Santa Barbara Futures Tasting '98
The Wine Cask shop in Santa Barbara offers futures (more like pre-release) on selected Santa Barbara wines each year. For the 3 years in a row, I attended their tasting of these wines; one of the best wine events I make each yr (even made the first page of their brochure this yr... where they referred to people flying in from SantaFe, among lesser cities like Washington and SanFrancisco, for the event). Joing my entourage this yr were Deirdre Ragan, a long-time graduate student at UC/Santa Barbara, and Dave Jones, a special wine friend from San Francisco, formerly Vail.
It was a great wine trip; plucked from the jaws of disaster, with lots of outstanding wines, a wonderful opportunity to meet more CyberSpace friends in RealSpace (where I prefer to hang out!), but a bit ordinary on the food front, unfortunately.
Thursday (March 12)
Into work at 3:00 to get in a half-day, home for a quick BB workout, then pack up and head for Albq, with the usual stop at Sage Bake House for a badly- needed double espresso. Get to the Albq & find I had grabbed the wrong luggage key.... which means I can't load my luggage up w/ wine on the return trip; a minor crises I can live with. The epee makes it thru airport security with nary a glance; my gamma ray transponder antenna.The flight to LA rather uneventful w/ a lot of needed ZZZ's the entire flight. Catch the shuttle to my car rental and then a genuine disaster hits..... my NM driver's license has expired (in NM it's your responsibility to keep track of this; they don't automatically notify you). Nooooo way will they rent me a car. I'm stuck in LA. Panic ensues; visions of having to return to LA (the REAL one) flash thru my mind. So back to LAX to try to cobble something together. Dave is on the road South and Deirdre I can't reach. So decide to go ahead & catch the bus up to Santa Barbara & then wing it from there.
After a 3 hr wait in LAX, finally board the bus north. And the ride is an absolute hoot. If you've read the Dilbert cartoon strip and are familiar with the genuis, quantuum-mechanics spouting garbage collecter; then that was Ted, our bus driver, who I sat right across the aisle from. First off, he feels the basketball in my luggage and asks if I'm a BB player (yes... if you stretch the definition!); which leads him into one of his favorite subjects.... UCLA BB. And he knows all the names of Wooden's boys, way back to the famed '65 team. What a trip down nostalgia lane. The he finds out that I work at Los Alamos, knows exactly what it's all about, a starts pumping me w/ questions about use of nuclear weapons to defend the earth against incoming asteroids (how many kt's it'd take to knock it out; what's the CEP at that distance, really detailed stuff). And the he starts asking me about things from cosmology, string theory, grand unification theory, etc..... stuff way out of my expertise. It boggled the mind; I was flabbergasted!! And, finally, we get onto the subject of being full time single parents to kids, and the trials & tribulations that entails. Make it to Santa Barbara in no time & deboard the bus in a whole lot better frame of mind then when I boarded. Catch a cab to my motel about 9:00pm; absolutely ravishing ....er... make that famished. The neighborhood looks grim, food-wise, so catch a bite at a dreadfully ordinary Thai restaurant nearby. Manage to get hold of Deirdre & line up a ride for the next morning.
Friday (March 13, 1998)
Up early and out for some fencing drills under mixed/foggy skies, with rain threatening. Get hold of Dave up in Santa Maria & map out transportation for the remainder of the trip.... it's going to work out after all. But w/o a car, it's much more difficult to make folks toe the line, itinerary-wise!!
Picked up at the motel by Deidre & we head North for Arroyo Grande to meet up w/ Dave & a visit to Alban Vineyards. I had been there only a yr ago and never (well... with exception of Rosenblum) make a return visit to a winery that soon; so this was unusual. The leaden skies start to pour, then turns to a drizzle. Dave catches us going into Arroyo Grande & blythely follows us onto a wrong turn. Make it on out to Alban right on time.
I had first tasted John Alban's Syrah some 4 yrs ago at The Taste of Vail; the '93 it was; & was rather underwhelmed.... very hard, tannic, very oaked, lean, rather atypical of Syrah. But visiting with John Alban there, I was quite impressed w/ his ideas, his vision of where he wanted to go, his passion for Rhone varietals in Calif, focus on the growing the grapes in the vineyard. I knew this was somebody that I probably should keep my eye upon. THIS is exactly why it is so important to meet the person/people behind the wine; just tasting the wine seldom hacks it. My prescient hunch paid off; John's wines have continued to improve each yr; and this last Fall's release of '95 Syrahs (REVA and Lorraine) were his best ever, and raises John Alban Vineyards into the first tier of Calif/Rhone producers. And they're going to be getting better.
Joining us is Augie Hug (OsoBlanco to those on the 'Net); part-time well driller, part-time winemaker, part-time wine shop owner (in Harmony); full-time wine geek. Augie buys some grapes from John, some grapes elsewhere, and makes his wines there at Alban Vineyards. I had met Augie on the 'Net 3-4 months ago & asked if he would join us & show his wines.... took a lot of twisting his arm to do that!! :-) Also get a chance to meet Paul, John's new assistant winemaker at Alban Vineyards.
We spend some 30 minutes catching up on what's new at Alban. Discuss quite a bit the evolution of the Rhone Rangers organization (baaad name!!), the Viognier Guild, and the upcoming Raisen' Rhones Festival in Paso Robles. Find out that John is also putting up a team for the Rhone-n-Bowl competition; in fact, blatently recruiting talent right in front of us!! I make it clear that our team, "Only The Rhonely", composed of myself, Dave Jones, Larry Archibald, & Laura Chancellor (plus our very own cheerleader, Claudia Lampner, Dave's wife; cheerleader's costume & all), are certain to sweep the competition & his efforts are destined for failure. With a fencer & BB athlete leading the way, our training at a 5,000' altitude; the bloodshed & mayhem that will transpire at the Paso Robles Bowl that Friday night will make the Texas ChainSaw Massacre look like a gathering of little old ladies for a White Zinfandel Sip; a sight for mature audiences only. John appears uncowed!!
I find out that John also has some acreage up in Paso Robles on Hwy46W from which he get Rousanne & Viognier for the Central Coast version of his wines. He's a bit reluctant to describe some of the exciting things he's doing in the vineyard w/ some new varieties, for fear of appearing to be on the fringe (or look like a Randall Graham, perhaps?). He's got a bit of Mourvedre coming on line, with a few plants of both Folle Noir (the red version of Folle Blanche, the grape of Cognac) and Rolle (Vermentino) in the works. John's convinced that the next step up in quality is going to come in the vineyard and laments the lack of interest in all the 100's of other potential varieties in the world. And he's right.... it's tough to even get people serious about Grenache.
So, we get down to some serious business:
Hug Rousanne (Mer et Sole Vineyard, Monterey; 15% alc) '96: Very strong fragrant floral Rousanne bit oaked nose; soft very rich textured very lush ripe light floral very glycerined flavor; a big rich huge Rousanne
The folklore is that Viogniers don't age; that you must drink them up young. Almost every article written on Viognier parrots this same old nonsense. So John pulls out his very first estate Viognier:
Alban San Luis Obispo County Viognier (50% Alban Estate) '92: Med.dark gold color; rather pencilly smokey pungent some minerally complex nose; tart apricotty minerally bit metallic rather smokey/pungent light peachy flavor; very long strong pear/apricotty rather metallic minerally smokey complex finish; sure doesn't taste like young Viognier but still a healthy complex interesting wine a bit like old WhiteBurg.
and then his first Rousanne (of his last remaining 18 btls):
Alban San Luis Obispo Rousanne '92: Strong toasty/pencilly smokey light floral complex rather old WhiteBurg nose; big rich smokey/pencilly/toasty almost honey/botrytis old WhiteBurg textured light floral very complex flavor; very very long very textured smokey/toasty/pungent old WhiteBurg very complex finish; a bit like old WhiteBurg and a bit like old Aussie Semillon; incredible stuff
John discusses a bit the differences between Marsanne/ Rousanne within the context of French Rhone wines; that the Marsanne is so much easier to grow but the top producers much prefer the wine that comes from Rousanne; that they usually have a real problem with the pH in Rousanne but that, nonetheless, they seem to age very well. This first Rousanne of John's had a pH=4.0, quite high; but is aging quite well. It all confirms my belief that Rousanne is a grape to watch in Calif. And then into the barrels:
Hug Edna Valley Chardonnay (Lewis Vineyard) Chardonnay'97: Lovely floral smokey/toasty oaked some earthy/melony nose; tart rich some melony/pineapply spicy/creamy toasted coconut flavor; a delicious spicy floral Chard, rich but balanced.
Alban Estate Viognier (barrel frmtd; 1/3 barrel aged w/ lees stirred) '97: Very fragrant/floral/peachy rather minerally/dusty nose; tart spicy minerally apricotty/peachy rich flavor; good minerally component.
Alban Vineyard Central Coast Viognier '97: Big lush peachy/fragrant up-front Viognier nose; soft lush ripe peachy/Viognier textured flavor; long lush floral ripe peachy/Viognier finish; classic up-front Dolly Parton Viognier; good stuff.
Alban Estate Rousanne '97: lees just stirred the day before; Slight floral rather yeasty/fresh fermentation nose; very tart lean hard metallic light spicy/floral flavor; a very tight lean unfinished wine; can't tell much.
Hug Mission View View / San Miguel Cabernet Sauvignon '97: Stron cinammon/cloves some herbal/earthy nose; strong pungent/herbal cinammon/cloves flavor; a bit like a young Eberle Cab
Hug Alban Vineyard Syrah '97: Intense pungent/smokey/licorice/charred bit H2S nose; terrific pungent/charred/ smokey hard/tannic some blackberry/Syrah flavor; a big hard lean very flavorful/intense Syrah.
Augie's plan is to blend the Syrah into the Cab. Hope he keeps some separate. Reminds me a bit of John's early Syrahs. And then out of the barrels and back to taste from the bottle Augie's first Syrah:
Hug Central Coast Syrah '94: Black color; intense horsecollar/barnyardy/ Beaucastel gamey some violets very peppery charred nose; tart charred/peppery big huge tannic pungent violets/blackberry Syrah; it has all the stink of Beaucastel w/ loads of other stuff therein; this is how Beaucastel would make Syrah if they could/would; a huge immense Syrah that needs age.
Alban REVA Syrah '96: Black color; intense lush blackberry/Syrah licorice toasty/ smokey gamey nose; big huge rich hard very spicy/gamey/ espresso coffee/pungent intense blackberry/Syrah/roasted tannic flavor; hard to believe but even better than his '95 REVA Syrah; mich in the style of the Edmund St. John Durell '95; a huge blockbuster of a wine; Fall release, a must buy.
And then back into the barrels:
Alban Estate Grenache '97: Black color; intense licorice/pungent/bit rooasted/ strawberry/Grenache dusty nose; very intense bit fizzy intense strawberry/ blackberry tannic flavor; still some fermentation stuff going on but a Grenache like none other I've had than maybe Aussie. This is how Jaques Reynaud would make Ch.Rayas if he could (& were still with us!!).
I recall seeing John's first Grenache ('93) and blanching a bit at the price (around $20) and then being quite impressed with it when I tasted & grudgingly acknowledgeing the fairness of the price. John laments the fact the fact that Grenache gets no respect & it's a hard sell at the price the wine fully deserves. He working w/ some 5 or so clones of Grenache from France and honing in on a few that really make spectacular wines. I expect, as more people see what a great wine Grenache can really make in Calif, that there will be more interest in it. John really likes many of the Aussie Grenaches (Clarendon Hills OldVine Grenache and d'Ahrenburg Grenache for two) and equates them to Ch.Rayas in quality. And then:
Alban REVA Syrah '97: Rather funky/reduced some blackberry/black cherry intense nose; hard black cherry/blackberry/ violets/peppery bit smokey/gamey flavor; too much fermentation stuff going on to tell anything. John's confident it'll be another killer Syrah.
Alban Lorraine Syrah '97: Bit H2S/burnt rubber/rather reduced nose; more intense blackberry/Syrah rather funky flavor; still fermentating & too much going on to tell anything.
John describes his Syrah vineyard as having distinctly differing soils as it runs from east to west. The eastern block makes up his Lorraine, the middle block his REVA. The western block (so far, nameless) used to be where he grew his rootstock (he does quite a big nursery business) but decided it made more sense to get rootstock from Valley nurseries; so top grafted the vines over to more Syrah. They take has been rather poor so the age of the vines is a bit spread out, but got his first crop off in the last vintage.
All in all, a terrific visit. The wines just keep getting better & better and I would have to say John is making truly world-class Rhone wines. He sells some of his grapes (Jim Clendennan, Bob Lindquist, Sean Thackery, Steve Edmunds, Augie Hug) so, with such heavy hitters, others clearly think highly of his work. It's very satisfying to me that my early faith in Alban Vineyards was totally warrented.
By now the skies have cleared and so we head south for an afternoon appointment at Foxen Vineyards, just south of Santa Maria. Pass by Qupe/ABC/etc and take in the Bien Nacido vineyard across the river. The Hillside Estate Syrah block sits way up atop the ridge above the wnry. There's a new block on the hillside above the Syrah that turns out is Pinot Noir for Foxen.
Stop at the Foxen tasting room on Foxen Canyon Rd just as Bill Walthen returns from his noon-hour run up in the hills. We taste thru a few things they have at the tasting bar:
Foxen Chenin Blanc '96: Strong fragrant grapey/ light oaked attractive nose; dry rich pears/grapey tart flavor; more like a lightweight Chardonnaybut a very nicely done atypical Chenin.
Foxen Chardonnay (Bien Nacido/GoldCoast/Sisquoc vineyards) '96: Rich oaked lush melony ripe Chardonnaynose; soft lush rich light oaked flavor; a very tastey Chard.
And then Bill starts bringing out some of the more special wines:
Foxen Bien Nacido Chardonnay'96: Same lush ripe nose; bit tarter leaner harder on the palate; needs a yr or two
Foxen Estate (Tiniquonoc Vineyard) Chardonnay'96: Big lush leesy/ML toasty oaked very ripe melony bit floral nose; huge lush very ripe toasty/charred Fr. oak flavor; a big rich powerful Chardonnaybut w/ good acidity; will age
Foxen Rothberg Vineyard Viognier '97: Beautiful lush peachy/Viognier blowsey nose; rich spicy minerally peachy/Viognier flavor; very well done Viognier
Foxen Santa Maria Pinot Noir '96: Light bright cherry/Pinot Noir light oaked nose; tart spicy bright cherry light tobaccoy flavor
Foxen Reserve Julia's Vineyard Pinot Noir '96: Bigger richer lush cherry/spicy/tobaccoy nose; bright very spicy cherry/Pinot Noir light tobaccoy/pungent flavor
Foxen Bien Nacido Vineyard Reserve Pinot Noir '96: Bigger deep black cherry/tobaccoy/pungent/ smokey bit charred nose; soft deep lush black cherry/charred/toasty flavor; classic BM character w/ lots of oak
Foxen Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Pinot Noir '96: Bigger toasty/pungent/charred oak less fruit nose hard smokey/toasty/charred rather tannic bit lean flavor; not the fruit of the Bien Nacido
Foxen Rothberg Vineyard Mourvedre '96: Med.light color; bit herbal rather spicy/floral/ dusty nose; tart bit cherry/floral/spicy light toasted flavor; an interesting more elegant style of Mourvedre; more acid than most Mourvedre
Foxen Morehouse Vineyard Syrah '96: Fregrant tobaccoy/oaked light blackberry spicy nose; spicy elegant gamey/light blackberry flavor; not as big & extracted as '95
Foxen Estate Cabernet Franc '95: Strong herbal/smokey/tobaccoy bit licorice nose; tart spicy very tobaccoy/pungent some herbal/CabFranc flavor
Foxen Cuvee Jean Marie (Syrah/Mourvedre) '96: Big ripe dusty/tobaccoy/pungent bing cherry very spicy nose; tart smokey/tobaccoy/oaked/pungent ripe bing cherry flavor; a very good Rhone blend
Foxen Santa Barbara County CS (Rancho Sisquoc/Daley vineyards) '95: Strong tobaccoy/smokey rather herbal cloves/cinammon nose; tart rather herbal spicy pungent/tobaccoy flavor
The Foxen wines have been some of the most interesting Santa Barbara wines I've followed. They tend to be a bit on the unusual/eccentric side w/ lots of extracted flavors & plenty of toasty new French oak. The Rhone wines are particularly good and seem to have less opulent fruit & more pungent character than others in Calif.
Deirdre has to head back to UC/Santa Barbara for an afternoon seminar, so Dave & I head on down Foxen Canyon Rd to Los Olivos. Grab a sandwich at Pannino. I stop briefly at the Los Olivos Tasting Room by the flagpole, receive the customary uncaring/disdainful tourist treatment here, but see nothing I wish to taste. Note that Rick Longoria will soon be opening a tasting room there in town. We head to the south edge of town for the traditional stop at The Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium. Here the reception (for strangers, alike, as well as friends) is more more cordial & friendly. Difference of night & day between the two places.
A visit w/ Bob Senn is always a highlight in my visits to the Santa Barbara area. He has a very extensive selection of some of my very favorite Santa Barbara wineries. The enthusiasm & passion Bob has for wine is infectuous; I always come away from here w/ all sorts of new information. Today was no different. We taste thru Bob's current lineup & he pulls out a few extras:
Bailyanna Edna Valley Chardonnay '96: Lush light pineapply spicy Chardonnaysome buttery/oaked nose; tart buttery/ oaked spicy/pineapply/ floral slightly lean/hard flavor; very nicely done EV Chard
Alban Central Coast Viognier '96: Ripe lush fragrant peachy/Viognier forward nose; soft lush fat peachy/Viognier up-front slight minerally flavor; more of the Dolly Parton style of Viognier but not all silicone.
Lane Tanner Santa Maria Valley Bien Nacido Vineyard Pinot Noir '96: Light color; very bright cherry/ black cherry light pencilly/oaked Burgundian nose; tart light cherry/black cherry pencilly/ toasty/oaked very Burgundian flavor; this lady really makes nice very Burgundian style of wines.
Bonny Doon Malvasia Bianca '97: Fragrant floral Malvasia nose; tart lean bit bitter light spicy/Malvasia/floral flavor; bit lean & hard on the palate
Kynsi Santa Ynez Valley Sanford & Benedict Vineyard (13.8%) Chardonnay'95: Fragrant lush powerful melony/floral/toasted coconut ripe nose; soft lush mouthfilling toasted coconut very ripe melony/pineapply flavor; a classic Santa Barbara Chard; very fine rich Chard
Stephan Ross Arroyo Grande Valley La Colline Vineyard Pinot Noir '96: Deeper dusty smokey strong pencilly/oaked light black cherry nose; deep dusty/earthy pencilly/pungent/ oaked cherry/black cherry flavor; pretty rich big Burgundian-style Pinot
Hartley/Ostini Central Coast Pinot Noir '96: Deep pungent artichoke/herbal/walnutty/black cherry nose; deep dusty/earthy/pungent/funky some black cherry flavor; a rather interesting funky sort of Pinot; like it
Chimere Bien Nacido Merlot '95: Rather dusty/grapey light herbal bit simple slight horsecollar/barnyardy nose; soft simple grapey/dusty bit herbal flavor; OK Merlot
Chimere Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir Port '94: Rather funky/grapey slight oxidized/tired nose; soft pretty sweet slight tired/oxidized bit bretty flavor; unthrilling Port
Fill out the case of the Alban stuff I had previously ordered. Before we depart, Bob grabs a bttl of the newly arrived Lane Tanner Syrah '96 for me to share w/ our group. This is a wine, her first Syrah, that I had been dying to try since I've been mightly impressed across the board w/ her wines.
Bid adieu to Bob & head back to Santa Barbara. First stop is The Wine Cask to say hello to friends there. Former employee Steve Clifton, now working time & a half between his own Brewer-Clifton and Brandner's Domaine Santa Barbara, is there; looking a bit frazzled in preparation for tomorrow's tasting. Back to my motel for a quick change & then off to dinner at Cuvee restaurant.
This is a restaurant started a bit over a yr ago by some of the Wine Cask people and designed to be a lower-key down-scale sorta version of Wine Cask. The meal we had here last yr was very very good. Apparently, there's been a change in ownership. The food tonight was good... but just that. It was 7:30 pm on a Friday night and the place was mostly vacant.... not a good sign.
So it's Dave & I; rejoined by Deirdre; and Dave's friend, Lucinda. She's just taken an exciting new job here in Santa Barbara and has barely had any time to get out much here, so seems to enjoy tonight's opportunity. Not quite the wine geek like the rest of us.... but THAT can be changed.
My meal:
Roasted Corn Soup w/ Red Chile Tortilla Strips
Bacon Wrapped Ostrich Roulade w/ Ancho Chile Sauce
Fresh Pear Cake
It was good food; particularly the Ostrich... which DOESN'T taste like chicken!! And the wines: Left over from the morning's visit
Augie's wines: The Syrah is still a big huge extracted red, still loaded w/ Beaucastel/brett character; still really like this wine.
Qupe Los Olivos Reserve Syrah '93: Deep dusty blackberry/Syrah rather plummy nose; soft rich lush spicy/cloves light blackberry/Syrah rather plummy/licorice flavor; more like Mourvedre than Syrah; still a fairly young wine.
Been a long day. And very successful... the UCLA Bruins pulled out an NCAA victory. Deirdre drops me off at my motel for some badly needed ZZZ's.
Saturday (March 14, 1998)
Sleep in late (7:00pm), then down the street for some fencing drills. The adrenaline is really pumping so it's a good long workout. Then have some espresso and feeling really wired by now. Read a bit until noon when Dave picks me up & head out for the Wine Cask futures tasting.
This futures (more accurately... pre-release) program is very well-done. David Russell makes his rounds to the various Santa Barbara wineries and selects various lots of wines for inclusion in the program. Some are special barrels that only are available in the futures offering. The quality of the wines presented is universally very high. Originally, the program was designed to help promote the Santa Barbara wines to the world. That's not so much necessary anymore since these wines are becoming recognized for their world-class status; but most of the Santa Barbara wineries continue to support the program.
The plan for today's tasting is to focus on the Rhone varietals; catch as many Pinots as possible, avoid as many Chards as possible, and than skim thru some of the more interesting "other" varietals, and scout out a few bargins, if any. Of course, have my trusty red spitoon along with me. What's more, there's another guy there w/ the exact same spitoon. He saw me at a previous ZAP & found it worked quite well. Not only that; he has a belt clip for his.... made out of a galvanized iron gutter strap (seems sorta appropriate). I feel put in my place!! The crowd seems a bit smaller this year, but that's never been a problem at this tasting. The usual mob scene takes place at the ABC and Qupe table. And then there's Andrew & Kristy Murray over in their corner seemingly ignored by most. That'll change in a few yrs!!
Manage to do only 39 wines.... not a very good performance at all. The notes below are in order of appearance in the brochure. Prices are the futures price. Apologies for their sketchy content.
Wine Cask Reserve Chardonnay'97: Fragrant lush pineapply/tropical oaked nose; soft rich lush melony/tropical fruit BF/ML oaked flavor; an ABC look-alike. This has always been my favorite bargin here and at $12, it still is.
Wine Cask Melange Rouge (Carmine) '97: Spicy bit funky/earthy nose; tart dusty almost hybridy low fruit flavor; sorta like a Calif Barbera; doesn't thrill
Wine Cask Reserve Bien Nacido Pinot Noir '96: Very fragrant black cherry/cherry toasty/oak Burgundian nose; soft rich lush black cherry/dusty/toasty oaked Burgundian flavor; another very good value at $15.
ABC Cuvee Isabelle Pinot Noir '96: Deep lush ripe black cherry toasty/smokey/complex/oak nose; big rich lush black cherry/dusty opulent smokey/ tobaccoy/oak flavor.
Babcock Eleven Oaks Sangiovese '96: Dark color; strong very spicy cinammon/cloves pencilly/oak light cherry/dusty nose; tart hard big plummy/ dusty spicy/cloves flavor; hard on the palate & needs age; not much bright cherry/Sangiovese character but a very good wine.
Brewer-Clifton Katherine's Vineyard Chardonnay'97: Big rich rather funky/yeasty BF/ML toasty/oak nose; big rich lush Burgundian/funky ripe flavor.
Brewer-Clifton Marcella's Vineyard Chardonnay'97: Strong toasty BF/ML very ripe melony/Chard nose; tart lush BF/ML ripe melony/Chardonnaylush bit steely/metallic flavor; a huge rich powerhouse Chardonnaybut lots of acidity.
Brewer-Clifton Sweeny Canyon Chardonnay'97: Big ripe BF/ML melony/dusty toasty/oak pungent nose; big ripe melony BF/ML rather funky bit wet dog fur flavor.
Brewer-Clifton Julia's Vineyard Pinot Noir '97: Deep funky/earthy pungent dusty smokey some black cherry nose; big rich funky black cherry earthy/pungent funky flavor.
Brewer-Clifton Santa Maria Hills Pinot Noir '97: Very strong black cherry deep earthy/dusty/ pungent nose; beautiful rich pungent charred/toasty ripe black cherry flavor. One of the best Pinots here.
I had tried the debut vintage of the Brewer-Clifton Pinots at the tasting last yr and thought them pretty interesting. Upon release, I served them all in a tasting and was mightly impressed; big rich Domaine Leroy-style bit funky Pinots. The above wines are wines still in progress & have some weird stuff going on in some of them. But I have little doubt they'll be dynamite very Burgundian Chards & Pinots on release. Definitely a winery to watch.
Cold Heaven Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Viognier '97: First Viognier from this vineyard; rather minerally/stoney/metallic light peachy/Viognier nose; tart stoney/mineral light peachy/Viognier tight hard flavor; a tight wine that will develop well; sorta Alban Estate in style.
Cold Heaven Alban Vineyard Viognier '97: Very fragrant lush floral ripe peach/Viognier bit minerally nose; rich ripe lush floozy/ peachy/Viognier/ floral bit minerally flavor; great Viognier.
Domaine Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir '97: Very strong spicy cherry/berry almost Zin-like nose; tart light very spicy cherry/berry flavor; very good Pinot.
Domaine Santa Barbara Quinta Los Olivos Pinot Noir '97: Deep rather herbal/walnutty/pungent toasty/oak nose; soft rich herbal/walnutty/dusty/pungent flavor; unusual interesting Pinot.
Foxen MaMere Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon '96: Very strong eucalyptus/menthol/cloves/nutmeg complex dusty bit herbal nose; intense eucalyptus/menthol/taosty/oak herbal very extracted flavor; huge Cab.
Hartley-Ostini Sanford&Benedict Vineyard Pinot Noir '96: Fragrant cherry Pinot Noir pencilly/Burgundian nose; tart bright cherry bit lean charred/toasty/ oak/pencilly flavor.
Hartley-Ostini Syrah Fess Parker Vineyard '96: Strong dusty/roasted/toasty oak some gamey/blackberry nose; tart deep roasted gamey blackberry toasty/charred/ oak flavor; very Rhonish style of Syrah. Well priced at $16.
Hartley-Ostini Petite Sirah Carrari Vineyard '96: Black color; strong dusty/walnutty earthy/pungent low fruit some peppery/spicy nose; hard tannic bit bretty dusty/ walnutty peppery toasted/oak flavor; big extracted Petite.
Jaffurs Bien Nacido Vineyard Syrah '97: Very spicy perfumed ripe blackberry/Syrah licorice/gamey nose; pungent roasted gamey/blackberry/Syrah flavor; seems bigger & richer than the '95. Lots of roasted character.
Jaffurs Thompson Vineyard Syrah '97: Very funky/reduced H2S burnt rubber dusty nose; off-dry funky bit spritzy reduced/stinky flavor; very much an unfinished wine and can't tell anything.
Both of these Jaffurs Syrahs are still active and much too young to tell anything about. They strike me as bigger & richer than his first two. Another winery that you'll be hearing a lot about in a few yrs.
Margerum Negociants Rosso Riserva (Nebbiolo, Freisa, Barbera) '96: Very toasty/oak smokey dusty Italian-like Barbera nose; tart lean hard buttery/oaked/charred pungent smokey flavor; very interesting Italian/food wine. Good value at $9
Makor Paso Robles WestSide Zin '96: Med. light ripe blackberry/dusty/jammy PR Zin bit earthy oaked nose; soft ripe blackberry/jammy/ dusty bright fruit flavor; a bright zippy/jammy Zin; Jim Adelman's best Zin by far yet. Good value at $14
Andrew Murray South Slope Syrah '96: Strong blackberry/perfumed bit gamey/oaked nose; tart hard lean tannic dusty/blackberry/Syrah bit gamey roasted flavor; a hard tannic very big Syrah. Good value at $16.
Andrew Murray Reserve Syrah '96: Very aromatic/perfumed/bit volatile very ripe/ blackberry/chocolaty bit roasted/pungent/licorice nose; big ripe hard tannic ripe blackberry/pungent/oaked flavor; a big hard tannic Syrah that needs much time; Andrew's best Syrah yet. Very good value at $20
First met Andrew at the Futures tasting 2 yrs ago. I was very much impressed w/ his ideas & vision of where he wanted to go w/ his wines. They have some of the most spectacular vineyards in all Calif. He makes huge tannic reds for the long haul; they don't have the lush opulent forward fruit of others. But this is definitely another wnry that's going to hit the big time any day now.
Ojai Roll Ranch Viognier '97: Very lush fragrant/perfumed/ripe peachy/Viognier nose; tart very rich lush ripe peachy/Viognier bubble gum floral flavor; loads of rich Viognier fruit but good acidity; best of Viogniers herer. Steal at $16
Ojai Bien Nacido Pinot Noir '96: Deep black cherry/smokey/plummy light oaked ripe spicy nose; big rich spicy/black cherry/plummy toasty/oak flavor; a classic big rich BN Pinot; one of the best Pinots here; steal at $20
Ojai Pisoni Vineyard Pinot Noir '96: Very dark color; deep smokey spicy bit funky/herbal very aromatic perfumed complex sandlewood/cloves nose; big rich extracted chocolaty/ complex dusty very spicy/cloves/Pinot flavor; big huge extracted very unusual Pinot; atypical Pinot but I liked this wine a lot.
Ojai Stolpman Vineyard Syrah '96: Bit herbal/dusty light blackberry rather closed nose; tart bit lean some blackberry/Syrah/dusty flavor; nice Syrah but liked the Calif '96 better. $18
Ojai Roll Ranch Syrah '96: Black color; deep intense ripe blackberry/Syrah dusty/ gamey spicy complex nose; big ripe dusty/blackberry/Syrah very spicy complex some roasted/toasty/pungent flavor; best Syrah here; a killer Syrah & steal at $20.
Ojai Bien Nacido Syrah '96: Black color; very intense blackberry/Syrah/black cherry some dusty/gamey floral nose; big ripe blackberry/Syrah/dusty bit roasted/gamey flavor; loads of intense pure Syrah fruit; more like last yr's RR Syrah; another killer Syrah; a steal at $22
I've been following Adam's wines from the very start back in the early '80's. In the last 3 yrs, they've taken a huge quantuum jump in quality. His Syrahs are among the very best made in Calif/the world. Across the board, Adam's wines here today were the best of any one wnry. Many of the other wines, particularly the Chards and Pinots were not that distinctive from each other. Adam's were. Got a chance to meet his new assistant, Sashi, also. Buy any Ojai when you see them; you can't go wrong.
Il Podere Teroldego '96: Black color; intense plummy/dusty bit smokey/pungent nose; big hard tannic plummy/dusty bit metallic earthy bit bretty flavor; very much like a big Cahors or Madiran wine; badly needs age.
Qupe Ibarra-Young Vineyard Viognier '97: Light peachy/Viognier bit earthy/steely/mineral stoney nose; tart minerally/lean light peachy/Viognier very spicy flavor; a rather tight restrained style of Viognier.
Qupe Alban Vineyard Rousanne '97: Beautiful very fragrant floral/pineapply aromatic nose rich mouthfilling lush tropical fruit/floral/pineapply some minerally textured flavor; big huge ripe Zind-Humbrecht PinotGris-like wine. Steal at $20
Qupe Los Olivos Cuvee (Syrah/Mourvedre/Grenache) '96: Deep plummy smokey perfumed/ gamey dusty nose; soft plummy earthy smokey dusty peppery very spicy flavor; one of the best Rhone blends done in Calif; and the age very well. Great value at $15
Qupe Bien Nacido Reserve Syrah '96: Strong blackberry/Syrah pencilly/oak bit roasted nose; tarter lean light blackberry/roasted spicy/pungent flavor; very fine Syrah; not as big & extracted as the last two vintages. Great value at $19.
Qupe Hillside Estate Syrah '96: Dark color; intense fragrant ripe blackberry/Syrah some gamey/dusty very spicy/cloves; huge rich extracted blackberry/Syrah dusty/ gamey/spicy cloves flavor. Another killer Hillside Syrah. Good value at $29.
Another producer I've been with from the very start; definitely a worl-class producer of Rhone wines. His Viogniers are in a much more restrained style from others; a style I'm beginning to prefer more and more; and I style I think will age better than the DollyParton/Swartzenegger style. But Bob's Rousannes are the real killers; this '97 is probably even better than the '95. This is a variety to watch in Calif; they can make great Alsatian-style wines from this.
Talley Rincon Vineyard Pinot Noir '96: Deep smokey/toasty/oaked ripe black cherry/dusty nose; tart ripe black cherry/Pinot Noir dusty very spicy toasty/oaked flavor; one of the outstanding Pinots here.
Zaca Mesa Syrah '96: A special cuvee from the Mesa block; fragrant perfumed rather aromatic/spicy some blackberry/Syrah bit gamey nose; bright zippy very spicy/ cloves blackberry/black cherry flavor; bigger & richer than previous ZM Syrah; a more elegant bright style of Syrah than a blockbuster style. Best ZM Syrah that I've had.
And that be it; it was a terrific tasting. The only regret I have at tastings like this when I'm in the wine geek-mode is the lack of time to visit w/ other tasters and winemakers; so that I proably come across as a bit rude. Sorry about that. I do find other people's opinions on the wines extremely valuable; they often pick up things in some wines that I missed. So I very much enjoy reading other's notes on the wines.
This was another great chance to meet some of my CyberSpace friends. Finally get to meet in person Bernie Roth (Bernard), Todd Serota, Bruce L, Eric Anderson, and a couple of others. Bernie had opened up his home two block away for us to get together to visit afterwards; so it was a great opportunity to sit down & relax a bit and chat w/ others. As Bacchus has described, much more eloquently than I could, in the WS; then wine people you meet in CyberSpace and then in RealSpace are absolutely first rate, genuine human beings; haven't met a jerk yet. There certainly are some that appear on the Boards (usually using Monikers), but you never seem to run into them in RealSpace.
The real bummer of the whole trip was that Bernie had arranged a special dinner that evening at Ajo for the us wine folks. Many people had brought some very special bottles for the evening. But since Dave was going South & right by LAX that evening, I had to miss the dinner so I could take his ride offer. But next year, I'll be there.
So Dave & I head out; uneventful ride to LAX, & get a hotel room. Things are pretty grim in the ElSegundo area, foodwise, so catch a bite at Stick&Stein. Very ordinary, if that good, food.
Sunday (March 15, 1998)
Up early, get in some fencing drills in the parking garage, catch an earlier flight out and back to the real world.
