TN: Boring Bottle of Bedrock

2014 Bedrock Wine Co. Heritage Wine Nervo Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley (11/28/2016)
I hope this is shut down, because it is just not that interesting. Flat aromatics, hollow mid-palate and an alcoholic finish make this a big, fat zero for me. If it’s an off bottle it has to be a real stealth issue because there’s no apparent or even hinted issue with TCA or any other problem.

Boring.

Posted from CellarTracker

These are long term agers. Not early drinkers.

Hardly Pobega’d as it arrived quite a while ago. That being said, balance was totally off with the alcoholic finish pointing to nothing but downside.

Ha, that’s what Buecker has said to me when I have popped a young wine that did not show well!

It’s a '14. That’s 2 years ago in wine years.

Pobega: to open a wine as it comes off of the FedEx/UPS truck.

I’ve been trying young wines for 25 years. I know when the balance is bad.

Here’s Morgan’s release comments.
"So, I guess I am saying that the wine reminds me structurally of more modern Bordeaux but in reality is likely very true to its intended use as “California Burgundy.”

I changed my Pobega comment, but you guys are too fast for me so it ends up in all my quotes. So let’s go with early drinker. That is more of what I intended to say.

I get your point. I am really concerned about the significant heat. That never works out well.

I hear ya.

I’ve often wondered if Bedrock shouldn’t start holding their reds back longer, at least the SVD ones. I haven’t tended to like how they taste near release, but I think they get much better after several years (I’m talking generally, not about this wine or the things David doesn’t like about it).

Of course, it’s easy for me to say that they should create a big gap in their revenue like that, but it does strike me as a winery whose wines seem particularly not as ready when they get released.

Almost never. I had a 2001 Martinelli Blue Slide Ridge that I opened shortly after release and it was a hot mess and I figured the others were only going to get worse. Held the remaining bottles basically out of fear and at about seven years of age it had transformed into a balanced wine that was very nice. The last bottle at somewhere between age 10-12 had broken up.

I have no idea how this specific wine will evolve and agree that in general heat is a bad sign for the future but only time will tell.

You must be new here.

If you’re worried about the Bedrock revenues, they should re-think their $25 flat-rate shipping. They gotta be sucking hind-tit on subsidizing the
shipping like that. They’re setting a bad example for their fellow wineries. In fact, I’ve told Morgan & Chris that it strikes me as a Socialist/Communist
plot to pay for the shipping like that. For somebody who typically orders 7-9 cases, there’s no reason the small buyers should be subsidizing my
group’s purchase. Friggin’ commies, they are. But it does create a lot of good-will for Bedrock.

I’ve never thought the Bedrock wines are underperforming on release, in general. Of course, all of them typically get a lot better w/ just a few yrs of age.
Tom

I’ve never been too impressed with the Ridge Nervo either. Haven’t tried the Bedrock Nervo yet.

Really interesting discussion indeed. Not sure this would get the same kind of ‘traffic’ if the word ‘boring’ was not coupled with ‘bedrock’ though

Yep, some wines may just need more time. With a producer like this, most will give the ‘benefit of the doubt’ that the wine will improve - kind of how we now know Tablas or Qupe continues to improve over years or even decades.

The ‘heat’ comment does concern me - as others have said, that is something that may not completely resolve . . . but then again, there are not ‘good’ or ‘not so good’ wines - just ‘good’ or ‘not so good’ bottles.

Cheers!

Yeah…sorta agree. Had it tonight. TN to follow tomorrow.
Tom

My thoughts (FWIW category):

Tom

Haven’t tried any BR either but the Ridge 96 Nervo was a very fine bottle of Zinfandel for a long time. Done in more of an Italian style we had a very good bottle as recently as a few years ago. The 97 was never as good IMO. I should set a Caboose upright.

Had the 96 Nervo on that night that shall live in infamy and it was really lovely. I wouldn’t have said Zin but I did say very good.