Saturday Tastings:
We start the day in the Alexander Valley and Archipel / Verite. This is a KJ, Artisan and Estate winery, like Cardinale and Lokoya. They are making Alexander Valley cab and cab blends here…and they are delicious. The wines:
2000 Archipel Cabernet Sauvignon: Very nice, Good structure, deep fruit profile, integrated oak. Good to very good restaurant wine. Reminds me of a Jordan cabernet. Buy more? No.
2004 Archipel Barrel Sample: Now we are talking. Very polished for a barrel sample. Rich, some fruit driven but with very good depth and minerality, some earth notes and a touch of black licorice from the newly added Petite Verdot. Dynamite.
1998 Verite “La Muse”: Merolt based cab blend. Wow! As good a new world based merlot as I have had. Showing wonderful depth and complexity, violets, black truffle, blackberry preserve, solid core of red fruit and good structure. Yum.
1998 Verite “La Joie”: All about the cab. Pauliiac like, big brawny, deep black fruit, lead pencil, mint, excellent for the vintage. The balance allows it to be enjoyed now easily or salted away. Excellent.
I bought more of the Verite, including vintages 2001 and 2002, which got big, 98 point scores from RP. I also bought some of the “Le Desir” – a St. Emillion styled wine with more cab franc. These are not cheap wines, going for $100+ a pop. I am a convert and will buy their wines as often as I can. What a start!
Next up Stonestreet. Another KJ property. We had lingered a bit long at Verite, so we powered through this a bit. I will not comment on the wines in detail, other than to say they were not special. The 2005 chard from barrel I found a bit bubble-gummy but it is soooo young. The cab had searing tannins but good fruit and maybe worth watching. The merlot they were pouring was insipid. The 2003 cab is not noteworthy. I like their Upper barn chard but they weren’t pouring it.
Onward!
We then went to “The Locals” tasting room. Similar to Enoteca but for Geyerseville wineries. A few were really, really worth seeking out:
Hawley Barrel Fermented Placer County Viognier, 2004: I am not a viognier fan…but this is special. Barrel fermenting adds some richness to the floral notes and bright, white stone fruit. Great mouth feel. Nice! (I did not dig the 2005 barrel sample as much, I do not think it had seen wood yet). I also very much liked their 2005 barrel sample of RRV pinot noir – just wonderful, Dry Creek fruit and complexity. The 2004 was not as good.
Eric Ross Winery “Caitie’s Corner” Syrah, 2003: Again from barrel. WOW! This is a wonderful wine. The 10% viognier from the same vineyard really pumps up the aromatics and allows the wine to express great purity and concentration. Good secondaries of picholine olives and tar, too. Lovely at $25 a pop! Buy this wine! Btw, Eric Ross also makes a KILLER RRV zin port. I usually don’t go in for that kind of stuff…but it is wonderful. If you see it, get some.
Ramazotti “Raffinato” Super Tuscan, 2004: Also from Barrel. A blend of sangiovese, cab, syrah and cab franc. Stunning. Really, lovely expression of berry fruit, excellent integration, saddle leather, mocha, great balance for a barrel sample…again something worth seeking out. I did not like the 2003 as much.
I also had the latest 2001 Laurel Glen cab, which I very much admire and the 2004 Sauvignon Republic wines which I did not dig very much.
A quick stop at Pappapietro Perry. Things are getting crowded! Here is where the new style of over extracted wines is really coming to the fore. Lots of people really dig these wines…and the event showed it! Hard really to judge wines in this environment, so perhaps my scores suffer from a lack of proper context and focus. I did not buy any wines at PPP:
I liked their 2005 RRV zin barrel sample. Huge, rich, big extract but not over the top. No wimpy wines here. With time this wine will be very much worth drinking. $30 a pop. To the pinot noir:
The 2005 PPP RRV blend pinot is a lighter styled, lovely wine. Here again from barrel, the wine is not showing as much fruit and thus more of the barrel is coming through. The 2004 shows a similar profile, with more red fruit, rose petal and oolong tea notes. Good.
PPP Elsbree Pinot Noir, RRV, 2004: A bit more complex than the RRV blend, notes of red fruit and green tea, cinnamon and earth. Good grip and length. Very nice.
PPP Peters Vineyard, Sonoma Coast, 2003: Wow. Very extracted. Almost syrah like intensity. Thick, red and black berry fruit flavors mix with spice box, clove and church incense. The palate offers more fruit and a licorice root element as well. Long finish. The wine is not hot at all, but BIG. I am usually not a big extract guy, but this wine in my opinion pulled it off. Others were less favorable but I liked it.
The crowds are teeming at Raffanelli. Ridiculous. I pass on the barrel samples. I try the 2004 zinfandel and 2004 cabernet. The 2004 cab is huge, very fruit driven in style and not nearly as elegant as I remember Rafanelli cabs. Pass. The 2004 zin instead is typical Rafanelli. Elegant, balanced, red fruit, herbs and spice box, good vanilla and toast. Big in all respects but perfectly proportioned. A zin to lay down? The fruit will become lusher and Pomerol like, with added complexity. I would buy but they are only taking cash. Go figure! Nice.
On to Ridge, Lytton Springs. A lovely winery and much more civil. They have 3 barrel samples and 3 finished wine:
2004 Lytton Springs Carignane: Juicy. Lush, flavorful and forward. Good herbs to accompany and nice length. An ATP bottling.
2004 Lytton Springs zin: Also has some Carignage in there. Lovely, red fruit, pepper, lavender. Excellent mouth feel, full body and length. Will be a classic.
2005 Ridge Montebello: The pride of the winery. Right now VERY young. Not a lot of fruit, the body is full and integrated, the finish long, the nose coy, showing mostly chocolate covered espresso bean. When the aromatics come around this will be a great Montebello. Like the 1996, probably drinking a bit a head of schedule.
Of the finished wines, I was disappointed in the 2002 Geyeserville, which seemed almost port like and medicinal. The 2003 Lytton Springs was nice enough, though it too seemed a bit too big for its britches. It seemed abit confused, out of synch. I didn’t try the Chardonnay. Maybe it was the vintage, but these were not friendly wines.
Lastly, I visited with Doug Nalle and the Nalle family. As far as I am concerned he makes the best zin on the planet. Much respect for Doug, who represented with the 2004 zin, the 2005 zin from barrel and the 2004 pinot noir. I will say that the 2004 Nalle Dry Creek Zinfandel is the ONLY wine I bought on the road other than the Verite that day. It is perfect Dry Creek zin. Drink it now, hold it for 10 years. Elegant, balanced red fruit, great depth, minerals, floral aromatics, sage. The 2005 was lovely too, if a bit lighter on the palate, probably needing more barrel time. His pinot is also very good and many now feel it is his better wine. I was too focused on the zin. I have to admit, I am falling out of favor with zins, but these low alcohol, perfectly balanced zins bring me back. Thanks Doug!
Dinner was at the famed French Laundry. A lovely meal. It was enhanced by the 2003 Favia “la Josephina” pinot noir. This is an RRV (right near Rochioli) pinot vineyard…and it is very good. Elegant, low alcohol and integrated acid, this wine is deep, with smokey, black truffles and lush red fruit without being overbearing. The flavors integrate seamlessly. I liked it very much with our meal. It evolved over the 3+ hours it took and ended up with very pretty, rose petal and cinnamon elements I enjoyed with desert. Look for it, though I am guessing it is low production…
We start the day in the Alexander Valley and Archipel / Verite. This is a KJ, Artisan and Estate winery, like Cardinale and Lokoya. They are making Alexander Valley cab and cab blends here…and they are delicious. The wines:
2000 Archipel Cabernet Sauvignon: Very nice, Good structure, deep fruit profile, integrated oak. Good to very good restaurant wine. Reminds me of a Jordan cabernet. Buy more? No.
2004 Archipel Barrel Sample: Now we are talking. Very polished for a barrel sample. Rich, some fruit driven but with very good depth and minerality, some earth notes and a touch of black licorice from the newly added Petite Verdot. Dynamite.
1998 Verite “La Muse”: Merolt based cab blend. Wow! As good a new world based merlot as I have had. Showing wonderful depth and complexity, violets, black truffle, blackberry preserve, solid core of red fruit and good structure. Yum.
1998 Verite “La Joie”: All about the cab. Pauliiac like, big brawny, deep black fruit, lead pencil, mint, excellent for the vintage. The balance allows it to be enjoyed now easily or salted away. Excellent.
I bought more of the Verite, including vintages 2001 and 2002, which got big, 98 point scores from RP. I also bought some of the “Le Desir” – a St. Emillion styled wine with more cab franc. These are not cheap wines, going for $100+ a pop. I am a convert and will buy their wines as often as I can. What a start!
Next up Stonestreet. Another KJ property. We had lingered a bit long at Verite, so we powered through this a bit. I will not comment on the wines in detail, other than to say they were not special. The 2005 chard from barrel I found a bit bubble-gummy but it is soooo young. The cab had searing tannins but good fruit and maybe worth watching. The merlot they were pouring was insipid. The 2003 cab is not noteworthy. I like their Upper barn chard but they weren’t pouring it.
Onward!
We then went to “The Locals” tasting room. Similar to Enoteca but for Geyerseville wineries. A few were really, really worth seeking out:
Hawley Barrel Fermented Placer County Viognier, 2004: I am not a viognier fan…but this is special. Barrel fermenting adds some richness to the floral notes and bright, white stone fruit. Great mouth feel. Nice! (I did not dig the 2005 barrel sample as much, I do not think it had seen wood yet). I also very much liked their 2005 barrel sample of RRV pinot noir – just wonderful, Dry Creek fruit and complexity. The 2004 was not as good.
Eric Ross Winery “Caitie’s Corner” Syrah, 2003: Again from barrel. WOW! This is a wonderful wine. The 10% viognier from the same vineyard really pumps up the aromatics and allows the wine to express great purity and concentration. Good secondaries of picholine olives and tar, too. Lovely at $25 a pop! Buy this wine! Btw, Eric Ross also makes a KILLER RRV zin port. I usually don’t go in for that kind of stuff…but it is wonderful. If you see it, get some.
Ramazotti “Raffinato” Super Tuscan, 2004: Also from Barrel. A blend of sangiovese, cab, syrah and cab franc. Stunning. Really, lovely expression of berry fruit, excellent integration, saddle leather, mocha, great balance for a barrel sample…again something worth seeking out. I did not like the 2003 as much.
I also had the latest 2001 Laurel Glen cab, which I very much admire and the 2004 Sauvignon Republic wines which I did not dig very much.
A quick stop at Pappapietro Perry. Things are getting crowded! Here is where the new style of over extracted wines is really coming to the fore. Lots of people really dig these wines…and the event showed it! Hard really to judge wines in this environment, so perhaps my scores suffer from a lack of proper context and focus. I did not buy any wines at PPP:
I liked their 2005 RRV zin barrel sample. Huge, rich, big extract but not over the top. No wimpy wines here. With time this wine will be very much worth drinking. $30 a pop. To the pinot noir:
The 2005 PPP RRV blend pinot is a lighter styled, lovely wine. Here again from barrel, the wine is not showing as much fruit and thus more of the barrel is coming through. The 2004 shows a similar profile, with more red fruit, rose petal and oolong tea notes. Good.
PPP Elsbree Pinot Noir, RRV, 2004: A bit more complex than the RRV blend, notes of red fruit and green tea, cinnamon and earth. Good grip and length. Very nice.
PPP Peters Vineyard, Sonoma Coast, 2003: Wow. Very extracted. Almost syrah like intensity. Thick, red and black berry fruit flavors mix with spice box, clove and church incense. The palate offers more fruit and a licorice root element as well. Long finish. The wine is not hot at all, but BIG. I am usually not a big extract guy, but this wine in my opinion pulled it off. Others were less favorable but I liked it.
The crowds are teeming at Raffanelli. Ridiculous. I pass on the barrel samples. I try the 2004 zinfandel and 2004 cabernet. The 2004 cab is huge, very fruit driven in style and not nearly as elegant as I remember Rafanelli cabs. Pass. The 2004 zin instead is typical Rafanelli. Elegant, balanced, red fruit, herbs and spice box, good vanilla and toast. Big in all respects but perfectly proportioned. A zin to lay down? The fruit will become lusher and Pomerol like, with added complexity. I would buy but they are only taking cash. Go figure! Nice.
On to Ridge, Lytton Springs. A lovely winery and much more civil. They have 3 barrel samples and 3 finished wine:
2004 Lytton Springs Carignane: Juicy. Lush, flavorful and forward. Good herbs to accompany and nice length. An ATP bottling.
2004 Lytton Springs zin: Also has some Carignage in there. Lovely, red fruit, pepper, lavender. Excellent mouth feel, full body and length. Will be a classic.
2005 Ridge Montebello: The pride of the winery. Right now VERY young. Not a lot of fruit, the body is full and integrated, the finish long, the nose coy, showing mostly chocolate covered espresso bean. When the aromatics come around this will be a great Montebello. Like the 1996, probably drinking a bit a head of schedule.
Of the finished wines, I was disappointed in the 2002 Geyeserville, which seemed almost port like and medicinal. The 2003 Lytton Springs was nice enough, though it too seemed a bit too big for its britches. It seemed abit confused, out of synch. I didn’t try the Chardonnay. Maybe it was the vintage, but these were not friendly wines.
Lastly, I visited with Doug Nalle and the Nalle family. As far as I am concerned he makes the best zin on the planet. Much respect for Doug, who represented with the 2004 zin, the 2005 zin from barrel and the 2004 pinot noir. I will say that the 2004 Nalle Dry Creek Zinfandel is the ONLY wine I bought on the road other than the Verite that day. It is perfect Dry Creek zin. Drink it now, hold it for 10 years. Elegant, balanced red fruit, great depth, minerals, floral aromatics, sage. The 2005 was lovely too, if a bit lighter on the palate, probably needing more barrel time. His pinot is also very good and many now feel it is his better wine. I was too focused on the zin. I have to admit, I am falling out of favor with zins, but these low alcohol, perfectly balanced zins bring me back. Thanks Doug!
Dinner was at the famed French Laundry. A lovely meal. It was enhanced by the 2003 Favia “la Josephina” pinot noir. This is an RRV (right near Rochioli) pinot vineyard…and it is very good. Elegant, low alcohol and integrated acid, this wine is deep, with smokey, black truffles and lush red fruit without being overbearing. The flavors integrate seamlessly. I liked it very much with our meal. It evolved over the 3+ hours it took and ended up with very pretty, rose petal and cinnamon elements I enjoyed with desert. Look for it, though I am guessing it is low production…
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