Flowers

Out of the blue I received an allocation letter yesterday from Flowers. I hadn’t bought from them since the 90s. The mailer had my login ID and password. But the ID was an email address I hadn’t used in many years and didn’t work for login. But I found I could order wine without an allocation. I could purchase their Camp Meeting Ridge, Moon Select, and Seaview pinots. The whole thing seemed a bit odd so I checked on recent reviews. Parker gave their current release (2012 I think) Camp Meeting Ridge a very bad review and low score, as he did for their other offerings. Anyone know what’s happened to Flowers?

I also ordered some wine in the late 90s. I received the fancy mailer yesterday, and I have been receiving said fancy mailers sporadically for years. Odd. Moon Select pinot well over $100 to boot.

Has anyone been drinking the wines lately?

I can’t image Parker going all the way out there to taste, so they must have sent him samples.

Wow, that’s a blast from the past. While I’ve never purchased Flowers wines, it seems like it was a forum darling back on eRP/Squires, and early on here as well, then disappeared from ‘favor’

I had an appellation bottling, Sonoma Coast I believe, about a month back. It was serviceable, but really not memorable. I just find their wines don’t deliver for the price.

The family, if I’m remembering right, were in the flowers business and, at some point, decided to begin growing grapes and did well. They sold their grapes to Kistler, with their Camp Meet Ridge one of Kistler’s tops. Then, they hired Greg LaFoulette (sp?) and he began using their grapes to make their own wines.

Parker gave the 2012 Flowers Camp Meeting Ridge a score of 79, called it “old,” and advised people to drink it quickly. I didn’t know if someone else bought the winery, they had some sort of problem, etc.

I had a chard that was pretty good last year. Someone here said they picked up a new winemaker. From Rhys maybe?

Here’s the thread, it’s Jason Jardine

Hah.

FWIW, Antonio Galloni gave the 2012 Flowers Camp Meeting Ridge Pinot Noir an 88 with positive tasting notes. Moreover, he scored the Camp Meeting Ridge Block 15 a 93, so seems the winery isn’t a complete mess.

I have a single bottle of the 2012 Flowers Camp Meeting Ridge Chardonnay in my cellar that I can share notes on when I consume.

I’ve never been a huge Flowers fan, but I like their single-vineyard offerings and don’t believe anything changed for 2012. Perhaps the wines aren’t enough of a fruit bomb for Parker.

I hit a deal on some 09 Sonoma coast Chardonnay and it was very nice, at full retail I’m not sure. For a while they had a new winemaker every year, not sure what that’s about.

Interesting. So, far we’ve had Love and Jardine in this conversation. If the Wilson boys show up with their bushy bushy blond hair dos, I’ll be breaking into song. Believe me, you don’t want to hear that.

I regularly buy the Flowers SC Chardonnay in various local retail stores. I find it to be a very good example and the price (mid $30s?) is reasonable.

I think the wines were on the upswing again while Jason Jardine was winemaker, but people should note that he’s no longer at Flowers, and is now at Clos du Val. I have not had any of the wines since his departure so I don’t know what direction they’ve taken since.

I think he has already left Clos du Val Alan…think he’s at Hanzell now.

I recently enjoyed a bottle of Flowers Sea View Ridge Pinot Noir. Thought it was a solid pinot with nice fruit / tannin balance.

This is one of those crazy “true Sonoma Coast” vineyards if I remember correctly.

I’m a fan, though biased by the fact that I work with them – they buy grapes from me. It’s correct that Jardine has moved on to Hanzell (as GM, I believe), but much of the rest of the cast also has a Rhys pedigree. Beyond the fact that they are really good folks, I feel like the wines have been on an upswing. I was on the mailing list years ago but dropped off and lost touch. I started paying attention again starting with the 2011 vintage, and have been impressed. I thought the 2011 Seaview Ridge PN was best of show at a World of Pinot Noir tasting where the throngs were gathered in front of the Kosta Brown and Williams Selyem tables. The house style is definitely light on its feet/elegant/restrained/subtle. No surprise that any recent vintage landed outside Parker’s wheelhouse.

Couldn’t agree more with the above. A 79 RP score on a IPOB, Sonoma Coast pinot is a selling point for me…

I did the style of their wines. My only complaint is price.

I have around 4 cases of Flowers, mostly SVDs from the 2010 and 2011 vintage. Made several trips to their estate for pickup events (a really pretty spot) and also hit several winemaker dinners. Jason Jardine started a really interesting block designate program while he was there - I think it’s the Camp Meeting Ridge Block 11 Pinot that’s 100% Calera clone, and IIRC another block designate was mostly/exclusively Wadenswil. Others were taken from blocks on different soil types, and they even made a single-block Pinot Meunier. Their Camp Meeting Ridge Chardonnay is still one of my favorite SC Chards, with a really distinctive mouth-watering salinity. Unfortunately they priced me out with the big increases for the 2012 vintage, altho I was tempted by a recent email offer to come taste at the estate…

Thanks for the update, Kris - I missed the move to Hanzell but I’m happy for Jason and Hanzell - seems like a better fit if you ask me.

Stewart, thanks for the info - sounds like the direction is still much the same as during the years Jardine was there. Agree with folks on prices, though their SC appellation wine might merit consideration, as I was impressed with the last bottling of that that I tried.

Personally I think Jason’s time out on the true Sonoma Coast is far more interesting than Hanzell.

The vineyards out there are so extreme, and suit his style. Took a heli tour over their property, unreal what they have planted, and where.

My favorite Flowers wines were actually the mid-1990s Kistler “Camp Meeting Ridge” wines. They only made them for maybe 3 years. I find their recent wines better than the high-70s that Parker gave them. Their direct neighbor, Fort Ross Vineyards, not only is a little better at the moment, but actually has a swanky tasting room on the property. A real rarity for the True Sonoma Coast.