fun thread jeremy.
it made me recall our awesome visit at bond (at the old harlan digs) several years ago courtesy of fellow board member rob mckay. we ended up tasting the entire 07 lineup. what i remember most was the krug greeting - with their own master sommelier (forgot his name now). i thought that was first class before we got started.
hope you’re enjoying your stay.
cheers!
You can sense the pride in Cathy Corison’s voice as she points out her 30th vintage of Corison in barrel. She has made elegant, pure Cabernets for three decades, not bowing to the trends of the day. These are wines that are never over 14% alcohol yet have ample power. They are beautifully perfumed, show proper varietal character and have the structure to age for many years. The wines have no added acid and possess real freshness and energy.
The winery is modest and functional amongst a sea of bling along the St Helena strip. The Kronos vineyard on which it sits grows on the alluvial fans. It is a naturally low yielding vineyard that produces tight bunches of small grapes. Cathy tasted through a few of her recent wines with us.
2013 Corison Cabernet Sauvignon: smells of sweet berry and tobacco leaf. It has a lovely balance between its sweet and savoury elements. It is vibrant, finishing with tannic grip.
2014 Corison Cabernet Sauvignon: There’s black cherry, cassis and cedar here. Fruit is obviously primary and the wine has a strong graphite spine. There’s plenty of chew and it is a wine of great potential.
2012 Corison Cabernet Sauvignon Kronos Vineyard: There’s a touch of vanilla to the nose along with black cherry, cassis and violets. It has a core of sweet and perfumed fruits in the mouth. It is complex and ethereal, building through the mouth and finishing with plenty of savoury nuance.
2013 Corison Cabernet Sauvignon Kronos Vineyard: Great balance and depth. It is really tight with intense cassis and black cherry fruits and a touch of tobacco. It is very mineral and harmonious and length is superb.
I am loving the posts on this thread!
Quick question: are all of the Corison Cabernet Sauvignon wines from Calistoga?
California tends to get some of the worst wildfires in the USA, but because of an unusually bad drought this year, we also got some terrible wildfires here in the mountains of the East Coast, and there’s a spine-chilling video of a couple of fellows trying to drive their way out of a wildfire in Chalet Village, Gatlinburg, Tennessee:
The hill country is perfectly idyllic right up until Mother Nature changes Her mind and decides to barbeque you for dinner.
All St Helena fruit.
Thank you for this great threat.
Ehren Jordan wants the entrance of his tasting room to feel like his home. We certainly thought the first place we arrived at, having taken a wrong turn up a very steep hill, was his home. It was someone’s home and we quickly retreated down the hill before someone called the cops. Anyhow his tasting room is very homely and we got a very warm welcome from Ehren and his general manager Matt Naumann. The boys took us for a tour around the winery and cellar facilities before settling in to taste a suite of terrific wines. Ehren uses a wide array of concrete and stainless steel for fermentation and there are quite a few amphora in the cellar. He likes to experiment yet is extremely focused and the winery is squeaky clean. He quipped that he likes brett…in other people’s wines.
2014 Failla Chardonnay Sonoma Coast: There’s some candied pear and peach to the aroma. There’s also aniseed spice. It is full, rich and long with good chalky cut to the finish.
2015 Failla Chardonnay Sonoma Coast: Similar aromatics to the '14 with candied pear and peach fruits and plenty of spice. It is layered in the mouth with a high glycerol feel. It has good energy and freshness.
2015 Failla Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast: Vibrant, crunchy red berry fruit. Velvety but with crisp detail. There’s some whole bunch lift. Delicious wine.
2015 Failla Pinot Noir Keefer Ranch: Complex and ethereal. It has crunchy red berry fruit. There’s a suggestion of earthy root vegetable. It is so silky in the mouth and cut by fine minerally acidity.
2012 Failla Pinot Noir Hirsch Vineyard: you get the perfume of violets on the nose coupled with beetroot, earth and cherry. The fruits are red and black in the mouth. It has an intense core and savoury nuance. It is a wine of impeccable balance and is drinking very well.
2012 Failla Pinot Noir Occidental Ridge Sonoma Coast: Has the earthy root vegetable thing going on as well as intense black cherry fruit. It is full, fleshy, voluminous and round. The long finish is carried by sweet tannins.
2013 Failla Syrah MxM Estate: This thing is not for sale but the bearded Sommelier brigade would go ga ga over it. Its close planted Syrah and has plenty of whole cluster action. The nose is bright and punchy with notes of black olive, meat, liniment and menthol. Fruits are crisp in the mouth and it has good depth and plenty of structure. The finish has a pleasant astringency from the stems that suits the wine.
Having spent some time at Turley it would be fair to assume that Ehren knows his way around Zinfandel. A couple of beauties under his Day label confirmed that indeed he does.
2015 Day Zinfandel: Black fruits, meat balsamic and sweet licorice. Plenty of flavour but not over-done. Good energy and persistence.
2015 Day Zinfandel ‘El Diablo’ Russian River Valley: Off a dry grown, 1880’s planted block. It has intense black fruits and a perfume of violets. There are notes of licorice and aniseed and it is complex, building through the palate and finishing tangy and fresh.
This is a weird string. Despite the subject line, the first post is about Bond. Only the last post is about Failla. Did some digits (as in digital) get crossed up on the board?
It’s posted in Australian.
I’d have traveled down to drink with the Oz legend! You gonna see Anderson Valley or Nor-Cal?
Very nice. Will be out in Cali soon and have a tasting appointment at Failla already scheduled!!! Wines sound right up my alley.
Would have loved to have shared a meal with you Glenn but have just arrived back in Australia. Didn’t get to the Anderson Valley. I still have a few more visits to report on and will try and post them over the next few days.
Jeremy is not the least bit threatening! Especially now that he’s back in Oz.
As is typical with Jeremy’s travel posts, it’s an evolving story.
Great thread Jeremy!
Ted Lemon is one of the old guard of The Sonoma but you sense that he still possesses exactly the same amount of passion and vigor as he had during his first harvest. He was kind enough to spend a couple of hours with us and he and his trusty dog Bo toured the vineyards and winery facilities as well as showing us their set up for making the biodynamic preparations.
It is the vineyard and the soil upon which it grows that Ted believes is the biggest contributor to ultimate quality. He has the utmost of respect for the various terroirs he farms. Having also spent a few vintages at some of the great Domaines in Burgundy, including Roulot and Dujac, his preference seems to be for elegant, savoury wines that are picked early enough to maintain freshness and show great fidelity and transparency.
Ted chooses to show taste his reds before the whites, which I like. He was kind enough to show us a couple of older things so we could check in on them to see how they were developing.
2015 Littorai Pinot Noir Les Larmes: Crisp red berry fruits. Some lovely spice. Fresh and vibrant with good detail and excellent cut.
2014 Littorai Pinot Noir Mays Canyon: Deeply pitched with red and black fruits. It is really stony and fresh in the mouth with outstanding depth and some tannic grip to the finish.
2014 Littorai Pinot Noir Savoy Vineyard: This one’s very mineral on the nose. There’s also the scent of fresh violets that envelop the nostrils. It has a strong acid spine and tart red berry fruits but lacks no flesh.
2014 Littorai Pinot Noir Cerise Vineyard: This one’s grown on a steep, rocky slope. It is very fine with aromas of flint, Arum lilies and red berries. It is compact with good focus and intensity. The finish has great detail and persistence.
2014 Littorai Pinot Noir The Haven: There’s a touch of spice to the aroma and flavour profile. It has red berry and cherry fruits. It is quite velvety in the mouth and builds through the palate, fanning out on the finish. Length is good.
2007 Littorai Pinot Noir Savoy Vineyard: Starting to take on some underbrush and earthy traits as well as a little root vegetable. It has lovely sweet fruit and there’s plenty of flesh in the mouth. It still has stony structure.
2007 Littorai Pinot Noir Cerise Vineyard: Some pine needle sap on the nose as well as spiced plum and cherry. It is full, plump and round on the palate with good depth and excellent persistence.
2014 Littorai Chardonnay Charles Heintz Vineyard: There’s white peach, tangerine and candied pear. It is complex with a core of sweet fruit and good cut to the finish.
2014 Littorai Chardonnay Thieriot Vineyard: This one is more citrus in character and there’s wonderfully pure white peach notes too. It is full and sappy with chalky dry extract to the finish.
2001 Littorai Chardonnay Thieriot Vineyard: Developed and ready to go. On the nose there’s ripe fig, toast and vanilla. It is buttery rich in the mouth with good breadth and shape and a finish that drives on.
great way to rind up the trip. Will be nice to citrus down and reminisce some day.
The Sonoma had copped a fair old belting of rain and we could barely see the vines as we over-looked the aptly named Floodgate Vineyard from Kistler’s Trenton Roadhouse property. This is a marvellous showcase for the wines and a serene spot to kick-back and taste. The Kistler 2014’s are large scaled, rich and powerful yet balance is outstanding.
2014 Kistler Chardonnay Les Noisetiers: Richly fruited, brimming with ripe peach and other orchard fruits. It is full and flavours tinged with butterscotch.
2014 Kistler Chardonnay Dutton Ranch: Complex aromatics of candied peel, fig, sweet peach and aniseed. It is full rich and creamy and length of flavour is excellent and flecked with mineral.
2014 Kistler Chardonnay McCrea Vineyard: The nose has some preserved lemon and a dollop of butter. There’s pure white peach fruit and a touch of spice. It is full, creamy, rich and long.
2014 Kistler Chardonnay Stone Flat Vineyard: This is more compact but has great shape. The nose is vibrant with perfectly ripe orchard fruits and plenty of spice. It has seriously good mid-palate flesh and intensity and there’s good mineral cut to the finish.
2014 Kistler Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast: Fruit forward and relatively simple showing sweet cherry, some spice and a little earth. Quite a delicious, easy going drink.