tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14126415894335053162024-03-06T06:32:41.448+01:00California Wine ReportUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger136125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-76295587212524588932012-08-26T13:17:00.002+02:002012-08-26T13:17:30.767+02:00Spring Mountain Vineyards 2007 Cabernet Sauvignons
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBfkuPuvxCi9dTvzCuyeazBx0xOTSnPDEEsxNWs0ibmEdB7WHy05PfzdNrCuSvGpBuVW7MpmsJIVK1IaW2GfR39By8RljH5kwcPshdXSbjdFJ9WQ76F5ri4Y_GnQ7clAhhnSCofREdVng/s1600/Spring+Mountain+viner+01+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBfkuPuvxCi9dTvzCuyeazBx0xOTSnPDEEsxNWs0ibmEdB7WHy05PfzdNrCuSvGpBuVW7MpmsJIVK1IaW2GfR39By8RljH5kwcPshdXSbjdFJ9WQ76F5ri4Y_GnQ7clAhhnSCofREdVng/s320/Spring+Mountain+viner+01+(2).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Not only
is Spring Mountain Vineyards one of the most beautiful wine estates in Napa
Valley (and California), it’s also a very reliable source of high end but
moderate priced wines. The more than 340 hectares large estate climbs from 120
meters of altitude at the foot of Spring Mountain, just next to the town of St
Helena, up to 480 meters, and the total planted surface is 91 hectares, divided
into 132 different vineyard blocks, some of them on steep, terraced slopes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A handful wines are made here, a very good, refreshing wine of Sauvignon
Blanc with a splash of Sémillon, a surprisingly good Pinot Noir (!), two wines
of Syrah and two wines of Cabernet Sauvignon (predominately). It’s the
cabernets that are the star of the show. They both offer just everything one
can wish for in a mountainside wine. There is density, power, depth, structure,
minerality, freshness, finesse and elegance, and, which I see as a great thing,
longevity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
estate itself is old, at least parts of it, but the greatness is of more recent
time. It’s owned by Swiss business man Jacob Safra, who bought it bit by bit
from 1992 and onwards. I liked the wines already in the late 1990s, but the
breakthrough came with the new winemaker Jac Cole in 2003 (all though David
Ramey made their 2001 and 2002 vintages), and since then a great deal of the
vineyards has been replanted.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The wines are made in a classic way, small
stainless steel tank fermented with 15 days of skin contact, then transferred
into French oak barrels to undergo malolactic fermentation and ageing. Just in
time for the 2011 vintage, eight brand new Taransaud oak fermenters were installed
in the cave, so I think we can see even more perfection in the wines in the vintages
to come.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: cyan;">2007 Cabernet Sauvignon</span> </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">/ <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red;">92-93 p</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is an
absolutely pure and lovely expression of the terroir of Spring Mountain! The
cuvée this year is 97 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and just three percent of Cabernet
Franc, and it was raised in 50 percent new French oak barrel for nearly two
years. Although very young, it’s already quite complex, the dark and deeply
concentrated but yet so elegant nose is not all about fruit (dark cherries and
black currants), there’s also lovely notes of cedar, lead, gravel and
minerality. On the palate, it’s rich, or rather intense, with a good density
without being full bodied or fruit driven. The tannins are marked, but not
aggressive, and they are backed up by a good acidity and a vital minerality
that tickle the tongue. The alcohol is well balanced, there’s just a slightly
warm touch in the end of the finish. It many sense, this is a very classic wine
that will turn into what’s normally is described as Bordeaux like, but with a
richer fruit. </span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really enjoyed the 2005 vintage, but
that’s a big and very tight one that still needs a lot of air before serving
it. The 2007 vintage is a step up in elegance and complexity, so I prefer it.
If opened young, you should decant it at least one hour before drinking it. </span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Drink it 2013-2027<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: cyan;">2007 Elivette</span></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> / <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red;">93-94
p</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
Elivette is the finest and most intense selection here, it also priced higher,
125 dollar compared to 75 dollars for the regular cuvée. In this vintage, the
cuvée of this top selection from Spring Mountain Vineyards consists of 84
percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 12 percent of Cabernet Franc and four percent of
Petit Verdot. Compared to most reserve wines in Napa Valley, there are no
differences in the vinification, it’s the same type of fermentation and ageing
in oak, it’s just a pure vineyard lot and barrel selection. The wines is quite
a bit more intense, the concentration is more obvious, which adds the sensation
of being a more silky and less structured wine, which is not the case. It’s
just more of the good stuff to balance and in some way also coat the tannins.
I’d give this wine even more air if serving it today, but I’d rather keep it a
few more years from now.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Drink it 2013-2027<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-4247873373697093292012-08-20T01:38:00.001+02:002012-08-20T03:34:13.216+02:00A brilliant trio from Lioco<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHyBm_lWQ0491WU1JbmUIpJxifhwCfODDrXRvfIMVRiwFOIz5qU9QNnhIb0Fhnr6BWfaxnBJl3ikk9721l9ipzSzuYf9H3vM3YqsVZSvC4uyJYmK2WLkzC7mPKQgElNNjZROXG3_sXl8/s1600/Lioco.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHyBm_lWQ0491WU1JbmUIpJxifhwCfODDrXRvfIMVRiwFOIz5qU9QNnhIb0Fhnr6BWfaxnBJl3ikk9721l9ipzSzuYf9H3vM3YqsVZSvC4uyJYmK2WLkzC7mPKQgElNNjZROXG3_sXl8/s320/Lioco.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">IPOB, In
Pursuit Of Balance, is a manifest to look for and celebrate totally balanced
wines of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, crated in 2011 by master sommelier Rajat
Parr of Michael Mina and RN74, and Jasmine Hirsch of Hirsch Vineyards in Sonoma
Coast. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One of
the members is the 10 000 cases young wine company Lioco, founded in 2005
by sommelier Kevin O’Connor (Spago, in Beverly Hills) and wine merchant Matt
Licklider (North Berkley Import). Longing for other types of wines than the fruit
driven, full bodied and oaky wines that came in fashion during the 1990s, they
started out to craft elegant wines with low alcohol, high natural acidity, and
a good expression of their terroir. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> They
hired John Raytek as their winemaker, purchased Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from
cool vineyard sites in Russian River Valley, Sonoma Coast, Chalone and Anderson
Valley, and old vine dry farmed Carignane from Redwood Valley in the northern Mendocino,
and begun to make a series of fine tuned wines with a true expression of the
variety and its birthplace. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
wines are all “hands off made” with early harvested grapes, normally at 21-23
Brix, which end up in wines with alcohol levels at around 12.0 to 13.5 percent.
The Chardonnays are slowly whole cluster pressed and then fermented with their
natural yeast in either stainless steel tanks or smaller steel drums. There is
no oak at all! Due to the high levels of malic acid, all wines are full
malolactic, but there’s enough of acidity to make them taste super fresh. They
are all bottled after six months on their lees, with just some bâtonnage. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Chardonnay
would be their mayor production, but they also make a series of very fine and
elegant Pinot Noirs that shouldn’t been overseen, and a superb old vine Carignane
called Indica. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The very
good news is that these wines are not expensive, they range from 20-50 dollars!
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is
one of the most thrilling producers of the new age of California winemaking.
Don’t miss them!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: cyan;">2010 Russian River Valley Chardonnay</span></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> / <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red;">90 p</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is
not a second wine, it’s a wine crafted from two vineyards, one in the central
part of Russian River Valley, and one much cooler at Bodega Highway in the
southwestern corner of Green Valley. Since the grapes are very slowly whole
cluster pressed, the juice is in contact with the skins for almost eight hours,
which add a good structure and a touch of golden color. The funny thing is that
it reminds me of a more classic wine from Meursault, due to its slightly diacetyl
flavor and creamy texture. As in the other wines, there’s a steely touch to it,
but there’s so much more complexity than in most of the steel fermented
Californian Chardonnays. There are no traces at all of alcohol, and yes, it’s
just 12.3 percent. That’s the beauty, and the persuit of balance! This is the
first vintage of this 400 case bottling. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Drink it 2012-2016<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: cyan;">2010 Chardonnay Demuth Vineyard</span></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> / <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red;">92 p</span></b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Demuth
Vineyard is located at 520 meters of altitude in the high end av very cool part
of Anderson Valley, north of Roederer Estate. It was planted 40 years ago with
the Old Wente clone, and although the vines were planted on their own roots,
there are just small signs of phylloxera and the yields are less than 20
hectoliter per hectare. Of all Chardonnays in the line up from Lioco, this is
the most astringent and mineral driven one, the most Chablis like if one should
compare to the French wines (which normally if a quite stupid and meaningless
idea, yet common). <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> This is
an absolute pure expression of Chardonnay, more marked by its birthplace, the cool
climate, which results in a cooler and crisp fruit (lemon, green apples) and
high acidity and, the poor slate soil, which add a load of minerality and
structure to the wine. Although note the same chalky minerality of Chablis
wines, it offers a lovely energy that lingers for a minute, and it’s really
delicious. Serve it at 12 degrees Celsius, and with some air in the glass (or
decanted 20-30 minutes), it will be even more complex.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Drink it 2012-2020<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: cyan;">2010 Chardonnay Hanzell Vineyard</span> </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">/ <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red;">91 p</span></b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
famous Hanzell Vineyard was planted to Chardonnay over 50 years ago, and they
have never sold grapes to anyone in the past. Of pure interest to find out how a
wine from their grapes in the hands of Lioco, with their minimalistic
philosophy, would taste like, they decided to sell some grapes to them in 2010.
This wine is made from the clones Old Wente, Robert Young and the Hanzell
Selection, harvested at 22.7 Brix. Of the trio, this is the most powerful wine
and in that sense it is the “grand cru” of them. It offers a rich and slightly nutty,
almost toasty nose with a flinty minerality, its medium bodied and very
intensive with a rich and creamy texture, but lively acidity and a tickling
minerality. With its 13.4 percent alcohol, it’s quite Burgundian in its
structure. It’s a very good wine, that opens up just lovely with decanting,
just lika the wines from Burgundy. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Drink it 2012-2016<o:p></o:p></span></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-22500438939997248142012-08-08T00:37:00.000+02:002012-08-08T00:37:35.875+02:00A lovely Nebbiolo from Clendenen Family Vineyards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCVrT8VZNtkbokPqi6Q5eik1PTFf-aUstYHndz8ZIgUpHhjEeTkJD0fw7F3OXjZ073B4rquI2GZuospS8unQFPUuxwCrDkLkPB5mU5YYxodfO0JypDxdO3TmS2mMc0tZ7allh2JOYRZb4/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCVrT8VZNtkbokPqi6Q5eik1PTFf-aUstYHndz8ZIgUpHhjEeTkJD0fw7F3OXjZ073B4rquI2GZuospS8unQFPUuxwCrDkLkPB5mU5YYxodfO0JypDxdO3TmS2mMc0tZ7allh2JOYRZb4/s320/009.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In 2010,
only 62 hectares was planted to Nebbiolo in California, and of that just one
hectare is found in the famous Bien Nacido Vineyard in the northeastern corner
of Santa Maria Valley. The vines were planted in 1994 and gives two wines, the lovely
Nebbiolo Bricco Buon Natale and the even more impressive Nebbiolo Punta Esclamativa.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is said that it takes a lot of knowledge
and wine appreciation to understand the wine world, and to even get close to
what a varietal wine or a blend from a specific wine region or even smaller
appellation tastes like. In most cases, unless we talk about world class wines
from the best winemakers in the world, that precise knowledge isn't there. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the last two decades, when I have
travelled the wine world, I have heard thousands of times that "this is
our Chablis styled Chardonnay", and "this is so
Montrachet-like", and "this is just like the greatest wines of
Médoc", och "a great Tempranillo" and, not too often though,
"our very finest Barolo-styled Nebbiolo". And in an overwhelming
majority of these cases, are there very small similarities, if any at all. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, it doesn't take more than a small
chat with legendary Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat and his more recent
Clendenen Family Vineyards, to realize that he knows what he is talking about
and that he really knows the world of wine. And if you're not lucky enough to
meet him and talk to him, the answer is in the bottle. The guy knows the world
of fine wine!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: cyan;">2003 Nebbiolo Punta Esclamativa</span></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> / <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red;">91 p</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is
a one hundred percent Nebbiolo from two small lots of nine year old Nebbiolo
vines, fermented in small tanks with a total of three weeks of skin contact,
then matured in 500 liter French oak barrels during the for Barolo wines
typical time of four years. Alcohol level is, according to the label, 13.5
percent, and I have no reason to think that this isn't true. There's no traces
of sweet alcohol or alcohol warmth in the taste. </span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I poured this wine blind at 15 degrees
Celsius in Burgundy shaped glasses to a handful of top sommeliers, and some of
them went directly to Nebbiolo. That's a good sign, and I totally understand
that. The others placed it in Santa Barbara County, mostly for its intense red
fruit flavors, riper fruit and lively acidity, and besides the tannins, they
thought it was a great Pinot Noir. Not too bad either, to me Nebbiolo and its
great wines from Barolo and Barbaresco is the burgundian wine style of Italy.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first, the fruit scent was a bit
"warmer" in style, so one sommelier suggested it could be the warmer 2003
vintage in Piedmont, and that both the acidity and tannic structure was a bit
leaner than in the Italian wines, and that's a good comment. Still the variety
character is there, true and without no doubt very typical. Red fruit, sun ripe
raspberries, rose petals, a hint of fine tobacco, even that small note of that
rubber I find so attractive in Barolos and Barbarescos, and those characters
became much more prominent after some hours in the decanter, to be even more
true "Barolo like" after 24 hours in the decanter! There's just a
small sweetish note of the oak, but still on a very moderate level, and a
slightly riper fruit than in the Piedmontese counterparts. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Based on the fact that the wine is now nine
years old and that it took around a day for it in the decanter to really open
up, my guess is that it should age beautifully another decade or even more.
Still I think it will be at its best, with all its lovely and already complex
aromas, the coming six years from now. Serve it at around 16-17 degrees
Celsius, but decant it before!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Drink it 2012-2018<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-37646708512876650502012-07-01T10:41:00.002+02:002012-07-01T10:41:43.358+02:00Albariño from Kongsgaard<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUpJ_23FjS3WK5IkA3LSPsuJBlemPcKt_Us4-rEYhWvoOesR0-X5IFwp_s8DghLFRV6kY1UwkpyvYme7IdCcRy5SVW_IYkUGp-aBFcW7cmz8v9yKIyM56_4_GAsvSuwZz1bFEps0dp8s/s1600/Kongsgaard+viner+02+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUpJ_23FjS3WK5IkA3LSPsuJBlemPcKt_Us4-rEYhWvoOesR0-X5IFwp_s8DghLFRV6kY1UwkpyvYme7IdCcRy5SVW_IYkUGp-aBFcW7cmz8v9yKIyM56_4_GAsvSuwZz1bFEps0dp8s/s320/Kongsgaard+viner+02+(1).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Albariño
is definitely not one of the most well known green varieties in California. There
are not even 20 hectares planted in total of it, and very few varietal wines
are made. Therefore most consumers don’t know what to expect from it, unless
they are familiar with the fine whites of Galicia in the northwestern corner of
Spain, where this grapes originates from. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> It’s a
bit reminiscent of Riesling, elegant och floral with s lovely fruit and high acidity,
but normally the wines don’t keep that well and should therefore be consumed
within 3-8 years from vintage. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">John
Kongsgaard is a well-known winemaker, famous for his great chardonnays,
especially the powerful but yet complex The Judge, from a quite cool vineyard
in the Coombsville appellation of southeast Napa Valley. This wine, the new
Albariño, made for the first time in 2011, is a completely different wine. But
it is a lovely wine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Sadly,
only three barrels (65 cases) were made and the wine would probably only be
sold to customers on the mailing list, or to a few restaurants. But it is well
worth looking for!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: cyan;">2011 Napa Valley Albariño</span></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> / <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red;">89 p</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
grapes for this wine comes from in Hudson Vineyard of Napa Carneros, planted in
a 0.30 hectare small parcel on the upper slopes, where the soil is poor and of
volcanic origin. They are harvested early at low Brix, with a pH of just 3.10,
which according to John Kongsgaard is the lowest pH he has ever worked with in
his life. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Fermentation
took place in three old and neutral oak barrels with the natural yeast, and in
order to keep the maximum freshness, there was no malolactic fermentation. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> This is
really a very good effort, one of the very best I’ve ever came across of this
variety in California. Only Michael Havens made as good Albariño wine as this,
but that was many years ago. It’s totally pure, fresh and elegant with a lovely
nose of white peaches, sweet lemon, lemon peel and white flowers, and on the
palate is light and elegant, still with some density to make it linger for a
while, and it’s absolutely dry and fresh with just a dash of lively minerality
in the finish. It’s actually quite similar to the original wines from Rias
Baixas in Spain. Serve is slightly chilled, at around 10 degrees Celsius, as an
aperitif or with sushi, fresh seafood or elegant fish dishes. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Drink it 2012-2015</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. <o:p></o:p></span><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-32641734367514581802012-06-28T15:01:00.000+02:002012-06-28T15:01:26.647+02:002008 from Harlan Estate<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjur6mz_kCUM4OsJOgwUNnPbvAwyiTZ-G_JvQIdkokn9FIk82P1UcODQkIAmDxkstYwml8TAmHxqU1AsqJOz3nYwy2ESD1sJseof1GBYGuN73d6IPwA9o8FnyCPWL8tEoaO7AJVYgeyyIA/s1600/Harlan+Estate+2008+a+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjur6mz_kCUM4OsJOgwUNnPbvAwyiTZ-G_JvQIdkokn9FIk82P1UcODQkIAmDxkstYwml8TAmHxqU1AsqJOz3nYwy2ESD1sJseof1GBYGuN73d6IPwA9o8FnyCPWL8tEoaO7AJVYgeyyIA/s320/Harlan+Estate+2008+a+(1).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
annual visit at Harlan Estate is of the highlights of the year. Since my first
visit here over ten years ago, the vineyards have now become mature and produce
wines of more gracefulness and depth than pure power and fruit intensity. Some
of the lots, like the older one right below the winery (planted in the late
1980s), have been taken out to be replanted due to age and some kind of virus,
I was told. A part from that, few things are really new here. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Don
Weaver is still the manager, Bob Levy is still making the wines and does it in
the same way as always, Michel Rolland is still involved as a consultant for
the blends, and the blend seems to be pretty much the same today as in the past
vintages. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Just a
few things are different, 1) the vintages are not the same from year to year,
2) the knowledge of each parcel is deeper, and 3) the philosophy has for one
reason changed a little bit. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“For
sure we will never, by intention, make another 1997, even though that vintage
was awarded with a perfect 100 point score by Robert Parker”, Don Weaver says. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And
there we see the small change. Stylistically Harlan Estate will never again
make another blockbuster wine like 1997 or the 2004, classic elegance, total
balance and complexity are the key words.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“2004
was the last warm vintage we had, since then it seems like the climate has
become a bit cooler, which suits us just fine”, he adds. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Although
2007 is one of the best vintages ever here, 2008 as well as 2010 and 2011 all
shows great finesse. A preview of an almost complete final blend of 2010 is
very promising, with at lively balance, great finesse and freshness, and a long
finish with a lingering blueberry and cassis fruit, lively acidity and fine
minerality. Production, however, was very small. Only 900 cases were made in
2011.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: cyan;">2008 Harlan Estate</span></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> / <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red;">96-97
p</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is
yet another great expression of the site, a true evidence of the great <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">terroir</i> of the hillside vineyards of
Harlan Estate. Color is deep, but not dark or opaque, which indicates a smart
and perfect extraction from the skins. The nose is rather elegant than
concentrated, still intense with a absolutely pure dark berry fruit, cassis and
blueberries are noted, ripe but not sweetish. The oak is perfectly well
integrated and actually not detected on the nose, a part from a slight nuance
of cedar tree, and there is also a fine and already today complex touch of
graphite, which normally comes with some age (in this case it’s there because
the fruit is so elegant), and with that typical note of walnuts I find so
appealing. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> The
freshness and elegance are also there on the palate, medium bodied and silky
with very fine tannins, good acidity and great length, and overall it’s more
classic and complex than powerful. It’s delicious to drink already today,
especially if served the way I had it, decanted a good hour ahead and then
served in a big Bordeaux Riedel glass. With that said, the greater complexity
will not be there for a few more years, and I rather wait for that. The 2008
vintage has the potential to be a new classic from Harlan Estate, and a vintage
that would suit the classic and French palate more than the typical American. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> “For us,
the 2008 Harlan Estate is a charming wine, it’s all about freshness”, Don
Weaver adds. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Drink it 2015-2033<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-64095319252935989572012-05-14T10:52:00.001+02:002012-05-14T10:53:44.216+02:002010 Screaming Eagle Sauvignon Blanc<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNRhbaVQ0bDGRbChmkfZD-xGWNa41rDiUVAT11PODd3bgj8H91m6AvFg4_eSHnHvfhu0kpPH9DH6GmQm5FmwKZeCitolPeitRPCpeagtBmSbs5mKnq78zBkm2F03HpahkJclheYZ4LzuI/s1600/IMG_8172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNRhbaVQ0bDGRbChmkfZD-xGWNa41rDiUVAT11PODd3bgj8H91m6AvFg4_eSHnHvfhu0kpPH9DH6GmQm5FmwKZeCitolPeitRPCpeagtBmSbs5mKnq78zBkm2F03HpahkJclheYZ4LzuI/s320/IMG_8172.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When I
first heard of the white wine from Screaming Eagle, I was quite surprised.
Although I know that some parts of Napa Valley can produce world class wines
from Sauvignon Blanc (or at least, as good as a wine from Sauvignon Blanc
outside Bordeaux can be), I couldn't imagine that Screaming Eagle would ever
make one. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Very if,
if any, could ever have thought that. Actually, not even one of the new owners
since 2005, Charles Banks, thought about it.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">"Well,
when we studied the vineyard, we knew we had to replant it in a much better
way, we couldn't just continue to make the wine in the same way as Jean
Phillips and her winemaker Heidi Peterson-Barrett did, we had the worlds eyes
on us", he said to me a few weeks ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">"And
we found a spot in the northwestern corner of our vineyard, that I found to be
much better suited for Sauvignon Blanc than Cabernet Sauvignon or Franc, and
Merlot actually doesn't perform very well in our vineyard", he added.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> The
Sauvignon Blanc grapes were never intended to be a commercial wine, if they
ever should make it themselves, and if so, I was to be used for PR tastings and
dinners, and as a giveaway.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> But with
the 2010 vintage, the now sole owner Stanley Kroenke, decided to sell it on the
mailing list. It's now even more rare and sought after than the red Screaming
Eagle. And it is of course the talk of the day since very people have tasted it,
or even seen a bottle or a picture of a bottle. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">2010
Screaming Eagle Sauvignon Blanc</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">93 p</span></strong></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is
a 100 percent Sauvignon Blanc from a small lot in the northwestern section of
the vineyard, planted in 2006. The grapes are harvested at full phenolic
ripeness, but still with a high acidity (and there's no acidification taken
place at Screaming Eagle since 2005). The juice is fermented in two small new
French oak barrels, to a alcohol level of just above 14 percent.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> The nose
is quite intense and open, fresh and floral with nuances of lilies and summer
meadow (grass and small flowers) and with that typical California sauvignon
touch of passion fruit. A part from a small note of vanilla, the oak is
extremely well integrated.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> On the
palate it's medium full, very elegant and pure with a lovely acidity to balance
the intense but very elegant fruit body. The alcohol is very well balanced, and
the aftertaste is long, floral, fresh and very elegant. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I tasted
the wine blind with a few friends, and we were all very excited when we
realized that it was the white eagle we had in our glasses. And tasted it
blind, I have to say it's not at floral as the sauvignon from Araujo and their
Eisele Vineyard, or as light and crisp as that of Spottswoode, or as heavy as
the Robert Mondavi I-Block Fumé Blanc from very old vines in To Kalon Vineyard,
and it's not oak spicy as the great sauvignon from Vineyard 29 and the Georgia
of Lail Vineyard. It's more elegant and complex that those other very great
sauvignons of Napa Valley.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> It's
actually one of the best, if not the best, sauvignon I have tasted in
California, yet. However, it comes with an extremely high price, $250 plus tax
from the winery, or $1500 to 1700 on the second hand market. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it
over the next 5-6 years</em>.<o:p></o:p></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-90797903646593150252012-02-23T00:59:00.002+01:002012-02-23T23:02:45.918+01:001999 cabernets from Napa Valley<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgygRM9zJL2GqG-jC0_EjWwXUpZLAUCXgm0MsMgwf3GA4_2JLDg064QV8uA-iaDjsFlSCHV0ajQCyERQpkM1LagUeyz7vbiw7mbVv9DiZ61IzYz-iUNjyMflSX1AGA0-WDIuF8dN2chxc/s1600/1999.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgygRM9zJL2GqG-jC0_EjWwXUpZLAUCXgm0MsMgwf3GA4_2JLDg064QV8uA-iaDjsFlSCHV0ajQCyERQpkM1LagUeyz7vbiw7mbVv9DiZ61IzYz-iUNjyMflSX1AGA0-WDIuF8dN2chxc/s320/1999.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It's so interesting to talk about vintages. For me, a vintage can be great for various reasons, one of course because its wines are great considering their power and intensity and most likely their ability to age and develop a greater complexity, another reason because they are easy to drink and therefore great to pour at restaurants without further bottle ageing, and yet another because they are so highly rated (by Parker) so consumers can pour them to their friends and tell them what a great wine this is. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">After working in the restaurant and wine business for three decades, the latter reason is unfortunately far too common. I just wish that consumers could depend on their own palates, rather than looking for 100 point wines. With that said, points are great references to understand the quality (or style!) of wine at the moment the taster tasted the wine. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The 1999 vintage in northern California was a bit unusual. After the cool El Niño vintage of 1998, the vines were programmed for another cool vintage, and so it was. Already in spring, 1999 was a cool year, and the flowering and fruit set was a bit later than average, followed by a slightly cooler growing season. Most wine growers I have talked to over the years (at least a couple of hundred of people), have told me they really liked 1999. "It was a winemakers vintage", I have been told. And I couldn't agree more. The praise in media didn't show. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For most Californians, the cooler vintages are not by definition the best ones, but for me as a, 1) sommelier and wine lover used to classic European wines, 2) a chef with the ambition to create great combinations with great food, and 3) a genuine lover of California and its wines, I need to find the perfect balance for my taste and purposes. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">To me, 1999 is a much superior vintage than the highly acclaimed 1997, which was too warm to create perfectly balanced and elegant wines. In 1999, the wines came out in perfect balance, with a ripe and intense fruit in a style I call "neo-classic" (ripe but not sweet, intense but not overly powerful, elegant but not weak), with a fine acidity, a sense of place and minerality, and with alcohol levels I would describe as moderate and in balance. And, which I find to be a bonus, they seems to age with grace and now offers what I call a "Bordeaux like" complexity.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In a tasting with my wine club, I opened up a bunch of 1999s, and this is the result. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Kronos Vineyard</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">91 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Corison Winery<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I've always loved the wines from Cathy Corison, they often have that kind of lovely elegance that seems to have been lost in Napa Valley in the hype of the cult wines of the 90s. Perhaps they lack som intensity when they are young, but the grace comes with age. This 1999 is a lovely example of that, even though it was a b it shy in the tasting I arranged. Twelve years old, it still offers primary fruit of good quality with a quite aromatic fragrance of cassis, but it also shows some mature nuances like lead pencil and cedar tree, and it's really deliscious. On the palate, it is elegant, the tannins have started to soften and the texture is almost velvet like. A good thing here, which several tasters indicated, is that alcohol (13.6 percent) is perfectly well integrated, and some tasters called the style "Pauillac like". I totally understand them! It's a deliscious wine. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> The wine is a pure Cabernet Sauvignon from vines planted in the early 1970s on the phylloxera resistent root stock St George (hence the age of the vines) in the 3.25 hectare Kronos Vineyard, right behind the winery off the Highway 29 in the heartland of Napa Valley. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2012-2017<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">1999 Cabernet Sauvignon</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">89-90 p</span></strong></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Jones Family Vineyards<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The first vintage from Jones Family was 1995, then and still by famous winemaker Heidi Peterson-Barrett. I belive this vintage was made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon from the 2.85 hectare parcell they planted in 1991 and 1993 at 180 to 240 meters altitude at the foot of Howell Mountain (it's in the St Helena appellation). Stainlees steel fermented and raised in new French oak barrels for 22 months, this is a serious wine that still offers some oaky flavors. Although the wine is rich with good concentration of dark berry fruit, it doesn't have that depth that comes with vine age, so it lacks a bit of the core I look for. I guess that's why I noted a slight bitterness in the finish. Still it is a good wine, especially with food (which will cover a bit of that hollowness), and I'd like to see it again within a few years. Just because I'm curious. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> While most of the wines opened up with air, this wine lost a bit of its fruit and became even more bitter. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2012-2015</em></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAPcrvyVIgLR_zmffcg2S2B64L9n8zYc99sizn2vdPdM4NDX_UMlo6pWRnZEAIW_vBL7jxBdMIsph7uGcv2geCSNdGZxkcmTVtFGDFxMlzajGtfpWid4Yu5ggjbkfWq00MURFuVmFVqI/s1600/Stags+Leap+Wine+Cellars+ving%C3%A5rden+Fay.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAPcrvyVIgLR_zmffcg2S2B64L9n8zYc99sizn2vdPdM4NDX_UMlo6pWRnZEAIW_vBL7jxBdMIsph7uGcv2geCSNdGZxkcmTVtFGDFxMlzajGtfpWid4Yu5ggjbkfWq00MURFuVmFVqI/s320/Stags+Leap+Wine+Cellars+ving%C3%A5rden+Fay.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Fay Vineyard</span></em></div><em><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></em><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Fay</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">92 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Stag's Leap Wine Cellars<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The legendary wine estate Stag's Leap Wine Cellars I a reliable source of fine wines that ages with beauty, and they tend to move towards fine Bordeaux's with age. This 1999 still offers a slightly sweetish fruit, quite aromatic and with fine cassis flavors. However, it is the first signs of maturity that impress me and makes me smile. I find notes of cedar, lead pencil and sous bois, as well as a whisper of coffee. On the palate, it is medium bodied with a vital och lively fruit, still with firm but not aggressive tannins and with a fine acidity to create a good balance. The 14.5 percent of alcohol is in good balance with the other components, and even though its higher than in most wines in this tasting, and the aftertaste is a bit dry (actually a bit closed), it doesn't stand out. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> The wines is good to drink today, but I would prefer to wait another year or so, to let the tannins soften a bit more and pave the way for a longer and more seductive aftertaste. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2012-2019<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">1999 Cabernet Sauvignon John G Sullenger</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">85 p</span></strong></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #eeeeee; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong>Nickel and Nickel</strong></span><br />
The f<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">irst vintage from Nickel and Nickel, founded by the Nickel brothers who also owns Far Niente Winery, was 1998. I haven't taste any of the 1998s from them, but a few times wines from the much better 1999 vintage. Last time I was a bit disappointed, the wine I had in my glass had begun to fade away and it was also a bit oxidized. The grapes, exclusively Cabernet Sauvignon, comes from the almost 17 hectare John G Sullenger vineyard next to the winery in Oakville, and the wine was raised in French oak barrels, 65 percent new, and there's still a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>touch of coffee from the barrels. <o:p></o:p></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> My previous experiences of the 1999s from Nickel and Nickel stands, the wine does not deliver the energy, power and depths I expect. However there is a fine note of cassis and even a slight complexity, but overall it is mute and short. With that said, it should drink quite well with a meal, but don't expect greatness from it. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I'd like to add, that I really enjoy the more recent vintages from Nickel and Nickel, to be honest I just love some of them (like the cabernets from Vogt Vineyard and Tench Vineyard). </span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2012<o:p></o:p></em></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">1999 Cabernet Sauvignon</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">93-94 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Far Niente Winery<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Let's stay in the family, Far Niente Winery is the older sibling, founded by Gil Nickel in 1979 on a great spot in Oakville, in the southern end of the historic To Kalon Vineyard, next to Martha's Vineyard (of Heitz Cellars) and just below the <em>grand cru</em> of Harlan Estate, and the more recent founded Futo, for which I predict a great future!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">´ The Martin Stelling Vineyard, which this wine comes from, is located just a few miles south of John G Sullenger, but its older and the location and soil is better. Also, which I think may have played an important role, is that the Nickels and their winemaker Dirk Hampson knows every inch of this vineyard - this wines is totally superior to the team's wine from Nickel and Nickel. Here you find concentration, richness, depth, a dark and youthful fruit that evolves in the glass, cassis and blackberries, and, which I really like, some mature aromas of lead pencil and chocolate. On the palate, it's much more intense, fresh and lively, tannins are vital but a bit polished and the aftertaste is long with small notes of plums and sweet fruit in the finish. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> A few years ago, I poured this wine (from magnum) in a tasting of 20+ vintages from Château Mouton-Rothschild, including some very classic vintages, and we were all so surprised that this wine outclassed most of those vintages!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> I still needs decanting to open up, and I think it will evolve into something more complex over the next few years. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2012-2019<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNmp9hHkbgkUK2cOxvqWbEy0fdmsMNCNhsGr1loY89hYXeJ_zD4gcxkLO2rZ-MLm2K8tBDQP0i2yfSCLaaupabLCh0BiqWlHvAShK4Cz-QZzIsxFS1k4KdATVIB88GZjKdJR7aJ_T-S2E/s1600/1999+a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNmp9hHkbgkUK2cOxvqWbEy0fdmsMNCNhsGr1loY89hYXeJ_zD4gcxkLO2rZ-MLm2K8tBDQP0i2yfSCLaaupabLCh0BiqWlHvAShK4Cz-QZzIsxFS1k4KdATVIB88GZjKdJR7aJ_T-S2E/s320/1999+a.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">1999 Signature Cabernet Sauvignon</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">92 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><strong><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Chappellet Vineyards</span></span></strong><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The 20 minutes drive on winding roads up the Pritchard Hill, to come to Chappellet Vineyards is well worth the efforts. Although this is a historic vineyard, planted already in the mid 1960s with Philip Togni as the first winemaker in 1969 (thru 1974), far too few people knows about them. The vineyard covers 45.60 hectares, located on several blocks with various exposures on 450 to 510 meters altitude, on a volcanic and stony soil which add a certain mineralitet to the wines.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> This was one of the most elegant wines in the tasting, and even the true Francophiles around the table loved this wine for its purity, minerality, finesse and plethora of fine nuances. Thanks to the mountain climate, the flavors are cooler, more aromatic, slightly grassy, fresh and very elegant in a classic way, and the medium full body offers layers of flavors reminiscent of fine clarets. The two single details that kept it out of Bordeaux (if tasted blind), is a slightly higher alcohol (14.5 percent) and a mintiness, but also, at least for me, the volcanic minerality that is so typical for mountain fruit in Napa Valley. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> It's a gorgeous wine, and this is not even their "best" bottling. Still it compared very well with the other wines in the tasting. Good job!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2012-2019<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">1999 Cabernet Sauvignon</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">91-92 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Philip Togni Vineyards<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">On the other side of the valley, and even higher up (at 600 meters elevation) on Spring Mountain, is where you find Philip Togni. After he left Chappellet Vineyards, he bought a small estate with old wines and planted his own now 4.25 hectare vineyard. Since then he crafts some of the most classic and Bordeaux like cabernets of Napa Valley, known to be age worthy and delicious. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> There is always a kind of grassiness in the wines of Togni, since the site is 5-6 degrees cooler compared to the vineyards on the valley floor in St Helena. Another factor of importance, is that Togni doesn't harvest overripe grapes, he is trained in Bordeaux and lives by his classic palate, and the alcohol level in this vintage is 12.5 percent. There's also a lot cassis flavors, fresh and lively as it the wine was much younger, still in a classic fashion with notes of sous bois, leather and coffee, and there's also some notes of the oak. The tannins are still firm, as expected, it normally takes almost 20 years for the wines from Togni to soften. I really liked this wine, but some tasters found it to be a bit unclean. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> When I retasted it three hours after the tasting, I had soften a bit and was slightly more complex. I just think it need some time in the decanter. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2012-2019<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">1999 Gravelly Meadow Cabernet Sauvignon</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">93 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Diamond Creek Vineyards<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Terroir</em> is the true definition at Diamond Creek Vineyards. Yet the late Al Brounstein had to fight for that and his ideas that his five vineyard blocks (totally 8.40 hectares) at his estate in Diamond Mountain gave totally different wines. Now we know, and we have known that for a long time. This year, its 40 years ago he harvested his first vintage. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> This wine, a one hundred percent cabernet wine, comes from the 2.00 hectare Gravelly Meadow Vineyard, planted at an elevation of 220 meters, which is the lowest of the vineyards on the estate, and since the gravelly soil is so well drained and doesn't hold water, it's a bit colder than the other vineyards, and the yields are also very small, normally 15-20 hectoliters per hectare. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> It's a lovely wine with a good density, dark and rich fruit with notes of cassis and blackberries that comes in layers with oriental spices, and a complex minerality of earth and crushed stones, and as always with the Diamond Creek wines, it has a huge structure. Yes, this is tannic, but the quality of the tannins is superb. Still I'd like to come back to this wine in a few years from now, my older references of the wines from this estate tells me that. For instance, I just love the wines from 1992 and 1994, they show just beautiful right now. This 1999 will join them in that, soon. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Decant it at least 45 minutes before pouring it. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2014-2024<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglP5VqfCYvGPRAOiIVx2plQ7EBfU6lU6b4JC2N-knuXEpZYpu-_qPcjWa34XPcfPmsWGEXT1lyPMaMjcXQWLlKQ9kIZf3MJspQeEhE79OS0Jap0OxHBuTRQnjf9WqfrOmirn73jeQ9WU8/s1600/Lokoya+vinmakare+Chris+Carpenter+01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglP5VqfCYvGPRAOiIVx2plQ7EBfU6lU6b4JC2N-knuXEpZYpu-_qPcjWa34XPcfPmsWGEXT1lyPMaMjcXQWLlKQ9kIZf3MJspQeEhE79OS0Jap0OxHBuTRQnjf9WqfrOmirn73jeQ9WU8/s320/Lokoya+vinmakare+Chris+Carpenter+01.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Winemaker Chris Carpenter</span></em></div><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">1999 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon</span></strong> / <span style="color: red;"><strong>89 p<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Lokoya<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This was the last vintage of the first winemaker, Marco diGiulio, and his assistant winemaker Chris Carpenter took over after him and has been the winemaker since. With the right to select the best grapes in the now late Jess Jackson's vineyard lots in the mountain districts of Napa Valley, these two winemakers created one of the greatest wine estates in the valley, the Lokoya. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> I was totally surprised by this wine, I didn't expect it to be so elegant, so Bordeaux like, and with such a coffee note, and although it had some depths and concentration, it didn't really have that Lokoya thing. However it offered the typical minerality I so often find in the wines from Howell Mountain, also a slight herbaceous note which can be explained by the cooler growing season, and of course the firm tannic structure. I tried the wine later that same evening, and it showed a little bit less coffee toasted then, and even though I liked it, it still didn't impress me the way I expected. I very much more prefer the 1995, 1997 (although heavy weight wines) and the more complete 2001 and 2002 vintages. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Drink it 2012-2017<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">1999 Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">94 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Shafer Vineyards<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This wine shows totally different from the others, it has that Shafer richness, the ripe and lush cassis, blackberry and dark cherry qualities, and still a slightly oaky touch. Compared to all other wines it appears to be several years younger, there so much more primary fruit flavor here, so much more richness, silkiness, intensity, and length. It's a pure Cabernet Sauvignon, predominately from the hillside behind the winery, and it's raised in brand new French oak barrels for around 34 months, which helped to polish the tannins. Style wise it's also the most powerful and the alcohol level touch 15 percent and is of course notable in the finish, but the overall balance is there and it's truly a delicious wine.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Of all the wines tasted this evening, this was the one that won most of aeration. Even five hours after it was decanted, it tastes lovely. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2012-2022<o:p></o:p></em></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-3944178123841399792012-01-11T10:00:00.001+01:002012-01-11T10:02:19.650+01:002002 pinot bonanza from Marcassin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz8FHFU6NiVMOVnA7zmodL3YmUwso6R7HpO9-agSSU1mix8OZJ6QC06QhrjJZ9X_JDGKAzaWGo47nG-UrWXOtNzXkzCVaLhu_f6vCXdO5wXVT3M5H7zbYw93g7jJt5lz9mF7Ph1_FA470/s1600/Marcassin+pinotviner+01++%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz8FHFU6NiVMOVnA7zmodL3YmUwso6R7HpO9-agSSU1mix8OZJ6QC06QhrjJZ9X_JDGKAzaWGo47nG-UrWXOtNzXkzCVaLhu_f6vCXdO5wXVT3M5H7zbYw93g7jJt5lz9mF7Ph1_FA470/s320/Marcassin+pinotviner+01++%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Helen Turley is one of the most renowned winemakers. During her career, she's been making wines for numerous of high end wineries, such as Peter Michael Winery, Pahlmeyer, Bryant Family Vineyards, Colgin Cellars, Blankiet and Martinelli Vineyards. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her own Marcassin Vineyard was planted in 1991. At that time Helen Turley and her husband John Wetlaufer planted 3.45 hectares of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir at the property with undeveloped land they had bought out close to Jenner out in the true Sonoma Coast in 1985. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first wines under the Marcassin Vineyard label was made in 1990, but at that time they they only used grapes purchased from vineyards owned by the Martinelli family and by Jess Jackson, and since the Marcassin Vineyard selection was added, that vineyard has been planted with more vines several times, and now covers almost 16 hectares. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their own vineyard is located on at around 340-400 meters on a slope close to the clusters of vineyards owned by Flowers Vineyards, Pahlmeyer, Peter Michael Winery and not too far away from Hirsch Vineyard. It shares a combination of cool breezes from the Pacific and the warmer temperatures at the higher elevation. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Helen Turley says that it's not important for a wine to be able to keep well in the cellars, and to her ageing does not always make a wine better of more complex. However, I have often noticed that I'm not too impressed by her wines when young, since I find them to be a bit closed, earthy and tannic, even with a little too much influence of the oak. Compared to others pinots of the same reputation (e.g. those from Williams Selyem, Hirsch Vineyard, Rochioli), they lack perfumes and floral notes. The Marcassin wines are quite different, they offer deeper and in one way more complex flavors, they seems to be more rustic and well structured in a Vosne-Romanée-like way. </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This tasting with almost ten year old wines, showed a quite different experience than I have had from tasting her younger wines over the years. Now, when the wines has come to age, the tannic structure is softer, the acidity is still fresh, and hand in hand with the more seductive secondary aromas that has developed, there's still a beautiful fruitiness in them. I must say I was totally impressed by some of these wines, and the verdict based on this tasting is that the pinots from good vintages should be kept at least 8-10 years. None of these wines were fully matured, and they all developed well in the glasses during the hour we had them there!<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">2002 Pinot Noir Three Sisters Vineyard</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">91-92 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Color is pale cherry red with some yellowish nuances of maturity. Of the four this is the most elegant, also the lightest although it still offers a good depth, but not as open as the others. At almost ten years of age, there's still a lot of primary red fruit aromas, and really no signs of maturation, and it's quite complex. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> On the palate it's almost medium bodied, very elegant and fresh with a fine and almost silky tannic structure, still it's a bit closed as the finish, which is totally dry and fresh, is not as long and open as in the others. The alcohol is a bit warm, unfortunately, and that's the main reason for not mistaking this wine from coming from Burgundy. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> I would serve this at around 15 degrees Celsius, normally in a Burgundy shapes glass, but if you feel the alcohol warmth, you may well pour it in a Bordeaux shaped glass, that would help a bit. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2012-2016<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">2002 Pinot Noir Bondi Home Ranch</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">94 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Color in this wine, as in all four, is identical to that of the Three Sisters Vineyard. It offers a deeper and a bit more intense strawberry fruit aromas, quite similar to what can be found in great wines from Gevrey-Chambertin, as well as some earthy and complex note. Compared to the Three Sister Vineyard bottling, it's just a bit more open. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> On the palate, it's medium bodied, quite rich and elegant with the same burgundian red fruit qualities, a lively acidity and some mineral notes, as well as a bit more firm tannic structure than in the previous wine. Again, there's bit earthiness and, which I really like, that sweet touch of raspberries and strawberries so often found in the best premier crus and even grand crus of Gevrey-Chambertin. Serve it at 15 degrees Celsius in a Burgundy glass. As for the others, I prefer to aerate it at least 30 minutes in a decanter prior to serving it. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2012-2018<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">2002 Pinot Noir Blue Slide Ridge</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">94 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I really like the perfumes of this wine, it's more vibrant, intense, sweetish and at the same time with a lovely note of sour cherries, and it also offers some floral qualities that add complexity. Overall, the impression is that this site is cooler than the others, and the overall balance it just beautiful. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> On the palate it's more silky the previous two wines, most likely because it higher density, which also gives the impression there's more concentration and richer fruit here. I find the tannins be more or less at the same level as in the others, which gives a dry taste rather than a firm structure, as in the others, the acidity is lively and fresh. Again, the alcohol is a bit warm in the finish, but I don't really find it to be too negative. Overall, the balance is just fine and with food, which is the right way to serve these wines, the warm sensation of the alcohol will be totally incorporated. Serve it in the same way as the others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2012-2018<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">2002 Pinot Noir Marcassin Vineyard</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">95 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If the other wines are the premier crus of Marcassin, this offers the concentration and depths worthy a classification of grand cru. It's not only more powerful and rich, it's also a bit more refined and elegant. It offers layers of sweet raspberries and strawberries as well as dark red roses and just a touch of earthiness and I have to say this is delicious. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> This is not the most concentrated of the quartet, but it is for sure the most structured wine. Tannins are still evident and keeps the intense fruit in a second position, although you for sure will notice the intensity of it. Dark cherries, ripe raspberries and strawberries are to be found here, but there's also a earthy and quite spicy quality that adds a certain complexity. The finish is quite long, but marked by the tannins and also a slight bitterness, which I guess will soften with another year or so in the bottle. One thing that strikes me with this wine, and the quartet in general, is that their flavors are more intense than their taste. To me, that's a positive thing. Far too many pinots are overly sweet and lush. Compared to what's found in Burgundy, if one even should make a comparison, is that most of the best wines in Burgundy are built on aromas and structure, and less on taste and sweetness. So I guess one could use the term "burgundy like here". But it took several years for this particular wine to reach that stage!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2012-2020</em> <o:p></o:p></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-62920227280745609172012-01-06T00:42:00.000+01:002012-01-06T00:42:27.969+01:00Echoes from the past - Louis M Martini wines with age<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ZrClPjG6riJhCQWPuommta2NQFx4rTr7XA426No5yoX7O-Obx-IMdYaszCrU7TPCDwPGqAIw68yIGtVt-VPJlpwufwMuzCYizlEfYD-z8lQEWdUOXg-31yNRO8Bl01ez-Kni1goM6d4/s1600/Louis+M+Martini+gamla+viner+01+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ZrClPjG6riJhCQWPuommta2NQFx4rTr7XA426No5yoX7O-Obx-IMdYaszCrU7TPCDwPGqAIw68yIGtVt-VPJlpwufwMuzCYizlEfYD-z8lQEWdUOXg-31yNRO8Bl01ez-Kni1goM6d4/s320/Louis+M+Martini+gamla+viner+01+%25283%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Only five wineries survived the prohibition. Two of them was in Napa Valley, Beringer Vineyards (founded 1876) and Beaulieu Vineyards (founded 1900). After prohibition, just a few wineries came back in production, and by 1960 there was just around 250 wine producers in California. In Napa Valley, there were a dozen. The new golden age wouldn't come until early 1970s, in the footsteps of the opening of Robert Mondavi Winery in 1966, and some years after the Paris Tasting in 1976, wine had become a more significant part of the culture in California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Back in the 1950s and 1960s, the wine scene looked much different than it does today. I Napa Valley, some good wines was made at Beringer Vineyards, Beaulieu Vineyards, Christian Brothers, at the legendary Inglenook, by the Mondavi family at Charles Krug Winery, and at Louis M Martini in St Helena. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Louis Martini established his wine company already in 1923, when he bought a small winery in Fresno in Central Valley and started to buy, pack and sell grapes to home winemakers all over the country. Ten years later, after repeal, he moved to Napa Valley, which at that time was a rural valley with orchards, walnut farms and cattle ranches. There were only a few wineries, but no market for fine wines. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In 1940 Louis Martini begun to bottle some of his wines under his own label, and over some years he also bought several vineyard and more land to plant vineyards in Napa County (he was one of the pioneers in Carneros), Sonoma County (notably the famous Monte Rosso Vineyard) and in Lake County.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> The Louis M Martini Winery reached its peak during the 1950s and 1960s, at that time the only wineries that could compete with their quality was Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyards. In the late 1950s, Louis Martini was the first winemaker in California to install stainless steel tanks to ferment his wines in - up to that date, only old redwood tanks or cement vats were used. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When Louis Martini retired in 1959, his son Louis Peter Martini took over and was in charge of the wine making until 1977, when his son Michael Martini took over. He's still in charge of the production, even though the Gallo family bought Louis M Martini Winery in 2002. <o:p></o:p></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> I decided not to rate these old wines, how does one do that? What does the scores tell you? These are old and rare wines, echoes from the past. They are part of the Napa Valley wine history, of the California wine history. Bottles like these are not easy to find, they just show up if you are lucky. I was blessed by the opportunity to buy parts of an old cellar, and it was worth every dollar. Memories from the past are in my world not subjects for judging, for scoring, or for even consider if they are worth the prices asked for or not. For me, they are part of the lifelong education, and they tell you something about where we are today. If these wines have kept so well, I guess we don't have to worry too much over more recent vintages. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">1966 California Mountain Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">NR <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As for the 1958 wine, this bottle was also in good shape with a firm (but short) cork and good level. Surprisingly, it was almost a bit closed the first ten minutes in the glass - I decanted it from its sediment right before serving it - but it opened up just fine over time in the glass. It wasn't as intense and concentrated as the 1958, but it shared the same earthy and sous bois complexity and that kind of sweet fruitiness and tobacco aromas that matured wines shows. I followed this wine over almost an hour in the glass, and it didn't fade away, which I find to be remarkable. On the palate, it's lighter that the 1958, totally mature with silky tannins, a quite soft acidity and a fine sweetness, and the aftertaste is good but not as long and complex as the one in the older vintage. I wasn't around in the wine world at that time, so my knowledge and experience of the vintages is limited, if not non existing. However, I guess that 1966 wasn't as great vintage as the 1958. Still this is a delicious wine that all my wine loving and wine collecting friends were totally overwhelmed by. I would definitely buy another bottle if I come across one.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it over the next few years<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">1958 California Mountain Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon</span></strong> /<strong><span style="color: red;"> NR<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The bottle was in good shape, the level was high shoulder and color looked reddish through the bottle. Of course there was some sediment in the wine, but it looked just fine. It was surprisingly easy to pull the cork, it came out in one piece without any problems. I needed to decant the wine to remove the sediment, but since it was a 53 year old wine, I only decanted it just before serving it. Far too many old wines has died on their way from the bottle to the last served glass, and I didn't want that to happen with this rare wine. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The wine has a bright, clear and mature appearance with tawny brick color with just a slight brownish nuance. The nose was surprisingly clean and vibrant despite the fact that is shows a distinct maturation with notes of prunes, sweet tobacco, chocolate, sous bois and truffles. It may have been a desire or imagination, but I actually felt a totally clean and sweet red fruit aroma as well, which to me indicated the wine was still alive and kicking. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The most interesting detail about this tasting, was that it was poured blind next to another wine, which was younger and more lively, a very good wine but actually not that much more exciting. That wine was the 1976 Château Petrus from Pomerol. Good God!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Well, back to the 1958, on the palate is was just lovely with a seductive texture, just like velvet. The tannins were fully matured and silky, yet they added a certain structure to the superb, slightly sweet fruit. By all means this wine is fully mature, and will not gain anything from further ageing, but I have to say I was more than surprised to see how well the wine kept in the glass, and the decanter, for more than one hour! Even what was left with the sediment in the bottle survived in a surprising way to the day after. I guess this bottle was a great one!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it over the next few years<o:p></o:p></em></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-68187527297144699512011-12-23T00:04:00.006+01:002012-01-17T03:42:03.781+01:00WINEMAKER OF THE YEAR 2011<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><strong><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-size: large;">Manfred Krankl</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBClw5WtvCb-6poHWNguVry-kIN5g5qmVDCnoygQeA1o4tztTP6SGMKCEDfm42m2PKgl7Eh7BRElcPbcIgm2eFJDg6AwRGaS7ReJvO1TUzE8DIUKkoApSdHr4v4-3votVqeAijHRdfaw/s1600/Manfred+Krankl+b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBClw5WtvCb-6poHWNguVry-kIN5g5qmVDCnoygQeA1o4tztTP6SGMKCEDfm42m2PKgl7Eh7BRElcPbcIgm2eFJDg6AwRGaS7ReJvO1TUzE8DIUKkoApSdHr4v4-3votVqeAijHRdfaw/s320/Manfred+Krankl+b.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">I could easily write a book about Manfred Krankl, his life, his visions, his vineyards, his art works, and his wines. He is one of the most amazing vignerons of California, and just about everything he does, is special.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">He ws born in Austria, but moved to California in 1980 (and he doesn't sound like Arnold at all!) and later opened up the Le Campanile restaurant in Los Angeles, and the La Brea Bakery company, which he sold for 20 million dollars in 2001. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Wine was always part of his life, but it wasn't until 1992 before he produced his first own wine, the 1992 Black and Blue together with Napa Valley winemaker Michael Havens. There was also a small production of wines for his restaurant Le Campanile. Two years later, in 1994, he established his own label Sine Qua Non. The idea was to produce small batches of great wines out of Syrah and Grenache. The production was, and still is, very limited and after just a few years, Manfred Krankl and his Sine Qua Non wines had become well known among wine collectors.</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">"I didn't have any formal education in growing vines or making wine, I learned it by trying, and now I'm too old for it anyway", he says. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">He is one of the most detailed oriented wine makers of California, hence the perfection in his wines, that are huge and packed with super ripe and strictly sorted grapes. Even though he didn't had any vineyards on his own until he planted the now 8.90 hectare Eleven Confession Vineyard in the southern part of the cool Santa Rita Hills, he have always spent a lot of time in the vineyards. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">He was lucky already in his first vintage (1994, unfortunately not tasted here) by being able to purchase grapes from famous vineyards like Alban Vineyard, Bien Nacido Vineyard and Stolpman Vineyard. Over the years, new great vineyard sites has been added to the program, like the great Whitehawk Vineyard in Los Alamos. Manfred did always farm the same blocks in each vineyard, hence the even quality over the vintages.</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhss3Go02US88WBLDW759FL1QbPb62e6C1D1evPpwk6UrpSQY3yS3Oqn1zedDZ7RHbBxh84GiS8cSLumrMLymSaT-Q6JqWAw3DtsorQ4Eg-ga71WUUXyR2I176xuVDqekEK4xBBiq0YBwM/s1600/Sine+Qua+Non+nytt+vineri+01+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhss3Go02US88WBLDW759FL1QbPb62e6C1D1evPpwk6UrpSQY3yS3Oqn1zedDZ7RHbBxh84GiS8cSLumrMLymSaT-Q6JqWAw3DtsorQ4Eg-ga71WUUXyR2I176xuVDqekEK4xBBiq0YBwM/s320/Sine+Qua+Non+nytt+vineri+01+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Today Manfred and his wife Elaine Krankl owns <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>24.10 hectares of vines in three vineyard sites. His first vineyard is Eleven Confession in Santa Rita Hills, a cool valley where he primarily grows Syrah and Grenache, but also some Roussanne and Viognier (which often is blended into the syrah wines). <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">In 2004 he planted various grape varieties, mostly Syrah and Grenache, but also Petite Sirah, Touriga Nacional, Mourvèdre, Roussanne and Petit Manseng in his beautiful estate in Oak View in the much warmer Ventura County. Today there are three blocks and a total of 12.3 hectares in this Cumulus Vineyard, plus the brand new state of the art winery he moved into for the 2011 harvest.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">"Although much bigger and much better planned and easy to work in, it felt a bit unusual and strange after all the years in my old garage winery in Ventura", Manfred says. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #f3f3f3; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;">Another vineyard, the now called The Third Twin Vineyard, was added to his estate program in 2010, a total of 6.10 hectares of Syrah and Grenache in Los Alamos close to Whitehawk Vineyard and Stolpman Vineyard just north of Santa Rita Hills. The ranch covers 120 hectares, and according to Manfred, there are several slopes to be planted in the future. With this, he may be one hundred percent estate grown within a few years from now. As of 2011, the only grapes he purchase is the ones from Bien Nacido Vineyard in Santa Maria Valley. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsvfkg4WP2W8a2LZOYN0O4D6xCgaXJC7I4uAC90V7FxX1Z-LP3U0eFtwsQ35vJ2PBsrlfOKvhwSzY7RCceNijWb8ZIJkdXEt7ab3FuGCUjW1aGH7HCLkplmVJBqLs8AzAThw7EVhu1Oeg/s1600/Sine+Qua+Non+vin+01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsvfkg4WP2W8a2LZOYN0O4D6xCgaXJC7I4uAC90V7FxX1Z-LP3U0eFtwsQ35vJ2PBsrlfOKvhwSzY7RCceNijWb8ZIJkdXEt7ab3FuGCUjW1aGH7HCLkplmVJBqLs8AzAThw7EVhu1Oeg/s320/Sine+Qua+Non+vin+01.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">The hype around Manfred Krankl mostly comes from the great wines, made in a ripe but still so elegant and extremely well balanced style, and in so small quantities they have been subject for second hand sales at top dollars. One may have to pay a few hundred dollars up toll 500-700 dollars for a bottle!<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Another hype around Sine Qua Non is of course the names and labels of the wines. Each wine carries a unique name ("Why give all your children the same name?", Manfred ask you when you ask him about this), and an artistic label, made by Manfred himself. This have not only created a sort of collecting phenomenon, but also inspired other wine producers to do the same. The difference is that Manfred Krankl is a true artist, in that sense Sine Qua Non is one of the most unique wineries of this planet!<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee;"><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">The style of his Syrah and Grenache wines is ripe, typical Californian in most ways, yet one may mistake his wines for being the exclusive "La-La's" of Guigal (particularly La Landonne or the more lush La Mouline in warmer vintages). The Sine Qua Non wines are not for those who seeks light bodied wines with high acidity and more terroir than fruit and body. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="color: #eeeeee;"> </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">The wines are crafted from highly ripe grapes, they are mostly destemmed (sometimes by hand) but certain lots are whole cluster fermented in small open top fermenters with manual pigage, or in small cement eggs. Maceration is long, and the ageing takes place in mostly French oak barrels (225 and 500 liters), of which a great proportion are new. Ageing stretches over 18-22 months, until the wines are ready to blend and bottle. <o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="color: #eeeeee;"> <span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;">To Manfred, the blending process is the most crucial. All barrels are blind tasted over a number of weeks or even months, and then small trials are made until he and his winemaker have decided how to make the blend. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">I have been fortunate to follow the Sine Qua Non wines for more than a decade, I taste them regularly and I have also visited Sine Qua Non and tasted with Manfred a numerous of times. By all means, he is one of the most careful, detailed oriented and uncompromising winemakers in California. Therefore I'm proud and happy to appoint Manfred Krankl as the Winemaker of the Year 2011.</span> </span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><strong><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><u>Vertical of Syrah from Sine-Qua-Non 2008-1995</u></span></strong></span></div></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">(<em>all wines tasted in one vertical tasting in 2011</em>)</span></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2008 B-20</span></strong> <span style="color: #eeeeee;">/</span> <strong><span style="color: red;">95-96 p</span></strong><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">This vintage is a blend of 92 percent Syrah, six percent Grenache and the rest Viognier, and grapes are sourced from the estate vineyards Eleven Confession (all Grenache plus some Syrah) in Santa Rita Hills and Cumulus Vineyards in Ventura County, as well as from Bien Nacido Vineyard (last vintage) in Santa Maria Valley and Whitehawk Vineyard in Los Alamos. They were harvested from 24.0 to 28.4 Brix, and 97 percent av the grapes were destemmed before they were fermented. The wines was then kept in French oak barrels, around 40 percent new and the rest up to four years old, up to 26 months. In this vintage, the alcohol level reached 15.4 percent. A total of 7 920 bottles and 180 magnums were made. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">”This was the first of four consecutive vintages, and we didn’t harvest until November 24”, Manfred says. The extra long hang time resulted in a high phenol ripeness, but not overly high sugars, therefore Manfred was vary happy about this harvest. ”However, it will take some years before it start to show it</span> <span style="color: #eeeeee;">true potential”, he adds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Like all young wines from Sine Qua Non, this is compact and full of flavors, and even though there’s abundant of richness of blackberries, blueberries, dark cherries and even toffee, there’s something quite elegant over the nose. It’s not as impressive as some other vintages shown at this stage, but it’s rather av kind fresh elegance to it. Plus, I must say, some sweet and slightly spicy oak notes. On the palate it’s full bodied and rich, initially with some warmth from the alcohol, but giving it half an hour in a decanter, a more elegant structure reveals, and then the alcohol seems to soften a bit. Again, it’s not a powerful wine in that sense warmer and riper vintages are, still there’s a serious structure of tannins to balance the ripe fruit and make the finish totally dry. There’s a fine silky texture and a long finish, but also a youthful wildness that lead me to the conclusion that this wine needs several years in the bottle before it reach its very best balance and drinkability. And patience is always rewarding when it comes to the wines from Sine Qua Non. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #eeeeee; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><em>Drink it over the next 5-18 years</em></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFOUmX-k8UDldKR6qTC0ZGamHjeXITJFlYSXRjGd5NeuDsWyzA5F6jfbmhC8BrZrdkm5E2koD0H4i7Korg5HA8IYMsDiimE6Ppemfx04KmUcVFvUFv1G5gEUulpc7IWwO6qDGmlhlxU9Q/s1600/SQN+2004-2006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFOUmX-k8UDldKR6qTC0ZGamHjeXITJFlYSXRjGd5NeuDsWyzA5F6jfbmhC8BrZrdkm5E2koD0H4i7Korg5HA8IYMsDiimE6Ppemfx04KmUcVFvUFv1G5gEUulpc7IWwO6qDGmlhlxU9Q/s320/SQN+2004-2006.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2007 Labels</span></strong> <span style="color: #eeeeee;">/</span> <strong><span style="color: red;">96-97 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">In this vintage, the blend was made up by 89 percent Syrah, seven percent Grenache and the rest Viognier. Grapes were predominately harvested in the two estate vineyards Eleven Confession in Santa Rita Hills and Cumulus Vineyard in Ventura County, but 17 percent of all Syrah came from Bien Nacido Vineyard in Santa Maria Valley, en the same amount from the great Whitehawk Vineyard in Los Alamos. The wine spent 22 months in French oak barrels, of which 65 percent were new. The alcohol level is 15.3 percent. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">”I really like the 2006 vintage, my wines are rich without being exuberant or too concentrated”, Manfred says.</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">If 2006 Raven was a bit difficult to judge at this young stage, the 2007 Labels is in the same position. They are also quite similar, with a mind blowing richness with abundant of perfectly ripe fruit flavors, yet so restrained and structured. It sounds like a contradiction, but that’s the way these wines are. The nose offers super ripe blueberries, almost like the finest confiture as well as crème de cassis, and it’s mostly about all those charming primary aromas. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">With some aeration, some complexity showed, but it took almost 5-6 hours in the decanter before the wine really opened up and showed white pepper, violets and some sweet and spicy notes from the barrels. On the palate it’s ripe, voluptuous, there’s a slight bitterness from the oak and perhaps also from the stems, but it’s almost totally covered up by the richness. Overall it’s an impressive wine that’s far too young to even taste today. I’ll keep my bottles at least three to four more years before I touch them – Labels is a wine for the future. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><em><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Drink it over the next 5-20 years<o:p></o:p></span></em></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2006 Raven</span></strong> <span style="color: #eeeeee;">/</span> <strong><span style="color: red;">97 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">The Raven is made of 93 percent Syrah, five percent Grenache and just two percent Viognier, most of the grapes from the estste vineyard Eleven Confession in Santa Rita Hills. The wine spent 21 months in almost all new French oak barrels, but some of them were larger, 600 liters. This very good vintage, the alcohol reached 15.3 percent. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">From a stylistic point of view, Manfred think of 2006 Raven as something inbetween 2002 Papa and 2004 Poker Face, without being as concentrated as the latter.</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">It’s always hard to find the most elegant nuances in a young powerful wine like Raven, but already in at just one sniff, the greatness in it reveals. And that’s what I very often find in the wines from Sine Qua Non, an unlike most winemakers, Manfred has the talent to craft huge wines and blend them in a way where the richeness and concentration doesn’t end up in overwhelming wines. He is the master in maximizing power and new expensive oak barrels and still stay in balance. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Again aeration is nessicary for this young wine, and then a very fine note of white pepper and ink as well as a slight vegetal fragrance (from the stems) and notes of violts and aloe vera rises throught the compact fruit. On the palate, it's full bodied with an almost viscous texture, packed with ripe fruit and still so rich in its primary fruit flavors that I recommend a few more years of bottle age before it's opened. The tannins are important but well in balance, therefore almost silky. Complexity is not in my tasting notes of today, but I guess it will come in the coming years. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><em><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Drink it over the next 5-20 years<o:p></o:p></span></em></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2005 Atlantis 1 Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub></span></strong> <span style="color: #eeeeee;">/</span> <strong><span style="color: red;">97-98 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">In this vintage, the blend was made of 93 percent Syrah (around 40 percent from Eleven Confession, almost 30 percent from Whitehawk Vineyard, some 20 percent from Alban Vineyard in Edna Valley, and the rest from Bien Nacido Vineyard), five percent Grenache from Eleven Confession and just two percent Viognier. Around 25 percent of the clusters were kept whole under the fermentation, and the maceration stretched over 17 days. Two thirds new French oak were used, the rest was used French but also a few American oak barrels. The ageing lasted for 22 months. Alcohol level reached 15.7 percent. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">This was the first vintage Manfred decided to use three different labels for his wines. ”It is great fun to see how surprised people are when they unwrap the paper the bottles are wrapped in”, he says and laughs.</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Although this wine is just a baby, one can clearly see the greatness in it. It’s packed with ripe, slightly sweetish and dense dark fruit flavors (cherries, blueberries and cassis), but there’s also cooler scents of crushed white pepper as well as a spicy touch of the stems, and a touch of new oak. The concentration is obvious, but even though the aromas and flavors are so intense, the wine is actually quite closed. This is more obvious when decanting the wine and one realize that it takes more than 5 hours in the decanter before it really starts to open up. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Man, this wine is really impressive, and its glycerol and silky fruitiness covers the huge but perfectly ripe tannic structure, hence giving the wine an almost velvety texture. At this youthful stage, there’s also a slight spiciness and bitterness from the stems, but that’s just fine. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Overall, there’s so much energy in the wine and taste seems to linger for minutes. As in so many wines from Sine Qua Non, it’s so impressive and good to drink already now. Knowing these wines from several tastings and vertical tastings like this one, I know that the real greatness will show with some more bottle age. The foresight for the most complex taste stretches at least 10-15 years from now. It may well be one of the classic vintages from Sine Qua Non. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><em><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Drink it over the next 5-18 years<o:p></o:p></span></em></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2004 Poker Face</span></strong> <span style="color: #eeeeee;">/</span> <strong><span style="color: red;">98-99 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">In this warm vintage, 96 percent of the blend was Syrah, a third of that from the cooler Eleven Confession Vineyard in Santa Rita Hills and the rest from Whitehawk Vineyard, Bien Nacido Vineyard and Alban Vineyard. The 2.5 percent of Mourvèdre that added spiciness in the blend was sourced from Alta Mesa Vineyard, and the rest is 1.5 percent of Viognier. As always, all varieties and all vineyard blocks were vinified and kept separately throughout the 27 months of ageing in almost 90 percent new French oak (this vintage, 17 barrels made the cut into Poker Face). Alcohol level is 15.5 percent.</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">As</span></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"> <span class="hps">the other young</span> <span class="hps">wines</span>, this is <span class="hps">almost</span> <span class="hps">opaque</span>, <span class="hps">unredeemed</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">massive</span> <span class="hps">fruit</span> <span class="hps">in a style</span> <span class="hps">which, oddly</span> <span class="hps">enough,</span> <span class="hps">also</span> <span class="hps">offers</span> <span class="hps">great elegance</span>. <span class="hps">Perhaps</span> <span class="hps">it is</span> <span class="hps">the small nuances of violets that makes</span> <span class="hps">the</span> <span class="hps">dark</span> <span class="hps">sweet</span> <span class="hps">cherry</span> <span class="hps">fruit</span> <span class="hps">so</span> <span class="hps">easygoing</span> <span class="hps">and</span>, which I like so much, moves the focus from the youthful vanilla <span class="hps">and smoky</span> <span class="hps">scents from the</span> <span class="hps">oak barrels.</span> <span class="hps">The nose</span> <span class="hps">is</span> <span class="hps">really</span> <span class="hps">remarkable.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">The flavor</span></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"> <span class="hps">is as</span> <span class="hps">concentrated</span> <span class="hps">of seductive</span> <span class="hps">cherry</span>, <span class="hps">sloe</span> <span class="hps">and raspberry</span> <span class="hps">fruit</span> <span class="hps">with the same elegant fragrance of violets</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">licorice</span>, <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">both</span> <span class="hps">tannins</span> <span class="hps">and acidity</span> <span class="hps">gives the wine</span> <span class="hps">a serious</span> <span class="hps">backbone that</span> <span class="hps">promises a slowly</span> evolving <span class="hps">life that</span> <span class="hps">probably</span> <span class="hps">extends</span> <span class="hps">until 2025</span>, <span class="hps">at the very least</span>. <span class="hps">However, already today</span> the <span class="hps">superlatives are many,</span> <span class="hps">especially the</span> <span class="hps">remarkable</span> <span class="hps">balance between</span> <span class="hps">sheer power and</span> <span class="hps">seductive</span> <span class="hps">flavors,</span> <span class="hps">but with time</span> <span class="hps">more</span> <span class="hps">complexity</span> <span class="hps">will rise</span> <span class="hps">out of</span> <span class="hps">the dense</span> <span class="hps">primary</span> <span class="hps">fruit.</span> <span class="hps">The fresh</span> <span class="hps">acidity, which is so well integrated and balanced in the rich fruit,</span> <span class="hps">should not be underestimated - it will help giving the wine a long life</span>. <span class="hps">Poker Face</span> <span class="hps">is a great</span> <span class="hps">wine!</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><em><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Drink it over the next 5-20 years<o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyKxWcK5DnCMztEShOqrfkBIWuyaahE3Jv1U8V6y0Rl4LI6D7iEOTFx8wCdxAzOeU1kk8SLc3Ril2kpqkGqryowFoNtbf1-JLr5dGasZ7Bb1r1-pIElSzeMchMwdmMSbBhg0TWpNuLHn4/s1600/SQN+2001-2003+c.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyKxWcK5DnCMztEShOqrfkBIWuyaahE3Jv1U8V6y0Rl4LI6D7iEOTFx8wCdxAzOeU1kk8SLc3Ril2kpqkGqryowFoNtbf1-JLr5dGasZ7Bb1r1-pIElSzeMchMwdmMSbBhg0TWpNuLHn4/s320/SQN+2001-2003+c.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2003 Papa</span></strong> <span style="color: #eeeeee;">/</span> <strong><span style="color: red;">96 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">This lovely wine is made of 97 percent Syrah, two percent Mourvèdre and one percent Grenache. Grapes were sourced from Whitehawk Vineyard, Bien Nacido Vineyard, Alban Vineyard, the warmer Shadow Canyon Vineyard in San Luis Obispo County and Alta Mesa Vineyard, and for the first time also from the (now) 8.90 hectare estate vineyard Eleven Confession, planted in 2001 on a plateau above Arita Hills Vineyard (owned by Lafond Winery) in the southern part of Santa Rita Hills. The wine was matured in 90 percent new French oak barrels for 27 months, and as all wines from Sine Qua Non it was bottles without fining or filtration. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">”I named this wine in honor of Matias Krankl, my dad, a very ordinary man who grew up in Czech Republic under poor circumstances – he left school after six years to work hard as an apprentice at a shoemaker, thereafter he worked even harder in the coal mines before he got a much safer job as a driver”, Manfred tells. ”Then he married a young and fantastic woman, and 22 years old, he became my father”, he adds.</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">Dense</span></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">, <span class="hps">youthfully</span> <span class="hps">purple</span> and almost <span class="hps">opaque</span>, a<span class="hps">nd</span> <span class="hps">almost equally</span> <span class="hps">massive</span> <span class="hps">in</span> <span class="hps">its aromas</span>. <span class="hps">When you</span> <span class="hps">try</span> <span class="hps">through the</span> <span class="hps">vintages from Sine Qua Non,</span> <span class="hps">you realize that</span> <span class="hps">Manfred</span> <span class="hps">Krankl</span> <span class="hps">is</span> <span class="hps">masterful</span> <span class="hps">in balancing</span> <span class="hps">the oak flavors,</span> <span class="hps">but</span> <span class="hps">in the younger</span> <span class="hps">vintages some sweetness</span>, vanilla, slightly <span class="hps">roasted</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">spicy oak flavors will be noted in the sweet</span> and dense <span class="hps">fruit.</span> <span class="hps">The concentration</span> <span class="hps">is huge</span> with loads of <span class="hps">ripe and lush</span> <span class="hps">fruit</span>, <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">perfectly pure,</span> <span class="hps">in</span> <span class="hps">young</span> <span class="hps">vintages</span> <span class="hps">typically</span> dark cherries, <span class="hps">blueberries</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">blackberries as well as a dash of</span> <span class="hps">wild raspberries</span> and <span class="hps">a</span> <span class="hps">deliciously</span> <span class="hps">spicy</span> <span class="hps">violet</span> <span class="hps">note</span>. <span class="hps">Although the</span> <span class="hps">taste is</span> <span class="hps">so</span> <span class="hps">concentrated</span>, <span class="hps">full of ripe</span> <span class="hps">fruit</span>, alcohol <span class="hps">and glycerol</span> to a very <span class="hps">silky texture</span>, <span class="hps">there</span> <span class="hps">is enough</span> of <span class="hps">acidity,</span> <span class="hps">minerals</span> and tannins to give the taste a great energy. <span class="hps">It is</span> <span class="hps">not nearly</span> <span class="hps">mature and at its peak</span>, <span class="hps">not even</span> <span class="hps">five hours of</span> <span class="hps">decanting</span> <span class="hps">is enough to</span> <span class="hps">open</span> <span class="hps">up</span> <span class="hps">all the flavors.</span> <span class="hps">Two</span> <span class="hps">to three</span> <span class="hps">years of maturing</span> <span class="hps">would</span> <span class="hps">help</span>.</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #eeeeee; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><em>Drink it over the next 2-18 years</em></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2002 Just For The Love Of It</span></strong> <span style="color: #eeeeee;">/ </span><strong><span style="color: red;">99-100 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">This is one the best syrahs ever from Sine Qua Non, including the longer aged versions. It was made of 96 percent Syrah and two percent each of Grenache and Viognier. All grapes were sourced from Alban Vineyard in Edna Valley, Bien Nacido Vineyard in Santa Maria Valley, Stolpman Vineyard and White Hawk Vineyard in Santa Ynez Valley and just a little from Shadow Canyon Vineyard in San Luis Obispo County. Around 90 percent of the barrels were brand new, and all French. Alcohol level is 15.2 percent. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #eeeeee; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">The name symbolizes the true passion and love for wine that so many – but not all – people show. ”The ones who live their lives from the heart”, Manfred says. </span><br />
<br />
<span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="color: #eeeeee; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">It has always been</span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"> <span class="hps">something special about</span> <span class="hps">this wine</span>. <span class="hps">When I</span> <span class="hps">tried</span> <span class="hps">a number of</span> <span class="hps">components from barrels at Sine Qua Non in 2003</span>, <span class="hps">I realized that</span> <span class="hps">Manfred</span> <span class="hps">Krankl</span> <span class="hps">with this</span> <span class="hps">vintage</span> <span class="hps">had placed</span> <span class="hps">himself</span></span> <span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span class="hps">on</span> <span class="hps">a</span> <span class="hps">level</span> <span class="hps">among the world's</span> <span class="hps">biggest stars</span>. <span class="hps">All</span> <span class="hps">barrel samples</span> <span class="hps">we tasted was</span> <span class="hps">outstanding</span>, <span class="hps">but</span> <span class="hps">Manfred</span> <span class="hps">said they</span> <span class="hps">lacked that greatness he looks for, and that he achieves by blending different grape varieties, batches of different vinification and from various vineyards</span>. <span class="hps">I thought of it then, by tasting several great components, as</span> <span class="hps">the finest</span> <span class="hps">wine</span> <span class="hps">made</span> <span class="hps">in the</span> <span class="hps">modest</span> <span class="hps">shed</span> <span class="hps">in downtown Ventura</span>.<br />
<span class="hps">The wine</span> <span class="hps">is young</span>, <span class="hps">still</span> <span class="hps">purple,</span> <span class="hps">deep</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">intense</span>, <span class="hps">and the nose</span> <span class="hps">is rich with</span> <span class="hps">a</span> <span class="hps">deliciously</span> <span class="hps">sweet</span> <span class="hps">yet</span> <span class="hps">tangy</span> <span class="hps">and fresh</span> <span class="hps">note</span> <span class="hps">of cherries,</span> <span class="hps">wild raspberries</span> <span class="hps">and strawberries</span>, <span class="hps">it is so</span> <span class="hps">rich, fruity and</span> <span class="hps">deep</span>, <span class="hps">as well as earthy and</span> <span class="hps">complex</span>, <span class="hps">that it almost</span> <span class="hps">resembles</span> <span class="hps">an</span> <span class="hps">astounding</span> <span class="hps">cuvée</span> <span class="hps">of the</span> <span class="hps">best</span> <span class="hps">parcelles</span> <span class="hps">in</span> <span class="hps">Chambertin</span> <span class="hps">Grand Cru</span>, <span class="hps">added</span> <span class="hps">the</span> <span class="hps">finest</span> <span class="hps">flavor</span> <span class="hps">that can come from a pure wine of</span> <span class="hps">Grenache</span>. <span class="hps">The taste</span> <span class="hps">is rich and almost explosive, yet so</span> <span class="hps">elegant</span> and <span class="hps">vivid</span> <span class="hps">in its</span> <span class="hps">fruit</span> saturated and tangy <span class="hps">style</span>. <span class="hps">The oak</span> <span class="hps">is perfectly well balanced.</span> Again, I'm impressed by the magnificent balance between pure power and elegance that Manfred is so skilled in capturing. <br />
<span class="hps">There is really</span> <span class="hps">only one</span> <span class="hps">reason not to</span> <span class="hps">drink</span> this <span class="hps">wine</span> <span class="hps">today</span>, <span class="hps">and that is</span> <span class="hps">that it actually</span> <span class="hps">has the potential to</span> <span class="hps">evolve</span> <span class="hps">for many more years to come. </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #eeeeee; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><em>Drink it over the next 10-15 years</em></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2001 Midnight Oil</span></strong> <span style="color: #eeeeee;">/</span> <strong><span style="color: red;">97-98 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">A blend of 96 percent Syrah, 2.5 percent Grenache and 1.5 percent Viognier from Bien Nacido Vineyard, Stolpman Vineyard, Alban Vineyard and Whitehawk Vineyard. Vinification is the same as for the other vintages with around 90 percent of the barrens new. Alcohol level this great vintage didn’t jump over 15 percent, it was ”just” 14.9 percent. The production this year was 950 cases of six bottles.</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">Ten years</span></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"> <span class="hps">old,</span> <span class="hps">still young</span> and totally vital! <span class="hps">The aroma</span> <span class="hps">is open and</span> <span class="hps">intense</span>, <span class="hps">well stuffed</span> <span class="hps">with sun ripe dark</span> <span class="hps">berries</span>, <span class="hps">blueberries and</span> <span class="hps">plums,</span> <span class="hps">but</span> <span class="hps">also</span> <span class="hps">with</span> <span class="hps">a really nice</span> <span class="hps">touch</span> <span class="hps">of lavender and licorice</span>. <span class="hps">Compared to</span> <span class="hps">the older</span> <span class="hps">vintages</span>, <span class="hps">one may find traces</span> <span class="hps">of</span> <span class="hps">the</span> oak <span class="hps">barrels</span> <span class="hps">in</span> <span class="hps">which</span> the <span class="hps">wine was</span> <span class="hps">brought up</span>, <span class="hps">but</span> <span class="hps">no</span>t more <span class="hps">than</span> <span class="hps">a</span> <span class="hps">shadow</span> <span class="hps">of vanilla</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">grilled</span> <span class="hps">bacon</span> <span class="hps">(</span>that note <span class="hps">disappears</span> <span class="hps">after half an</span> <span class="hps">hour</span> <span class="hps">in the</span> <span class="hps">decanter</span>, <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">instead all</span> <span class="hps">focus is set on</span> <span class="hps">the magnificent</span> <span class="hps">fruit)</span>. <span class="hps">The flavor is</span> <span class="hps">equally</span> intense and <span class="hps">deliciously</span> <span class="hps">fruity</span>, <span class="hps">still quite marked by its</span> <span class="hps">tannins</span> <span class="hps">and good</span> <span class="hps">acidity, which</span> <span class="hps">gives a vibrant</span> <span class="hps">energy.</span> <span class="hps">This</span> <span class="hps">oil</span> <span class="hps">is</span> <span class="hps">one</span> <span class="hps">of the finest</span> <span class="hps">lubricants</span> <span class="hps">Manfred</span> <span class="hps">Krankl</span> <span class="hps">has given</span> <span class="hps">his</span> <span class="hps">wine quenching</span> <span class="hps">crowd</span> <span class="hps">of</span> <span class="hps">supporters</span>. <span class="hps">Despite</span> <span class="hps">the youth, it's absolutely good</span> to drink <span class="hps">now,</span> <span class="hps">but with a few</span> more <span class="hps">years of ageing</span> the balance <span class="hps">will be</span> <span class="hps">a</span> <span class="hps">little more</span> <span class="hps">polished</span>, <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">life</span> <span class="hps">from that</span> <span class="hps">date</span> <span class="hps">extends</span> <span class="hps">at least 15</span> <span class="hps">years.</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><em><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Drink it over the next 15 years<o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5AOei474CAYv8dEn9O_xQAn_gxMoANxfSQ3mNWiD3RN4bDaeA9Kd8rnX5DZnTT5Z8y1fzpZKyZMnc9UerWb8FMaIcOmJOyn7sYd2CdsuBt5jCJpw9zXou0iqC6eXfZuRRnpEGDVVjbLM/s1600/SQN+1998-2000+a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5AOei474CAYv8dEn9O_xQAn_gxMoANxfSQ3mNWiD3RN4bDaeA9Kd8rnX5DZnTT5Z8y1fzpZKyZMnc9UerWb8FMaIcOmJOyn7sYd2CdsuBt5jCJpw9zXou0iqC6eXfZuRRnpEGDVVjbLM/s320/SQN+1998-2000+a.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2000 In Flagrante</span></strong> <span style="color: #eeeeee;">/</span> <strong><span style="color: red;">96-98 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">In this millennium vintage the Syrah fraction was the lowest of Sine Qua Non wines ever, it was only 88 percent. The rest was ten percent Grenache and two percent Viognier. Grapes came from Alban Vineyard, Bien Nacido Vineyard, Whitehawk Vineyard and Stolpman Vineyard in Santa Ynez Valley. The juice was fermented in stainless steel tanks and was then transferred into French barrels, only 72 percent new, for malolactic fermentation and 19 months of ageing. Again alcohol level stopped at 14.9 percent. A total of 725 cases of six were made of In Flagrante.</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">Deep, </span></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">dark <span class="hps">purple</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">still</span> <span class="hps">young, but</span> <span class="hps">with some deposit</span> <span class="hps">which</span> <span class="hps">reveals the wine wasn't filter</span>ed before bottling<span class="hps">.</span> <span class="hps">The nose is</span> <span class="hps">dense</span>, <span class="hps">exuberant and massive</span> <span class="hps">with both</span> <span class="hps">cool scented</span> <span class="hps">and sun ripe and sweet fruit flavors</span>, <span class="hps">added with notes of</span> <span class="hps">liquorices</span> <span class="hps">and lavender</span>, <span class="hps">and even if</span> <span class="hps">the wine</span> <span class="hps">is young</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">so concentrated,</span> <span class="hps">there is also</span> <span class="hps">a</span> more <span class="hps">earthy</span> <span class="hps">hue</span> that adds complexity. <span class="hps">The body</span> <span class="hps">is still</span> rich with <span class="hps">somehow</span> <span class="hps">viscous</span> <span class="hps">fruit</span>, <span class="hps">glycerol and</span> <span class="hps">alcohol sweetness,</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">it took almost two hours of</span> <span class="hps">decanting</span> <span class="hps">before the</span> <span class="hps">aromas and flavors</span> <span class="hps">met</span> <span class="hps">each other in perfect harmony</span>. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">The wine</span></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"> <span class="hps">is still</span> <span class="hps">young and</span> <span class="hps">unredeemed</span>, but with aeration <span class="hps">it opened</span> <span class="hps">up</span> <span class="hps">to a greater complexity with notes of air dried meet, charcuteries and white pepper, yet with the fruit</span> <span class="hps">in</span> <span class="hps">dominance</span>. <span class="hps">If</span> <span class="hps">absolute</span> <span class="hps">power and</span> <span class="hps">stylish</span> <span class="hps">elegance</span> <span class="hps">manage to find</span> <span class="hps">each other</span>, they tend end up in a <span class="hps">wine</span> <span class="hps">of this caliber</span>. <span class="hps">A</span> <span class="hps">few hours of</span> <span class="hps">aeration</span> <span class="hps">in</span> a <span class="hps">decanter</span> <span class="hps">is recommended</span>, <span class="hps">but</span> <span class="hps">rather</span> <span class="hps">should</span> <span class="hps">wine</span> <span class="hps">be</span> <span class="hps">mature</span> <span class="hps">in the bottle</span> <span class="hps">for a more few years</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><em><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Drink it over the next 10 years<o:p></o:p></span></em></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">1999 The Marauder</span></strong> <span style="color: #f3f3f3;">/</span> <strong><span style="color: red;">97 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">One hundred percent Syrah, that’s the deal for the Marauder, and this is the only single Syrah wine made here at Sine Qua Non, ever. Around 40 percent of the grapes came from Alban Vineyard, 36 percent from Bien Nacido Vineyard and 24 percent from Stolpman Vineyard. Fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks and the wine was then transferred into brand new French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation and 17 months of ageing on its lees. ”My racking regime is all depending on each barrel, some barrels will remain unracked, some will be racked one time, others two or even three times”, Manfred says. Alcohol level is 14.9 percent. Only 1 998 bottles was made!<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">At first this was</span></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"> <span class="hps">wine was a bit shy,</span> although <span class="hps">the dark and still slightly youthful purple color</span> <span class="hps">gives</span> <span class="hps">the impression that</span> <span class="hps">the wine still should be considered to be a young wine</span> <span class="hps">(</span>except the fine sediment that revealed some bottle age<span class="hps">).</span> <span class="hps">The nose</span> <span class="hps">is just lovely,</span> <span class="hps">after just some aeration absolutely</span> <span class="hps">delicious</span> <span class="hps">with</span> <span class="hps">both primary fruit aromas (sweet black</span> <span class="hps">currants</span>, <span class="hps">cherries and</span> <span class="hps">sun ripe</span> <span class="hps">blackberries)</span> <span class="hps">and</span> more complex earthy, spicy and floral (<span class="hps">violets) notes</span>. To this, a fine acidity and a good grip of firm but ripe and to a certain extent also matured tannins are added. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">Like so many</span></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"> <span class="hps">1999s</span>, <span class="hps">this wine shows</span> <span class="hps">that</span> the <span class="hps">vintage</span> <span class="hps">wine</span> <span class="hps">is</span> <span class="hps">superb</span> <span class="hps">and still</span> <span class="hps">not yet</span> <span class="hps">near</span> <span class="hps">to</span> <span class="hps">step into</span> full <span class="hps">maturity.</span> <span class="hps">One or two</span> addition <span class="hps">years</span> <span class="hps">in the cellar</span> <span class="hps">is</span> <span class="hps">a good thing</span>, primarily to <span class="hps">polish the</span> <span class="hps">tannins a bit more</span>, <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">it</span> <span class="hps">will keep</span> <span class="hps">well</span> <span class="hps">until shortly after</span> <span class="hps">its</span> <span class="hps">twentieth anniversary</span>.</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><em><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Drink it over the next 10 years<o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">1998 E-raised</span></strong><span style="color: #eeeeee;"> /</span> <strong><span style="color: red;">96-97 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">In this vintage, the cuvée was made of approximately 95 percent Syrah, five percent of Grenache and just a splash of Viognier. The grapes came from Alban Vineyard, Bien Nacido Vineyard and Stolpman Vineyard. The wine was aged in all new French oak barrels for around 20 months, and it was bottled without fining or filtration. In this cooler El Niño vintage, alcohol only reached 14.0 percent. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">E? Well, that’s Elaine, Manfred’s charming wife. ”Without whom Sine Qua Non wouldn’t have been flying”, Manfred says.</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">Thanks to</span></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"> <span class="hps">the cool</span> <span class="hps">growing season of 1998</span>, <span class="hps">this wine</span> <span class="hps">has</span> <span class="hps">a lively</span> <span class="hps">acidity that</span> <span class="hps">creates</span> <span class="hps">a beautiful</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">life giving</span> <span class="hps">structure.</span> <span class="hps">The fruit is</span> <span class="hps">brighter</span>, still raspberry like <span class="hps">and floral</span>, <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">in fact</span> <span class="hps">almost</span> <span class="hps">unrelieved</span> <span class="hps">which gives</span> <span class="hps">the wine</span> <span class="hps">a</span> <span class="hps">great elegance</span>, <span class="hps">and makes it</span> <span class="hps">a little different</span> <span class="hps">than most</span> <span class="hps">vintages in the</span> <span class="hps">lineup.</span> <span class="hps">A</span> <span class="hps">delicious</span> <span class="hps">spicy</span> <span class="hps">note</span> <span class="hps">of</span> <span class="hps">fennel</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">liquorices root</span> <span class="hps">adds</span> <span class="hps">complexity.</span> <span class="hps">Due to the</span> <span class="hps">lighter</span> <span class="hps">body,</span> <span class="hps">some</span> <span class="hps">alcohol</span> <span class="hps">warmth is noted,</span> <span class="hps">but </span>overall the wine is <span class="hps">very elegant</span> <span class="hps">and lively.</span> <span class="hps">As in</span> <span class="hps">all</span> <span class="hps">vintages with just some age</span>, <span class="hps">the feeling of</span> <span class="hps">oak</span> <span class="hps">almost non-existent</span>, <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">with aeration the red fruit flavors was</span> <span class="hps">lifted</span>. In <span class="hps">the aftertaste it</span> <span class="hps">offers</span> <span class="hps">an even</span> <span class="hps">sweeter</span>, more lush and refined <span class="hps">flavor</span> <span class="hps">of</span> <span class="hps">wild raspberries</span>. <span class="hps">Purely</span> <span class="hps">in terms of</span> <span class="hps">aromas,</span> <span class="hps">the E-raised could be seen as a hybrid</span> <span class="hps">between</span> <span class="hps">high quality</span> <span class="hps">burgundies</span> <span class="hps">and stylish</span> <span class="hps">wine of Grenache from southern France</span>. <span class="hps">The 1998 vintage</span> <span class="hps">is generally</span> <span class="hps">described</span> <span class="hps">as weak</span>, <span class="hps">or even bad</span> <span class="hps">for red wines</span> <span class="hps">in California</span>, but in this particular case the wine <span class="hps">has developed</span> <span class="hps">into a elegant</span>, <span class="hps">aromatic</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">well</span> <span class="hps">structured</span> <span class="hps">wine</span>! </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><em>Drink it over the next 6-8 years</em></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDc2dAWp_8Er5Pj3SZidbSCCB-F7HU4VWCsDCNXPJnsNfa894QDrWKobaa28dEEo_uqv5lda-rJp3yZnwbPT-0yFsPAMNPRYenuI_bwOkiWnMveAEcbxUkgsUAtTO5SZOWEs65gAFUPVU/s1600/SQN+1995-1997+b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDc2dAWp_8Er5Pj3SZidbSCCB-F7HU4VWCsDCNXPJnsNfa894QDrWKobaa28dEEo_uqv5lda-rJp3yZnwbPT-0yFsPAMNPRYenuI_bwOkiWnMveAEcbxUkgsUAtTO5SZOWEs65gAFUPVU/s320/SQN+1995-1997+b.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">1997 Imposter McCoy</span></strong> <span style="color: #eeeeee;">/</span> <strong><span style="color: red;">93 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Again, Alban Vineyard, Bien Nacido Vineyard and Stolpman Vineyard were the source of the 95 percent of Syrah and five percent of Grenache that made up this vintage. Yields was very small this vintage, and the production was around 2 900 bottles. Alcohol level is 14.9 percent.</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">This vintage</span></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"> <span class="hps">is usually</span> <span class="hps">hailed as</span> <span class="hps">excellent and even</span> <span class="hps">phenomenal</span> <span class="hps">in Napa Valley</span> <span class="hps">and Sonoma</span>, but down in <span class="hps">Santa</span> <span class="hps">Barbara</span> <span class="hps">1997 was</span> <span class="hps">one of the most</span> <span class="hps">difficult</span> <span class="hps">vintages</span> <span class="hps">in living memory</span>. <span class="hps">As in northern California it was</span> <span class="hps">hot,</span> <span class="hps">and the yields was</span> <span class="hps">unusually large</span>, resulting <span class="hps">in</span> <span class="hps">wines</span> <span class="hps">that are both</span> <span class="hps">a bit</span> <span class="hps">lighter</span> <span class="hps">and more fast</span> <span class="hps">maturing</span>. <span class="hps">This</span> <span class="hps">is evident</span> <span class="hps">in this</span> <span class="hps">wine, which</span> <span class="hps">certainly</span> <span class="hps">starts</span> <span class="hps">great</span> with fine <span class="hps">primary</span> <span class="hps">fruit aromas</span>, <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">it even</span> <span class="hps">opened up</span> <span class="hps">a bit</span> <span class="hps">in the glass</span> <span class="hps">with some air</span>, however it started to <span class="hps">fade</span> <span class="hps">a little</span> after a while <span class="hps">-</span> <span class="hps">and even if</span> <span class="hps">the wine</span> <span class="hps">landed</span> <span class="hps">at a level that</span> <span class="hps">in other contexts</span> <span class="hps">might</span> <span class="hps">be described as</span> <span class="hps">really good</span>, <span class="hps">1997</span> <span class="hps">is</span> <span class="hps">one</span> <span class="hps">of the few</span> <span class="hps">weaker</span> <span class="hps">cards in the</span> <span class="hps">line up from Sine Qua Non.</span> <span class="hps">The fruit is</span> <span class="hps">a bit</span> <span class="hps">sweet,</span> <span class="hps">reminiscent of</span> <span class="hps">cherry</span> <span class="hps">liqueur</span> <span class="hps">with notes of</span> <span class="hps">blueberries</span> <span class="hps">and blackberries</span>, much like a wine from Priorat in Spain, <span class="hps">but</span> <span class="hps">with air it</span> <span class="hps">starts to</span> <span class="hps">dry out</span> <span class="hps">and thus</span> <span class="hps">that</span> <span class="hps">roughness</span> <span class="hps">becomes</span> <span class="hps">somewhat more</span> <span class="hps">austere</span> <span class="hps">than the other</span> <span class="hps">wines.</span> <span class="hps">Yet there</span> <span class="hps">has enough</span> <span class="hps">interesting</span> <span class="hps">flavors</span> <span class="hps">to</span> <span class="hps">the wine</span> <span class="hps">to be</span> <span class="hps">really good</span>. <span class="hps">There are similarities</span> <span class="hps">with the</span> <span class="hps">great</span> <span class="hps">wines of</span> <span class="hps">Châteauneuf-du-</span>Pape, which <span class="hps">has reached a</span> <span class="hps">kind of</span> <span class="hps">lap time</span> <span class="hps">in</span> <span class="hps">their lives</span>. <span class="hps">Drink</span> <span class="hps">now</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">until 2015</span>, <span class="hps">or</span> <span class="hps">something like that</span>.</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><em><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Drink it over the next 8 years<o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">1996 Against The Wall</span></strong> <span style="color: #eeeeee;">/</span><strong><span style="color: red;"> 97 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">”This was a very tuff year for us, we really felt we were pushed against the wall, hence the name of this wine”, Manfred says. It is a blend of 92 percent Syrah from <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Alban Vineyard</span>, <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Bien Nacido Vineyard</span> and <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Stolpman Vineyard, and </span>eight percent Grenache from Stolpman Vineyard. After fermentation, as always with the indigenous yeast, the wine was racked into new French and (some) American oak barrels for malolactic fermentation and ageing for 19 months. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alcohol level is 14.5 percent. The production this year was 3 576 bottles.</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">The color</span></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"> <span class="hps">reveals</span> <span class="hps">a slight</span> <span class="hps">nuance of</span> <span class="hps">maturity</span>, <span class="hps">still it is</span> quite <span class="hps">dense</span> <span class="hps">and yet</span> <span class="hps">with</span> <span class="hps">a deep,</span> <span class="hps">almost</span> <span class="hps">purple</span> <span class="hps">core.</span> <span class="hps">The nose is</span> equally intense, developed <span class="hps">in a way that</span> <span class="hps">many</span> <span class="hps">wine tasters</span> <span class="hps">usually describe</span> <span class="hps">as</span> <span class="hps">Bor</span>deaux like, but there is <span class="hps">still</span> <span class="hps">a</span> <span class="hps">sufficient power</span> <span class="hps">and youthful intensity</span> <span class="hps">in the fruit,</span> <span class="hps">which is both</span> <span class="hps">dark</span> <span class="hps">and a bit primary sweetish</span>. This leads to the conclusion that<span class="hps"> this vintage</span> <span class="hps">has more</span> <span class="hps">to offer in the coming years.</span> <span class="hps">Nuances</span> <span class="hps">of</span> <span class="hps">fennel</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">licorice</span> <span class="hps">adds some</span> <span class="hps">complexity</span>. <span class="hps">Tannins</span> <span class="hps">are</span> <span class="hps">vital but</span> <span class="hps">mature and almost</span> <span class="hps">silky</span>, thanks to <span class="hps">the quite rich</span> and slightly <span class="hps">sweet</span> <span class="hps">fruit flavors</span> <span class="hps">and</span> lively <span class="hps">acidity</span>, the aftertaste <span class="hps">lingers</span> <span class="hps">for a minute or so</span>, contributing to<span class="hps"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="hps">finesse.</span> <span class="hps">This is</span> <span class="hps">an</span> <span class="hps">extremely</span> <span class="hps">elegant wine</span> <span class="hps">which initially</span> <span class="hps">felt</span> <span class="hps">almost</span> <span class="hps">grenache like in its seductive fruit flavors</span>, <span class="hps">but</span> <span class="hps">with aeration it</span> <span class="hps">develops into a</span> <span class="hps">greater finesse</span>. Although a very good wine indeed, I don't believe it will evolve into something much more complex with further ageing. </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><em><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Drink it over the next 4-5 years<o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">1995 The Other Hand</span></strong> <span style="color: #eeeeee;">/</span> <strong><span style="color: red;">94 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">During the 90s, a lot of things changed in California. One thing was the transition from more classic styled wines into riper and fuller bodied wines with higher alcohol. Therefore, I’m not surprised to see that the 1995 vintage from Sine Qua Non only have 13.5 percent alcohol. The blend this year, the second vintage for Sine Qua Non, was 94 percent Syrah and six percent Grenache from <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Alban Vineyard</span>, Bien Nacido Vineyard and </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Stolpman Vineyard. The wine was aged in 70 percent new barrels, alls French, for 18 months. A total of 2 100 bottles was made and they was sold in cases of five with one bottle of the grenache.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">The color still</span></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"> <span class="hps">shows small</span> <span class="hps">traces of</span> <span class="hps">purple</span>, almost as <span class="hps">if the wine is</span> <span class="hps">young.</span> <span class="hps">The nose is</span> <span class="hps">great</span>, intense rather than powerful and <span class="hps">still</span> <span class="hps">fruit</span> <span class="hps">driven</span> <span class="hps">with notes of</span> <span class="hps">both</span> sweeter <span class="hps">dark berries</span> <span class="hps">and aromatic</span> <span class="hps">red fruits</span>. W<span class="hps">ith</span> <span class="hps">some air</span> a <span class="hps">more</span> mature side starts to show, with complex <span class="hps">secondary</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">earthy</span> aromas of sous bois, cedar tree and tobacco. <span class="hps">An almost</span> <span class="hps">fennel</span> like <span class="hps">spiciness and</span> <span class="hps">a floral</span> <span class="hps">nuance</span> <span class="hps">is still there</span> <span class="hps">to</span> <span class="hps">create</span> <span class="hps">excitement.</span> <span class="hps">The taste is</span> <span class="hps">medium full</span> with dark fruit flavors and notes of violets, <span class="hps">the tannins</span> <span class="hps">are ripe</span> <span class="hps">but</span> <span class="hps">still adds some resistance in the rich and slightly viscous</span> <span class="hps">mouth feeling</span>, but giving the wine more aeration the age starts to show in the aftertaste, which now begins to show some signs of drying out. <span class="hps">I'd love to find another bottle so drink again, then just decanted prior to serving it,</span> just because it is so complex. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #eeeeee; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><em>Drink it over the next 4-5 years</em></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzzdGtOMI22t1blit557nPqGl9wP44z-RKpZ5fwJet6U1w71QOPdv5Les95XkU0IqWcg-yQRjbaikZF3tXnV-ci_uEZARronx00u_9b7xnmMu47TmniaEBiVLaih4b12ZaizPtOSkpIG8/s1600/Manfred+Krankl+i+vink%25C3%25A4llaren+01+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzzdGtOMI22t1blit557nPqGl9wP44z-RKpZ5fwJet6U1w71QOPdv5Les95XkU0IqWcg-yQRjbaikZF3tXnV-ci_uEZARronx00u_9b7xnmMu47TmniaEBiVLaih4b12ZaizPtOSkpIG8/s320/Manfred+Krankl+i+vink%25C3%25A4llaren+01+%25284%2529.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-433862831111810962011-12-18T10:17:00.000+01:002011-12-18T10:17:14.446+01:00A unique flavor from the past!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5wyRRYFFnDFhnSH1HJ2YCOfO2LWVtYO0dpiEcmGRqCeSViKKuiQC6gkKJ-LrClPIcJlQaCv80Q_tsz_9Wx2uq2VfAIuoO82gX9s0B4ypsI91nAfY1XFBBtMdeFVwSLhjX6C9Vwnl7Y2o/s1600/Gypsy+Canyon+Mission+starkvin+01+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5wyRRYFFnDFhnSH1HJ2YCOfO2LWVtYO0dpiEcmGRqCeSViKKuiQC6gkKJ-LrClPIcJlQaCv80Q_tsz_9Wx2uq2VfAIuoO82gX9s0B4ypsI91nAfY1XFBBtMdeFVwSLhjX6C9Vwnl7Y2o/s320/Gypsy+Canyon+Mission+starkvin+01+%25281%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">According the harvest reports, there’s only 93 hectares of the Mission grape in production in California. To find a wine made from it is not easy and to find a unique and very good wine from it, it almost unlikely. Yet there is one.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> The Mission grape was brought to Mexico by the Spaniards in the end of the sixteenth century. They took if from the Canary Islands, where it is known as Listán Negra, en local variety of average quality and low interest. However, this is a variety that can make a drinkable wine in dry and warm regions. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> The Spanish conquistadors brought cuttings of Listán Negra to plant in their new colonies, but it didn’t thrive in the warm and humid climate in the Caribbean, where the Spanish sugar canes did much better. When the Spanish soldiers conquered Mexico, they tried again to plant the cuttings, and here it worked much better. They used the wine for sacramental purposes at the mission stations the Jesuits priests founded, hence the new name Mission for this particular variety. When northern California stood in line to be christened, the Spanish priests build 21 missions stations from San Diego in the south, to the town of Sonoma in the north, and they planted this Mission grape for their sacramental wines. <o:p></o:p></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> In the mid of century, when California had become an independent state belonging to the United States of America, viticulture evolved and wines started to be made of European grape varieties, <em>Vitis vinifiera</em>. The Mission grape went out of fashion, and the few vineyards that were left, was abandoned either due to the phylloxera in the late 1800s, or under the Prohibition from 1920 to 1933.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When Deborah Hall and her (now) late husband bought an estate in the northern part of Santa Rita Hills in 1994, they did it with a dream of planting some vineyards. On their estate, they found a slope with old, gnarly vines that obviously hadn’t been taken care of for decades. They didn’t know what kind of vines it was, so they sent samples to UC Davis, where they via DNA identified the vines as Mission. Deborah later found out, through a quite in dept research, that the vineyard had been planted by the monks of Purisima Mission Station further west in the valley, but most likely were abandoned during Prohibition. <o:p></o:p></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> In the hands of Deborah, these precious vines has since then been carefully taken care of. In addition to the 1.20 hectares of Mission they found (they are widely spaced, and some of vines are dead, so vineyard is not worth more than a third of that acreage), Deborah have planted another 0.40 hectare of Mission from cuttings of these old vines. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Besides this unique wine, Deborah is also producing some pinots and her winery is called Gypsy Canyon. You should really look this winery up.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Paul Lato is her consulting winemaker and the first vintage of the Mission wine was 2001, of the pinots 2003. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">NV Ancient Vine Angelica Doña Marcelina’s Vineyard</span></strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>/ <strong><span style="color: red;">92 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This unique wine is made from 100 percent of old vine Mission, planted in 1887 in the Dõna Marcelina’s Vineyard in the northern part of Santa Rita Hills. Grapes are harvested at full ripeness, whole cluster pressed and the juice is then allowed to sit in a small tank overnight to become totally clear. Then the juice is fermented until it reaches around ten percent alcohol, and then a neutral brandy with 95 percent alcohol strength is added for the fermentation to stop. That leaves a fortified wine with around 17 percent of alcohol and some 90 grams of residual sugar per liter. Since the Jesuit priests didn’t use new oak barrels in the past, this wine has been kept in small older barrels, which are only filled to 60 percent for oxygen to allow an oxidation during the three years of maturation the wine gets. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> The wine is golden amber of medium intensity, on the nose it’s rich and very complex with notes of honey, dried fruit, almonds and walnuts, it’s actually reminiscent of a slightly drier style of Madeira or the mosctels of Setúbal in Portugal. On the palate, it’s medium bodied but quite intense, as fortified wine normally are, and it combines a delicious sweetness with a good rather than fresh acidity, and there’s also a mild (and positive) bitterness from the slight oxidation the three years of barrel ageing has given. The complex notes of honey and walnuts are there, as well as a sweetish touch of Sultana raisins. It’s a lovely wine, one of a kind, and it one of the very few classical styled fortified wines of California. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Sadly, the production is very limited, and normally Deborah bottles somewhere between 25 and 50 cases of half bottles every year. It doesn’t come cheap – around 140 dollar including tax, but then the wine is a rare reminder of the history of the wine country of California.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> It should be served at around 14-15 degrees Celsius to cheeses or not to sweet deserts. It can hold up a few weeks in the opened bottle, so it’s no rush finishing the bottle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it within 10 years<o:p></o:p></em></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-83939230227099835482011-12-16T00:07:00.000+01:002011-12-16T00:07:19.195+01:00Lively and lovely sauvignons from Dragonette Cellars<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVU-n6WzVcoxIoWgYadil2Z7pT2LMjtZaX6dRTQVDFhhpUWqV4uIVQaroM7R2-399lVHgM08HjW6HO_2qJLmA80ldWQBHc7GpI4RC7Jn7Dp3DNh8ppSkzs0Wcra6_sMCsq-ymMS5_197I/s1600/Dragonette+Cellers+sauvignonviner+01+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVU-n6WzVcoxIoWgYadil2Z7pT2LMjtZaX6dRTQVDFhhpUWqV4uIVQaroM7R2-399lVHgM08HjW6HO_2qJLmA80ldWQBHc7GpI4RC7Jn7Dp3DNh8ppSkzs0Wcra6_sMCsq-ymMS5_197I/s320/Dragonette+Cellers+sauvignonviner+01+%25283%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Dragonette Cellars is a newcomer on the Santa Barbara wine scene, and a good one. The winery was founded in 2005 by the wine loving brothers John and Steve Dragonette and Brandon Sparks-Gillis, whom they met in Los Angeles when buying wines from the store he worked in then. “We became friends, and soon we realized we shared the same passion for wines, the same ideas, and also the dream of making our own wines”, Brandon says. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>All good things are three, so the trio joined forces and worked hard to establish their own label. Brandon, who had a history in several Santa Barbara County wineries, again took the role as intern at several wineries, among them Sine Qua Non, to add knowledge and experience. <br />
Dragonette Cellars have their own small winery in Lompoc, just as so many other small handcraft wineries in the region. They follow the traditional methods in making their wines, either whole cluster or fully destemmed grapes, a few days of cold soak, then fermentation with the native yeast in small, around one ton open bins, utilizing pigeage for gentle extraction. French oak barrels are used, and luckily, the amount of new oak is moderate. <br />
The annual production has now reached around 3 000 cases, and that’s a level that Brandon is comfortable with. Three types of wines are made, a couple of lively wines of Sauvignon Blanc, a range of intense and seductive wines of Pinot Noir and a few wines of Rhône varietals. Focused should be at the sauvignons and pinots, that’s the real deal at Dragonette Cellars. <br />
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<strong><span style="color: blue;">2010 Santa Ynez Valley Sauvignon Blanc</span></strong> / <span style="color: red;"><strong>87 p</strong></span><br />
This is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc from three single vineyards, the Vogelzang and Grassini in the inland appellation Happy Canyon and the Refugio Ranch on the slopes of Santa Ynez Mountains. The great thing about this wine is its absolute purity rather than complexity – few wines of Sauvignon Blanc are complex in the sense chardonnays or cabernets can be. Around 60 percent of the juice is slowly fermented at low temperatures in stainless steel, the rest is fermented and raised in French oak barrels, of which just a few percent are new. Therefore pure varietal flavors and freshness is the personality of this wine. As expected, the nose is intense and highly aromatic with nuances of green apples, gooseberries and citrus, and there’s also a fine floral note here. On the palate, it is light to medium bodied, totally dry with a lively acidity that almost give the taste a tannic structure, and as the nose, it’s very aromatic.<br />
It’s a lovely wine to drink as a refreshing aperitif, or to be served to lighter dishes of steamed or seared white fish with lemon juice and olive oil, or greens or fresh herbs. Serve it at around 10-12 degrees Celsius, not more chilled that that. <br />
<em>Drink it 2011-2015</em><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: blue;">2010 Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara Sauvignon Blanc</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">89 p</span></strong><br />
Again, one hundred percent Sauvignon Blanc, and again grapes are sourced from Vogelzang Vineyard and Grassini Vineyard in Happy Canyon of Santa Ynez Valley. The difference is that this cuvée is the top selection of grapes from the best blocks in these vineyards, also the vinification is different. The juice is fermented in 225 and 500 liter French oak barrels, just some new, and after malolaktisk fermentation the wines has been kept on the fine lees for around ten to eleven months to gain some weight and texture. <br />
Not surprisingly, this wine is richer and broader with more depths and length. Still it is as intense and aromatic as the Santa Ynez Valley version, however much more polished and actually, yes, complex. It’s not really Bordeaux like, it too rich and fruit forward for that, but it’s more in that direction than in any other. The oak has given the wine a certain vanilla flavor and viscosity, but this is by no means a wine where the oak is overly obvious. If the regular bottling should be drunk young and slightly chilled, this one can med poured at 10-14 degrees Celsius to deliver more of its richness, and be kept in the cellar for a number of years. Try this wine with seared scallops, grilled lobster or not too spicy Thai food. <br />
<em>Drink it 2011-2018</em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-41814238105463734942011-12-14T06:33:00.001+01:002011-12-15T06:39:32.309+01:00Four vintages of Syrah from Zaca Mesa<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh769dsF1f_FNp5PdsZ36CEANDo8lZCvMCgw2dW5A3eYa4al1ZOOthDHFUkR2tfGZbE7mhlQsDnbqcAxawRXxUTP7g17fJQmKAJGL_Z6nKz9D45PiXY9mTRKKP-_NwpMBOQNpIqUU0hPk/s1600/Zaca+Mesda+syrahviner+01+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh769dsF1f_FNp5PdsZ36CEANDo8lZCvMCgw2dW5A3eYa4al1ZOOthDHFUkR2tfGZbE7mhlQsDnbqcAxawRXxUTP7g17fJQmKAJGL_Z6nKz9D45PiXY9mTRKKP-_NwpMBOQNpIqUU0hPk/s320/Zaca+Mesda+syrahviner+01+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Zaca Mesa Winery is a classic, a Rhône Ranger with a long and well established reputation. Yet they seem to be overshadowed by more recent producers, not because one is better or worse than the other, rather a common fact in California that newly established wineries are more interesting. To me, that’s a very strange mentality, especially in United States where history, as I’m told over and over again on my trips around California, is a missing part of the wine culture. So, when there is a history, why not be proud of it? Why not look back in the recent past, and check out how well certain wines age?<br />
This is what I do on a regular basis, vertical tasting will tell you a lot of the quality and consistency of a winery or a particular wine. Today I revisited Zaca Mesa to taste some older vintages of their prestige wine, the Syrah. <br />
<br />
Four vintages, all good ones, were tasted and the overall impression is that the wine has been very consistent over the years. There are some changes from the 1996 vintage to the 2008, such as a slightly different proportion of Viognier (from 20 percent in the 1996 vintage, to just a few percent in the more recent vintages). Also the grapes have been sourced from different blocks in the vineyard. Another detail differs, the alcohol. As in most wines in California, alcohol level has increased since mid 90s, in this case from 13.5 percent to 14.5. This is a quite common change in alcohol level in California during this period. <br />
The overall impression is that the Syrah from Zaca Mesa Winery evolves very slowly, and to a very complex wine, and that’s good news to anyone who drinks their wines within days or even hours after purchase, which unfortunately is the most common, in United States as elsewhere. <br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: blue;">2008 Syrah</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">90-92 p</span></strong><br />
This is the current vintage, and it is of course young, riper and richer than the other I tasted. Since the vintage was short of Viognier, this wine is made exclusively of Syrah, at least almost. Instead of adding Viognier grapes, there was a co fermentation with the skins from Viognier, so I wasn’t too surprised to find a quite floral and spicy note from Viognier. Besides that, the fruit is ripe and dark scented, and the earthy and spicy notes, not very different from what the French calls garrigue, are quite evident. On the palate it is rich and almost full bodied, intense and quite silky, still the tannins are youthful and firm, and there’s also a good but not overly lively acidity. This is a very good wine, a bit riper than most of the vintages I have tasted from Zaca Mesa, but it is very well balanced. <br />
Serving it today, it should be decanted at least 30-45 minutes before serving it. Based on the fine evolution of the older vintages, some more years of bottle age would be a better choice. <br />
<em>Drink it 2012-2028</em><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: blue;">2001 Syrah</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">92 p</span></strong><br />
The 2001 vintage was considered to be great all over California. This wine is just another example of that, and the wine is impressive. I was so surprised to find see, that this wine is ten years old. There’s still a lot of primary fruit aromas of dark and sweetish berries here, but the spicy notes of liquorice and garrigue (just a little of that) and also of charcuteries adds the type of complexity one wish to see in a great syrah with age (or in this case, just some age). On the palate it’s still quite youthful, there’s still some primary fruit sweetness and the tannins are still young and firm, and overall it is reminiscent of the 1999 vintage, although this 2001 is bit more concentrated with riper fruit. <br />
Even though it’s ten years old, it still benefits from some more years in bottle, or at least half an hour of decanting, and of course to be poured in a big glass and served with a hearty dish of grilled beef or with venison. <br />
<em>Drink it 2011-2021</em><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: blue;">1999 Syrah</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">92 p</span></strong><br />
As in the 2001 vintage, there’s just a few percent of Viognier in this blend, still that addition is notable. The vintage itself is great, and the wine is a very good example of the vintage. Although the wine has kept some primary fruit aromas, it’s more to it than fruit. This is a very complex wine that offers fine notes of sweet tobacco, sous bois, dried French herbs, and charcuteries, and overall the nose is very well balanced. It’s medium intense on the palate, rich in flavor but totally dry in a way that’s more closed rather than on its way to dry out, because there god length to it. It is surpisingly fresh to be twelve years old, and it’s absolutely delicious. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to follow it in the glass more than ten minutes, but over that short time, it opened up a bit. I would have loved to follow it over an hour in a decanter. <br />
<em>Drink it 2011-2019</em><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: blue;">1996 Syrah</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">90 p</span></strong><br />
Fifteen years old but not old, I wrote in my notebook. This is lighter wine the the younger ones, and both the vintage and the fact that this wine consists of 20 percent Viognier, explains that pretty well. If the younger wines could be described as being bluish in the fruit, this one is more to red fruits. The yellow scented tropical fruit notes from Viognier are gone by now, but there’s a fine spiciness and very elegant secondary aromas here, but, no oxidation at all. I have recently tasted a lot of “great 1996 cabernets from famous wineries in Napa Valley” that wasn’t as fresh and well kept as this syrah! Tannins are still there to give the wine a good structure, but they are mature and almost velvety. This lovely wine surprised me, it’s elegant rather than full bodied and rich, and that’s this wine’s greatest assets. <br />
It’s no hurry to drink the last bottles of this wine, but I doubt it will gain more complexity from further ageing. <br />
<em>Drink it 2011-2016</em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-62385084510321286162011-12-02T23:22:00.000+01:002011-12-02T23:22:23.511+01:00The 2008 Le Caprice from Peter Michael Winery<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoa0bF_-5ylTwwKh1C-hp7uBFK4GGAD72SgBJj7Ykd7Y4DHFd1uJnBTzxzbGJYjKb4YCDn6IlIolR1RjPUO5tKC0YInjM6oKOEz1htHZZhxel1OIxyAX71p9_mmNIywzrHZvhSA9g30oA/s1600/Peter+Michael+Le+Caprice+2008+a++%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoa0bF_-5ylTwwKh1C-hp7uBFK4GGAD72SgBJj7Ykd7Y4DHFd1uJnBTzxzbGJYjKb4YCDn6IlIolR1RjPUO5tKC0YInjM6oKOEz1htHZZhxel1OIxyAX71p9_mmNIywzrHZvhSA9g30oA/s320/Peter+Michael+Le+Caprice+2008+a++%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Peter Michael Winery now produces four pinots, with Le Moulin Rouge of fruit bought from the Pisoni Vineyard in Santa Lucia Highlands, as the first made (1997). The demand for pinots was one reason for them to add a few more pinots to the program, but the main reason was of course the love of Pinot Noir as a grape variety. In 2007 they started to buy grapes from the Reuling Vineyard close to Forestville in Russian River Valley (which is also classified as Sonoma Coast fruit). In this second vintage, the grapes are also sourced from that vineyard, but from 2009 they will only use fruit from their estate Seaview Vineyard far out in Sonoma Coast. With 2009 vintage, another two pinots was added to the wine list, the Clos du Ciel from the southernmost block in the vineyard with the least coastal climatic influence, and the Ma Danseuse, from the coldest block in the same vineyard. <o:p></o:p></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">All these wines are made in the same way, with totally destemmed grapes, four to five days of cold soak and then fermented with the indigenous yeast in small open top fermenters of stainless steel. During the fermentation and post maceration, <em>pigeage</em> is utilized twice a day. The wine is then transferred into 228 liter French oak barrels from Damy and Louis Latour, around 50 percent new, for malolactic fermentation and <em>elevage</em> during 15 months. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alcohol levels are around 14.0 to 14.5 percent.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: #0b5394;">2008 Le Caprice</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">91 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As always with the pinots from Peter Michael Winery, this one has a quite deep cherry red color with nuances of purple, but with a slightly paler rim. On the nose, it offers a youthful, pure and intense fruit aroma, quite ripe, still fresh and lively. At first it's a bit closed, but with just 5-10 minutes in the glass, it starts to open up. However, it doesn't have the finest and most seductive notes, and no floral qualities, this is much more about sweet cherries and ripe wild raspberries, and it's delicious. Even though winemaker Nick Morlet uses 50 percent new French oak for the elevage, the oak is very well integrated, almost totally absorbed by the fruit. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, I find a slight trace of smokiness on the nose, but by no means at a level that substantially impaired the scent. I'm quite convinced that it derives from the smoke from the bush fires that haunted the Mendocino wine growers during some weeks in August. The smoke was pushed out to the sea from southern Mendocino, but was sucked back into the coastline of Sonoma. In some coastal vineyards, one may find small traces of smoke taint, and I guess this is what I find here. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">On the palate, it's medium bodied, lively and fresh and of course fruit forward and almost sweetish. Tannins are fine, ripe and silky, alcohol notable but not too strong. Again, the oak stands in the shadow of the fruit, and there's just a small spiciness from it that adds some complexity. At this stage, I find the wine to be too young to really show complexity, at least the finish is quite closed.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It didn't really open up in the glass during the 30 minutes I had it, and even though it's a lovely and quite charming, but quite rich wine, it doesn't have the fragrance of a great pinot. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I'd keep it for a year or two, and serve it at 15 degrees Celsius. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2013-2018<o:p></o:p></em></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-22832335012167626272011-08-25T01:03:00.001+02:002011-10-29T10:23:35.216+02:00Captured by Kapcsándy’s 2008s<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqdUVXUAlEunBvURxgI7sW5G-sfDs5DERaWzep1MC-5lFG-3SKdASbq_w5KEtsSyuGP3inxIjBYrtArJYtz2hN8jBycYhp8CJPa8OcmV5y99fz7TrIJu1iWI1kz5CY-TOZs260IsdBaUs/s1600/Kapcsandy+viner+01+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqdUVXUAlEunBvURxgI7sW5G-sfDs5DERaWzep1MC-5lFG-3SKdASbq_w5KEtsSyuGP3inxIjBYrtArJYtz2hN8jBycYhp8CJPa8OcmV5y99fz7TrIJu1iWI1kz5CY-TOZs260IsdBaUs/s320/Kapcsandy+viner+01+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Since the inaugural vintage, I’ve been impressed by the wines of Lou Kapcsándy and his estate just outside of Yountville. Lou, who founded a construction company in Seattle, came in contact with the American wine business when he built the winery for Chateau Ste Michelle and Columbia Crest in Washington. <br />
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The Kapcsándy family moved to California in 1962, and wine slowly became a more important part of the daily life for Lou and his wife Roberta. At that time, there wasn’t too many wineries up and running, but Lou visited the very few that were operation in Napa Valley and Sonoma at the time. Later on, in 1998, he started to import fine wines from France, mostly from Bordeaux, and from his homeland Hungary. <br />
<br />
For many years, he had been a huge fan of the Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from Beringer, and he noted that the Cabernet grapes from the State Lane Vineyard in Yountville very often constituted a significant part of the blend. When he sectrely heard that this vineyard was for sale in 2000, he put a bid on it and bought it. At the time, the vineyard was heavily hit by phylloxera, and Beringer, who since 1975 had a 30 year long lease on farming the vineyard, had cancelled the contract already in 1999, with a new contract to buy grapes the remaining five years. <br />
The truth is that Beringer had wanted to buy the vineyard and replant it, if they had been given such an offer. Instead Lou Kapcsándy bought the vineyard before Beringen knew if was out for sale. <br />
When Lou Kapcsándy took over, he planted the vineyard according to Bordelaise methods, with higher density and lower trained vines, he also changed the row orientation to obtain a more optimal effect of the sun and the airflow. He also made deep analysis on the soil, so he could plant the right grape variety and clone in the perfect matching soil. <br />
The result has since the first vintage 2003 been remarkable, and the wines from Kapcsándy are already now among the finest produced in Napa Valley. Behind that quality and style, one finds a small state of the art and ultra clean winery, a sorting of grapes that is unparalleled, and an ambition that is sky high. Only French oak barrels of the finest quality are used. <br />
Alcohol levels were a bit higher in the 2008 vintage compared to previous vintages, and I hope this was an exception from the rule. Neither Lou Kapcsándy nor his winemaker Denis Malbec is very keen on high alcohol levels, they opt for a maximum strength of 14.5 percent, but most often the alcohol is normally in the range of 13.5 to 14.0 percent. <br />
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I must say that these wines are among the finest ever made at this estate. Still I can’t get the outstanding 2007s from my memory. I just tasted the 2007 State Lane Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (below called "Grand Vin" in the 2008 vintage), which an absolutely stunning effort and a wine of great complexity, although still very youthful and marked by its classical structure. To be honest, you don’t have to look for any given vintage to find pleasure here, you just have to work hard find any bottle at all. And when you do, you’d better buy it. <br />
The total production is around 4 000 cases of wine per year, and every single bottle comes from their own 6.50 hectare State Lane Vineyard. <br />
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<strong><span style="color: #0b5394;">2008 Endre</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">90 p</span></strong><br />
According to Lou Kapcsándy, this is not a second wine, but another wine. “We put as much efforts in this wine as in the other wines, it’s just a wine with a lighter and more fruity body and leaner palate, made to be enjoyed earlier”, winemaker Denis malbec told me on my last visit at the estate. It’s a blend of about 55 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 25 percent Merlot, 15 percent Cabernet Franc and a splash of Petit Verdot, all grapes from the estate vineyard. The wine was matured in French oak barrels, 80 percent new, for about 20 months.<br />
As the intention was explained to me, this wine is clean and fruit forward with a sweet dark berry scent, quite elegant and easy to drink thanks to its lean texture with just a fine tannic structure. Style wise it’s related to the more serious wines (sorry for this comment, Denis) of Kapcsándy, but it doesn’t have the weight or the mid palate, or the intensity of flavor or the length. However, it’s good and very drinkable wine. <br />
<em>Drink it 2012-2018</em><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: #0b5394;">2008 Estate Cuvée</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">95 p</span></strong><br />
The estate cuvée is made to display the personality of the site, and the blend will vary quite a bit from year to year. In this vintage, the wine is made of 68 percent Cabernet Sauvignon (a relatively high proportion), 22 percent Merlot and five percent each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It was bottled after 20 months in 70 percent new French oak barrels.<br />
Color is young, dark purple and almost opaque. Although it’s just a baby, the nose is open and offers a great bouquet of ultra pure, sweet and intense dark berry fruit with loads of cassis and blackberries, still it’s overall a very elegant wine with a youthful oak sweetness. What I really liked when I tasted it, and had it in the glass for around 20 minutes, was how slow but well it developed in the glass. Don’t forget it’s a very young wine, it’s should be (and it is) packed with primary aromas, yet I almost wrote complexity in my first tasting notes. On the palate, it is rich with that same purity I always find in the wines from Kapcsándy, they really can afford to use only the very best grapes, therefore the texture is lush and silky and just held together with a very fine tannic structure. The oak is well integrated, although at this stage just a bit toasty. Consider the youth of this wine, the finish is very long, and delicious. <br />
Drinking it in the coming few years, I’d give it at least one hour in the decanter, and I’d pour it in large Bordeaux glasses. But I recommend a few more years of bottle age, and then the true complexity will be there. <br />
<em>Drink it 2013-2028</em><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: #0b5394;">2008 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Vin</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">98-100 p</span></strong><br />
This is another absolutely stunning effort of this wine, just like the 2007 vintage of it. In this vintage the blend was 87 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, five percent each of Merlot and Cabernet Franc and just three percent of Petit Verdot. It was kept in French oak barrels, 85 percent new, for around 20 months. <br />
As the Estate Cuvée, the color is dark, almost opaque, but the rest is quite different although you’ll see the house style. First of all, the nose is just stunning, totally amazing in its intensity and concentration, which however doesn’t make the wine overblown in any sense. On the contrary it’s so elegant thanks to its purity and freshness, and in contrast to the Estate Cuvée, there are already those complex Bordeaux like notes of cedar, lead pencil and grassiness (which is not unripness, but a quality sign on a perfect harvest decision). Still the fruit is dark, a bit sweetish and just lovely. On the palate it’s very rich with a great intensity, good mid palate and lingering aftertaste, it is well held together by the firm but perfectly ripe tannic structure, and thanks to the acidity the taste is fresh. Neither oak nor alcohol stands out, which is another sign of a very great wine, but there is s slight oak bitterness in the very finish of the taste, which is totally natural is a young wine like this. <br />
As for the Estate Cuvée, some more years of bottle age is recommended, and the serving recommendations are the same. This wine though, would most likely live much longer. <br />
Since it was only made in 400 cases, and Robert Parker gave it a perfect 100 point score, it will be very hard to find. However, it’s well worth trying!<br />
<em>Drink it 2014-2038</em><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: #0b5394;">2008 Roberta’s Blend</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">98 p</span></strong><br />
I have said many times that the Roberta’s Blend is one of the very best Merlot wines in the world. This vintage is another proof of that statement. In this vintage, there’s just four percent of Cabernet Franc in the blend, and the wine was raised in brand new French oak barrels for 18 months. “This vintage may well be the best we’ve achieved so far”, Lou Kapcsándy said when we tasted the wine together, and I’m willing to agree. As in the others wines, color is impressive, as is the nose. It boasts of dark ripe fruit, loads of blueberries, blackberries and cassis, and there’s also a very fine note of hazelnuts and dark chocolate from the oak, that marries just perfect with the fruit. On the palate, it’s richer than the Grand Vin, still the structure is there to make it totally dry and perfectly well balanced, and it’s just a wonderful wine with a great intensity and energy, and it will be a lolely wine to keep at least ten years to see how the complexity evolves over the years. <br />
Serving recommendation is the same as for the other wines. <br />
<em>Drink it 2012-2033</em><br />
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<strong><span style="color: #0b5394;">2008 Vino del Sol</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">95 p</span></strong><br />
This is a fun little sweet wine, made in a different way than in the 2007 vintage, when it was made entirely from dehydrated Merlot grapes from Roberta’s Block. In this vintage, it’s a blend of 47 percent Merlot, 34 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 15 percent Cabernet Franc and four percent of Petit Verdot. The grapes were crished and fermented in steel tanks to around five to seven percent of alcohol before a neutral local brandy was added to stop the fermentation and leave around 90 grams of residual sugar in the wine and out the alcohol strength at 17.6 percent. <br />
This port styled wine is lovely, loaded with sweet and delicious flavors of sun ripe blueberries, black currants and blackberries, and although it’s high in alcohol, it’s much smoother than most ports. Acidity is fine rather than lively, but it gives some needed freshness to the taste. I find it to be a delicious that I’d love to serve at around 16-18 degrees Celsius in medium size glasses to matured blue cheeses, or (which I prefer myself) to rich chocolate desserts. <br />
<em>Drink it 2011-2020</em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-72034474834791411262011-08-14T12:29:00.002+02:002011-08-14T13:33:36.355+02:002005 Rosella's from Kosta-Browne<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3qpFrF9nmgb2A1QBeYvD9o-ZDyu07gL7hJVBZmtv8ONNrLqwe6idFebyzOJbXB0cZVQbyCNVDdrWqrwJh9a6m8S0qEfMQeNEtvMCoyUbecBCBRNneqY146HvbfDC8NWQQGK_anZRLK90/s1600/IMG_1776.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3qpFrF9nmgb2A1QBeYvD9o-ZDyu07gL7hJVBZmtv8ONNrLqwe6idFebyzOJbXB0cZVQbyCNVDdrWqrwJh9a6m8S0qEfMQeNEtvMCoyUbecBCBRNneqY146HvbfDC8NWQQGK_anZRLK90/s320/IMG_1776.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Only the most reputed winemakers gets to purchase grapes from the famous vineyards of Gary Pisoni and Gary Franscioni in Santa Lucia Highlands, and Michael Browne of the premium Pinot Noir winery Kosta-Browne is one of very few who can boast to buy from both Pisoni Vineyard, Gary's Vineyard and Rosella's Vineyard. <br />
The Rosella's Vineyard is located on the middle slope in the central parts of the Santa Lucia Highland bench, a location where the cool airflow from the Monterey Bay in the north still is important, but where there also are influences from the warmer inland part of the Salinas Valley. Therefore the wines from site normally combines high aromatics and a fresh acidity with some weight and good mouthfeel. The vineyard covers 20.25 hectares and is plantet to Pinot Noir of the clones Dijon 667, Dijon 777, Dijon 828, as well as the suitcase clone known as Pisoni Clone. <br />
The 2005 is the first vintage from this vineyard for Kosta-Browne.<br />
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<strong><span style="color: #0b5394;">2005 Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">89 p</span></strong><br />
The clones Dijon 828 and Pisoni Clones are used for this wine, and the grapes are harvested at high 25.8 Brix, or higher (whoch in my opinion is too high to capture finesse). For some wines, or some part of some wines, Michael Browne works with whole cluster, but from this vineyard he prefer to destem all grapes. As always, there is a myriad of variations when it comes to vinification, each clone and vineyard, and part of the vineyard, are treated differently, and in the end it's all about blending all fractions for each wine in the very best way. For this wine, vinification goes something like this: five days of cold soak i small open top fermenters of stainless steel, followed by an alcoholic fermentatio that last for aound ten days, with <em>pigeage</em> two times per day. The wine is then transferred into French oak barrels, around 50 percent new, for malolactic fermentation and 15 monts of ageing. <br />
In some years, alocohol reach around 14.5 to 14.8 percent, but in this vintage the label show 15.3 percent. Which is high, too high.<br />
Even though ripeness was high, the wine offers a charming and intense nose, loades with red berries and a dash of rosehips. (I have tasted so many wines from Rosella's, from other producers, and the rose petals and rosehips seems to be part of the vineyards personality.) At first there was a slight oaky note, but it was toned down as the wine opened up with air. Lovely! I wouldn't really call it "burgundian like", it's to intense and rich for that, but there are several details in the wine reminiscent of great <em>premier crus</em> from Gevrey-Chambertin, although in a very ripe year. Also, details remiscent of Grenache...<br />
On the palate, it's medium bodied, fresh and pure with a ripe but not really sweetish red fruit flavor. Tannins are silky, which makes the wine so enjoyable, and acidity is fresh but in no sense sharp. It's a very fine wine indeed, but I would have scored it slighly higher if it didn't have that slightly sunburnt grape skin flavor (it's almost not there) and if the finish would have been a little longer. Other than that, there's nothing to complain about if you are looking for a rich, intense and seductive Californian pinot.<br />
I would actually pour it directly from the bottle, for everyone to enjoy the evolution with air (with more aeration, it becomes more Grenache-like), and I recommend a serving temperature at around 16 degress, but not higher than that. <br />
<em>Drink it 2011-2013</em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-81095450349472993032011-08-13T10:45:00.001+02:002011-08-13T16:10:55.442+02:002008 Patrina Syrah from Alban Vineyards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ5OAjpraYQV57PRwNeE278mQuxkB5xS-Ti3HSSjZiIcQLdMXJf6YOmYG2Cm6VKKvtmoWLFgJ0ZV4mKQ2BZMDmRc97faUPSxgu8EjbWuSOxUrAX7GB13Dd0Frhjk0U2EBMRmS00c-KwzU/s1600/Alban+Patrina+01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ5OAjpraYQV57PRwNeE278mQuxkB5xS-Ti3HSSjZiIcQLdMXJf6YOmYG2Cm6VKKvtmoWLFgJ0ZV4mKQ2BZMDmRc97faUPSxgu8EjbWuSOxUrAX7GB13Dd0Frhjk0U2EBMRmS00c-KwzU/s320/Alban+Patrina+01.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Since my first encounters with his wines in the early 1990s, John Alban has made remarkable progress in his viticulture and winemaking. There is no doubt that he is one of the most talented winemakers in Central Coast, and he is crafting some exceptional wines of Syrah from his own vineyards in the cool Edna Valley. <br />
In the early years his bottlings of Syrah from the Reva and Lorraine vineyards was fantastic, and over the years they have gained more power, depths and structure. Following his intuition and the path of prominent wine producers such as Guigal in the Rhône Valley and Sine Qua Non in Ventura Couny south of Santa Barbara, he started to mature these vineyards selection and the ultra premium Seymour's, in oak for 38-42 months from the 2004 vintage. This was a smart move, I'm not the only one who felt the wines could take it, and that the extra ageing gave them a fine texture and mouthfeel. <br />
The problem was that it took longer to get the wines on the market, and that prices went up. So, John wanted to make another Syrah, estate grown of course, but made to be a little bit lighter, with only 20-24 months of barrel ageing, and as important - less expensive. With the 2008 vintage, he made his inaugural vintage of that wine, the Patrina Syrah. And it's very good<br />
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<strong><span style="color: #0b5394;">2008 Patrina Syrah</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">93 p</span></strong><br />
At first, it was a bit rough with loads of dark scented, ripe and sweet fruit flavors with smoky, slightly bitter and to be honest, not too elegant oak characteristics. Also, on the palate, the stated 14.7 percent of alcohol was definitely there, especially with its warmth in the long aftertaste, and the tannins as well as the oak bitterness, was a bit oversized. So I let the wine sit in the decanter for another four hours, of course with a revisit every hour to see how it evolved. Almost nothing happened. So I poured the wine back in the bottle, and let it stand next to my desk for two days! Then, suddenly, the wine was just stunning. I know the wines from John Alban need time, even though they are showy at once – but in this case I was overwhelmed by the transformation from roughness to pure power and finesse at the same time. This was my first experience with this wine, six month ago.<br />
Now, it's much more calm, although it still needs one to two hours in the decanter. The color is dark, almost opaque, and the nose is concentraded with ripe, dark scented fruit, somehgow sweetish but not cooked. Now, two days later, the oak is just sweet – there’s no bitterness at all, tannins have soften, and the wine is much more silky, still sweetish and intense, and there’s a lovely blackberry fruit flavor with fine notes of wild raspberries. Only snall notes of the smoky oak is still here, but now it’s much more integrated, therefore more enjoyable. Based on the long aeration, there are reasons to believe this wine can age well for many more years. This is not a shye wine – serve it to steaks, braised meet, or other tasty dishes. <br />
<em>Drink it 2012-2023</em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-25225867951180715812011-08-11T23:56:00.000+02:002011-08-11T23:56:04.862+02:00A trio of pinots from Anthill Farms<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_wybo4OfZUr8uuD9T1gAxSZ0Utj1ukiUYO4lSMl9bWjzy98S2rqb92Fjq9gtdcnmrhuSjx5s2eQ5Vqz25TjvOcuA2Ga5Ed0Ou8DYXlvfm5SiTOb5Jd9vwIle9u9RKcg6HSFWgfk3je8/s1600/Anthill+Farms+pinot+01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_wybo4OfZUr8uuD9T1gAxSZ0Utj1ukiUYO4lSMl9bWjzy98S2rqb92Fjq9gtdcnmrhuSjx5s2eQ5Vqz25TjvOcuA2Ga5Ed0Ou8DYXlvfm5SiTOb5Jd9vwIle9u9RKcg6HSFWgfk3je8/s320/Anthill+Farms+pinot+01.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>I have had the opportunity to taste and drink the wines from Anthill Farms quite often the last year, at my home, with my friends, at top restaurants in Napa Valley and Sonoma, and I also visited the winery in Dry Creek Valley to find out more about this small operation.<br />
Anthill Farms is the result of three friends with a passion for Pinot Noir. Anthony Filiberti was born in Sonoma and worked with wines at Bergström Winery in Oregon and later on in Sonoma. Webster Marquez grew up in Virginia and didn't have any connection with wine, except from loving it and drinking it. The third guy, David Low, was born in Kansas but went to university in Berkeley and found his passion for wine there. <br />
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The common denominator was the legendary pinot producer Williams Selyem, where they all worked as cellar rats over a couple of years. Inspired by the outstanding quality of the wines, the dream of making their own wines was inevitable. In 2004 their dream came true.<br />
They bought some grapes, and rented space at Papapietro Perry Winery in Dry Creek Valley, where David Low worked (and still does) as assistant winemaker with Ben Papapietro. Since this is a small winery, Papapietro Perry produces around 8 000 cases annually, they have now moved into a neighboring warehouse to make their wines, around 2 000 cases of 12 bottles per year. <br />
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The first vintage of Anthill Farms (the name doesn't mean anything, it's just a funny name revealing the trio is working with small vineyard lots) was 2004, and it didn't take too long before word to mouth gave them a red hot reputation. <br />
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The ambition is simple, to produce outstanding and elegant wines without too much influence of oak. It sound pretty much what I hear in Burgundy, where I travel a total of four weeks every year. They never use more than 40 percent of new oak (less for the elegant Mendocino wines), which is very smart, but not too common in California. If the vintage allows, they work with some whole cluster (up to 20-25 percent), and compared to the wines of Papapietro Perry (even though it is a completely different company, I think the comparison is relevant), the Anthill Farms trio works with longer cold soak prior to the fermentation. <br />
As of the 2010 vintage, Anthill Farms produces six wines of Pinot Noir and two of Syrah. "We're not aiming for more than that", David Low says. Focus is important, and besides that they all love their other jobs. <br />
These are some of the finest Pinot Noir wines made in California today, still they are not too expensive. They sell for around 40-50 dollars a bottle in the few shops that have them. <br />
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<strong><span style="color: #0b5394;">2007 Pinot Noir Comptche Ridge Vineyard</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">92 p</span></strong><br />
Grapes for this wines is purchased from a tiny vineyard, 0.80 hectares, north of Navarro Vineyards but outside the appellation of Anderson Valley, hence the generic Mendocino County designation. It's owned by the Weir family and planted to the old Pinot Noir clone from Swan Vineyards in Russian River Valley. It's just a few miles from the coast, so it's a very cool site. <br />
To be a Pinot Noir, color is quite dark, but that's not so unusual for Pinot Noir grown in such cold regions, where the grapes gets small and the skin grows thick. It's a lovely wine with a great personality and a quite intense perfume of dark cherries, ripe wild raspberries and sloe, and there's almost a Gevrey-Chambertin like punch to it as well. The oak, just 20 percent new, is beautifully well integrated, and alcohol at 13.7 percent. Therefore it's no surprise the one may put it in Burgundy if tasting it blind. It's medium bodied but intense and very silky, with a slightly sweetish texture and a lively acidity. I tasted it the first time a year ago, and again some months later, and found it to be a bit closed in the finish then, but now it's lovely. I prefer to decant it just prior to pouring it, so the aromas evolve a bit. <br />
This time, I left a glass in the bottle to taste the day after, and although I still loved it for its intensity and lingering aftertaste, I missed some of the more aromatic perfumes from when it was newly opened. <br />
<em>Drink it 2011-2017</em><br />
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<strong><span style="color: #0b5394;">2007 Pinot Noir Abbey Harris Vineyard</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">91-92 p</span></strong><br />
The 0.60 hectare Abbey Harris Vineyard is a lease, it's located at 330 meters altitude above Boonville in the warmer southern part of Anderson Valley. That's the reason why this wine have slightly higher alcohol, 14.1 percent. Compared to the Comptche Ridge Vineyard selection, this wine see around 30 percent new French oak barrels, but again the oak is not at all important in the flavor profile. Again, one could call this wine "Burundian like", at least when talking about the aromas. However, it doesn't have the Burundian mineral nuances. I forgot to ask David Low from Anthill Farms when I tasted the wine with him, if they use some whole clusters in the fermentation, at least there's some herbaceous notes reminiscent of stems. At this level, I like it (as I love the wines from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, where they uses a hundred percent whole clusters), and it certainly adds some complexity to the wine. Acidity is lively and it gives freshness to the slightly more riper fruit, and the aftertaste is long and delicious. Decanting recommendations are the same as for the wine above (and all wines from Anthill Farms), and I'd prefer to serve it at 16-17 degrees Celsius. I'd probably use a burgundy glass with a wide bowl, but intense pinot wines like these may also be served in Bordeaux shaped glasses. <br />
<em>Drink it 2011-2017</em><br />
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<strong><span style="color: #0b5394;">2008 Pinot Noir Tina Marie Vineyard</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">90 p</span></strong><br />
Please understand this tasting note is 2008, a vintage that in some parts of Sonoma (the coast line especially) to some extent was affected by the forest fires in Mendocino in August. Growers all over Sonoma Coast and the western part of Russian River (this vineyard is located in the cool Green Valley) told me that the smoke from the fires went out to the ocean, and was then pushed back in over land further south in Sonoma. I have tasted some wines from Sonoma, even down in Carneros (!) that had that smoky taint, that reminds me of the smoky flavor in some South African wines. Based on this theory, and I find just a "shadow" of burnt grape skins in this wine, I'm very positive about the 2008 vintage of the Tina Marie Vineyard. Yet, I have given the 2007 vintage a higher score (92-93 p) in previous tastings. <br />
Okay, back to the wine. <br />
Color is relatively dark for Pinot Noir, again it's a very cool site in Green Valley (which is cooler than most parts of Sonoma Coast), and the perfume is so seductive with its intense floral (rose petals) and reddish fruitiness (raspberries, sweet cherries, rosehip). Like the other pinots, it's silky and fresh with a moderate alcohol and lively acidity, the oak is perfectly integrated, and the aftertaste lingering. Compared to the wines from Mendocino, this one have a deeper and more concentrated fruit, therefore it's not as classic as those. However, it's seductive enough to make you wish for another glass, and another. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><em>Drink it 2011-2016</em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-86830054719523353952011-06-18T14:31:00.002+02:002011-06-18T19:05:51.587+02:00Pierre Seillan of Verité<strong><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">WINEMAKER OF THE YEAR 2011</span></strong><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMvzFlenBxuwzvOXyG6EPr2Hd9bp5dDNJiaUwSyn5YRRkCX4mgyPflpkrg88gAzcASuwwx4eBM39pxlICCFWasIRzbjnBqXcAG8PqhInczDm5CK16h8smR3K0ZJpIvUC6CfVk3yLpRtSM/s1600/Pierre+Seillan+vinmakare+01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMvzFlenBxuwzvOXyG6EPr2Hd9bp5dDNJiaUwSyn5YRRkCX4mgyPflpkrg88gAzcASuwwx4eBM39pxlICCFWasIRzbjnBqXcAG8PqhInczDm5CK16h8smR3K0ZJpIvUC6CfVk3yLpRtSM/s320/Pierre+Seillan+vinmakare+01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So many great winemakers, so few years – so I decided to name two skilled persons Winemaker of the Year every year. Pierre Seillan is the first one this year.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Pierre Seillan was born in Gascogne in France, and worked for some years at the family estate, before he in the late 1960s went to work as an exchange student in Temecula in the southern California. Back in France seven months later, he went to make wines from Cabernet Franc in the Loire Valley, followed by assignment at several estates in Bordeaux over the coming years. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In 1996 he met Jess Jackson, who asked him to come and work in California. Pierre Seillan wasn’t interested – he was too busy making wines in Bordeaux. Next year, Jess Jackson came back to Bordeaux, and asked him again. This time, Pierre accepted the invitation.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Well, Jess asked me if I thought I could make a wine of equal quality as Château Petrus, and then I said, why not, but why don’t we try to make it even better”, Pierre recalls when we talk about the early years.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Together with Jackson’s vineyard team, Pierre planted the Jackson Park Estate to Merlot, and then started to make some wines under the Verité label in 1998. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Verité, “the truth”, are alongside the Lokoya label, the most impressive wines under the huge Jackson Family Wines umbrella. The idea was to craft a trio of great wines inspired by the sub regions Pomerol, Pauillac and St Emilion of Bordeaux, and the challenge was to make them even better. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The first vintage was the difficult 1998 vintage, and although there were troubles to get the grapes fully ripe, Pierre managed to produce two remarkably fine wines in that year. These wines still holds together, on the nose they behave like fine clarets from Bordeaux, and they even taste pretty well today, although they start to dry out a bit. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZlRfKaPKQpbF6ebztmcf6tkXv2MmcIoqgqGr20XtchHLI7Z2Dj6blW_OenN9fMysj0DV8HebCuMTruaZUQYMUsMojFxwDZjFhvk1p-o5TmfM3i8e52B6j20maKN6gCHY6g-IwzlLZwQ/s1600/Bennett+Valley+01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZlRfKaPKQpbF6ebztmcf6tkXv2MmcIoqgqGr20XtchHLI7Z2Dj6blW_OenN9fMysj0DV8HebCuMTruaZUQYMUsMojFxwDZjFhvk1p-o5TmfM3i8e52B6j20maKN6gCHY6g-IwzlLZwQ/s320/Bennett+Valley+01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">To make these fine wines, Pierre gets to select some of the finest lots, of even rows, of vines in the best of the Jackson family’s vineyards in predominately Sonoma. The Merlot grapes are mostly sourced from the outstanding 44.50 hectare Jackson Park Vineyard, situated at 165-186 meters of altitude on gently rolling slopes in the mountain above Benett Valley in Sonoma. It was planted exclusively to Merlot of Clone 181 taken from Château Petrus in Pomerol. To Pierre, that clone was essential to plant to be able to “compete” with the wine from Château Petrus. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgahnefyfKJoJZY4whrEX0gBjQRCsLxJdXZz9ZYBJpSbGPHzJXIWcNK2uCHG108ubq_J3_HdHAdydLUxoCGk9BNYHXKhPlv5vXWCN-iddp9yCKdAjtwrZTliCI657NrIDsJv-6ipCpfiCY/s1600/Aledander+Mountain+Vineyard+02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgahnefyfKJoJZY4whrEX0gBjQRCsLxJdXZz9ZYBJpSbGPHzJXIWcNK2uCHG108ubq_J3_HdHAdydLUxoCGk9BNYHXKhPlv5vXWCN-iddp9yCKdAjtwrZTliCI657NrIDsJv-6ipCpfiCY/s320/Aledander+Mountain+Vineyard+02.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Another very important vineyard source is the Alexander Mountain Estate in the eastern part of Alexander Valley, close to the home of the Jackson family. It’s an amazing vineyard, a patchwork of almost 200 smaller vineyard blocks stretching from 210 to 720 meters of altitude, planted to various varieties (Verité uses mostly Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from here) in poor volcanic soils. Speaking about soils, Pierre Seillan just love the vide variation of soil types in Sonoma – which of course was one of the reasons for him to accept to work here with Jess Jackson.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“We have more different soils here than they have in total in France”, he says. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Pierre also buys grapes from Kellogg Estate at 150 to 280 meters altitude in poor volcanic soils in Knights Valley, where Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot of exceptional quality is grown.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The idea behind Verité is not to produce wines of true terroir from each mountain vineyard, but to create blends of the highest quality, inspired but the blends of Bordeaux. Although I find these wines to be, or at least mature into something very Bordeaux like, there’s one distinctive difference; I find more structure and energy (that’s due to the mineral qualities of these soils) in the Verité wines than in the bordelaise ones. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Three wines are made. La Muse is the Pomerol in the lineup, based on 82-92 percent Merlot depending on the vintage, with the balance of Cabernet Franc and just a dash of Cabernet Sauvignon. La Joie is the Pauillac blend, built on 64-75 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and therefore a bit more structured, whereas the Le Désir is the Saint Emilion in the trio, a lovely wine where Merlot and Cabernet Franc make up around 80-85 percent of the blend, most often in relatively equal parts. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">All wines are crafted in more or less the same way, vinified in small lots and then transferred into brand new French oak barrels to spend 14-16 months including the time for malolactic fermentation. They are all bottled without fining or filtration. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The day I came to Verité on my latest visit, Robert Parker was on his way in to taste all wines and vintages ever made at Verité, so I guess his highly interesting report will be published quite soon as well. I look forward to – I’ve tasted all this wines over the years, but not all at the same time. The following wines were tasted over a couple of weeks in April and May (all wines of the same vintage at the same time), in the addition of the 2001 vintage that I tasted a year ago. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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Pierre Seillan also makes the fine wines under the labels Anakota and Archipel, as well as wines in St Emilion and Tuscany. <br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><u><strong>Vintage <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2007</strong></u> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2007 La Muse</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">98-100 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If the initial challenge was to make a wine as good as the one from Château Petrus, this may well have been what both the late Jess Jackson and his winemaker Pierre Seillan had in mind. This is a spectacular wine, already today (whereas the pomerols normally needs at least a decade before the start to show their true caliber). It’s a blend of approximately 90 percent Merlot, all from Jackson Park Vineyard in Bennett Valley, which Pierre Seillan holds as the best site on this planet for Merlot. Well, if not the best, it’s still amazing!</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The wine was decanted an hour prior to the tasting, and by then the nose had opened up and offered a rich, ripe and seductive but yet extremely elegant nose with loads of dark berries, but also more complex nuances such as graphite, cacao and mineral. The oak is perfectly integrated, hence not noted in my book (except from the cacao notes). On the palate, it still is young and at first a bit closed, the tannins are firm and hold the fruit body back a bit, and also on the palate the oak is just like a whisper. Compared to the cabernet based wines, this hangs on for longer, and therefore it’s a bit more charming to enjoy already today than there are. However, I would love to retaste this wine in five or eight years, and it’s also then the great potential starts to show. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2012-2032<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2007 La Joie</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">98-100 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is just an outstanding wine! It is dark purple and youthful, and it offers a big, intense, deeply concentrated yet so perfumed and elegant nose. On the nose I find cassis and sweet cherries, nuances of rose petals and violets, but also a lovely spiciness, and as all of the wines from Verité, the oak is totally absorbed by the fruit flavors. In many ways, it reminds me of some of the greatest Bordeaux wines when they were just released (1990s, 2000s, and even 2005s), but to be honest I find this wine more elegant and perfectly well polished. It took an hour of aeration before it started to open up, but then it started to show its true potential. I don’t how I managed to keep a quarter of this great wine in the bottle for another day – but I’m glad I did. Over the 24 hours in the opened bottle, it evolved into something even more seductive. The tannins, which already from the beginning were huge but fine, had become a bit softer and now felt silky, but the perfumes and the fruit body was still the same. Without a doubt, this is one of the most profound young wines from Verité I have tasted … yet! <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It’s a perfect as I can which for, but still I guess it will evolve into something even more seductive, complex and perfect over the coming years. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2012-2032<o:p></o:p></em></span></div><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2007 Le Désir</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">97-98 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There’s really something desirable over this wine. Again, tasted direct from the bottle it was at first a bit shy, very elegant, but a bit closed. But giving it some air, already after 30 minutes in the glass it started to open up and show more of its depths and concentration. At first the nose was much finer tuned and almost shy, but with the help of some air, the flavors turned deeper, darker, and more intense. Also here, Pierre Seillan shows what a master of oak he is – it’s just a shadow of the oak, if even that. I’d rather say the oak flavor is so fine, it’s more likely you wouldn’t write oak in your tasting note. Instead you’ll find a fine blueberry fruit, the fragrance of red berries, and even some grassiness. Om the palate it’s elegant in the way a Francophile would love, but with more intensity, and (pardon my French) a taste, body, intensity and texture most vignerons in Bordeaux could only dream of. It’s really a first growth of Sonoma! <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Also with this wine, I kept the bottle a day, to see how well the wine performed after 24 hours of decanting. And it kept, and it evolved into even greater complexity. It’s really a great wine!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2012-2030</em></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><u>Vintage <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2006</u></strong> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2006 La Muse</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">94-95 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If the intention was to impress on, and convince those who have their doubts about, 1) Merlot is not a great grape variety, 2) Merlot from California is even worse, and 3) no one on earth can make better wines of Merlot the those of Pomerol, this wine would be one of my California choices in that competition. With 14.1 percent of alcohol, an impressively deep and dark fruit flavor that lingers for a minute in a fine balance with tannins and acidity, and as with all the other wines in the Verité family an almost hidden oak character, it’s actually quite French in style. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really enjoy the energy in this wine, and although it takes an hour in the decanter for the finest balance to appear, it’s very elegant already from the bottle. The overall balance is one of the greatest assets in this gorgeous wine. As all Verité wines it should be decanted a good hour prior to serving it, if drunk young. But the best you can do, is to let it rest for some years in the cellars.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2012-2026</em></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2006 La Joie</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">95-97 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">At first this wine showed a great concentration and intensity, yet a very fine tuned elegance with notes of graphite and cedar tree in addition to the perfectly ripe but not overripe and sweetish blueberry and cassis fruit. It took a while for wine to open up – actually, even the day after it stayed more or less the same in the opened bottle – but one thing that impressed on me, was the elegance. It’s really a beauty!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The structure is serious, tannins are firm but ripe and therefore on the elegant side. Even though the wine offers a ripe and to a certain extent sweet blueberry, cassis and cherry fruit, the tannins and the fresh acidity give the wine a very classic and complex taste, with a long and dry finish. There was a small bitter taste (from the oak?) during the first hours, but the air polished it and then the texture was more refined. Given the fact this wine kept so extremely well in the open bottle, there’s no hurry to drink it. It will keep!</span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2012-2030</em></span></div><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2006 Le Désir</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">96-97 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This vintage is almost as impressive as the 2007, slightly earthy with notes of chocolate (rather cacao) in combination with the ripe and somehow sweetish dark fruit body, with notes of cherries, blackberries and blueberries. Still it’s very elegant, even Bordeaux like, but young and at this stage more marked by fruit than what normally would be described as complexity. Nevertheless, so much finesse and elegance has been captured in this wine, it’ll just take a few more years of bottle age before we write “complexity” and all Bordeauxish adjectives in our tasting notes. More than the 2007 version, this gained from the one day decanting I gave the wine. On the palate, it tastes fresher and a bit more red fruit scented than expected, the acidity is lively and the tannins are young and quite firm, but mature. Still I’d give this wine at least one year more in the bottle. I guess it would keep as well as the 2007 version, but I doubt it will be the better one after ten years. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2012-2030</em></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><u>Vintage <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2004</u></strong> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2004 La Muse</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">95 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This wine was composed of 86 percent Merlot, seven percent of Cabernet Franc and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. Although the vintage was unusual warm and the fruit is rich and dark scented, there are no overripe flavors at all, well, besides the ripe, almost sweetish blueberry like Merlot flavors that is. Even when I tasted this wine three years ago, it was silky and well balanced, and with some more years of bottle age, the fine minerality is now more present, which of course is a great asset for the overall finesse. Also, a slight note of chocolate (from the oak, I guess) and sous-bois has developed over the years. It’s a great example from a vintage that overall gave ripe, delicious but not always excellent and perfectly balanced wines. I recommend an hour in the decanter before serving it, and a serving temperature of around 18 degrees to enhance the finer and fresher notes in the wine.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2011-2022<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2004 La Joie</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">95-96 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In this wine, Pierre Seillan included some grapes that normally go into the Anakota wines, and the final blend was 66 percent of Cabernet Sauvignon, 19 percent of Merlot, ten of Cabernet Franc and the rest of Petit Verdot. It’s as good as the Le Désir, and again it’s not obvious (if tasted blind) that this wine come from a very warm vintage. On the nose, it’s still rich and intense, but with its higher proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon, the tannic structure is much more firm compared to the other wines, so it behaves a bit younger and a bit dryer. It also offers slightly sweetish dark berry aromas, both blueberries and cassis, also a fine note of cedar tree, which most likely comes from the oak. Compared to my tasting notes some years ago, the aftertaste seems to be longer and more refined, I guess that’s due to the more polished tannins today. Still I’d like to decant this wine and serve it in a large Bordeaux glass, at 18 degrees Celsius for the finest balance, and to rich dish of beef of venison. To integrated the tannins a bit more, and make the wine even more silky and seductive, I would add a component with a fat or creamy texture – that’s the easiest way to please you palate when you serve a young and very serious Cabernet Sauvignon wine. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2011-2024<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2004 Le Désir</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">96 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is a lovely St Emilion interpretation!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s dense, dark fruit scented and concentrated, yet so elegant with a phenomenal complexity for being a 2004, and there’s enough structure of tannins to match the slightly richer fruit than average here at Verité. When I tasted it three years ago, it was a bit closed, but now it has opened up and reveals fine notes of ink, cedar and chocolate, but of these notes are finely integrated as small shadows in the purely fruity and almost silky body, that lingers for more than a minute. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This vintage was composed of 49 percent of Merlot, 47 percent of Cabernet Franc and just a few percent of Cabernet Sauvignon. It is definitely one of the finest Bordeaux inspired wines of the 2004 vintage from California’s north coast, Sonoma County and Napa Valley included. Since it continued to open up in the glass when I tasted it, I guess it’s a good idea to decant it a good hour before you serve it, at least if you’ll be drinking it in the coming few years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2011-2024</em></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><u>Vintage<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2001<o:p></o:p></u></strong></span></div><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2001 La Muse</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">96 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Please take into consideration that the lineup of 2001s were tasted a year ago. Then this wine was dark, still youthful with fully ripe, dense and concentrated fruit flavor, still young with a good grip from the tannins which made up a very fine structure together with a lively acidity and minerality. The structure is still there, and still as magnificent as before. As in all vintages of La Muse, there’s a great balance, where the concentrated fruit never gets too sweet, it just makes you believe there’s some sweetness. This wine can really rival the very finest wines of Pomerol.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It should be decanted, not only to remove the fine sediment that may be there, rather more for the aeration. I’d serve this wine to a dish (chicken, red meat or even white fish) with butter fried mushrooms or truffle – that’s the perfect flavor match to a great Merlot based wine in its early stage of maturity. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2011-2021<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2001 La Joie</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">97 p</span></strong> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Of the three 2001s, this always was and still is the most structured, it was a closed a few years ago, but is now a more open, yet youthful with layers of intense primary fruit flavors and it is extremely elegant and complex. Oak is not really part of the wines from Verité, but there’s a fine note of walnuts and cedar tree that I find very attractive. On the palate, it’s medium to full bodied, still young and relatively firm, tannins are important but ripe and therefore rather velvet like, and in the very long finish, the fresh acidity is perfectly well in balance with the fruit and the tickling mineral notes. Seamless would be a good word to describe the texture of this great wine – the finest (to my knowledge) of Cabernet Sauvignon based wines of Sonoma County this vintage. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Give it an hour in the decanter before you enjoy it. It’s still young, and it will open up with some air. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2011-2025<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2001 Le Désir</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">97 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Again, another great and extremely seductive effort of the Le Désir – one of the most complex Bordeaux styled wines in Sonoma County. Color in this ten year old is still dark and youthful with a touch of purple. The nose is stunning, rich and loaded with dark berry fruit, a bit spicy with fine tuned nuances of cedar tree, almonds and walnuts, also some tobacco which indicates a certain level of maturity, still the wine is young and full of primary fruit flavors. It’s very elegant, although medium plus bodied with good intensity and concentration, still so elegant and well balanced. In the long, lingering finish, you’ll find some tickling minerality, and the acidity gives a great energy to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As for the other two 2001s, decanting is recommended, also to serve it at around 18 degrees Celsius in a large Bordeaux glass. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2011-2023<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCHaMGmpngxPqzvlHQX3o5DxwCzYYS7D63zaACeaiIt2CuNVM0eFvumuAAh7W3S9T9Pm5Vedu7QILNmDJDmgOrIWgpOi5wFw1Ez6f_OIyrHKECyDE0B1EYolAVAYsAfB2OV5G2G28PNQ/s1600/Verit%25C3%25A9+ving%25C3%25A5rd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCHaMGmpngxPqzvlHQX3o5DxwCzYYS7D63zaACeaiIt2CuNVM0eFvumuAAh7W3S9T9Pm5Vedu7QILNmDJDmgOrIWgpOi5wFw1Ez6f_OIyrHKECyDE0B1EYolAVAYsAfB2OV5G2G28PNQ/s320/Verit%25C3%25A9+ving%25C3%25A5rd.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><u>Vintage<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1998<o:p></o:p></u></strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">1998 Verité</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">90 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In this inaugural vintage, this wine was only called Verité, but later it would become La Muse. It was made of 90 percent Merlot and ten percent Cabernet Sauvignon. As for the 1998 La Joie, it’s a lovely wine with very much Bordeaux like aromas and flavors, and the right words to use as descriptors would be “complex”, “noble maturity”, “forest floor” and “truffle”, but overall there’s a great balance, a fine structure with polished but still vital tannins. When I tasted the wines two years ago, the aftertaste was sublime and long, today it have started to decline and dry out a bit – but what’s there, is very fine. Still I wouldn’t keep the wine much longer – it’s good as it is right now.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In my first tasting notes of this wine, I gave it 92-93 points. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2011-2012<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">1998 Verité La Joie</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">91 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Wow, isn’t this fantastic! When every Cabernet Sauvignon winemaker in California complained over the wet and cool vintage, Pierre Seillan was quite happy about the climate in Sonoma, although he said it was a bit of a difficult vintage. I have tasted this wine, made of 70 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 30 percent Merlot, several times over the years, and it’s now fully mature and very elegant with that kind of magic secondary aromas that only time will create. Any good taster, American or French, would put this wine in Bordeaux in a blind tasting. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Color is still surprisingly dark, but the tawny rim reveals the maturity of the wine. On the nose, ultra complex notes of cigars, cedar tree, sous-bois and dried mushrooms tell you the same story. On the palate, its much lighter (due to its age, and the weaker vintage) compared to the younger vintages, but there’s enough complexity and structure to make it very drinkable. It shouldn’t be decanted too long in advance, actually I’d rather decant it just before serving it, just to remove the fine sediment. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In my notes from 2008, I gave the wine 92-93 points. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2011-2014<o:p></o:p></em></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-58617224778216375862011-06-11T19:41:00.002+02:002011-06-11T19:43:57.652+02:002007 and 2006 from Lokoya<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj41El3ziQiOeuajrr1l5_OsOJJBs6RIPf82njrng0hq8cDcb-tgdWsNqU8xqTZ0LWYbDZLkE7n0kr_DdPKXF_aPRobWlaN0E9i0YqEShR9yGHBqQ6c4EiW_CPJMYVFBCRFcOEW1OklGes/s1600/Lokoya+viner+b++%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj41El3ziQiOeuajrr1l5_OsOJJBs6RIPf82njrng0hq8cDcb-tgdWsNqU8xqTZ0LWYbDZLkE7n0kr_DdPKXF_aPRobWlaN0E9i0YqEShR9yGHBqQ6c4EiW_CPJMYVFBCRFcOEW1OklGes/s320/Lokoya+viner+b++%25284%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In 1994 Jess Jackson created the exclusive label Lokoya, named after a word Indians who lived up in the Mayacamas ranges used. The idea was to craft a range of great cabernets from different appellations within the Napa Valley. In that mission, the team Jess, his winemakers and wine growers were successful, and for many years I have looked (and tasted) at the Lokoya wines as some of the finest and most impressive efforts in Napa Valley. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Lokoya winery doesn't own any vineyards, all grapes are sourced from the very best vineyards, lots and even rows that Jess Jackson has purchased in Napa Valley. As for Pierre Seillan at Verité in Sonoma, the winemaker at Lokoya, Chris Carpenter, gets to chose grapes first of all winemakers, hence the high quality of each vintage. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There are now four different bottling of Lokoya, one from each of the prestigious mountain appellations in Napa Valley, on the western side Diamond Mountain and Spring Mountain in the north and Mount Veeder (the best blocks in the great Veeder Peak Vineyard) in the south, and on the eastern side on from Howell Mountain (predominately the Keyes Vineyard).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">All four wines are crafted in the same way, one hundred percent Cabernet Sauvignon (24-36 hectoliter per hectare), fermented with its own yeast in small open top fermenters of steel after four to five days of cold soak. The wine is matured in new French oak barrels for 18-22 months depending on each wine and the vintage, and there’s no fining or filtration before bottling. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Production is small, not more than 2 000 cases per year in total in a good vintage. The wines are only sold through mailing list and at the Cardinale Winery in Oakville, where the wines are made. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The sad thing is that prices took a giant leap up by the 2007 vintage, to 400 dollar per bottle. In one way I understand it – quality is outstanding, all four wines are among the very finest produced in their respective appellation – and production is smaller than the demand for the wines. I guess we have to accept the rising prices, there are now more and more wines getting closer to the magic 500 dollar limit, where (so far) only Harlan Estate and even more Screaming Eagle have touched or surpassed. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBtqSMELuu3LzttwWa5Muv0WoESIihA0MDnH5jX8-VxwkrMVUV17_1SfaxIVOo338Tn_NbdLlK2Z0kGbh16QV9Lb7_f-zr0-kQjeQXngtkVVbOX_O14iMnkLimB7vyGpQPmSWo6iYdvRE/s1600/Lokoya+2007+viner+01+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBtqSMELuu3LzttwWa5Muv0WoESIihA0MDnH5jX8-VxwkrMVUV17_1SfaxIVOo338Tn_NbdLlK2Z0kGbh16QV9Lb7_f-zr0-kQjeQXngtkVVbOX_O14iMnkLimB7vyGpQPmSWo6iYdvRE/s320/Lokoya+2007+viner+01+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><u>Vintage 2007</u></strong> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">20</span>07 Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain</strong></span> / <strong><span style="color: red;">95-96 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Of all wines from Lokoya, this is always the most approachable as young. It offers a quite open, intense and fruit driven nose with lovely notes of cherries, maraschino, cassis and almonds, as well as a slight touch of the oak vanilla. If the other bottling of Lokoya is firm and tannic at this young stage, this one is more polished, as if the tannins were almost totally absorbed by the medium to full bodied and rich taste. There are also fine notes of mineral, almost towards a slight saltiness, and the acidity also help to give freshness to the taste. The wine was decanted a good hour before I tasted it, which was a good thing as the taste still is a bit closed, especially in the finish. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2011-2027</em></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">96-97 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Compared to the Diamond Mountain, the Spring Mountain bottling offers a sweeter and more intense flavor of cassis, but there’s also more aromas of stony minerality and rocks, which (at least for me) gives the wine a slightly more interesting complexity. In that sense, it’s also more distinct. On the palate, it tastes a bit younger due to the deeper fruit, higher density and more marked tannic structure. Again, the oak is extremely well absorbed by the fruit – the winemaking skill of Chris Carpenter is well worth mention, there’s 100 percent new French oak used also in this wine. The aftertaste is fine, but a bit closed at this young stage. A couple of years of cellaring are needed to see the full potential.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2013-2032<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">98 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Howell Mountain at its best – this is a manifest in mountain grown fruit. The color is dark purple, rather opaque to be honest, and even though the wine is very young and in no way offers the full range of flavors it will do in the coming years, the nose is just gorgeous in its full power, dark ripe but yet young fruit – mostly dark cherries and cassis, but there are also the typical fragrance of crushed rocks (I just love that) to reveal its origin – the poor volcanic soils of Howell Mountain. The taste is rich, packed with dark ripe fruit, yet so closed and restrained due to its marked tannic and mineral structure. Having had several vintages of the Howell Mountain from Lokoya over the past ten years, I know time will tell you another story than this tough one. Be patient, keep it a few more years, decant it at least one hour before you drink it, and enjoy it with a rich dish to soften the tannins even more. Already today the aftertaste lingers for a minute – just imagine what it will do in some years from now when the tannins will soften. This is the finest vintage of the Howell Mountain from Lokoya I have tasted!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2014-2032</em> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">98-99 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This wine is normally the most concentrated and well structured of them all, and so it is also in this vintage. Color is as dark and opaque as in the precious wines, but the nose is a bit more dense and concentrated, however more intense and aromatic. I find sweet cassis as well as some lighter red fragrances, walnuts, a touch of the oak vanilla (but no toasted aromas), the same fine stoniness and minerality as in the Howell Mountain bottling, and it’s just impressive how concentrated this wine is without being too much or even sweetish. On the palate, it’s huge, full bodied and concentrated with a dense and ripe but in no way sweet fruit, and in although it’s young and firm, the aftertaste lingers for more than a minute! Add the salty mineral saltiness to all that, and you’ll understand how complex this great wine is. I’d give it a couple of more years more to polish the tannins a bit more, and it is recommended to decant it at least an hour prior to serving it. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2014-2032</em></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Zaz2rfGpDhbL6pQhvNhYBO_bwcjciufffJj2fTEk1oWpYIu_BieQVVlqCigSbMZQN8bSGKZtEGzWOJgzuY4quk-Ewls-87h8qFTcdOD6LCQ3G8uGUyaDWg00-TZ5kt_awbME9EdwiwA/s1600/Lokoya+viner+b++%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Zaz2rfGpDhbL6pQhvNhYBO_bwcjciufffJj2fTEk1oWpYIu_BieQVVlqCigSbMZQN8bSGKZtEGzWOJgzuY4quk-Ewls-87h8qFTcdOD6LCQ3G8uGUyaDWg00-TZ5kt_awbME9EdwiwA/s320/Lokoya+viner+b++%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><u>Vintage 2006</u></strong> </span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">95 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">After one hour in the decanter, the perfumes were still very intense, rich and almost sweetish with notes of ink, vanilla and toffee, but overall dark, ripe and absolutely pure berry fruit. During the tasting, the wine evolved slowly, and even one day later, it showed just beautiful in the opened bottle. As always, this is the most elegant and ready to drink bottling from Lokoya, although there is – as most of the time from mountain vineyards – a great structure of tannins and the lovely and almost salty minerality I enjoy so much. On the palate, it’s rich and concentrated but not at all sweet or plump. Instead it’s delicious, very elegant and a bit closed although there’s enough body and fruit to give a silky texture. The oak is pretty well integrated, just a dash of vanilla and some tannins shows on the palate. It’s a very fine wine, still young, but very enjoyable already today – especially after several hours of decanting. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2012-2026</em> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">96-97 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One hundred percent of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Keyes Vineyard on Howell Mountain, and in the hands of winemaker Chris Carpenter, those grapes turned out to be just fantastic in the bottle. This is dark, well, actually it’s opaque, and youthful in its ink purple color. As expected the concentrated dark fruit is ripe but not sweet, since it’s balanced with loads of tannins and stony minerality – oh, yes, the Howell Mountain volcanic soil comes with the bottle. Surprisingly it’s not rustic or harsh at all, on the contrary I wrote “delicious” in my tasting notes, that’s because the intensity of the slightly sweetish, cherry like ripe and very delicious fruit. This dark fruit is joined by notes of graphite, an almost granite like dustiness, but to my surprise very little oak. Almost a third of the wine was left in the bottle until the day after, and when tasted, it was absolutely stunning. Even day two after the tasting, the wine held together in a way that was amazing. To me, that’s the best sign of a wine that will evolve slowly over many years, into something even more fantastic. A recommendation though, is to decant this wine at least 2-3 hours before serving it. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2014-2030<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">96-98 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Normally the most impressive bottling from Lokoya is the one from Mount Veeder, and in this vintage there’s no change from that “rule”. When I poured it, it was a bit closed, still almost opaque and densely concentration, but I felt it didn’t show all its glory and power. Therefore I let the wine sit in the decanter for almost two hours before I started to taste and judge the wine properly. Even if there was a slight spiciness from the oak, it was extremely well integrated in the dense fruit, a detail that reveals the skill of the winemaker. Of the three 2006s of Lokoya, this is the most concentrated, but also the most impressive – not for its power, but for its overall fantastic balance. The fruit flavors are best described as cassis (with just a hint of aromatic greenness) and sour dark cherries, especially after several hours in the decanter. For sure there’s a lot of concentration here, still the minerality breaks through the fruit and adds a great complexity. Then there’s also a very fine tuned of chocolate (from the oak), but I wouldn’t call it oaky. As for the other Lokoya wines, I kept the bottle for one, and even two days, just to see how well it kept. Again, that’s a very good sign!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2014-2030<o:p></o:p></em></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-60335706754294466092011-06-05T11:25:00.000+02:002011-06-05T11:25:58.563+02:002006 Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay from Aubert Wines<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_LRZwTy4mCqn4N8wO3stkw1RKch5UgJJ26MJtTtIcTclSL4LQzq1Wn3rdRz5hM7HVqm6fk8pTXBQmSk8901Cps7-bBqVyF28tkevJgHaHQoW6uiKqUSpLCaOXMBjiCG6dc0d5R2X1B0M/s1600/Aubert+Ritchie+2006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_LRZwTy4mCqn4N8wO3stkw1RKch5UgJJ26MJtTtIcTclSL4LQzq1Wn3rdRz5hM7HVqm6fk8pTXBQmSk8901Cps7-bBqVyF28tkevJgHaHQoW6uiKqUSpLCaOXMBjiCG6dc0d5R2X1B0M/s320/Aubert+Ritchie+2006.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Mark Aubert has for a long time been one of the most celebrated consultant winemakers of Napa Valley. Today his consultant days seems to be over, although he still is part of the blending sessions at Futo Wines, a relatively new and highly interesting winery next to Harlan Estate and Bond Wines in Oakville. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Earlier this year, he moved the production from the custom crush facility at Laird Family Vineyards to his own winery in Calistoga. Most winemakers I have talked to, says that working in their own wineries give them a chance to focus more on every small details in the production, therefore make better wines. If that’s what’s going to happen for Mark and Teresa Aubert, then I really look forward to the 2011 vintage from them. Their chardonnays, which to me are their best wines, are already among the finest in the category of rich chardonnays in California. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">2006 Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">93 p<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Grapes to this wine are sourced from the well known Ritchie Vineyard in the cooler part of Russian River that normally, as in this case, is bottled with the Sonoma Coast appellation. This is one of the oldest vineyards of Chardonnay in Sonoma, and it’s planted with the clones Old Wente, Robert Young and Chardonnay Musqué. Color is golden straw, quite deep and slightly cloudy since the wine is bottled unfiltered. At first, when poured directly from the bottle, the nose was very intense and showed an almost sweetish fruitiness with notes of pineapple and sweet lemon, but there’s also a spicy oak note reminiscent of all spice and cloves. To some consumers, this style of chardonnay is a bit too much, and I can understand that – but tasting the same wine after one, or ever tree hours of decanting, is a bit more elegant. (Sometimes I find this kind of chardonnays, when tasted at the same age, tastes better and more complex the day after!) When the sweeter fruit notes have started to mellow, a more complex and earthy, even stony an “almost but not really burgundian” quality evolves. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">On the palate, the same mellowing effect is to be expected from decanting. At first, it is full bodied, rich and ripe with a silky texture but lively acidity that lingers for almost a minute, but with air, it’s more complex and elegant. The texture and finish is great, the only negative thing is the slightly too warm alcohol. Serving it with food, which is recommended, the alcohol warmth will be integrated and absorbed by creamy textures and some acidity. I’d like to serve it at around 12 degrees. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><em>Drink it 2011-2014</em></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-41404357107974924712011-05-31T18:29:00.000+02:002011-05-31T18:29:15.320+02:00More 2007 cabernets from Nickel & Nickel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVMGC0AejRX9I7A_3bgnLPhTQmZcW5fsN5xuKhlrSqBOBzej3UjOPBA2Jj8SFv6Bw-6dv-LU7Yau-aax5f-PvJw0FUIL0ZA_kB8EfSKn_HJjn6FFdfxhnD4JXtI1jmiz_nNYhUvrcHE8/s1600/Nickel+%2526+Nickel+r%25C3%25B6da+ladan+01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVMGC0AejRX9I7A_3bgnLPhTQmZcW5fsN5xuKhlrSqBOBzej3UjOPBA2Jj8SFv6Bw-6dv-LU7Yau-aax5f-PvJw0FUIL0ZA_kB8EfSKn_HJjn6FFdfxhnD4JXtI1jmiz_nNYhUvrcHE8/s320/Nickel+%2526+Nickel+r%25C3%25B6da+ladan+01.jpg" t8="true" width="320px" /></a></div>Earlier this spring I tasted a quartet of 2007s from Nickel & Nickel (the old red barn above), and when I visited the estate some weeks ago, I retasted a few of them and four more. It seems like the 2007 vintage suited Nickel & Nickel very well, and their ambition to show the diversity of Napa Valley shows clearly when one lines up the wines from various vineyard the samt vintage. <br />
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<strong><span style="color: blue;">2007 Cabernet Sauvignon CC Ranch</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">91 p</span></strong><br />
The CC Ranch sits on a gentle rolling knoll next to Silverado Trail and Oakville Crossroads, not far away from the Frog’s Leap Winery. Of the 46.50 hectares, Nickel & Nickel farms 6.10 hectares, all planted to Cabernet Sauvignon in a weathered gravelly soil. The resulting wine is elegant with a bit more reddish fruitiness with nuances towards sweet cherries, but also darker notes like black currants. At this young stage, there’s also a slightly sweetish vanilla note from the oak, and a roasted touch as well. On the palate, it’s the overall balance that’s impressive, tannins are fine and well integrated in the quite intense fruit forward body, and compared to most of the Nickel & Nickel bottling, this one is most approachable already when young. However, it will develop with age, and it benefits from decanting. <br />
<em>Drink it 2012-2022</em><br />
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<strong><span style="color: blue;">2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Regusci Vineyard</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">90 p</span></strong><br />
I have had the wines from Regusci Estate on several occasion, without ever been impressed by them. They seem to be a bit rustic, earthy and sweetish at the same time, with little distinction. I guess it’s due to their winemaking – their vineyards shouldn’t be too bad, it’s close to well known wineries such as Shafer Vineyards and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars – who makes some very fine wines. Also, the Regusci vineyard team also farms for other wineries, among them the Darioush further south on Silverado Trail, so I guess they are well respected. <br />
This was the first time I tasted the Regusci bottling from Nickel & Nickel, and I felt some relations to my impressions of the estate bottling, yet so much better. However, it doesn’t have the same purity and aromatics as the rest of the line up from Nickel & Nickel, although the equally red and black fruit is quite fresh, but with some air, a lovely note of raspberries was revealed. On the palate, it’s quite silky, fresh and elegant, with fine tannins, some cedar notes and earthy qualities, and although it’s a bit lighter than the rest of the wines, it lingers for a while. It quite good, absolutely drinkable, but I don’t think it will evolve as good as the other wines in the lineup. <br />
<em>Drink it 2011-2021</em><br />
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<strong><span style="color: blue;">2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Vogt Vineyard</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">93 p</span></strong><br />
If you like firm, classic wines with serious structure, this is it! Over the years, I have always been a fan of the selection from Vogt Vineyard, a 5.65 hectare vineyard at 480-550 meters above sea level on top of Howell Mountain. In the poor, well drained and stony volcanic soil, the vines suffers and gives only low yields of small bunches with small, thick skinned grapes, which produces a dark wine with huge structure and intense fruit flavors. Of all wines, this is the wine that needs more aeration, at least 30 minutes in the decanter is recommended. <br />
The nose is intense, deeply concentrated, yet a bit shy – it offers just the most elegant of its dense black fruit qualities, and you can tell they are born in a poor soil – there’s a super complex aroma of something reminiscent of gravelly and volcanic dust. I love that part of it. On the palate, you’ll get the first sweet kiss of the immensely concentrated fruit, but there’s no real sweetness whatsoever – it’s just an impression due to the fact the grapes were ripe, small and full of flavors when harvested. A second later, the tannins and lively minerality takes over, and that’s what together with the fruit aromas lingers for a minute or so. <br />
Even though it’s not charming at all, I find this style very appealing. Give the wine some more years, and it will taste more elegant, as the tannins slowly start to polymerize and soften. <br />
<em>Drink it 2014-2025</em><br />
<strong><span style="color: blue;">2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Witz End Vineyard</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">92-93 p</span></strong><br />
Since the owners of the vineyard have started to make their own wine, this was the last vintage from Nickel & Nickel of this wine. Sadly, I have to say – this Rutherford wine is a classic styled wine, dark fruit scented with notes of blackberries, cassis, complex nuances of cedar tree, medium bodied with a very fine tannic structure, some mineral notes, a good towards lively acidity and a very complex, long and elegant aftertaste. It’s still young and a bit closed, but I noticed that it opened up in a very positive way during the tasting, to show a seductive note of wild raspberries to complement the darker berries first noted. As in all wines from Nickel & Nickel, the oak is very well integrated, and even though the wine is still very young, tannins are firm but perfectly ripe, therefore in full balance. It’s in all aspects a textbook Napa Valley wine, that show just how well concentration, finesse and terroir makes a good match here in the valley. <br />
The vineyard itself is 2.25 hectares, located on a gentle slope with well drained gravelly clay soil in the southwestern end of Rutherford. Dirk Hampson told me once the grapes from this vineyard are very small, but with a great intense. Given the fact the vines were planted in 2001, it’s an impressive wine! <br />
<em>Drink it 2012-2027</em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-80622899328724340562011-05-27T21:42:00.000+02:002011-05-27T21:42:08.188+02:00The Maiden of Harlan Estate 2002 and 2001<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTr42BK20S08i7WQVrUIfbIPB9tCPBVebeuMlTPb2-OJSkLL0R6t56i8AcvXW5Off1s0WqcrGNPvRnHGIHDTKwJimcSwzNtpPMM-6Jbp8t1PC2pf0q-bmOQavjJsk_TMn_WcZLl7UIZmw/s1600/The+Maiden+2001+och+2002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTr42BK20S08i7WQVrUIfbIPB9tCPBVebeuMlTPb2-OJSkLL0R6t56i8AcvXW5Off1s0WqcrGNPvRnHGIHDTKwJimcSwzNtpPMM-6Jbp8t1PC2pf0q-bmOQavjJsk_TMn_WcZLl7UIZmw/s320/The+Maiden+2001+och+2002.jpg" t8="true" width="320px" /></a></div>The Maiden is more of a little sister of Harlan Estate, than a second label. There’s nothing about this estate at all – every sincle barrel that is produced from the estate fruit is made with the same ambition, and the same care. All grapes are harvested with the intention to make the cut into the final cut. Fermentation is carries out in stainless steel tanks wooden fermenters and oak barrels, before the wine is racked into brand new French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation and slow maturation. After twelve months of ageing, Bill Harlan and his team of Bob Levy, Paul Roberts, Don Weaver and consultant Michel Rollad, goes through all the barrels to make the strictest selection to select the barrels that offers the typical Harlanesque style for the Harlan Estate bottling. <br />
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Wines with more of less the same characteristic but not the same intesisy and length, goes since the inaugural vintage 1995 into this little sister bottling, The Maiden. This wine is also very good, indeed, it’s very muich like a baby Harlan Estate – I’d often describe it as 75 percent of the style and quality to 25 percent of the price. In other words, it’s the best deal!<br />
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Whatever there’s left in the barrel cellar – and believe me, the selection is strict, so there’s a lot – is sold anonymous in bulk, to end up in blends somewhere without sanyone knowing where.<br />
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<strong><span style="color: blue;">2002 The Maiden</span></strong> / <span style="color: red;"><strong>94 p</strong></span><br />
If 2001 vintage combined a relatively cool growing season with a few heat spikes, the 2002 vintage was more even, but overall a bit warmer. This can be tasted in the wine, which is a bit darker, more concentrated, riper and fruit driven than the 2001. Although there’s abundant of ripe cherry and cassis fruit flavors, more density and fuller body, there’s also a youthful and quite firm structure of tannins and mineral notes to make the wine fabulously well balanced. It’s a bit closer to its bigger sibling thanks to the concentration, silkiness, length and intensity, but then the 2002 Harlan Estate is also an even more intense and impressive wine. Taken the price into consideration, this is an outstanding wine that may well be compared to many of the much higher priced so called cult wines of Napa Valley, and it’s just a good as the best of them. During the hour I enjoyed this wine (and poured it again, and again from the bottle), it showd more and more the more I let it breathe, so decanting is essential to get to taste all flavors there is. <br />
<em>Drink it 2011-2027</em><br />
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<strong><span style="color: blue;">2001 The Maiden</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">93-94 p</span></strong><br />
I was a bit surprised how young and still purple this wine is – also that it still carries most of its primary fruit aromas. The nose is open, expressive and still intense with lovely aromas of black berries and cassis as well as more complex nuances of ink and stony minerality so typical for the wines of Harlan Estate. As with it bigger sister, the oak flavors a beaulitfully well integrated. Compared with the 2001 Harlan Estate, this wine is a bit more open, and – to be honest – at the moment also a bit more elegant due to it’s a litte bit less concentrad body. On the palate, it’s as youthful as on the nose, still firmly structured with a good amount of tannins, acidity and mineral notes, which hold the ripe, pure and fresh berry fruit back a bit. Its truly a great effort, a wine with lovely personality and complexity, and it will continue to age in a fantastic way more than a decande from now. Drinking it today, I’d decant it at least half an hour before I serve it. <br />
<em>Drink it 2011-2026</em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-40561161655433469342011-05-23T21:09:00.000+02:002011-05-23T21:09:57.110+02:002007, the new release of Harlan Estate<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoLKRZxLckUXp0aNx_6fJv_kdU_5LWjvQ3Q5vUxyNSQ2-WTIHXmFqtPzzREH_b4oNyPnLW3BGXbHgjtMltHQYgyVYPxRcAbt8t1Ohmi_wKjCMikyGbPPK6ydeQsUZDkIPo6F0uVIysPL8/s1600/Harlan+Estate+viner+2007+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213px" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoLKRZxLckUXp0aNx_6fJv_kdU_5LWjvQ3Q5vUxyNSQ2-WTIHXmFqtPzzREH_b4oNyPnLW3BGXbHgjtMltHQYgyVYPxRcAbt8t1Ohmi_wKjCMikyGbPPK6ydeQsUZDkIPo6F0uVIysPL8/s320/Harlan+Estate+viner+2007+a.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div>There’s no need to repeat the background of this magnificent wine estate, since I recently rewieved all vintages from 1992 to 2006 on this blog. On my latest visit at the estate, I retated the 2006 vintage, and tasted the 2007 vintage for the first time. It has been sold through the mailing list, so members should already have their bottles. <br />
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<strong><span style="color: blue;">2007 Harlan Estate</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">98-100 p</span></strong><br />
The wine wasn’t decanted in advance, so I had the opportunity to follow the evolution of the wine during almost an hour, while chatting with manager Don Weaver and Paul Roberts (manager of Bond Estates). And I really enjoyed this wine - it's another great or even perfect wine from Harlan Estate. The color is dark purple, almost opaque, and the nose was already open and intensely fruit driven when poured from the decanter almost directly after decanting it. Although it’s so young and youthful, it already show some of the typical notes of Harlan Estate, the ripe and extremely pure dark fruit flavors with its stony mineral and graphite qualities, a touch of grassiness and a slitghtly sweetish note of the brand new and expesive oak barrels. <br />
Compared to the 2006 vintage, this is a bit richer, and even though it’s young and firm, there’s enough glycerol and mountfeel to balance the tannins. What I really love about Harlan Estate in great vintages such as this, is the impeccable balance, the purity, the energy, the length, and the layers of flavors that linger for at least a minute or even two. Given its youth, it was surprisingly easy to enjoy already today, even though I find it to be a bit sad to drink it over the coming years – the true magic of Harlan is rarely expressed before the wine has turned ten years, or so. This is another modern classic of Harlan Estate, and it may well be as profound as the 2001, 2002 and 2005 within just a few more years of bottle age. <br />
<em>Drink it 2012-2032</em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1412641589433505316.post-45704078556109564652011-05-19T09:47:00.000+02:002011-05-19T09:47:15.736+02:002008 and 2007 from Futo Wines<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ARogDKd5qL3hRyjeyyE2XezXqj9SK_6YX1Yl8xb139Uq0ztdxVOAJbFNOuGV7XWvdjgiMA3vOq0Ht4LXmoDw6-FJCtDmtC3y0Jx9W6BPMIzLKJwRPhvHN-I_JPpBepBuYYU9qWzS_50/s1600/Futo+vin+01+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213px" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ARogDKd5qL3hRyjeyyE2XezXqj9SK_6YX1Yl8xb139Uq0ztdxVOAJbFNOuGV7XWvdjgiMA3vOq0Ht4LXmoDw6-FJCtDmtC3y0Jx9W6BPMIzLKJwRPhvHN-I_JPpBepBuYYU9qWzS_50/s320/Futo+vin+01+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
This is an impressive estate! <br />
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Many years ago, I bought the wines of Oakford Vineyards. At that time I didn’t know exactly where it was, but friends in the valley told me it was the neighbor of Harlan Estate and that the wines were made by Heidi Peterson Barret. For me, that was just the right information to make me buy the wines. And I did. <br />
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They were good, sometimes not (like 2000), but sometime immensely impressive (especially the 2001 vintage, which ironically enough was the last one). I tried to call them to see them, to learn more. Nothing happened, no replies, never. On my regular visits at their neighbor vineyards Bond Estates and Harlan Estate, I passed by their gate that said “Oakford Vineyard – not open to public”, so I gave up. <br />
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Well, I didn’t. I continued, and finally a certain Joshua Lowell answered my calls, and told me the estate had been sold. Okay, “wait and see”, I thought. <br />
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And I did. On May 12, I did my first visit at the estate. And it’s so easy to summarize it: “WOW!”<br />
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Texan business man Tom Futo is the new owner – hence the new name Futo Wines. He bought the property in 2002. Immediately he started to replant the vineyards, and – which is extremely important it you should be able to make a world class wine – build a winery. In California, there’s a trend for winemaker to rent space in so called custom crush wineries, but that’s not the final solution. Numbers of winemakers have told me over the years all the problems involved with that, such as the pump isn’t available until tomorrow, you can only use the tank for 12 days (so no cold soak, fermentation and post maceration – please choose either one of that), and limited space for again. The first vintages from 2004 (not sold until quite recently, because it due to its richness didn’t fit in the program, until clients more or less asked for it), until 2007 were made at Laird Family Winery, on of the largest custom crush facilities in Napa Valley. The choice was fully natural – the first winemaker was Mark Aubert, who made his own wines down there.<br />
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Since 2008 the winemaker is the young and extremely talented Jason Exposto. So why him? Why didn’t owner Tom and manager Joshua opt for one of the true stars in the valley? Why didn’t they hold on to the heroic Mark Aubert, or hire Andy Erickson, Philippe Melka or Heidi Peterson Barrett (again)? Well, after meeting the young Jason, I know!<br />
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Why opt for what is already known as rthe best, when you can surprise with the next generation of superstar winemakers? <br />
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Not that Jason is an untested winemaker – his track record is quite impressive. After working in New Zealand and Western Australia, he moved to California where he worked with superstars David Abreu and St-Emilion winemaker Stépahne Derenoncourt (an exceptional vigneron, modernist and hero) in is efforts in Napa Valley, so there’s nothing rookie or interesting about him. He may be young, but he knows for sure what has to be done. <br />
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The Futo estate covers only 5.25 hectares of vines, all planted to Bordeaux varietals, but spread out over 24 vineyard lots stretching over 800 meters from north to south on the east facing slopes of Mayacamas Range, touching Harlan Estate (next to) and Stelling Vineyard and the even more famous Martha’s Vineyard below. <br />
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<strong><span style="color: blue;">2008 Futo</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">96 p</span></strong><br />
This is a blend of 70 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 30 percent Cabernet Franc, a grape that really thrives in its high, sunny and well exposed lot high up on the mountain. After a rigorous sorting, the grapes are fully destemmed and the juice is then fermented in stainless steel tanks of four tons, thereafter transferred into mostly brand new French oak barrels from the cooper Taransaud (“They are the best, and the most consistent in quality”, Joshua says), among them a quite impressive amount of the ultra premium barrels T5, for which the oak staves have been air dried for at least five years. In these barrels, the wine may rest for somewhere between 18 and 20 months. <br />
Color is purple and dark, almost opaque. Joshua decanted the wine almost two hours before I came, which has to be taken into consideration (that was certainly a smart move), so it had started (not more than that) to open up a bit. Already 15 centimeters above the glass, the beauty tried to seduce me, the aroma was loads with dark berries, a touch of vanilla and sweetness from the oak, but also more elegant nuances of graphite and cedar tree. I was surprised how Bordeaux like (vintages 2000, 2003 and 2005 in Bordeaux that is) this wine was. <br />
On the palate its medium to full bodied, in no way too much or too rich, there’s too much sophistication in the construction of true flavors in this wine for that. Slowly it opens, little by little, to reveal its true glory, dark and densely concentrated fruit, mostly cassis and blackberries, but with no sweet notes. Also, there’s much more complexity to it, cedar tree and graphite mostly, but also a fine note of walnuts. And it’s damn delicious! On the palate, there’s first a silky sweetness, then the more serious texture and structure will take over, and the overall impression will be an almost impeccable balance with just a touch of alcohol warmth before the tannins, the slightly sweetish but by no means obvious oak flavor comes through, followed by a tickling minerality and long, very fine finnish. <br />
Even though the wine hade been decanted for a while, and that’s neccisary when served young, it continued to open up and evolve in the glass during the hour I had it there. <br />
<em>Drink it 2012-2032</em><br />
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<strong><span style="color: blue;">2007 Futo</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color: red;">96-97 p</span></strong><br />
I didn’t taste the wine side by side, but the the the after each other. The 2007 shares a lot of the characteristics of the 2008 (therefore most of the tasting notes would have looked the same) with a young and dark, almost opaque purple color. It was decented one hour before it was tasted, as was the 2008, so in that sense the tasting conditions was equal. This wine had a slightly greater and more aromatic nose with dark berries such as blueberries and cassis, but also a peppery spiciness and a hint of walnuts. It was a bit closed on the nose, but it opened up just lovely with the time in the glass, but even after that, it’s well structured with a lingering minerality and acitidy that makes a great balance to the rich and almost silki textured fruit body. It’s not only the densely packed but yet so elegant nose that makes this wine so great, all the way from the first sip through the midpalate to the lingering aftertaste is built on intensity and balance. Drinking it today, I recommend decanting at least one hour prior to pouring it. <br />
<em>Drink it 2012-2032</em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0