Wine of Merit: ****+Brewer Clifton blanc de blanc, 1993: Rocked my world. I am something of a champagne snob too, so I was ready to be unimpressed with a sparkler from Santa Maria. Late disgorged (2000) this wine is mature in color, with hugely expressive notes of lemon custard, marzipan, bread pudding, anise and great citrus zest. Amazingly deep and balanced all the way to the citrus, hazelnut finish. Pound the table good. The kicker – about $25 a bottle if you can find it. I would happily trade some Winston Churchill or Palmes D’Or for this any day. Make it your holy grail and go get some now. Only problem – a silly bottle which makes cellaring a bitch.
***Kim Crawford, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, 2004: I am not a big NZ sauv blanc guy. This is delicious, screw top and all. Great citrus and some grassiness but well integrated with apple and pear notes. A smoothness that makes me think it spent some time in oak. At $10.97 (that’s right $10 buck chuck!) you cannot beat this with a stick. Best QPR wine, along with the Buehler RRV, I think I have ever had.
???Bedford Road Sauvignon Blanc 2005: Maybe just too young. Secondary fermentation in the bottle, confused flavors of citrus melon and peach, no finish. I’ll let the rest of the case sit until summer.
**+Orin Swift “The Prisoner”, 2004: Quickly becoming a cult wine in Napa – small production though not impossible to find (Park Ave. in the city has it). $35-ish. Cool label and name. The wine makes you think of those crazy, over the top Clarendon Hills Grenache wines or a Colgin Cabernet. Huge, syrupy blackberry and blueberry fruit. Mocha. Intense candied violets. Velvety, full mouth-feel with coating, furry tannins on the finish. Fat (15%+ alch). Drink-up, it won’t last in the cellar, IMHO. I can see why people dig it. Not really my style. Parker will give it a Turley-like 96, his palate is so dead that these are the only kind of wines that break through for him.
**+Orin Swift Sauvignon Blanc, 2004: From the Tofanelli vineyard. Nice enough. Bright, melon, white peach, grassy, wet boxwood, citrus. Very varietal. New Zealand Sauv Blanc from Cali. Drink Cloudy Bay or Goldwater Dog Point from NZ and get the same glass of wine. I’ll stick with Rochioli, Araujo, Long or a decent Cotat Sancerre. Buy More? No.
***+Failla Keefer Vineyard Pinot Noir, 2003. Are you kidding? Fantastic! Color is bright ruby, clarity suggests unfined / unfiltered. Blind I would have said Williams Selyem Allen Vineyard. Laser bright cherry/raspberry, green tea, cinnamon stick, lavender, sage, coffee bean. Perfect integration and great balance which suggests complexity with aging. . EB: “Easy to drink” Ditto! I am told this is a $30 bottle of wine. It is worth $60+. Robert Parker AND Steve Tanzer gave this an 88, insuring that you will find it at a decent price. Everyone who stopped by rated it number one. Buy more? Absolutely.
**++Whetstone Hirsch Vineyard Pinot Noir, 2003. Very typical Hirsch. Darker in color, black cherry/plum, cola, sandalwood incense, more complex, a bit thin on the mid palate, which does not bode well for the long term. Nice, but at close to $50 a pop I pass on more.
???Bedford Road Sauvignon Blanc 2005: Maybe just too young. Secondary fermentation in the bottle, confused flavors of citrus melon and peach, no finish. I’ll let the rest of the case sit until summer.
**+Orin Swift “The Prisoner”, 2004: Quickly becoming a cult wine in Napa – small production though not impossible to find (Park Ave. in the city has it). $35-ish. Cool label and name. The wine makes you think of those crazy, over the top Clarendon Hills Grenache wines or a Colgin Cabernet. Huge, syrupy blackberry and blueberry fruit. Mocha. Intense candied violets. Velvety, full mouth-feel with coating, furry tannins on the finish. Fat (15%+ alch). Drink-up, it won’t last in the cellar, IMHO. I can see why people dig it. Not really my style. Parker will give it a Turley-like 96, his palate is so dead that these are the only kind of wines that break through for him.
**+Orin Swift Sauvignon Blanc, 2004: From the Tofanelli vineyard. Nice enough. Bright, melon, white peach, grassy, wet boxwood, citrus. Very varietal. New Zealand Sauv Blanc from Cali. Drink Cloudy Bay or Goldwater Dog Point from NZ and get the same glass of wine. I’ll stick with Rochioli, Araujo, Long or a decent Cotat Sancerre. Buy More? No.
***+Failla Keefer Vineyard Pinot Noir, 2003. Are you kidding? Fantastic! Color is bright ruby, clarity suggests unfined / unfiltered. Blind I would have said Williams Selyem Allen Vineyard. Laser bright cherry/raspberry, green tea, cinnamon stick, lavender, sage, coffee bean. Perfect integration and great balance which suggests complexity with aging. . EB: “Easy to drink” Ditto! I am told this is a $30 bottle of wine. It is worth $60+. Robert Parker AND Steve Tanzer gave this an 88, insuring that you will find it at a decent price. Everyone who stopped by rated it number one. Buy more? Absolutely.
**++Whetstone Hirsch Vineyard Pinot Noir, 2003. Very typical Hirsch. Darker in color, black cherry/plum, cola, sandalwood incense, more complex, a bit thin on the mid palate, which does not bode well for the long term. Nice, but at close to $50 a pop I pass on more.
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