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12-12-2001
WHITES:
QPR
1999 Navarro, Estate
Dry, Anderson Valley, California, Gewurztraminer
Golden yellow, nose has aromas of ripe nutty, leesy, floral,
lichee, lemon skin/citron, cinnamon, and nutmeg, palate shows classic
Gewurztraminer flavors of lichee, floral, grapefruit, leesy custard
and brown spice, slightly bitter finish but pleasant, good length,
medium full body with slightly tart acidity, excellent balance,
great mouth feel, this is a classy wine and one of the better California
Gewurztraminer's I have ever tasted, very Alsatian in style. Very
nice. $15.
Good Value
2001 Isabel, Marlborough,
New Zealand, Sauvignon Blanc
Light straw color, moderately aromatic nose with lemony grapefruit,
boxwood, pear, cat pee and a bit of green tomato, flavors show grapefruit,
minerals, slight lemon pith, classic sauvignon Blanc, fully flavored
with a medium full body and slightly tart acidity, excellent balance,
good length, everything you want at a great price to boot! $14.
Good Value
2000 Roger
Lassaros, Cuvee Unique, Macon-Vergisson, France, Chardonnay
Medium light yellow, nice aromatics, not real strong but very apparent,
showing lemon, apple and minerals, one suspected a hint of oak,
flavors show pear, baked apple, lemon skin, grapefruit, mild custard
and minerals, slightly bitter finish, medium body with slightly
tart acidity, nicely balanced, not terribly complex but nice easy
drinking. $14.
-
Good Value
WHITES:
Premium
2000 Seven Lion Winery,
Wes Cameron Vineyard, 60 Year Old Wente Clone
Russian
River Valley, California, Chardonnay
Rich golden yellow, nose shows good intensity with pear, lemon,
spice and toasty vanilla oak, flavors show pear, lemony apple, vanilla
oak and spice, fairly concentrated flavors, this is a nice classic
styled California Chardonnay with moderately heavy oak, some folks
will love it and some will hate it, good balance, long finish, full
body with slightly tart acidity that matches amazingly well with
the ripe character of the fruit. Most of us thought it seemed a
little tart for the level of ripeness even though it had a pretty
seamless character to it. In all fairness, none of us are lovers
of traditional vanilla oak CA Chards so this wine suffered a little
though we all agreed that it was very well made if you liked the
style. Expensive.
-
Poor Value
1998 Failla-Jordan,
Alban Vineyard, Edna Valley, California. Viognier
Yellow, nose seems very oxidized and very over ripe with rotting
guava fruit, match stick, smoke and oak, strange, flavors show absolutely
no varietal character and seem very oxidized, cork did not show
any leakage, something is flawed or amiss with this wine but it
is not corked, slight tropical fruit but mostly devoid of any real
fruit character, no peaches; that's for sure! Hard to say what went
wrong here, storage was fine. Maybe it was damaged during shipping
somehow. ????????????????
REDS:
PREMIUM
2000 Loring Wine Company,
Garys' Vineyard
Santa Lucia Highlands, California, Pinot Noir
Medium dark ruby red, the nose is lively and poppin' fresh with
aromas of bright briary cherry, cranberry, strawberry fruits underlain
with just a bit of earth, cola, and vanilla, palate shows pomegranate,
black raspberry/bing cherry, cocoa, forest floor and oak, very vibrant
and youthful, medium full body, moderately tart acidity and moderate
fine grained tannins, fairly direct now, needs a bit of time to
show more complexity, it's there but very subdued beneath the bright
forward fruit. $40. Yum!
-
Average Value
2000 Loring Wine Company,
Clos Pepe Vineyards
Santa Barbara, California, Pinot Noir
Medium dark ruby garnet, fairly intense aromas of chocolate,
earth, forest floor underlain by black raspberry and cherry, palate
shows mocha, black cherry, plum and slight hints of oak and vanilla,
rich, creamy and darker than the Gary's, long finish, fairly smooth
concentrated flavors, very nicely balanced, well made wine, all
enjoyed this one! Great sipping wine! $40.
+
Good Value
2000
Flowers, Sonoma Mountain, California, Pinot Meunier
Garnet red, wild nose with aromas of gamey, meaty spice with
forest floor, mushrooms and red plummy fruit, some sulfur on the
nose, palate shows red cherry, spicy strawberry, meaty, cranberry,
peppery, earthy, brown spice and a hint of vanilla, good length,
medium to slightly full body, nice balance with a slightly bitter
finish. Very complex and slightly odd for a PN, but since it's not
a PN I suppose that is hard to state. It's definitely different
but it is very compelling. Picked it up for around $35 or so.
-
Good Value
1999 Dashe Cellars,
Todd Brothers Vineyard
Alexander Valley, California, Zinfandel
Dark purple red, aromas show bright rich jammy ripe black cherry,
chocolate and vanilla with a hint of earth and black olive, strong
jammy flavors show rich ripe black cherry, cocoa and a hint of sweet
oak, medium full body, moderate acidity and fairly full slightly
coarse tannins, nicely structured, big but friendly, very forward
with bright outgoing fruit but underlain by a good dark brooding
core of other flavors. Very nice Zin. $22.
Good Value
1998 Flowers, Talmage
Bench, Mendocino County, California, Zinfandel
Garnet brick red, fairly aromatic with bright spicy zinberry
fruit with earth, and eucalyptus, slightly raisiny, flavors show
spicy red zinberry, boysenberry, plum, resiny eucalyptus, fully
flavored, fairly long finish, medium full body, slightly tart acidity
with medium tannins, nicely balanced, more on the spicy red fruit
side of things in contrast to the Dashe which was darker and more
brooding, compelling complexity though. $28.
+
Good Value
1998
Brochelle Vineyards, Paso Robles, California, Zinfandel
Very dark red, nose is very ripe with cherry, boysenberry and
mocha, palate is somewhat medicinal with a cough syrup like character
showing slightly over ripe dark cherry and oak, moderate to low
acidity with medium full tannins, exaggerated style that is showing
over ripe and a little raisiny. Balance was not quite there, not
quite sure if this was a half hearted attempt at a late harvest
style that just didn't quite fit the bill. $24.
+
Poor Value
2000 Red Car, California,
Syrah
Dark purple, fairly strong aromas of coffee, ripe blackberry,
blueberry, pie crust, and vanilla with a hint of dill, good intensity
on the palate showing flavors of bright blackberry, blueberry and
vanilla, slightly sour, decent length on the finish, medium full
body, slightly tart acidity with medium full fine grained tannins,
seems more forward and not as complex as the competition but the
balance is elegant and nice. $40, a bit pricey.
Average Value
1998 Ojai, Roll Ranch
EH, Ojai, California, Syrah
Dark inky purple, aromatic nose with ripe roasted blackberry, anise,
espresso, tarry rubber, custard and spicy French oak, palate is
concentrated but balanced and elegant with flavors of blackberry,
licorice, coffee and spicy oak, chewy with a very long finish, full
body with moderate acidity and medium full tannins, excellent balance
with compelling complexity, wine of the night by a hair, simply
delicious and probably the best young Ojai I have ever tasted at
this point. $55. They don't get much better than this one! Classic
example of a great California Syrah! Power and finesse at the same
time!
+
Average Value
1999 Novy, Garys'
Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands, California, Syrah
Dark purple, fairly intense and complex nose with aromas of gamey,
meaty, ripe roasted blackberry and oak with a dose of sulfur, palate
shows ripe blackberry, blueberry, espresso, cocoa and smoky oak,
a little meaty, long smooth finish, excellent balance, medium full
body, moderate acidity with slightly full tannins, was right there
with the Ojai, heck of a great effort by Novy, which is the Rhone
label from the same folks who own Siduri. Two thumbs up guys! $Mid
30's.
Good Value
1999 Testarossa, Garys'
Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands, California, Syrah
Dark purple, interesting intense nose with aromas of smoky meaty
blackberry, boxwood and dusty American dilly oak, one person said
it reminded him of ham and green peas, off-putting a bit at first
but it did blow off by the next day, ripe intense flavors of blackberry,
coffee, green tea, dilly oak, seemed the oakiest of this crowd but
that is just in comparison, still a very nice wine with good balance,
medium to full body, moderate acidity and tannins, slight astringency
on the finish. I think they need a little time, it showed much better
over the next couple of days, almost completely losing some of the
off character that we keyed into here. A little high priced considering
the price of it's competition but I would not be unhappy at all
to have a few more of these in my cellar.$40.
-
Average Value
2000 Eric Texier,
Seguret, Vielles Vignes
Cotes du Rhone Village, France, Grenache
Medium dark purple, intensely aromatic nose showing a strong floral
quality along with blackberry, meaty gamey bacon, chocolate and
some reduced sulfur character, moderately strong palate shows blackberry,
blueberry, coffee, cocoa and anise rich mixed herbs, medium full
body, moderately crisp acidity and medium full tannins, decent length,
nice complexity, not as big as some of these other syrahs but this
has got some amazing depth for a relatively inexpensive Grenache!
$18.
+
Good Value
2000 Domaine Les Aphillanthes,
Cuvee des Galets
Cotes du Rhone Village, France, Red Rhone Blend
Moderately dark purple, wow another great CdRV wine! Intense aromas
of blackberry, cassis, licorice, herbs, spice, earth and mineral,
flavors show meaty blackberry, coffee, dark cocoa, licorice and
toasted spice, very savory, seems a bit backwards right now but
showing a lovely balance with a long complex finish, quite compelling
and has to be one of the best QPR's we have featured in this panel.
Great value at $15!
-
Good Value
2000 Tensley, Colson
Canyon Vineyard, Santa Barbara, California, Syrah
Dark bright purple, very aromatic, the nose is popping bright and
forward with aromas of meaty bacon, espresso, ripe roasted blackberry/boysenberry/blueberry,
charry, toasty cocoa, flavors of bright intense blackberry, boysenberry,
espresso and cocoa, good length, full body, slightly tart acidity
with moderately full somewhat coarse tannins, very nice wine, good
balance, seems more ready to drink than the other Tensley's but
may not have as good an upside as they do, We all loved this but
of the three Tensley's it was the third pick for all of us. Great
QPR at $27.
- Good Value
2000 Tensley, Thompson
Vineyard, Santa Barbara, California, Syrah
Very dark purple, solid intensity of aromas with ripe blackberry,
espresso, India ink, smoked meats, cocoa and minerals, slightly
floral and spicy, big ripe intense flavors of roasted blackberry,
smoked meats, cocoa and oak, good length, full body, moderate acidity
with medium full fairly fine grained tannins, nicely balanced, simply
delicious. Generously styled! Thompson Vineyard is truly becoming
one of the very best Syrah vineyards in California. Major kudos
to Joey Tensley, he has steadfastly propelled himself into the upper
echelon of Syrah producers in California! Seems to be this panels
favorite of his three Syrahs covered in this review. Great value
at $27.
Good Value
2000 Tensley, Purisima
Mountain Vineyard, Santa Barbara, California, Syrah
Dark purple, nose is more muted than the others, a bit backward
at the moment, aromas of blackberry, espresso and smoke, intense
flavors of blackberry, cocoa, coffee, and spice, some oak, just
a huge massive wine, long dark finish, full body, somewhat crisp
acidity with big full somewhat rustic tannins, definitely a keeper
that needs time, what more can we say, the Colson is most ready
to drink and the Purisima is a massively structured slightly rustic
behemoth but they are all clearly excellent and all clearly great
values. Can I say more? Oh yeah, $27!
- Good Value
George Palmer had a cold
and was undable to attend this tasting.
Tasting held at:
Wine Street, a local wine shop
in Carlsbad, California
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