Recent Odds and Ends - November 16, 2000

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by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

Recent Odds and Ends - November 16, 2000

Tasted an Oz Wine:
1. Langmeil Barossa Vlly Shiraz (14.0%) '99: Very dark color; very intense blackberry/ boysenberry light pencilly/oak nose; soft rich very lush intense blackberry/boysenberry/ licorice light oaked flavor; long pencilly/oaked big/intense boysenberry/blackberry light pencilly/oaked finish w/ light tannins; loaded w/ boysenberry/Syrah fruit; a great bargin at $18.
Bloody pulpit:
1. This was a Prima IlConsorzio offering that recently arrived on my doorstop. At $14.50 the IlConsorzio price, it's dishonest to buy a wine this good that cheaply.
Tasted last week two dessert wines:
1. Massandra Collection Crimea Surozh Kokur (16%) '97: Med.brown color; some cooked/ cotto mosto bit oxidized some Muscat/grapey slight wet dog fur nose; somewhat sweet some oxidized grapey/Muscatty bit wet dog fur flavor; med.long oxidized grapey rather unpleasant wet dog fur finish; interesting some oxidized dessert wine much like old- style (Socialist regime) Tokaji Aszu. $10/500ml
2. MassandraCollection Crimea Massandra Bastardo (16%) '97: Dark brown some ruby color; intense grapey rather raiseny bit alcoholic nose; very sweet very grapey/ raiseny bit alcoholic slight oxidized some oaked flavor; med.long soft very sweet very grapey/raiseny bit oaked finish w/ light tannins; some like a 4-5 yr old wood port, some like a sweet Zin Essence, some like a PedroXimenez; loaded w/ grapey character. $14.40/500ml
And a bloody pulpit of sorts:
1. Both of these wines I recently picked up at Corti Bros. in Sacramento. There was about 2 yrs ago a bunch of very old wines known as the Massandra Collection released by this wnry in Russia. Although it is labelled MassandraCollection on the bottle and says "Property of His Majesty Tsar Nicolas II", I suspect he never knew these wines, let alone had them as his property. Bernie will probably be quick to point out that I am a contemporary of Tsar Nicolas II and, therefore, should know of what I speak!! Tain't so, though!
2. I poured these two wines at my SantaFe tasting group last Monday. They were resoundingly villified by the group. I actually thought they were rather interesting wines and fairly priced. They received a much better reception from my regular LosAlamos tasting group. The problem with serving such unusual wines to people is that they often expect them to taste a certain way and if the wines fall outside the range of their expectations, people don't like the wines. People like what they are familar with. Just like Amador Cabs are panned because they don't taste like Napa Cabs. It's just a fact of life. TomHill
Picked i[ this wine at Darrell Corti's recently:
1. Gallo-Sonoma Alexander Valley Barbera Barelli Creek Vnyd (14.3%) '97: Very dark color; lovely fragrant sp[icy/Barbera bit truffly/mushroomy light pungent/oaked nose; rather rich tart extracted very spicy/peppery/dusty Barbera bit truffly like toasty/oak flavor; very long rich/tannic very spicy/peppery Barbera light pungent/oak bit dusty/mushroomy finish; still needs a few yrs; one of the better Calif Barberas and good value at $18.00
And even Ernest&Julio deserve a bloody pulpit:
1. This apparently is a very small production that doesn't go into general distribution. One of the better Calif Barberas I've had and certainly one of the best Gallo wines I've had; pretty much varietally correct Barbera fruit; clean and no brett; they way those Eye-talians would make Barbera if they could.
Had a wine at Don Wallace's home for dinner a week ago:
1. Dry Creek Vnyd Old Vines Zin Beeson Vnyd (13.5%) '98: Black color; beautiful intense blackberry/boysenberry/licorice pungent dusty/old vine chocolaty very complex light pungent/oak nose; huge rich intense blackberry/boysenberry/licorice peppery/pungent dusty/old vines structured very complex flavor; very long/lingering intense blackberry/boysenberry/licorice chocolaty dusty/old vine light pungent/toasty/oak peppery very spicy complex finish w/ fair tannins; will go 10-15 yrs.
And a bit of a bloody pulpit:
1. I've followed Dave Stare's DryCreekVnyd wines from the very start, a '72 Gamay. When I first started visiting there, Dave would often be out in front of the wnry there pouring his wines atop an upturned wine barrel. I would occasionally see a cute little sub-teenage girl hanging out in the vicinity; Dave's daughter Kim. She is now the Marketing Director for DCV and married to Don Wallace, DCV's General Manager. Don had me over to dinner a week ago whilst Kim was off in NYC for ol' Marv's shinding. He served me this wine and solicited my opinions. This was one barrel DCV bottled for the Sonoma Auction and kept a few cases themselves. The BeesonVnyd Zin generally forms the backbone of the DCV OldVines Zin. The wine, in a word, is simply..... stunning. Easily the best DCV wine I've ever had; though their Epoch is pretty close. It is as fine a DryCreekVlly Zin as I've ever had..... maybe even the finest. It strikes more as RussianRiver Zin than DryCreek Zin in its structure and extract. It reminds me a lot of the Ravenswood OldHill Ranch Zin w/o the oak and the volatility. It's just essence of blackberry Zin. What's more, it's only 13.5% alcohol. It's not often you get a Zin that huge & extracted at that alcohol level. Yet it's still a very balanced wine, despite its size. Don tells me that this is the direction in style DCV is going w/ their red wines. I've observed a distinct upswing in the quality of the DCV wines over the last 4-6 yrs. If Jeff McBride can consistently make wines of this quality, DCV is poised for another jump up in quality. Maybe... just maybe... they'll start to get the respect they truly deserve. Alas, this wine is virtually unobtainable; not for sale. I have one more btl for a tasting in the future; so will report again.
2. Couldn't wait, so cracked open last night:
  1. Qupe BienNacido Hillside Select (13.5%) Syrah '98: Med.dark color; rather fragrant light berry/blackberry some pencilly/toasty oak nose; soft smooth elegant light berry/blackberry/Syrah some pencilly/toasty/Fr.oak light spicy/plummy flavor; med. spicy some pencilly/oaked light berry/blackberry finish w/ some tannins.
  An a wee bloody pulpit:
  1. Rather disappointed in this yr's version of HS. It's rather light/elegant nice drinking but seems only a small step up from the BienNacido Reserve. It doesn't have the intensity or extraction or the length or the structure/tannins of the previous HSs. Certainly not worth the $10/btl price increase. Bob Lindquist's Syrahs sometimes seem to put on weight w/ some time in the btl, so will try this wine again later.
  Bob Lindquist releases this wine yearly at the SantaFe Wine&Chile Fiesta w/ a special SFW&CF label. I stunbled upon a regularly-labeled version in a new restaurant in Albq last night:
  1. Qupe CentralCoast Syrah (13.5%) '99: Dark color; slight funky/Rhonish/earthy strong blackberry/Syrah/plummy nose; soft rich lush blackberry/blueberry light plummy/earthy flavor; med.long lush blackberry/Syrah light plummy finish w/ light tannins; delicious drinkable Syrah. $31 at Bodega restaurant, about $14.00 retail.
  And this wine is soooo delish it deserves a bloody pulpit:
  1. Qupe CentralCoast Syrah: This wine up thru the '95 vintage was one of the real QPR deals, when it was made predominately from SantaBarbara and PasoRobles fruit. Bob then started adding some Lodi old-vine Zin and Carignane plus Syrah from FrenchCampVnyd (far eastside Paso) that greatly diminished the strong Syrah varietal character, though giving it more of a funky/Rhone character. Still good/tasty wine but representing a change in style. The '97 and '98 I did not care for very much upon their release; thought it had too much FrenchCamp character and not enough fruit. However, both wines seem to put on some weight over the following few months and I came to really like both of those wines and would invariably order them from restaurant lists. The '99 version, probably reflecting the high quality of that vintage, is more like the earlier CCSyrahs, w/ much more dominant blackberry/Syrah fruit, w/ only a slight whiff of Rhone/funk in the nose. A lovely/lovely drinkable Syrah.
  We celebrated last night in our SantaFe group with a couple of dessert wines:
  1. Harbor Winery Amador Cnty Mission del Sol (18%) '76: Med.dark brown/red color; strong/aromatic rather toasty/coconutty/smokey low fruit slight grapey rather oloroso-sherry/oxidized some complex nose; off-dry complex rather toasted coconut/oaked smokey/coffee old sherry/ oxidized flavor; med.long coffee/toasted coconut/oaked pungent some complex finish; rather elegant/delicate old sherry; interesting wine.
  2. Bernard Fouquet Domaine des Aubuisieres Vouvray Selection Grains Nobles Cuvee Alexandre Moelleux Vielles Vignes (11%) '90: Med.light gold color; very intense grapey/floral/ honeysuckle light peachy/botrytis bit complex/earthy/minerally nose; very sweet/grapey rather floral/honeysuckle/perfumed light peachy/botrytis light earthy/minerally flavor; very long/lingering very intense grapey very sweet floral/honeysuckle light minerally/chalky light peachy/botrytis finish.
  And a wee bit of bloody pulpit:
  1. Harbor Mission del Sol: I've not had this wine in some 15 yrs or so. It was made by Charlie Meyers at HarborWnry, down in West Sacramento on Harbor Blvd, in an old auto repair shop out back of Wingo & Sons Upholstery (least that was the business out front when I visited there in '74) from very old Mission vines on the Deaver Ranch. The grapes were left on the vine until they were raisened, then harvested to make a sweet (unfortified) dessert wine. When I visited Deaver Ranch in '75; the craggy/raw-boned Ken Deaver, Sr. was especially proud of gnarly/ugly old vines that dated before the turn of the century. I expect they're probably ripped out by now. In its youth, this wine was loaded w/ oak and had a very sweet very intense grapiness to it; a classic Calif cream sherry style of wine. It has matured into a pretty nifty old/elegant kind of cream sherry, more like an old oloroso. I still have a few btls left so we'll try one in another 15-20 yrs and report back.
  2. Fouquet Vouvray: This was Howard & Rhoda Sherry's contribution. Probably one of the most intense Vouvrays I've ever had. Not a lot of botrytis but a very very intense CheninBlanc grapiness to it. It seemed more like an Eiswein than a botrytis Loire. It also seemed quite young w/ lots of unresolved sugar; a mere babe. Probably a 20-30 yr Vouvray. Stunning stuff. TomHill
  Had this wine last week for dinner when Gardner Britt (Crane Canyon Cllrs) & his son, David, where here to learn about how physics is done at LosAlamos:
  1. Edmunds St.John Grand Heritage Calif Viognier (15.5%) '96: Dark gold color; very intense pungent/toasty/charred/Fr.oaked nose w/ a bit of ubderlying pear/peach/Viognier aromas; soft huge/lush intense charred/toasty/tobaccoy/pungent/smokey/ Fr.oaked very glycerined/mouthfilling maybe some botrytis flavors; very long/lingering soft/fat/glycerined intense toasty/charred/smokey/pungent/tobaccoy/Fr.oaked finish; a Viognier so totally overwhelmed by Fr.oak that it's hard to tell it's Viognier.
  2. Edmunds St.John Grand Heritage Calif Viognier (15.5%) '96: Tasted a day later; beautiful/fragrant/perfumey pear/peach/Viognier very ripe light toasty/charred/Fr.oak nose; soft/fat/ glycerined huge/ripe peachy/pear/Viognier some toasty/charred/ Fr. oaked flavor; beautiful very ling very ripe peachy/pear/Viognier lush some toasty/oaked finish.
  And a solitary bloody pulpit:
  1. What a strange wine this is. Always has been. At first, it was so totally dominated by oak (and this from a producer who generally disdains the excessive use of oak in Calif Rhones) that the varietal character was pretty much obliterated. A dead-ringer for a Manfred Krankl white Rhone. But you could tell the wine was packed w/ flavor underneath all that oak. But the next day, and at room temperature, it was totally different, with plenty of Viognier character. It has a very ripe/overripe character not too unlike some of the VendageTardive Condrieus. And maybe some botrytis therein. If you have this wine, I would suggest decanting ahead & serving at room temperature. Definitely a DollyParton in an oak WunderBra kind of Viognier... not for the faint of heart.
  TomHill
  
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