TN: Drinking from Steve's Library...(long/boring)

WINE TALK
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We tried Sat night (3/25/17) some Edmunds St John Library Wines:
0. Peay Roussanne/Marsanne Estate/SonomaCoast (71% Roussanne/29% Marsanne; www.PeayVineyards.com; 12.6%)
2012: Med.light gold bit cloudy color; strong chalky/mineral/stony quite appeley/Marsanne slight honeysuckle/
Rouss light smokey/toasty/oak slight herbal/thyme/musky somewhat complex nose; quite tart/lean/austere/structured
rather pear/apple/Marsanne quite stony/chalky/mineral slight nutmeg/oak/smokey complex flavor; very long tart/
austere quite chalky/mineral/stony some appley/pear/Marsanne light nutmeg/smokey/Fr.oak complex finish; a quite
terroir-driven wine that doesn’t speak much of Roussanne; still needs another 5-10 yrs. $48.00

  1. TablasCreekVnyd Esprit Blanc de Tablas (64% Roussanne/26% GrenacheBlanc/10% PicpoulBlanc; 13.5%) 2011: Med.gold color;
    very fragrant/perfumed honeysuckle/Rouss/honeyed/floral light smokey/oak slight perfumed talc/chalky complex nose;
    very rich/lush lightly tart/balanced intense honeysuckle/Rouss/honeyed quite spicy light perfumed talc complex flavor;
    very long/lingering rich/lush/balanced/smooth very strong floral/honeysuckle/Rouss/honeyed slight perfumed talc/
    mineral finish; a beautiful/balanced/rich Rhone white that should easily go another 10 yrs; not yet showing any
    nutty/oxidative notes whatsoever; beautiful Rhone blend.
  1. EdmundsStJohn Viognier Alban-Durell/Calif (15.3%) P&B by Intuition&BlindLuck/Berkeley 1997: Med.gold color; some
    nutty/toasted hazelnuts/honeyed bit toasty/smokey/pencilly slight pear/Viog quite complex nose lightly tart very
    spicy/toasted hazelnuts/nutty bit pungent some smokey/pencilly some caramel/conconutty bit Condrieu-like/earthy
    slight pear/Viog very complex flavor; very long slightly tart/lean strong toasted hazelnuts/nutty/caramel/toasted
    coconuts slight pencilly/smokey very slight pear/Viog/Condrieu-like/peach very complex finish; no signs of over-
    ripeness or alcohol whatsoever; in absolutely amazing shape and showing no overt signs of oxidation or bitterness
    whatsover; a masterfull example of a mature Viognier that you seldom find from Calif; I would gues the Alban
    Viognier '97 would not hold up to this one. $42.00
  1. EdmundsStJohn LesCotesSauvages Calif RTW (14.2%; Grenache/Syrah from Mendocino/Sonoma + Mourvedre/
    BrandlinRanch) P&B by EdStJ 4059 EmerySt/Emeryville 1995    : Med.dark color w/ light bricking; rather pungent/burning
    metal/ozone/reductive bit funky nose that clears to rather strawberry/Grenache slight smokey/Rhonish rather complex
    nose; lightly tart strong strawberry/Grenache slight earthy bit Rhonish/smokey some cedary/pencilly/old red complex
    flavor w/ light smooth/resolved tannins; very long some strawberry/Grenache/earthy bit cedary/pencilly slight
    Rhonish/smokey complex finish w/ modest smooth tannins; lots of strawberry/Grenache character but may be starting
    to dry out a bit; lovely Rhone blend and near its peak. $70.00
  1. EdmundsStJohn LesCotesSauvages Calif RTW (14.3%; 39% Grenache/25% Syrah/31% Mourv/5% Carignan) Emeryville 1992:
    Med.dark color w/ light bricking; very complex earthy/dusty some strawberry/Grenache/bit blackberry light cedary/
    pencilly bit Rhonish/pungent complex beautiful nose; somewhat tart some Grenache/strawberry/blackberry fairly
    earthy/dusty rather CdP-like/Rhonish balanced complex flavor w/ light bit gritty/drying tannins; very long/
    lingering fairly earthy/dusty/CdP-like some strawberry/Grenache/blackberry balanced/smooth complex finish w/
    light grainy tannins; shows the most earthy/dusty/CdP-like character of these three LCS; a beautiful drinkable
    complex red. $65.00
  1. EdmundsStJohn LesCotesSauvages Calif RTW (13.7%; 42% Mourv/17% Grenache/17% Cinsault/16% Syrah/8% Carignan)
    Emeryville 1994    : Med.dark color w/ light bricking; strong strawberry/Grenache/blackberry slight plummy/licorice
    slight pencilly/smokey bit Rhonish/roasted rather complex nose; bit tart strong blackberry/strawberry/plummy
    slight licorice/pungent/Rhonish rather complex flavor w/ light blocky/angular tannins; very long/lingering
    blackberry/Syrah/strawberry bit plummy/licorice slight roasted/espresso/Rhonish rather complex finish w/ light
    blocky tannins; doesn’t show as much plummy/Mourv character as I expected and seems more Syrah-like; lovely
    complex red that should go another 3-6 yrs. $55.00
  1. EdmundsStJohn Syrah Calif (14.5%) Emeryville 1996: Med.dark color w/ light bricking; beautiful blackberry/Syrah
    rather Rhonish/smokey/smoked meats very StJoseph-like slight peppery very complex nose; lightly tart strong blackberry/
    Syrah/peppery bit smokey/smoked meats/Fr.roast coffee/pungent slight earthy very complex finish w/ light smooth
    tannins; very long/lingering rather smokey/roasted/Rhonish/smokked meats/espresso some blackberry/Syrah/peppery
    slight rustic/StJoseph-like finish w/ light smooth/gentle tannins; a classic fully-mature EdStJ Syrah that’s
    showing no signs of going over the hill; probably near or at its peak; a steal at $45.00
  1. EdmundsStJohn Syrah PeayVnyd/SonomaCnty (13.4%) 2001: Dark color w/ no bricking; very strong/youthful blackberry/
    Syrah/boysenberry/ripe/spicy light black pepper some complex beautiful nose; rather tart/angular very classic
    Calif/blackberry/Syrah slight peppery/spicy light earthy some complex flavor w/ ample ripe/bit rough tannins;
    very long/lingering very strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/ripe light peppery/pungent some complex finish w/ ample
    angular tannins; a classic Calif Syrah in character w/ loads of youthful fruit; still yrs to go; not as interesting
    as the other two Syrahs because of its youth.
  1. EdmundsStJohn Syrah BassettiVnyd/SLO Cnty (13.7%) Berkeley 2001: Very dark/black color w/ no bricking; very intense
    Rhonish/smokey/cracked black pepper some whole-cluster/Rhonish/roasted/smokey intense blackberry/Syrah/blueberry
    very complex beautiful nose; rather hard/tannic intense black pepper/c-c Syrah/boysenberry/blackberry strong
    smokey/smoked meats/espresso rather Hermitage-like very structured fairly tart complex flavor w/ ample hard tannins;
    very long/lingering tart/structured intense black pepper/c-c Syrah very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah rather
    Rhonish/graphite/smoked meats very slight bretty/horsecollar/funky complex finish w/ ample hard tannins;
    incredibly youthful & yrs to go yet; a spectacular example of Calif Syrah. $90.00

Stuff from TheBloodyPulpit:

  1. A few months ago, Steve decided to sell off some of his library wines to help fund his next CD. Larry suggested
    it might be fun to assemble a set and taste them around a dinner he’d organize. So Laura created a whiz-bang
    meal and we tasted thru these 6 wines from Steve’s library. Plus a few extras.
  1. The Viognier was simply stunning. Seldom will you find a Calif Viog at 20 yrs in this good a shape. Of the three
    LCS reds, my favorite was the '94 w/ the '92 right close behind. The '95 seemed to be showing a bit of old red
    character, though it’s still in fine shape. The Syrahs were, across the board, simply amazing, all very youthful.
    I think this Edmunds guy is getting the hang of this winemaking thing.
  1. These were all decanted (except the Viognier) immediately before serving. Larry reported that upon tasting the
    next day, most of the reds had lost quite a bit & were on the tired side. Not too surprising given their age.
    Tom
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Interesting notes, Tom. We had the 1994 ESJ Durell Vineyard Syrah. Seemed a bit dead on opening, but after 20m or so it blossomed into a nice light-bodied wine that was almost Burg-like. My guess is that it probably peaked 5 or more years before.

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The '95 Durell was fantastic for me a couple of months ago. A bottle with Mel Hill last year was good, but not at the same level. Seems like it’s a bottle to bottle thing now.

I have opened the '93 Cotes Sauvages and the '94 and '95 Mourvèdre from my Steve stash, and all three have been lovely, with the '94 Mourvèdre hitting the amazing level.

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A. So and I killed my last bottle a few weeks ago. Easily the best of all my bottles, and it certainly held its own alongside a bottle of '99 Chave that night. Still showed a bit young with a lot of power/richness, and years ahead of it.

5

Typo – I had the 94.

6

I suspect the same reasoning holds true.

7

I agree pretty much with Tom’s assessments of overall quality – couldn’t possibly agree with all those adjectives! – but I ended up liking the '01 Peay quite a bit better than the '01 Bassetti. A bit too much Brett on the Bassetti, and I don’t agree that it has years and years to go. I think it’s pretty much at its peak now, unlike the Peay.

But we’ll see! Turns out I have at least one '01 Bassetti in my cellar, so we can try it without resorting to Steve’s library offering.

I do really appreciate the library offering, though. The '97 Viognier was spectacular, and not many people have hung on to their CA Viogniers for 20 years – advisedly!

One thing was true of all the ESJ-library-supplied bottles: the fill levels were perfect and the corks were in great shape. Hardly any saturation of the corks, obviously stored well. I used an ah-so to remove the corks, but probably didn’t need to.