TN: 2014 Dirty & Rowdy Yountville Semillon--eh

I found this wine in a local store, and given positive comments I’ve seen about the D&R wines I figured I would give it a spin. Although I don’t usually
pay that much attention to appearance, this Semillon has a distinctly cloudy appearance. When I opened the bottle yesterday, there was very little nose at all. Tonight, on Day 2, the nose is still rather mute/shut down. When I first tasted it yesterday, I was nearly shocked by how tart the wine was. The wine did improve with about 30 minutes in the glass, but it was still VERY austere and not esp. enjoyable. Even on Day 2, the midpalate fruit is subdued, although there’s a nice minerality/saline quality to the wine. It does improve with food, but not a heck of a lot.

Per the back label, it’s only 10.67% alcohol, so I can only presume that the grapes were picked at ~21 degrees brix. An interesting wine, to be sure, but not something I would seek out again if this is a representative bottle. Overpriced at $30 retail.

As always, YMMV.

Bruce

Thanks for your input, Bruce. My impression is that this wine was made with the intention of extended aging possibilities for improvement, much like an Aussie Semillon or Riesling.

I would like to say that, if you have a chance, to try the D&R Familiar Blanc for more immediate pleasure. It blew me away!

Hardy once told me this would be one of their longest lived wines (at the time). Maybe it’s just shut down?

Long decant if you can’t wait. I only drank one but it was better after at least two hours in the decanter. I am saving the others. Also, don’t drink this too cold.

Agree with Drew that the Familiar Blanc is much more immediately friendly.

This definitely needs a long decant and to be brought up to just below room temp. I don’t think just keeping it in an open bottle would be enough. Three weeks ago I opened up and decanted it for about three hours hours before double decanting and reopening the bottle at a tasting we did with Hardy a few hours later. The wine was extremely aromatic and the palate had some fun pineapple and floral notes. I had never really tasted anything like it (in a good way!) The leftovers I put in the fridge and didn’t open again for about 5 more days. Its structure and flavors all held up.

I agree with the recs for the Familiar Blanc – we popped and poured a magnum that afternoon and it was probably the first empty bottle at the table!

Thanks for the feedback. The wine was a touch better on Day 2, after being the fridge overnight, but it was still rather mute overall; very little aromatics even on the second day. Since this was just one data point, I have no basis to project how it will age…

Bruce

I had a very similar experience (and I think started a thread on it too). Just showed very little. On the advice of everyone I will let me second bottle sleep a few more years.

Hold on a minute. Wasn’t it just determined on a recent thread that aeration is meaningless? :wink: newhere

Well, I’m old school and I intend to cling to every “meaningless” rule or guideline I ever learned about wine. [swearing.gif]

I’ve got the D&R Mourvedre lined up next; looking forward to a new data point of a different wine.

Bruce

What D&R Mourvedre are you planning to open?

Remember Semillon is not an aromatic white grape so its nose is often of other than fruit/floral. I have had this one a couple of times and thought it paired best with Hardy’s recommendation of fried chicken. Though anything fatty to work with the acidity I imagine would wok well. It definitely is built to go the distance and will be rewarded with time.

I would guess he picked this closer to 18* than the 21* the OP mentions. Usually for a barrel/tank ferment of white your looking at .6 or more conversion thus 18* x .6= 10.8%. I usually try to get my Semillion to 21 though usually mid 20*s and I see final alcohols in the upper 12’s to low 13’s. My current vintage was 20.6 out of the basket press and finished at 13% giving me a .63 conversion rate.

Interesting your wine finished that high, Joe. My Sémillon hit the press pan at 20.9 and fermented to 12.3% in barrel. Actually had the chance to chat with Hardy about our respective Sémillons last Harvest when he stopped by the winery. While I wouldn’t necessarily want to speak for him, my impression is that he’s looking for a very distinct evolution of the wine in bottle, something similar to Matthew Rorick’s Forlorn Hope Sémillon. I still have some '13 Dirty & Rowdy Sémillon I bought a year ago and I’m very curious to see how it develops because of that conversation.

Would disagree you somewhat about the grape’s lack of aromatics. My experience has been that when they’re done right (i.e. picked earlier), the wines are stunningly aromatic. That said, I’ve unfortunately had more than a few nondescript, flabby examples that are rather lacking in their aromatic profiles. Usually they’re sitting around 14% abv or higher.

Thanks for the note, Bruce. As mentioned via PM, this bottles sounds a bit off.

As far as brix goes. We always picked our Sem in the 18-19 brix range. We are fond of the Hunter Valley Semillon style (picked in the same range and producing similar 10.5-11.5ish% ABV), but our fermentations methods are / were very different. We normally used about 2-2.5 wks of maceration, allowed the wines to go through ML, and used no filtration or fining.

2014 was our last vintage of Semillon (due to the grower changing farming methods), but we do have one unreleased '14 Semillon that we will release sometime down the road (aka when we really need the money). For the “reserve” or whatever we will call it, we pulled off a 1.5 tons of the '14 and direct pressed it on a very slow / gentle cycle with the idea that we would use it as base for a sparkling Sem. We barrel fermented it in neutral barrels (no skin contact and no eggs) and 12 months later, we ended up liking the barrels so much, that we scrapped the sparkling Semillon idea and bottled it as is. We are very happy with it.

Also- Thanks for chiming in Joe and Mike- For those that don’t know- both are making great Semillon!

The 2014 Familiar. I’ll post notes later today or tomorrow; a perfectly sound bottle.

Bruce

Mike, do the mind me asking what Winery you’re with?

I know it’s six months or longer since I had one, but a slow ox, even overnight (not decanted) worked well for me. :slight_smile:

Can’t help you with the 2014, Bruce, but notes on the 12 and 13 from last May…

"2012 Dirty & Rowdy Semillon

This is from Tom Gamble’s vineyard and close to Conn creek. Full Malo, 100% Sem, all done in the concrete egg. 75% of the fruit was fermented on the skin, skins on for 12-18 days. Other 25% whole cluster standard white ferment in the egg. 18 year old vines. Honey bouquet comes up, light melon but not particularly sweet. Waxiness. Sedate, but not flabby–just gets to midpalate and sits there, some tactile chalkiness and waxiness with a dry mustard tick. Young yet.

2013 Dirty & Rowdy Semillon

Same process for this version, honey, lanolin and…fennel, a good catch by Hardy. Pine nuts too. By contrast, this is in its puppy stage–bouncy, exuberant, zingy, lemon and citrus. Again, has the tactile feel, appley this time. Hardy’s reference point is Hunter Valley Sem."

Maluhia,

Mike

No worries, Drew. I’m the Assistant Winemaker for Turley here in St. Helena. Recently started my own side project, initially focusing on a standalone Sémillon and a Syrah/Sémillon co-ferment, hence, my comments here.

Hardy - damn good seeing you last night!! Can’t wait to try your “Reserva.” Btw, fairly certain Kara will be requesting we drink a hell of a lot more Champagne from here on out.

Come on man, you can’t leave us hanging like that!

Sounds like a helluva project, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who would be interested in hearing more about it.