pungent rather licorice/plummy slight peppery/blackberry nose; soft plummy/licorice/bit herbal pungent/earthy flavor; not that much Syrah fruit.
Wild Horse James Berry Vineyard Mourvedre '95: strong floral/violets/plummy nose; hard tannic dusty plummy/floral/Mourvedre flavor; needs a bit of age; rather hard on the palate
Wild Horse Cienega Grenache '95: fragrant strawberry/Grenache bit simple nose; tart pleasant light strawberry/Grenache flavor; pretty little wine but just that
Wild Horse Central Coast Syrah '94: lovely tobaccoy/smokey/cedary/aromatic some blackberry nose; tart cedary/tobaccoy/pungent/smokey buttery/vanilla/oak some blackberry/Syrah flavor; a really nice drinking Syrah
Wild Horse James Berry Vineyard Syrah '96: recently bttld; strong aromatic/perfumy blackberry/black cherry light toasty/smoky nose; rather lean/hard tannic some ripe blackberry/licorice flavor; seems a bit hard & closed.
I was very much impressed with Ken's Syrahs. Not as strongly fruit-driven as most of the Central Coast Syrahs, they seem to have more tannins & structure than many of them and should age very well. The James Berry Vineyard looks like it'll be a famous one someday.
Bid adeiu to Kathy & Matt. Len head down to SLO to pick up his wife Denise. Larry and Laura head down to Wilson's Lanes in Paso for a last-minute practice session w/ Dave. Me, clearly at the peak of my athletic prowess, feel such measures are not warranted. So head back to Paso to meet up w/ Richard Sauret.
I had followed the Sauret Zinfandel from the early days that I had known of them, back when there was once a Belli-Sauret Wnry in Paso. The grapes now go to both Kent Rosenblum and Gary Eberle and are producing what is arguably the best Paso Zinfandel being made these days. The Rosenblum '96 is Kent's best Paso Zinfandel yet. Gary's '95 & '96 are terrific, the '97 is mind-blowing. Definitly primo grapes come from Richard's Vineyards.
I had met Richard some 5 yrs earlier at the Paso Robles Zinfandel Festival and took a real liking to him; he's as honest & straightforward a person as I know, very much like the farm people I know from back in Kansas. So I decided in preparing for this trip that I'd really like to walk the vineyard with him and see what it's like. So we meet at the appointed time in downtown Paso and head out.
The Sauret Vineyard is actual two parcels, both to the west and north of Paso. The lower Vineyard is on the Belli property and farmed for them by Richard. These are the older vines, planted in '69, and goes entirely to Gary Eberle. It's a beautiful Vineyard on rolling hills, immaculately maintained. Turns out Richard had been up since 3:00am, out spraying in the Vineyard. As we walk around the Vineyard a bit, it's clear why his grapes produce such great Zinfandel, he cares for them like they were his children. All head pruned fairly high, all dry farmed. He shows me a bit how he prunes them to clear it out in the middle of the head to open it up to the spray and how important this all is. We then go up to his other Vineyard, which is even more spectacular. It's located up on the crown of this, atop of which is perched his home, with a bunch of mixed fruit trees. The peacefulness of the afternoon up there in the Vineyard is puncuated frequently by explosions from his propane cannon to drive away the birds from his fruit, and the Army boys over the hill playing with their somewhat bigger cannons, doing whatever they do with them. All that was missing to complete the scene was the flash of a 40 kt tactical nuke.... which woulda taken care of those birds fershure, fergood.
So we walk this Vineyard a bit, too, and it shows the same immaculate care as the other one. Richard put in this yr a block of Barbera for Gary Eberle and a block of Petite Sirah for Kent Rosenblum; so we have some new Sauret wines to look forward to in 4-5 yrs. Because of the cool, rainy late Spring weather; he laments that the crop is nearly a month behind, latest he's ever seen it. The view from up here is spectacular. You can see the mtns over by the coast to the west, way up into Camp Roberts to the northwest, and way across the valley to Shandon to the east. Richard's cherrys have just ripened, so we go out and pick several quarts; me eating probably a pint's worth they were soooo good. And then he gives me two btls of his own wine, unlabeled, made for him at Castoro Cellars from his second crop Zinfandel that he keeps for himself. It's worthwhile to get out in the Vineyard w/ these growers and see the vines themselves, and listen to them.... makes you appreciate the wine all the more.
Bid adieu to Richard and head up into the Adelaida Hills. I'd been hearing some good reports about the Adelaida Cellars wines of late, so decide to stop there first. Shouldn't have bothered, the lady there was clearly more interested in her computer back in the office than pouring the wine. It never ceases to amaze me how many wineries are totally clueless as to how important it is to make visitors feel welcome in their tasting room. When you walk into Eberle, or Wild Horse, or Dover Canyon... those people are genuiniely glad that you came in and make you feel that way. In many other tasting rooms, they treat you like you're just a freeloader there just to get a cheap buzz. Even when they charge for tasting.
Adelaida Cellars Paso Robles Zinfandel '96: light blackberry pretty oaked/charred nose; some blackberry Zinfandel clunky/rustic pretty charred/oak flavor. The other wines didn't inspire me enough to take notes.
Drive on up to Norman Cellars, past the Tablas Hills (Robert Haas/Perrin family) Vineyard and new winery. Tasted a few things there and chat a bit w/ Art Norman. In his previous life, he'd actually been to LosAlamos, so knew the place. He was out of the '96 Monster Zinfandel, which was my reason for stopping. Tasted the:
Norman Cellars Late Harvest Zinfandel '97: med.color; lush strong jammy/blackberry bit fumey/volatile/alcoholic nose; fairly sweet strong jammy/blackberry flavor w/ light tannins; pleasant dessert Zinfandel
Head on down Vineyard Rd to Peachy Canyon Rd and then own down into Paso Robles and back to The Country House Inn in Templeton. Get in a bit of hoops and read some. Shower and don my bowling uniform for the first time. As I view myself in the mirror, in all the sartorial splendor that only a bowling uniform can bestow upon its wearer, the adrenaline really starts to pump w/ knowledge that our certain victory is only hours away.
Our team, named the Only-The-Rhonely by Laura, from a suggestion by Mat, was composed of myself, Larry & Laura, and Dave. As the only true athlete of this four- some, I was the natural choice for Athlete-In-Chief, responsible for instigating and maintaining a wicked & grueling training program to carry us to victory. We had had our first practice in SantaFe back in April. It did not inspire the quiet confidence that would later infuse our ranks. Over the intervening months, Dave was bowling several times a week in SanFrancisco, taking a few weeks of to attend his wedding. Larry & Laura also got in a few more practice sessions; but, alas, a heavy Spring fencing schedule interfered w/ my appearance on the KivaBowl lanes. But when you're a natural athlete... not to worry.
Laura was responsible for devising the bowling shirts for the team, and a yoeman (and last-minute) job she did at that!! "Tacky" is probably the operational word here. K-Mart Shoppers specials, died black, with a grape cluster motif on the front pocket, "Only-The-Rhonely" across the back w/ another grape cluster, and each name emblazoned on the arm. As befiting my lofty position as Athlete-In-Chief, my shirt had A.I.C on the arm. Unfortunately, some of the other Rhone-n-Bowl opponents didn't comprehend the importance of the initials and asserted it stood for A**Hole In Charge. Double unfortunate, Laura also forgot to distinguish my importance by mounting the epaulets on the shoulders, which would've most assuredly drawn me the respect and utter reverence deservant to an Athlete-In-Chief!! Anyway, the Only-The- Rhonely was utterly resplendent in the black uniforms on that night at Wilson Lanes.
But first we had to have the team training-table meal. This we did in fine form at Ian McPhee's Grill in Templeton. Finally, the team is assembled for the first time in its entirety: Dave & Claudia, Lenny & Denise, Larry & Laura, and, of course, their splendiferous A-I-C. McPhee's is one of my favorite restaurants in the Paso area, probably the first restaurant there of a quality that the area deserves. They did not disappoint tonight:
Oak Grilled Eggplant & Duberki Goat Cheese Salad
Grilled Veal Cutlet w/ Sweet Mustard & Roasted Rosemary Potatoes
Flourless Chocolate Cake w/ Honey/Caramel Sauce & Raspberry Coulis
and the wines we brought (as if we REALLY needed any):
Roederer Cristal '90: light toasty very crisp/yeasty sparkler, terrific.
Peachy Canyon Especial '96 (Leona's 2nd Crop & Old Bailey Vineyards): strong ripe blackberry/Zinfandel very spicy lovely nose; soft fat rich fairly extracted lush ripe blackberry flavor; a great-drinking Zinfandel
*Guigal Hermitage '85: bit musty strong wet-wool/burnt sealing wax/roasted smokey very complex nose; rich very complex burnt sealing wax/roasted/smokey/pungent bit earthy flavor; a terrific mature complex Hermitage
As the rest of the Only-The-Rhonelys return to their respective motels to don their uniforms, I head straight to Wilson Lanes. Signs all over the venue advertising the following weekend's Wet Bikini Contest. It's clear that Mat had better start doing a better job coordinating the Raisin'Rhone Festival w/ Wilson Lanes. As the only team member w/o his own bowling bowl, I find one of the alley's balls that fits reasonably well, get my rental shoes, and grab a lane. As the competition starts to gather, it is clear that the Only-The-Rhonelys will be the fashion plate of the Rhone-n-Bowl. Only Steve Edmund's team, The Rhonesome Doves, has any sembelance of uniforms, mere Edmunds St. John labels splashed on the front of these cheap T-Shirts. Kevin Hamel is wearing an authentic '50's era bowling shirt, obviously straight from the Healdsburg GoodWill Store. John Alban introduces me to the French contingent, who've been staying w/ he & Lorraine down in Arroyo Grande, their English pretty shakey, my French non-existent. Lots of other folks show up; the Aussie contingent, Bob Lindquist, Steve Edmunds & Cornelia St.John, Jim Clendennan, Morgan Toral, Kevin & Yvonne Hamel, Augie Hug & Racquel, Ken Volk, Kathy Clark, Matt from Wild Horse also, Dick Walthen (Foxen); but nothing inspires me to fear for our rightful claim to the trophy.
And then the wines start to come out; and it ain't mere schlock, nothing but good stuff. Many of the winemakers/teams had dinner afore & taken some special bottles, the leftovers showing up here on this most special night at Wilson Lanes. It was tough in that I'm badly torn to enter into my wine geek mode & start taking notes, but I fight off this urge. As the rest of the competition throws together teams, the Only-The-Rhonelys take a few practice rolls on Lane 13. From the aprehensive sidelong glances coming from the other lanes, it's clear that the O-t-Rs are THE team to beat.
Mat makes a few preliminary announcements, asks us to form teams of 6; so we add Lenny to our squad (Laura had thoughtfully made up shirts for the non-bowling part of our contingent) and recruit Craig Jaffurs. Laura had even made an extra shirt (Laura is soooo good at doing these girl-type things!!) that she retrieved for Craig. We take some more practice rolls, scoff at and heap ridicule and derision at the pseudo-bowlers on neighboring lanes.... and then Mat throws us a curve in a blatent attempt to negate our vast training edge of the O-t-R team: the lights were turned out, the pins lit up w/ black-lights, some flashing multi-color strobe/disco lights turned on (obviously here for next week's Wet Bikini Contest), and a mister started spewing out fog throughout the lanes. Alas, it was all for nought; superior athletic skills always prevail in the end.
Dave, a bit perplexed and nonplussed by the less-than-pristine bowling conditions comes thru w/ a very strong game; obviously the result of more dedicated practice. Larry, Laura (the only regular bowler, actually, on the team), and Lenny all have strong games in the mid-100's. Craig, who hadn't bowled in 25 yrs, once he figured out to remove his wallet and borrow Lenny's bowling shoes each frame, managed to roll a credible 93. At this point in time, the score for the Only-The-Rhonely's Athlete-In-Chief is classified at the highest level: Secret/National Security Information. Hopefully, Mat has, by now, destroyed the original scoring sheets.
The Rhone-n-Bowl was a great way to launch the Raisin'Rhone Festival. Both the French and the Oz contingents were clearly having a great time, despite the language barriers (the Aussie's English wasn't that good, either). Back to TheCountryHouse Inn in a bit of a fog and crash.
Saturday (June 20, 1998)
Up early and take another boring bike ride on the flatlands here. As at last yrs Raisin' Rhones, the weather is atypically cold for Paso Robles, so bundle up well. Then off to the Mid-State Fairgrounds, venue for the RR'98 event, early to pick up my registration packet. There is a tent offering various RR items for sale; including these garish Kenny Volk tie-dyed T-shirts. The last item on the list was a "Dream Date" w/ Mat Garetson for $1,500. By the end of the Festival Sunday, the price had been dropped to $3.49 and STILL no takers!! Chat a bit w/ Margaret Smith of Toyon Press (former ZAP Executive Director) and buy a copy of Jane O'Riordon's (Bill Easton's wife, and caterer up in The Foothills) new book of Rhone-friendly reciepes and get her to autograph it for me.
As we await the first seminar, visit w/ a few friends in the courtyard: Jim Cross (Vegas Jim) from Las Vegas, Bill Easton, Elaine & Manfred Krankl, Craig Jaffurs, Joel Butler, Dennis Schaeffer (wine author in Santa Brabara), Augie Hug, Kathy Marks-Hardesty (covering the event for the SLO paper).
Mat makes some preliminary announcements and welcoming remarks over the PA system The first seminar I chose was titled "Viogniers: The Contrarians" and was supposed to address the "myth" that Viogniers don't age and are not food friendly, neither one of which I feel is valid. The food question was kind of neglected but they all spoke on the aging question. To me, that's pretty much a non-issue. Like the vast majority of wines, Viogniers change as they get older into some pretty interesting aged wines (see Marssanne remarks above). The go from being great sensuous experiences to great intelluctual experiences (sorta like some people I know!!). The wines of the world that go from being mean, ugly things in their youth and make dramatic developments in the bottle into beautiful majestic old wines are few and far between. I love the character of old, slightly nutty, toasty/oatmeal WhiteBurg because people have found that's exactly what old Burgs evolve into. They're not as accepting of that character in Viognier because all they've drunk are sensuous, fruit-driven young Viognier. Fortunately, this non-issue was not yapped to death by the panel.
The panel was moderated by John Alban, whose French translations were impeccable (at least to my Kansas ear... but what would I know about proper French). Also were Yves Cuilleron, Francois Villard, and Josh Jensen. The two French guys looked a bit worse for the wear from the previous nights events, but then there was a lot of that running around this morning! Mostly the winemakers talked about how they grew and made Viognier; very interesting stuff. And some pretty intelligent questions from the audience. The wines tasted:
Calera Mt. Harlan Viognier (14.6%) '93: forward fragrant very lush peachy/Viognier very fragrant aromatic nose; soft rich lush very perfumed/fragrant ripe peachy/Viognier spicy flavor; classic JoshJensen Dolly Parton-style Viognier; this wine is soooo young and fresh and loaded w/ Viognier fruit like it was just released, perhaps a bit more spicy to it than before; great stuff
Alban Viognier '92: he Estate plantings were not producing yet so this is mostly from the Vineyard up in Templeton that he uses: light peachy/Viognier rather minerally/stoney bit earthy/complex nose; tart lean hard minerally/stoney some complex some old Burg bit nutmeg/butterscotchy flavor; no signs of oxidation or nutty character; John's early winemaking style was a bit on the rustic side but I didn't have this when it was young so can't tell how it evolved; not a hedonistic wine but very interesting Viognier.
Cuilleron Les Chaillots (14.7%) Condrieu: from his oldest vines, yield about 1.5 ton/acre, 30% new oak: low-key fragrant light peachy/Viognier some minerally nose; lovely minerally bit steely/metallic spicy flavor; very long lingering minerally bit dried out finish that goes on forever; a bit dried-out rather elegant/subtle/complex/minerally Condrieu; more of a Chablis-style Condrieu
**Villard Coteaux de Poncins Condrieu '96: not an old Condrieu obviously: incredible beautiful fragrant aromatic lush peachy/pear/Viognier/floral/jasmine some minerally very exotic nose; rich big mouthfilling Condrieu/minerally lush peach/pear/Viognier flavor; classic textbook incredible exotic Condrieu All-in-all, a terrific panel w/ some terrific wines, a great start to Raisin' Rhones.
We all troop out into the central courtyard and, by now the sun has fianlly come out and it's warmed up a bit; beautiful weather. As the attendees queue up for Laurent Grangien's buffet lunch, I head straight to the tables where the wines are laid out. Much better this yr, 4 Viogniers designed to go w/ the food. Last yr, the winemakers just brought out bottles to pass around & I spent all the lunch time taking notes. This time, I can take notes AND have lunch, too. The wines:
J&F Lurton Domaine des Salices Viognier '96: lovely peach/pear nose; tart lean bit thin light pear/Viognier flavor; simple & unexciting
Horton Limited Reserve Orangy County Virginia Viognier '97: attractive clean pear/ peach/Viognier nose; light pleasant peachy/pear Viognier fruity flavor; pleasant attractive nicely-done Viognier from an unusual area
*Calera San Benito County Mt. Harlan Estate Viognier '97: really, a lot like the '93; loads of lush ripe perfumy/aromatic peachy/Viognier; soft rich lush big peachy/Viognier flavor; classic Calera DP Viognier
*Alban Edna Valley Estate Viognier '97: beautiful fragrant very spicy peachy/Viognier pear bit minerally nose; rich very spicy pear/peach/Viognier some minerally/ earthy bit steely flavor; lots of Viognier fruit but other very intresting stuff therein; terrific Viognier
So here all all these winemakers and us lesser folks spread out amongst these shaded picnic tables, chowing down on Laurent's terrific lunch, more great Viogniers than one ever needed; truly idyllic bliss. Visit a bit w/ Josh Jensen and meet his 11-yr old daughter Chloe; neat bright kid but probably bored out of her gourd! Meet David Darlington, author of Angel's Visit. He apologizes for not replying to my letter some 7-8 yrs ago. I'm amazed he remembered that. He recounts his recent visit to LosAlamos while researching his Area 51 book. He had heard rumors that there were some tunnels into the mesa here where the did the disections on the alien bodies from the saucers down in Roswell.Didn't find 'em, of course. Also met the Wine Spectator's man at the event, Tom Garrett. Really bright young guy that was asking a lot of questions, absorbing a lot during the entire festival. I was quite impressed
I have this image of all the WS people being self-absorbed, high-life-style, very self-promotional type of people just from the general tenor of the publication. They may be, but Tom was a very friendly easy-going sharp young man... the kind I wouldn't mind taking a bike ride with.
In fact, that was the plan. During our visit, I had talked Adam Tolmach into bringing his mountain bike up to Paso & we'd do a bike ride one morning. Tom is an avid mtn biker and wanted to join us, so we all make plans to meet at 12th & Spring at 6:00 am the next morning a ride up Peachy Canyon Rd to Adelaida Rd & then back down to Paso, about the only decent uphill stuff around. Also try to talk David Darlington into joining us, since he had his bike along, but he seems a bit reluctant to commit to a 6:00 am outing. Finally, I'll get to do some (not-so-serious) uphill biking, as befitting a venerated Athlete-In-Chief!!
So we eventually file back into the large Ag bldg for the afternoon seminar on Australian Rhones, moderated by Joel Butler. Joel & I go waaaay back to his early days at Boulder's Liquor Mart about '73-'74. He's one of the most knowledgeable wine people I've ever met, a great choice to lead this panel. The Aussies on this panel, whose English was, well.... so-so, are Adam Brock (Wynn's Coonawarra), Glen James (Leasingham), John Larchet (Frankland River Estate), Chester Osborn (d'Arenberg), and Brian Walsh (Yalumba). Chester took a lot of good-natured ribbing from the California winemakers during the weekend's event for having the guts to name a wine "The Janitor" and then being able to sell the stuff (referring, of course, to the stunning d'Arenberg Old Vine Grenache "The Custodian").
The panel discussion, with a lot of slides to go along with them, was extremely interesting; describing the origins of Shiraz & Grenache, growing conditions, etc. Again, a bunch of very intelligent questions from the floor. I thought the questioners were surprisingly gentle in the queries about the amount of oak in these wines. This set of wines was, overall, one of the most spectacular set of the Festival:
**d'Arenberg The Custodian Grenache (14.5%) '96: black color; very intense black- berry/black cherry cola/dusty old vines some vabilla/Am.oaked nose; strong minty/menthol/Am.oaked intense black cherry/Grenache/black cherry cola flavor; a stunning exotic Grenache w/ a healthy dose of Am.oak
**Wynn's Coonawarra Estate Michael Shiraz '94: black color, very intense pungent/ smokey licorice/chocolaty/blackberry some vanilla/oak nose; beautiful very intense blackberry/Shiraz/toasty/pungent/chocolaty/smokey/licorice flavor; a huge massive extracted Shiraz w/ good oak but not overdone
**Leasingham Classic Clare Shiraz '95: black color; very intense vanilla/Am.oaked toasty intense blackberry/black cherry/Shiraz nose; hard tannic very intense black cherry/blackberry/Shiraz loads of Am.oaked flavor w/ lots of tannin; a huge extracted boysenberry/framboise very very oaked Shiraz
*Yalumba Octavius Shiraz '93: black color; very intense milky/vanilla/Am.oaked intense blackberry/Shiraz nose; bit tart very milky/Am.oaked/vanilla/smokey very ripe blackberry/Shiraz flavor w/ ample tannins; another huge extracted Shiraz but a bit overdone on the oak
*Frankland River Estate Isolation Ridge Shiraz '95: bit stinky/reduced pungent/ cinammon&cloves spicy some dusty/earthy bit blackberry/Shiraz nose; hard/ bit lean/tannic dusty/earthy some blackberry/Shiraz flavor; rather hard lean dusty Shiraz w/ much lower levels of fruit; clearly a much different beast from other Aussie Shiraz but one that will probably age very well
Another outstanding seminar w/ some terrific wines.
We all adjourn outside, where now the wind as picked up a bit (well.... quite a bit) and head down to the large pavillon where the afternoon's Grand Tasting venue is located. This is billed as a Library/Reserve tasting and many of the winemakers have brought very special wines for this. Armed w/ my trusty bright red wine spitoon, an intense demeanor, and trailing the erstwhile Laura, who is armed w/ a baguette in instant readiness to flail me a bit if my pace should slacken, I'm able to do some serious damage here to the wines being poured, right up to the bitter end at 6:30pm. Dave, Lenny, & Larry continually catch up w/ me to cheer me on to a more rapid pace and goad me a bit if it looks like I'm fading. That's what friends are for!! The notes for these wines are included in those below.
Back to the Country House Inn to soak labels, shoot a few hoops outside w/ Skyler to clear out the cobwebs, and prepare for the evening's "Gang of Four" dinner.
The "Gang of Four" dinner was a sit-down dinner of 4 courses prepared by Chris Cherry (Villa Creek), Rick Manson (Chef Rick's Ultimately Fine Food in Santa Maria), Tony Mantuano (Mantuano's Meditteranean Table in Chicago) and Laurent Grangien. With several hundred people here, they did a marvelous job in getting the food out for what was an excellent meal. Seating was at tables of 8, with each table hosted by a winemaker featuring his wines. Some of the tables had people reserved at them, but mostly you just wandered around until you found a table or winemaker that appealed to you. I decide to sit w/ my bowling teammate, Craig Jaffurs. Joining us is Kathy Hardesty-Marcks and Dan. Craig then goes to an adjacent table and recruits Bill Crawford (McDowell Vlly Vineyards) and his wife. At the next table over is Steve Edmunds and Cornellia, so we get the advantage of trying some of their wines, too. As the evening wore on & the noise level rose, there was much circulating amongst the tables w/ all sorts of people plying you w/ special wines to try. Towards the end, and not having the faithful Laura nearby to flog me w/ a baguette as my attention waned, I finally gave up on taking notes, so I tried probably some 25-30 wines, but only got notes for:
**Edmunds St.John Grand Heritage Syrah '92: a wine brought by Larry Archibald, this was a wine made partly from Durell fruit & partly from ElDorado fruit from a new planting: dark color; beautiful complex gamey/pungent/smokey/dusty/some roasted some blackberry/Syrah fruit nose; rich powerful gamey/pungent/smokey/ complex toasted/roasted some blackberry flavor; although Steve preferred the '93 version, I found this wine utterly stunning, one of the best Calif Syrahs I had ar RR'98.
Jaffurs Santa Barbara Cnty Bien Nacido Vineyard Viognier '96: very fragrant/aromatic peachy/Viognier/ floral/perfumed talc/complex nose; soft ripe lush floral/pears/peachy/ripe fruit/Viognier spicy flavor; originally I thought this wine to be a bit on narrow & lean side, it is really developing very nicely.
Jaffurs Thompson Vineyard Syrah '94: Craig's first Syrah: pungent dusty/earthy/smokey bit funky slightly musty unusual nose; fairly rich pungent/smokey/bit roasted/ charred/toasty light blackberry flavor; Craig thought this bottle was slightly corked but a second bottle was no better; I didn't think it was obviously corked but it just had an unusual slightly funky/Rhonish quality to it.
Cuilleron Condrieu La Cote '96: this was a bottle I had swapped out of another table for a much less interesting one that was hanging out on our table & it proved to be one of my better moves this night: lovely peachy/pears some earthy minerally floral nose; bright fresh peach/pear spicy/floral light minerally/ lean flavor; probably the least of the Cuilleron Condrieus but a very lovely wine in its own right
*Guigal La Doraine Condrieu '96: a bottle Steve Edmunds brought over for us to try: beautiful lush aromatic/perfumy pear/peach/Viognier rather minerally complex very spicy nose; rich mouthfilling loads of lush/floral/peachy/pear very spicy light minerally flavor; a very big rich Condrieu almost Calif in style.
Jaffurs Thompson Vineyard Syrah '96: lush blackberry/roasted/toasty nose; rich ripe blackberry/Syrah some roasted/smokey flavor; another Jaffurs that's developing very nicely
McDowell Grenache Rose '97: not a wine I would have normally bothered to try but Bill had brought a magnum & several people had come over to try it so I gave it a shot & glad I did: very fragrant floral/strawberry/Grenache nose; tart crisp lush loads of strong Grenache/strawberry fruit; best Grenache rose I've had a an absolutely delicious non-serious wine
McDowell Viognier '97: lovely fragrant lush ripe Viognier/peachy perfumed nose; soft rich lush floral/peach/Viognier bit spicy/nutmeg flavor; a very nicely made Viognier & probably the best McDowell white I've ever had
Preston Barrell Frmted Viognier '97: light pear/Viognier little oaked slight buttery nose; soft medium weight pear/floral flavor; not obvious what the barrel fermentation does for this wine.
Preston Mourvedre '96: fairly rich plummy/dusty/earthy nose; soft fairly rich dusty/earthy/plummy bit spicy/licorice/Dr.Pepper flavor; interesting Mourvedre
Swanson Napa Valley Syrah '94: intense blackberry/Syrah some gamey/complex some toasty/oak nose; soft very rich blackberry/Syrah bit gamey some buttery/toasty charred/oak bit tannic flavor; developing quite nicely & not as oaky as it was on release.
d'Arenberg Ironstone Pressings Grenache/Shiraz '96: very intense Am.oaked deep lush fruit/blackberry/Syrah nose; strong menthol/minty/very Am.oaked/milky intense fruit/blackberry flavor; loaded w/ Am.oak but loads of fruit, too.
Columbia Red Willow Vineyard Yakima Valley Syrah '89: strong pungent/smokey/complex/dusty/ earthy nose; tart rich complex/smokey/pungent/toasty/earthy flavor; not a lot of Syrah fruit but a very very interesting Syrah
Columbia Yakima Valley Syrah '96: very strong blackberry/Syrah very Calif-like nose; soft very ripe blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah flavor w/ light tannins; a strongly fruit-driven very Calif-like Syrah
I had followed Craig Jaffurs wines from the very start, have liked them quite a bit, so these were no surprise. The opportunity to sit w/ Bill Crawford and learn more about his wines made the whole evening worth it. McDowellVlly was one of the very first to release French Syrah made in Calif (along w/ Phelps). I was not very impressed with their early Syrahs (but then the Phelps were no barn-burners, either) Aged in American oak, they had a softness & a fatness to them that made me think they were too much like their Petite Sirah, not one of my favorite varietals. Bill recounts that in their Petite Sirah Vineyard, they had one block that was clearly different and all the wineries they sold to seemed to really like. This unique block was later identified as true Syrah and since the Vineyard was planted back in the '30's, making it some of the oldest known Syrah in Calif. This block is what Bill has subsequently propagated into a Syrah Vineyard and is known in Calif as the McDowell Syrah clone. Because of these early Syrahs, I had sort of blown off McDowellVlly as a serious player in the Rhone game. I had heard some good things on the 'Net about the McDowell Estate Syrah '95 & finally tried it about 6 months ago and was mightly impressed; loads of Syrah/blackberry fruit and a very interesting gamey edge to it. The other McDowell's I tasted here also caught my attention. Clearly I need to start keeping closer track on his wines. Probably worth a trek up to Mendocino next visit to Calif.
By the time the talks got around to being finished (John Alban received an award for his passionate promotion of Rhones in Calif) & things started to break up, it was midnight. I wander around the room browsing at bottles on other tables and see some absolutely amazing dead soldiers, some only half-dead. However, without my loyal F.I.C. (Flogger-In-Chief), I turn into a gutless wonder and exit the venue.
Back to the Country House Inn in a bit (well... a lot) of a fog. Before hitting the sack, I load Mat's bike into the car & lay out my biking gear for the appointed time, now only 5 hrs away, with Adam & Tom for our assault on the daunting Peachy Canyon road. Normally, this grueling early-morning regimen would not be a problem. As I set the alarm clock for 5:15am, the little alarm button on the clock comes off in my mighty grip. I figure, what-the-hey, the clock is probably set OK, I just won't be able to shut the thing off. Besides, I will hear my wristwatch alarm go off at its normal 5:00am time. Fat chance!!!
Sunday (June 21, 1998)
The 5:00am wrist alarm goes off, at which time another 15minutes of sleep looks awfully good; so I go for it!! Dumb move. My eyes open to sunlight peeking in the window, and it's 7:30 am. Find out later from Tom that he & Adam were there right on time, waited a bit for me, then took off up the road. The get lost at the end of Peachy Canyon Rd & take a wrong turn, finally making their way back via Hwy 49 West, probably some 30 miles of biking. Next yr I'll take my own alarm clock. So go down to the schoolground & getting in some fencing drill, clean up, then off to the fairgrounds.
Everybody here at 9:00 am this morning looks a bit worse-the-wear from the previous night. Chat a bit w/ Steve Edmunds & Cornelia & Bob Lindquist. The morning's first seminar is a Vertical of all the Edmunds St.John Durell Syrahs, '86-'95. That's a pretty daunting task at 9:30 in the morning. Furthermore, the wines were very similar stylistically, it was hard to pick out really distinguishing characteristics in each one. So the notes sound a lot the same. Before we file into the tasting venue there's a bit of nearby excitement. The guy (Mantuano) doing the lunch has fired up the Santa Maria BBQ grill & it gets a bit out of hand, flames leaping 8-10' into the air. Bet they don't do that in Chicago.
Steve has got Durell Syrah from the very start. The Shiraz clone is planted there and Steve get his Syrah from two different blocks. Another block has gone to Kendall- Jackson but it's now being replanted due to phyloxerra and K-J will no longer take Durell Syrah. Which is fine... it always seemed a waste of good grapes, their Syrahs were pretty uninspiring. Last yr, the Durell Vineyard was sold, but Steve will continue to get his two blocks of grapes.
I've followed pretty much all of Steve's wines from the very start. The early ones struck me as a bit unclean/bretty/funky, sorta on the rustic side; but I was very attracted to them because they were packed w/ flavor, very interesting, and I thought showed a lot of potential. Steve claims that the stinkiness was not brett. Probably just in a reduced condition; Steve bottles his wines pretty early so he can have room in his cellar for the next crush coming on. Like many young red wines that I encounter that sometimes have a funky/fecal/stinky/reduced smell to them, if the flavor is there on the palate; they oftentimes come thru that in fine form. And this was exactly the case w/ Steve's early Durells.
I was very much impressed by how these wines were developing. Many of them were still young wines. It is clear that the Edmunds St. John Durell Syrah is one of the very top- ranked tier of Syrah in Calif and I would claim world-class Syrah; not Rhone, but clearly world-class. Anyway, the wines:
*Edmunds St. John Sonoma Syrah '86: beautiful smokey/pungent/charred/toasty/roasted/complex bit licorice nose; pungent/tannic/smokey/toasted/light licorice some tannic flavor; beautiful complex/pungent nose but seems to be drying out a bit on the palate; probably not going to get much better and, like many older wines, have a great nose but not as attractive on the palate.
**Edmunds St. John Sonoma Syrah '87: more blackberry/Syrah slight green olive/herbal some roasted/toasty/pungent nose; softer beautiful/complex slight blackberry some toasty/roasted finish w/ some tannins; seems about its peak; beautiful complex mature Calif Syrah
*Edmunds St. John Durell Syrah '88: bit more blackberry/toasty/smokey-hot-dog slight funky/ leathery nose; hard/tannic/dusty roasted light blackberry/complex flavor; very complex nose but seemes to be drying out a bit.
*Edmunds St. John Durell Syrah '89: from a rain-plagued vintage but the were harvested afore the rains so the wine doesn't reflect the problems many others had: deeper more bass notes roasted/pungent/smokey less fragrant some spicy/cloves/complex nose; some tannic dusty/earthy/smokey/pungent light blackberry slight Rhonish/ funky character flavor; drinking very nicely now and about at its peak
**Edmunds St. John Durell Syrah '90: 15+% alc: very strong pepperminty/very spicy bit herbal/ eucalyptus some gamey strong blackberr/Syrah nose; rich very spicy bit minty gamey some herbal/pencilly ripe blackberry some complex flavor; terrific Syrah but still a young one; no signs to me of overripe charcter whatsoever.
*Edmunds St. John Durell Syrah '91: bit funky/rustic rather blackberry/licorice some toasty/ smokey nose; soft lush blackberry/black cherry spicy bit peppery light tannin flavor; drinking really nicely now & not as long-lived as the more recent ones
*Edmunds St. John Durell Syrah '92: ripe blackberry/black cherry/licorice some pungent/toasty nose; rich ripe lush black cherry cola/blackberry light pungent flavor; now getting into much more fruit-dominated Syrah; more Calif in style & less Rhone character
*Edmunds St. John Durell Syrah '93: strong plummy/blackberry/boysenberry some dusty/gamey bit herbal nose; soft rich ripe plummy/blackberry some dusty/pungent flavor w/ fair tannins; still loads of fruit but the structure to carry it.
*Edmunds St. John Durell Syrah '94: very interesting dusty/blackberry/black cherry cola/gamey some roasted/pungent nose; rich ripe black cherry cola/blackberry/gamey/bacon fat/smokey/pungent flavor w/ fair tannins; should age very well
**Edmunds St. John Durell Syrah '95: intense deep peppery/blackberry/cola some pencilly/ pungent/smokey/roasted licorice nose; rich mouthfilling deep ripe blackberry/ cola smokey/pungent slight funky/Rhone/roasted flavors w/ ample tannins; I've loved this wine from it's release & consider it stunning Calif Syrah; maybe Steve's best Syrah yet; killer wine.
It was a terrific tasting of Calif Syrah. The slightly herbal/green olive note that I found in several of these is something I also find in Bob Lindquist's Hillside Syrah and occasionally in Northern Rhones. When I first started tasting the Calif Syrahs in the mid-'70's; I thought they had the potential to make a pretty good wine, some like a bigger more structured Zinfandel; but never would I have guessed they be world-class Syrah like these. Incredible progress in only 20 yrs.
Beat a hasty exit & head over to the bldg where the Northern Rhone Reds seminar is being held. Panelists are Yves Gangloff, Francois Villard, Yves Cuilleron, John Little (Jaboulet), Marc Laderriere (Delas Freres), and Ehren Jordan (Verset via Kermit Lynch); with Ehren leading the discussion and doing a terrific job in the translation. I make a quick pass thru Laura's set of wines and very much wish I'd been able to do this seminar too.
We all then adjourn to bright sunshine in the picnic area for lunch. Ever the wine geek, I head directly to the tables first to try:
St. Hallet Faith Shiraz '96: ripe blackberry/Syrah/dusty loads of sweet/vanilla/ Am. oak; soft lush drinkable ripe strawberry/blackberry/Syrah flavors w/ ample Am.oak
De las Les Lannes Crozes-Hermitage '95: light roasted/Rhone/gamey nose; attractive lighter roasted/pungent/bacon fat/gamey flavor; very nice drinking Northern Rhone. I've bee very impressed w/ the improvements in quality of the Delas wines over the last 3-4 yrs.
*Kathyrn Kennedy Santa Cruz Mtns Syrah Maridon Vineyard (14.5%) '96: strong toasty/Fr.oak ripe blackberry dusty/earthy smokey/pungent nosel tart ripe rich blackberry/ dusty SCM some bretty/funky/gamey/Rhonish flavor; Marty Bannister's first Syrah and an impressive one it is; very interesting w/ that characteristic SCM/dusty character; need more Syrah up in the SCM, clearly.
*Alban Reva Estate Syrah '96: very fragrant very spicy/pencilly/toasty rather blackberry/Syrah nose; fairly rich very spicy/pencilly some roasted/toasty some blackberry flavor. I had heard that this was a lighter & rather lesser Syarh than the '95 Reva. Don't agree at all on the "lesser"; not as packed w/ blackberry/fruit as the '95, but more interesting/spicy/Rhonish character than the '95; another terrific Alban Syrah
Columbia Winery Yakima Valley Red Willow Vineyard Syrah '95: strong herbal/dusty/smokey light blackberry/Syrah nose; tart bit herbal rather dusty/smokey/earthy light blackberry flavor w/ some tannins; very interesting Syrah
The lunch by Tony & Kathy Mantuano was excellent, though eating a bit tough chunk of beef w/ plastic utensils turned out to be a rather daunting task. Have lunch w/ Gary & Jeannie Eberle, Tom Garrett, Joel Butler, and several others that came & went during the time. Catch up w/ Adam Tolmach & apologize & grovel a bit for not making the bike ride with he & Tom. Then it's off to the final seminar.
Led by the hilarious Reverend Bob Cranston, titular leader of the WorldWide Church of the Holy Rhone, he gets a rousing start to the "American Rhone Visionaries" panel with John Alban, Bill Crawford, Bill Easton, Gary Eberle, Steve Edmunds, Randall Graham (making a last-minute appearance w/ a crowd that he would not normally hang out with... wonder what Mat did to lean on him so hard. Randall managed to get in "counterintuitive" twice within the first 2 minutes of his speil!!), David Lake (Columbia), Alan LeBlanc-Kinne (HortonVineyards), Bob Lindquist, and Kevin Hamel (Preston Vineyards). It was an extremely interesting panel that offered some very good glimpses of the earliest yrs of the Rhone movement in Calif. Notably absent from the panel was Joe Phelps or Craig Williams, a serious oversight, IMHO. Most interesting was Gary Eberle's recounting how in the late '70's, Estrella earned far more from the nursery sales of Syrah vines than from sales of the actual Syrah wine; how he first came out w/ 10,000 cs of Syrah in a market that was ready for 1,000 cases (it should be pointed out that a fair amount of that '88 Syrah, in little redwood boxes, wound up in LosAlamos!)... "talk about dominating a market". The wines served:
Qupe Ibarra-Young Vineyard Marsanne '97: very spicy/nutmeg some butterscotch bit volatile very aromatic nose; lush full ripe very spicy/nutmeg some butterscotch floral/fragrant flavor; a lush beautiful Marsanne.
*Bonny Doon Paso Robles Roussanne '96: beautiful fragrant/aromatic spicy perfumed nutmeg/all-spice nose; bright fruity nutmeg/all-spice very floral/fragrant butterscotchy flavor; a terrific Roussanne & shows what the grape can do.
Horton Orange County Virginia Viognierr '97: attractive pretty peachy/pear floral nose; tart bit lean/metallic pear/peach flavor; nicely done Viognier some like the Pays d'Oc versions
McDowell Valley Vineyards McDowell Valley Marsanne '97: pleasant apply spicy/cinammon light oak nose; soft spicy/nutmeg/cinammon lush fruit flavor; soft fat nicely done Marsanne
Preston Vineyards Dry Creek Valley Mourvedre '96: attractive plummy/licorice dusty/earthy nose; attractive plummy/licorice soft dusty/earthy flavor w/ light tannins; pleasant soft fat Mourvedre
*Alban Estate Grenache '96: intense black cherry/strawberry/plummy/perfumed very spicy/aromatic nose; big ripe lush loads of fruit strawberry/cranberry aromatic perfumed flavor w/ good tannins & structure; stunning world-class Grenache
Columbia Yakima Valley Red Willow Vineyard Syrah '95: dusty/oaked bit herbal/pungent/smokey light blackberry nose; tart peppery/dusty/earthy bit herbal/berry/cola flavor; very interesting Syrah that has a lot of terrior expression and a uncharistic (for WashingtonState) modest level of oak; lovely Syrah
Dommaine Terre Rouge (EastonWnry) Amador Terre Rouge Noir '94: fragrant rather strawberry/Grenache some Amador/blackberry/jammy/oaked nose; attractive jammy/strawberry/blackberry bit licorice bit hot aromatic flavor; a rather bright zippy mature interesting CdR-like wine
Eberle Steinbeck Vineyard Syrah '95: beautiful fragrant/strawberry cinammon&cloves high-toned Syrah nose; bright spicy cinammon&cloves aromatic/strawberry light oaked flavor; a forward bright high-toned Syrah much like his early Estrellas.
*Edmunds St John Les Cotes Sauvages '96: a blend of Mourvedre, Zinfandel, Carignan, Charbono, Grenache, Durell Syrah, using the last of the Brandlin Mourvedre: beautiful complex roasted/toasty/smokey/perfumed dusty nose; strong pungent roasted/smokey bit gamey/complex dusty flavor; probably the most interesting blended Rhone here at the Festival; not CdP but a terrific wine.
All-in-all, a great panel discussion with some great wines. One of the questions from the floor was to ask each winemaker what 2-3 wines stood out in his memory that they'd tasted this weekend. There was a remarkable consensus on what wines the panelists liked, as Chester Osborne took additional ribbing over his terrific "The Janitor" Grenache!!
After one full week of non-stop wining (by me) and whining (by my entourage), the spirit is beginning to flag a bit. But I gamely head out to the Grand Pavillon for the last Grand Tasting. Afore I could whip out my spitoon & get to work, I notice my F.I.C. (Flogger-In-Chief) Laura headed towards me with upraised baguette. I immediately seize the nearest baguette, prepared to defend myself this time. She executes a vicious thrust to my 4-line, which I deftly deflect w/ a counter-parry 6. Her quick ballestra attack to the 6-line is evaded by a double retreat and a graceful leap onto the nearest table. Yves Cuilleron goes gaw-gaw has bottles of Condrieu are scattered in the melee, assuming brilliant swordplay was strictly in the French purview. The F.I.C.'s brutal flesche attack to the 7-line is halted by a parry-4 and a fist to the chops. A cloud of baguette crumbs rises into the air as the crowd gathers in awe. Her coupe to the 8-line is stopped dead by a pris-du-pain to the low-line. I, gazelle-like, leap into the rafters and.... whoops, wrong trip report!!
So hi-ho hi-ho, it's off to work I go w/ my trusty spitoon. The notes below include those from the previous day's Library/Reserve tasting. The order is alphabetic w/ some editorial comments on some wineries:
Adelaida Cellars Paso Robles Viognier Reserve '96: very strong toasty/charred/oak low fruit strange nose; very strong toasty/charred/burnt wood/oak root-beer flavor; rather bizarre wine w/ no Viognier character evident.
Adelaida Cellars Paso Robles Syrah '96: strong charred/burnt/oak nose; sour hard tannic burnt/charred/toasty/tobaccoy flavor; strange Syrah; charred oak is not a good simulation of the roasted/espresso character of the Rhone.
*Alban Estate Viognier '94: beautiful lush minerally/peach spicy nose; tart rich very spicy/nutmeg minerally/pear/peach flavor; doing great w/ age.
*Alban Reva Estate Syrah '93: beautiful complex toasty roasted gamey quite complex/ coffee nose; tart bit lean hard very complex roasted/coffee/smokey flavor w/ fair tannins; may never shed the tannins but a terrific complex Syrah now.
Alban Central Coast Viognier '97: bit reduced/stinky light pear/minerally spicy nose; soft rich lush spicy/pears/floral flavor; bit stinky still but will undoubtedly come out fine.
*Alban Estate Viognier '97: very fragrant pears/peach/Viognier bit mineral spicy/ nutmeg nose; tart very spicy very pears/pear brandy/minerally flavor; maybe his best Viognier yet??
Alban Estate Rousanne '96: bit reduced/stinky very floral/honeysuckle nose; tart lean floral/honeyed/very spicy flavor.
I've followed John Alban's wines from the very start. The early ones, I thought, seemed a bit rustic & lacking fruit, but were packed w/ flavor and showed real potential. As I've retasted some of those older ones, I'm quite surprised how they are evolving so well. In the last 2 yrs, I've thought John's wines have been dead on. The wines he showed here all showed very very well, w/ a spicy & complexity to them that made them really stand out. They always seem to have a structure to many other Calif/Rhones fail to achieve. They quality of his grapes seems to be non-pariel, other winemakers make very good wines from them also.
Alderbrook Viognier '97: light peachy/simple Viognier nose; soft ripe pear/peachy flavor; pleasant Viognier but just that.
Alderbrook Russian River Valley Syrah '97: attractive blackberry/Syrah bit stemmy/weedy nose; soft ripe boysenberry/blackberry fairly lush flavor; nice Syrah
Arrowood Estate Viognier '96: delicate pear/Viognier fragrant nose; soft bit short elegant/delicate pear/peach flovor; a nicely done elegant style Viognier
*Arrowood Sara Lee Vineyard Syrah '95: intense toasty/pungent roasted smokey/oak peppery nose; hard tannic dusty/roasted/smokey pungent some blackberry/Syrah flavor; a big huge brooding Syrah w/ lots of toasty oak
*David Bruce Santa Cruz Mountain Estate Syrah '96: intense blackberry/boysenberry dusty/ SCM nose; strong toasty/pungent/smokey/oaked intense blackberry flavor w/ fair tannins; this was one of my favorites last yr & developing very well.
Cold Heaven Alban Vineyard Viognier '97: beautiful lush/peachy very ripe Viognier nose; soft rich ripe Viognier/peachy bit minerally flavor
Cold Heaven Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Viognier '96: more tropical fruit/pineapply very floral almost Riesling-like nose; very flowery/tropical fruit/pineapple flavor; a very interesting sort of fluffy like Viognier
Columbia Winery Red Willow Vineyard Viognier '96: light appley/rotted apples/cinammon heavy fruit nose; tart lean strange rotted apple/appley/floral flavor; rather strange wine w/ little Viognier character.
*Columbia Yakima Valley Syrah '96: really lush fragrant blackberry/boysenberry loads of fruit nose; soft ripe blackberry/boysenberry flavor w/ light tannins; what a delight this wine is w/ loads of Syrah fruit very Calif style and ready to drink at a great price ($14).
I've followed David Lake's from the very start w/ the '89 & '90 Syrahs and was mightily impressed w/ them; great WashState Syrahs right out of the starting gate. I'd then sorta lost contact w/ them for the last 3-4 yrs because the NM distributor wasn't bringing them in. From tasting these new ones, it's clear David is still on track & making great WashState Syrah.
**Cuilleron Les Egnets Vendange Tardive Condrieu '94: Dark gold color; very intense very lush very ripe peach/pear/Tokay/PinotGris-like very aromatic/perfumed nose; soft huge lush very ripe off-dry floral/pear/Tokay finish; incredible long off-dry floral/Tokay finish that goes on and on; a very Zind-Humbrecht Tokay/PinotGris-like wine w/ high-toned Viognier notes; the Ojai LH Viognier is very much like this wine; incredible killer stuff but not Condrieu
*Cuilleron St.Joseph Prestige (Marrsanne) '96: lovely fragrant very spicy/pears floral nose; tart ripe very spicy honeysuckle rather minerally flavor; loads of ripe fruit but an underlying hardness; best young Marsanne I've ever had.
*Cuilleron LaCote Condrieu '96: beautiful fragrant peach/pear/Viognier nose; tart very spicy peach/pear/Viognier minerally/stoney flavor; a lovely Condrieu
**Cuilleron LesChaillots Condrieu '96: beautiful fragrant powerful aromatic pear/ peach some minerally nose; very ripe peachy/pear fairly minerally flavor; a big ripe Dolly Parton-style of Condrieu
**Cuilleron St.Joseph LesSerines '96: strong roasted/toasty/gamey/bacon fat/coffee some blackberry complex nose; tart meaty/gamey/bacon fat pungent/roasted/coffee flavor; best St.Joseph I've ever had I think Domaine dela Terre Rouge
Shenandoah Valley Viognier '95: bit closed light peach/pear Viognier nose; soft lush floral/tropical fruit/pineapply/ ripe flavor; soft rich ripe very good Viognier Domaine dela Terre Rouge '91: strong Amador/jammy some blackberry very ripe fruit nose; soft rich mature ripe jammy/blackberry flavor; ready to drink and lots of mature Amador character
Domaine dela Terre Rouge Enigma (Marssanne/Rousanne/Viognier) '97: light oaked spicy nutmeg fragrant nose; big soft fat spicy/nutmeg/pears flavor; soft rich lush very interesting blend.
*Domaine dela Terre Rouge Viognier '96: fragrant very ripe peachy/pear aromatic nose; soft fat rich very lush ripe peach/pear very spicy some butterscotch flavor; one of the best Viogniers from Amador yet.
Domaine dela Terre Rouge Viognier '97: lighter tighter pear/peach/Viognier bit more restrained than the '96, bit more structure to it
Domaine dela Terre Rouge Grand Annee Noir (Grenache,Mourvedre,Syrah) '94: strong ripe blackberry/strawberry slight jammy bit oaked/tobaccoy nose; smooth light jammy/blackberry/strawberry flavor w/ light tanins; a mature smooth rouge.
I've been a fan of Bill Easton's wines from the start down at Solano Cellars. They often have a ripe/jammy/Amador (the reds) character to them but I find they develop very very nicely. Easily the best winemaker in Amador these days.
Eberle Frahlich Viognier '95: fragrant oaked bit nutty/butterscotchy bit oxidized nose; soft aged/nutty/toasty/coconutty bit oxidized flavor; very interesting aged character that belies its youth
Eberle Frahlich Vineyard Syrah '93: strong bretty/funky distintive Eberle/cinammon & cloves some blackberry nose; soft cinammon&cloves spicy rather bretty/funky flavor; interesting but rather bretty
*Edmunds St. John Les Cotes Sauvages '92: slight bretty/funky complex/coffee/mocha dusty very complex nose; big rich full dusty complex mocha some funky/Rhone spicy/coffee flavor w/ some tannins; killer complex blended wine
Edmunds St. John Grand Heritage Viognier '96: strong tobaccoy/pungent rather reduced/ funky very ripe pears nose; big soft fat tobaccoy very ripe pears bit funky/ reduced flavor; strange Viognier that needs some age.
Edna Valley Vineyards Frahlich Vineyard Paso Robles Viognier '97: light pear spicy fragrant nose; soft fat light pears/Viognier fairly rich flavor
*Edna Valley Vineyard Edna Valley Syrah '97: intense boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah bit pungent/ roasted nose; rich full boysenberry/blackberry some pungent/roasted flavor; what a surprise this wine is from what I had dismissed as just a Chardonnay producer; keep your eyes on Edna Valley in the Rhone game.
FifeVineyards SouthernRhone Style Blend '96: Syrah, Carignane, Grenache, Mourvedre, Cinsault: strong pencilly toasty oaked fruity/plummy nose; very ripe fruit almost Zinfandel/berry flavor; a bit muddled but a nice rather Zinfandel-like wine.
Foxen MorehouseVineyard Syrah '94: intense toasty/oaked charred light Syrah/blackberry nose; very strong charred/toasty/pungent/smokey/oaked flavor; classic Foxen w/ the oak nearly overwhelming the fruit; should age into something good.
**Gangloff Cote-Rotie '94: beautiful intense gamey/roasted/espresso C-R classic nose; rich hard very roasted espresso/coffee pungent/gamey/bacon fat flavor; terrific C-R that needs age.
**Gangloff Cote-Rotie '95: incredible roasted/coffee/espresso very gamey/bacon fat nose; tart rich gamey/bacon fat/roasted/espresso some blackberry flavor; classic big rich C-R; my favorite Syrah of the festival
*Daniel Gehrs Santa Barbara County Viognier '97: beautiful pears/peach very fragrant nose; very attractive quite spicy pears/Viognier flavor; a very nice Viognier; Dan has left ZacaMesa for his own venue, making the wines at FessParker; he's a very competent winemaker to keep your eyes on in the future
*G.Graham Knight's Vlly Viognier '96: beautiful lush aromatic/floral/fragrant peachy/Viogner nose; soft rich lush ripe peachy/Viognier flavor; a classic lush DP/Viognier; a very hedonistic Viognier
G.Graham Napa Valley Viognier '96: more restrained lighter peachy/Viognier; bit softer & less intense; but nice Viognier
Guigal Hermitage '87: interesting light roasted/charred/burnt/smokey some burnt sealing wax nose; light mature light roasted/burnt sealing wax flavor; a nice-drinking mature Hermitage
Guigal Cote-Rotie '94: bit reduced/stinky gamey/roasted/pungent/espresso nose; tart roasted pungent espresso bit lean flavor; nice C-R
*Hamel Syrah '94: very strong peppery/toasted/oak smokey/pungent bit roasted nose; rich gamey/toasty/pungent/smokey some blackberry flavor; this was a pretty big rough rustic Syrah on release & is really developing nicely
Hart Temecula Grenache '91: bit funky/musty very strange/aged nose; soft bit washed out cooked raisin Pay d'Oc flavor; past its prime
*Henschke Mt.Eddlestone Syrah '95: loads of menthol/Am.oak rather dusty/blackberry nose; soft rich dusty/blackberry/Syrah very ripe loads of vanilla/Am.oak flavor; big powerful rich Aussie
*Hug Cellars Alban Vineyard Syrah '94: some bretty/funky toasty/pungent blackberry nose; big rich funky/horsecollar/bretty smokey/pungent/toasty ripe blackberry flavor; not nearly as stinky as before; packed w/ flavor.
Augie Hug (OsoBlanco) makes his wine down at John Albans. When I first had this wine last March, I was overwhelmed w/the stinky/brett character. That seems to be toning down a bit. He also has a '96 Rousanne that's dynamite. Although he talks a much better game than he bowls, keep your eye on Augie Hug.
JC Cellars Santa Barbara County Mesa Vineyard Syrah '97: rich quite lush blackberry/Syrah nose; big rich lush blackberry/Syrah bit smokey/toasty flavor; gonna be a very good Syrah; from Fess Parker grapes. Jeff is asst. winemaker at Rosenblum Cllrs and makes his JC Cllrs wine there. A guy to watch.
*Jaboulet Hermitage LaChappelle '91: beautiful classic roasted/Hermitage smokey complex nose; mature elegant roasted/smokey/coffee flavors w/ light tannins; a lovely ready-to-go Hermitage
Domaine Miquel (Jaboulet) Vin de Pays d'Oc Viognier '97: rather earthy/stoney little fruit nose; tart rather pear/peach/Viognier some metallic/stoney flavor
Kendall-Jackson San Benito County Viognier '97: about what you'd expect
*McCrea Cellars Washington State Viognier '97: lovely fragrant peachy/Viognier some minerally nose; tart very spicy ripe peachy/Viognier some minerally/earthy flavor; a very impressive first effort
*McCrea Yakima Valley Washington State Syrah '94: strong herbal/roasted dusty/stoney coffee ripe blackberry/Syrah nose; big pungent smokey/mocha roasted dusty complex rather blackberry flavor; lots of terrior; impressive Syrah McCrea Syrah(65%)/Grenache '95: fragrant strawberry/Grenache some dusty/roasted nose; soft lush strawberry/Grenache some roasted/toasty pungent flavor; a really interesting very Rhone-like red, impressive.
I had heard good things about the McCrea wines but had never been able to lay my hands on any. These were all 3 most impressive wines. If this is what WashState can routinely do w/ Rhone varieties; things are really going to be exciting up there. The wines are not Rhone look-alikes but they seem to have a lot of terrior/other things going on in them that make them clearly not Calif and very very interesting.
McDowell Valley Vineyards Le Tresor (grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Mourvedre blend) '90: very interesting gamey licorice bit smokey complex nose; soft gamey complex licorice smooth perfumed flavor; a wine that I dismissed out-of-hand on its release as a pretty unexciting red blend, this has really developed into a very interesting mature red; what a surprise
As described above after the "Gang of Four" dinner; McDowell Valley is a winery that bears much closer attention than I've given them
Meridian Paso Robles Syrah '90: about the last crop off phyloxerra-infected vines: attractive blackberry/licorice some spicy nose; soft drinkable licorice/smokey light blackberry/Syrah flavor; holding very nicely; interesting Syrah
AndrewMurray Les Coteaux (blend of 6 different Vineyards) Syrah '96: very intense blackberry/Syrah intense fruit bit pungent nose; soft ripe blackberry/Syrah lush bit pungent/toasty fairly tannic flavor
*Andrew Murray Roasted Slope Syrah '96: stronger more pungent/oaked ripe blackberry/ Syrah bit toasty nose; rather tannic/hard intense blackberry/Syrah pungent/ smokey/toasty flavor; a big huge Syrah that needs time.
I've followed Andrew Murray's wines from the start. The Syrahs are pretty huge & massive, need time, rather hard & rustic, but packed w/ flavor. Some of the most beautiful Vineyards in Calif, an operation that's only going to be getting better.
*Ojai Roll RanchVineyard Viognier '95: beautiful fragrant peachy/lush/floral/Viognier nose; soft forward lish ripe peachy/pear/Viognier flavor; still loaded w/ Viognier fruit & not showing much development.
*Ojai Calif Syrah '94: rather Rhonish/toasted/pungent/roasted bit bretty/ horsecollar nose; soft complex toasty/pungent/smokey/roasted complex flavor; this "ordinary" Syrah of Adam's is really developing nicely
Ojai Calif Syrah '91: rather funky/bretty/leathry/horsecollar rather CdP-like Rhonish nose; soft mature some bretty/horsecollar Rhone-like funky flavor; very interesting Rhone-like wine but starting around the bend
*Ojai Stolpman Vineyard Syrah '96: very intense blackberry/dusty/boysenberry/Syrah some toasty nose; hard intense rich tannic blackberry/Syrah bit toasty/pencilly flavor; need quite a bit of age; harder & leaner than the RollRanch
*Ojai RollRanch Vineyard Syrah '96: beautiful intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah bit meaty/gamey/roasted nose; big rich intense blackberry/boysenberry pungent/ smokey flavor w/ lots of tannin; bit more complex/Rhonish than Stolpman
Can't add nothing more; Adam's wines were all really impressive at this showing.
Fess Parker Santa Barbara Cnty Syrah '96: fragrant lush blackberry/Syrah slight toasty/oak nose; light roasted strong lush blackberry/Syrah spicy flavor; best Parker Syrah I've had, seemed to have backed off on the oak somewhat FessParker American Tradition Reserve Santa Barbara County Syrah '95: strong charred/toasty/oak pungent/smokey some blackberry nose; strong charred/toasty/pungent light blackberry flavor; bit too much oak for the flavor Joseph Phelps LeMistral '92: bit mousey/funky/earthy light fruit/strawberry nose; lots of bright strawberry/fruit light earthy flavor; interesting & holding
Joseph Phelps Napa Valley Syrah '91: rather earthy/dusty bit Rhonish/smokey nose; some bright blackberry fruit bit earthy/dusty flavor; hanging in there but barely
*Joseph Phelps Viognier '96: lovely fragrant/peachy/Viognier aromatic slight mineral nose; soft fat rich lush ripe pear/peach bit mineral/nutmeg flavor.
I've followed all the Phelps Rhones from the start (sound familar?). They (the reds) seem solid/ stodgy/ mainstream/ reliable w/ only occasional glimpses of brilliance; they do not seem to be at the same level of excellence that Phelps does with their other reds. OTOH, their Viognier over the last 4-5 yrs has been on of the best in Calif; not Dolly Parton in style but more Condrieu- like, more structured, bit leaner tha most; very well-made.
*Qupe Marsanne '93: rather nutty/honeysuckle/butterscotchy nose; hard bit dried-out very nutty/caramel/butterscotchy/caramel complex flavor; incredible long nutty/ caramel/butterscotchy complex/oxidized finish; terrific slightly oxidized/nutty very complex wine, not to everyone's taste
*Qupe Marsanne '89: incredible complex nutty/toasty/toasted coconut honeysuckle/ floral nutmeg/cloves aromatic nose; beautiful complex nutty/caramel/toasted coconut honeysuckle/floral bit oxidized flavor; incredible long nutty/complex/ caramel finish; oxidized/nutty but very complex wine; amazing; who'da thought!
*Qupe Los Olivos Cuvee (66% Syrah, 33% Mourvedre) '88: beautiful dusty/earthy/complex old Rhone/funky/bit brett some CdP-like nose; old CdP bit bretty beautiful/ complex smokey/pungent horsecollar/roasted/smokey coffe grounds flavor; this thing has really developed into a beautiful complex red
*Qupe Hillside Estate Syrah '95: ripe dusty/blackberry/blueberry spicy bit herbal very intense nose; rich some roasted/dusty/toasty blackberry/blueberry flavor w/ ample tannins; this wine is tasting really good; packed w/ flavor but very well structured
Bob Lindquist needs no further praise in these quarters. He brought out some terrific wines from his library to share. They show how well even the less- than-profound Rhone varieties can age. I've followed Bob....... 'nuff said.
Seven Peaks Wnry Paso Robles Syrah '96: the Southcorp/Penfolds operation in Paso: ripe blackberry Syrah/blueberry very fruity nose; soft fat blueberry/Syrah some oaked flavor; nice but just that.
Smith & Hook Arroyo Secco Viognier '95: bit earthy/dusty/clunky light fragrant/pear nose; rather tart bit lean light pear/Viognier finish; simple Viognier
Tablas Creek Vineyard Blanc '97 (50% Marsanne, 50% Rousanne): bit reduced slight floral honeysuckle nose; soft fat bit apple/honeysuckle flavor; bit clunky white
Tablas Creek Vineyard Rouge '97 (Grenache/Mourvedre/Syrah/Cunoise): interesting Rhone-like some pungent/aromatic nose; very interesting very spicy/perfumed bit earthy/dusty strawberry/berry flavor; really nicely done wine
Chateau de Beaucastel Villes Vignes (Rousanne) '89: strong nutty/toasted coconut bit aromatic/floral/honeysuckle nose; soft lush nutty/alomndy/toasted coconut some pungent/floral flavor.
The Tablas Creek wines is the Robert Haas/Perrin family operation in Paso. Earlier this year I had the '96 Blanc and '96 Rouge. Not too impressed, pleasant enough wines, but not much more. Tried both of them on this trip and thought thay'd really started to develop nicely in the bottle. Tablas Creek has some very good people behind it & I expect some very good wines from them in the future.
Tria Napa Valley Viognier '95: very fragrant lush peachy/pear/Viognier nose; elegant delicate very spicy/nutmeg pear/peach Viognier flavor; more delicate than most & not so DP-like
Truchard Napa Valley Syrah '94: slight bretty strong floral/violets/aromatic good blackberry/Syrah nose; soft fairly rich slight brett/horsecollar strong ripe blackberry flavor; developing very nicely.
*Villard St.Joseph Le Reflet '95: strong roasted/dusty/earthy smokey nose; fairly rich smokey/roasted/coffee flavor; lots of good roasted character
Villard Les Terrasses du Palau Condrieu '96: strong fragrant pear/peach rather minerally nose; tart lean minerally some pear/peach flavor; bright zippy quite minerally Condrieu
Villard Cotes de Mairlaut St.Joseph Blanc '96: strong floral/honeysuckle/ gardenias aromatic/perfumed nose; tart rich mouthfilling floral/gardenia/ honeysuckle flavor; very very lovely Marsanne
Zaca Mesa Roussanne '95: attractive lightish floral/fragrant nose; soft fat bit flat floral/aromatic flavor; nice interesting pleasant Roussanne
By now, my loyal F.I.C. had fled the playing field in abject defeat, having not the stamina to outlast me. Without Laura to spur me on, I, too, am starting to fade. Unfortunately, I did a very poor job of trying the Aussie wines. Maybe, when their English improves, I'll be inspired to pay them more heed. So, w/ some 30 minutes left in the tasting, I admit defeat and trudge off to the "Evening of Rhones, Rick's, and Ribs".
Lots of the leftover wines are set out on the picnic tables, but decide to put away my note book for the day; wine geekiness is very tiring & takes its toll on the body & spirit. Join David Lake, Kathy Hardesty-Marcks & Dan, and Joel Butler for another first-rate meal. David has brought an inexpensive Saar wine that really seems refreshing & hit the spot. Try a few of the leftover Edmunds St.John older Durell Syrahs and some Columbia Syrahs, but just enjoy them for what they are.
Mat gets up w/ some announcements, including the Rhone-n-Bowl Championship. It goes to...... drums roll, symbols clang, kazoos buzz... the Only-The-Rhonely team from NEVADA. Say what??? There was another O-T-R team, but from Nevada? Then he calls for the esteemed A.I.C., Tom Hill, and I know it's, of course, ours. Unfortunately, Craig Jaffurs & my other teammates were not there, so do the acceptance speech myself. It was freezing cold, I was freezing, and it was short. Fortunately, the subject of individual scores was not brought up. I accept this hideous trophy & also receive a bowling ball and bag. Dumb move, Mat, for I'll be tempted to practice and the trophy will never leave NewMexico. Hang around for a half hour and take in the Austin Lounge Lizard's great music. Then bid adieu to a bunch of friends & head back, bone-weary, to The Country House Inn.
Monday (June 22, 1998)
Up fairly early, have breakfast, and pack up stuff to go. With the ugly Rhone-n-Bowl trophy and too much wine, I have to UPS the stuff back to LosAlamos. Take a leasurily ride, via I-5, back to Ontario, catch my flight, and return to the real world.
Conclusion
This Raisin' Rhones Festival was a stunning event, for reasons described above. Probably one of the truly best such events in the USofA. Mat is to be commended for such an extraordinary job of organizing the event & bringing in some absolutely top-notch people. The volunteers that helped the staff did an.... unbelieveable... job of getting wines out, clean glasses, making things run so smoothly. The winemakers & wineries are to be praised for their willingness to pour so freely such superb wines.
It's an event that should not be missed by anyone who loves Rhone-style wines. I'll certainly be their next year. And bringing a much higher bowling handicap. I plan to bring out some of my early Calif-Rhones and organize an off-line the Thursday night before. You all be there. June 17-18-19, 1999, are the dates.
