TNs-Mike on Tour, Napa Day 2, Twomey, R-M, Spring Mountain, Dinner with Merrill and Roy, May 20

Less tasting today, this was a thinking and geeking day with winemakers, assistant winemakers and Winery managers. I started though with just a straight drop-in tasting at Twomey, which was on my way to Rivers-Marie. Good friend Tran Bronstein had recently been quite taken with one of their Pinots so I decided to play good Samaritan and taste current releases on his behalf.

TWOMEY WINES

2014 Twomey Sauvignon Blanc

4 vineyards, just a little oak is used. Plenty of lime mixed with melon and perhaps unripe pineapple scents. Snappy enough, with apple, lime, lilac and hint of melon. Decent

2013 Twomey Anderson Valley Pinot Noir

Fruit comes from Monument Tree and (one of my faves) Ferrington vineyards. 13 months in 1/3 new. Cocoa-infused strawberry and the AV earth/forest. This is quite light on its feet with strawberry jam and raspberry mixing with more earth.

2013 Twomey RRV Pinot Noir

13.8%, West Pin, Last Stop and Bailey vineyards are the grape sources. 12 months in 37% new French oak (server didn’t know the cooperages offhand), I get cola, sweeter strawberry, cinnamon and some potpourri wafting up the nose. To taste, it is smooth, sweet and very Russian River, with a balanced warmth and strawberry and light cola replays.

2013 Twomey Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

Gap’s Crown, Last Stop and Bailey’s vineyards. same oak treatment as the RRV. Earthy and cocoa bits, cherry and chokecherry nuzzie. Sharper dans la bouche, with black raspberry and some surprising mineral element. I think I like this best of the 3 right now.

2010 Twomey Soda Canyon Merlot

96% merlot, 4% CF. 181 and 182 clones, this also spends 13 months in 1/3 new oak. Pretty–lavender and flower-filled cherry, strawberry, even some watermelon edge. Tiny bit of mincemeat and spices. Oak still hits but it does have definition, cherry pit and sweeter redcurrant and some very light pepper at the back.

RIVERS-MARIE

I’d met Will Segui and spent a short time talking to him at FallTacular, but this was much better as we communed for about 75 minutes, talking about the wines Thomas makes and his continuing philosophy and style, some of the ‘reaction’ to that style, a splendid discussion about the history they’d had with one of the vineyards, cork vs. Stelvin, Will’s own role within the winemaking projects and some of the industry changes in the last 5 or 6 years. We didn’t try current stuff—he had remembered that I’d had the chance to try some of that at FallTacular, so instead, we had a look at some older bottles.

2010 Rivers-Marie Silver Eagle Pinot Noir

This was Thomas’ 2nd year with Silver Eagle and the vines were only 6 years old at the time. Goldridge soil. Pisoni/Vosne and 828 clones. Initial red berry switches to some funk and touches of diesel and maybe iodine. Later, some roasted cloves and perfume too. Tangy still, with zippy small berry fruit, it’s only just coming into its own now. Leave 2 more years for certain positive development.

2010 Rivers-Marie Summa Pinot Noir

Oh my! The citrus–blood orange–is wonderful to smell, along with soft note of cola, strawberry and even dash of lemon. These continue on the palate as subthemes to deep cherry and raspberry and I love how the wine keeps talking to me, good acidity and a sandalwood and cardamom backtone. This still needs 2 years to finish up as well, but should be splendid by then. Probably WOTD (though Merrill’s 06 gave it a run for the money)

2010 Rivers-Marie Gioia Pinot Noir

They don’t know, but likely old Swan and Martin Ray clones. 10 months in oak–mostly Francois Freres, Remond and Ermitage. Fairly ripe bouquet, cola, sarsaparilla, cherry pie. A neat earth-and-Christmascake mix too. In the mouth, plenty of mocha and cocoa, raspberry and cherry. Somewhat hot still. It does have individuality, but not harmony, I told Will–still jumpy—and he remarked that is a factor of having something like 40 different exposures in this vineyard.

2011 Rivers-Marie Gioia Pinot Noir

This, too, has potpourri. Raspberry and cedar closet. Although no whole cluster, this is more strait-laced, and has a stemmy/rooty side to the taste. Linear, has some finish but what’s going down your throat? Even a pass of bubblegum. So-so and a bit strange to me.

2009 Rivers-Marie Thieriot Chard

13/9%, 30 year vines. 12 months in 40-45% new oak. Pineapple, touches of toffee and mango. On the tongue, this has definitely settled down. There is a toast aftertaste and right now the wine does express enjoyably, but I’m not sure how long it will go out.

SPRING MOUNTAIN ESTATES

I was very happy to see Leah Smith again after 3 years, and for more time than just a quick hug and chat (I didn’t get to see Mike today–he’s in bottling hell–but am hopeful to connect with him sometime Saturday if karma allows). She and I went over the estate comprehensively, talking about everything from some of the fascinating history of the owners and ownership in each parcel (including the current owner’s devotion to preserving flora and fauna as much as possible) to the different trellising on some of the vineyards and how pick and prune and vine control is done. This was one of my favourite parts of the day—a peek behind the scenes as to what ends up in the bottles.

2009 Spring Mountain Syrah

IIRC, estate fruit from the first vineyard purchased. Plush spicy plum and black raspberry nose, and plenty of spices bounce around the aroma too. Plush to taste too, but the right level of richness. Baked berry, plum and bits of campfire and camphor. Still young, but stylistically in line from here.

2005 Spring Mountain Elivette

Ah now. 10 years out, this smells and tastes like Spring Mountain. Spices, red licorice, currant, coriander, cardamom and toasty cedar notes all swirl enticingly up the glass. Palate has replays and this is very integrated now, the acid and tannins very much framing and informing the currant, berry, cocoa bean and roasted plum. Nip of espresso at the back. It’s stately presence makes it a winner and in the running for WOTD.

DINNER WITH MERRILL LINDQUIST AND ROY PIPER

Fun on so many levels, this was total geek-out world, as I first stopped in to see Merrill at her house (hard to believe 3 years have passed since we last saw each other0, met the full-of-character Black and saw Sparkles again, and then off we went to Solbar to meet up with Roy Piper. Though we’ve crossed paths here and on eBob, this was the first time we’d met and we took to each other right away. We yippited about any number of Cali producers and, honestly, there isn’t much we didn’t discuss about winemaking in this state. As only one example, Roy–while discussing the Georges III vineyard, made a very interesting and cogent observation, that he feels the best vineyards are those that can produce great wine within a range of Brix that people pick at. Merrill, for her part, remains passionate about her wines and in love with her place, which in my book is no bad thing.

We first revisited the Stonestreet Upper Barn Chard from yesterday and it was, for me, quite a bit better today, having added some interesting subtle spices and lanolin as well as some body to what was presented yesterday. Custard, too.

2006 EMH Black Cat Cab

Merrill is fiendishly devoted to precise decanting. She decanted this at 2 pm for our 7 pm taste. This is really elegance personified (Roy remarking that he loves how the 06 vintage of many CaliCabs is drinking) and finds leather nuances seeping into light cedar and herbs and quite pure berry and currant aromatics. The palate also has a lovely feel to it, coursing through the mouth and down the throat with gentle black fruit and just an end-swirl of coffee. For me, it remained quite consistent over the 2 hours or so we sipped at it. It is a fine, fine wine.

2008 Domaine de Lambrays Clos de Lambrays

I’m not averse to proper aeration either, and I popped the cork on this 12 hours’ prior and had tasted Will and Leah on it prior to dinner, so it did receive some aeration. Quite interesting to track this, the first sniff in the morning blazed out with baking-spice-infused strawberry. That was gone by dusk, with Merrill and Roy pulling out sniffs such as fish glue and medicinal. I might have picked up a trace of iodine, but to me the aromatics spoke of raspberry but also a very small element of soy and lots of sous-bois that I would think of with an older burg.

It’s not old in the mouth, as it remains quite tangy and acidic, the profile I remember a few years ago of the 08s. However, it’s far from searing—toned back and with plenty of berries showing and perhaps some toned-down earth. I am most curious to see how the rest of it does today.

2012 Roy Piper Cabernet

My first try of the wine, half the fruit comes from the Georges III vineyard. This is bold, but not too big at all, for me the prevalent aromas are of blue fruit—blueberry, plum–and there’s a freshness to the scents. It fills the mouth without coating it and expresses aromatic replays but adds a chocolate swatch and, thinking about it later, some lavender. Too young to drink now, it has the ethos of complicated stuff and I am very encouraged by where this may end up in 3-4 years.

A great way to end another great day. Sigh. Sonoma, here I come!

Mike

OMG, Sonoma be aware!

on your tour. I should try Roy’s cab at some point.

I think it would be right in your wheelhouse, Erez.

Ah, good of you to stop by both Biale as seen in an earlier post and now Twomey on my behalf. Bad of you not to pick up a Biale Rocky Ridge Zinfadel and a Twomey Anderson Valley Pinot Noir on my behalf! Grrrrrr!

Like the Biale Rocky Ridge, the Twomey Anderson Valley is quite revelatory, as Michael puts in, in how light on its feet it is. In fact, it quite handily bests other cooler climate Pinot Noir I’ve had from New Zealand and here in our native Ontario. The 12 is now sold out here from the LCBO and I was quite lucky to get a single bottle.

Both of theses wines are completely contrary to what one would expect from Cali Zinfadel and Cali Pinot Noir, respectively, and I consider them achievements in Cali red winemaking. Not saying they are better than anyone else’s favorites, BTW – just that it is an achievement that their respective makers have turned out Burgundy quality red wine instead of heavy cherry cola fruit bombs (a style I also love) given the weather and the terroir they grow in.

Then again, Pearl Morisette here in Ontario makes Burgundy quality wine here in Ontario which at one time I also considered impossible. Just goes to show that if you want to do it badly enough, you’ll find a way.

Great to see you, Mike!

Great to meet you at last, Roy.

Tran, in point of fact I did buy a 2013 Rocky Road Zin If you’re very nice to me, I might share…

The Clos de Lambrays took a very unhappy “turn”, if you will, today, and it was almost certainly there from most of the get-go. By the time mid-afternoon rolled around, I knew something was wrong. Served it to Craig Haserot, whose Burg opinion I trust, and he immediately proclaimed it was oxidized/shot. I’m much less experienced/able to discern that in reds than I am in whites, I’ll freely admit. I’m glad he was able to figure out for me what had been bothering me. Clearly bottle variation as the 08 I had 2 weeks ago was pristine.

Mike

There is little left to be said about the wines, as Mike pretty much covered it. But…I did like the Stonestreet Upper Barn Chardonnay. It was heavier on the nose than on the palate, but it went quite nicely with our first course of carrot salad. This is a gorgeous presentation of color and texture, with grains and yogurt and who knows what else. Highly recommended.

I am not that experienced with Burgundy, so I did not call this one as flawed. What I did note was the odd expression of fish/seawater, then something medicinal, then a pine-y odor. The expression on the palate was rather flat but acidic; it was not my bottle so I did not delve into it further.

I had had Roy’s 2012 just once before, several months ago, and this one is definitely headed in the right direction. It is still a youngster, for sure, but all the pieces are there - I would expect a very nice wine in another year or two and going way beyond that.

Roy had asked me how my older wines were holding up, and so I said I would bring my 2006 EMH Black Cat. This is in a very good place right now - not much more I can add to Mike’s description above. It is pretty resolved and integrated, but not in any danger of falling off the cliff. This was one of the wines offered at BerserkerDay.

Roy and I had the beef as our main course, a natural choice with the Cabernets we had brought. The food was outstanding.

Mike is correct - there were few CA wines/vineyards/makers left undiscussed. One thing led to another, and we just kept geeking and churning through it all - great fun. There were many, many stems floating around, as Solbar is my regular place, so the bartender, the friend who walked through the door, the chef, the general manager…as they appeared at the table to say hello, Roy and I were providing tastes of our Cabernets to all these folks, side-by-side. I find that really enjoyable.

I’d say a good time was had by all.