Herman Story Release - You Have to Love These TN's!

I will be the first to admit that I have never tried a wine from Herman Story. Nonetheless, I am on the mailing list.

Perhaps I once read a TN here on the boards. I don’t know. Maybe I honestly thought I could afford to buy a bunch of $50/btl Rhône-style blends that look like they’re going to kick your teeth in!

Regardless, any winery that references “Rocksteady” and “Bebop” from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has my respect.

Herman Story Wines:


TOMBOY
VINTAGE: 2016
VARIETALS: 100% Viognier
APPELLATION: Santa Barbara County
OAK: 100% New French Oak
ALC: 15.3%
TASTING NOTES: I know this girl who spends summer and fall in cellars and vineyards, and all winter working on a salmon boat in Alaska. She can curse and fight with the best, is tall enough to play pro ball, looks like Gisele, can switch out the transmission in a ‘69 F-150 and is the daughter of an Ambassador. This is the perfume I imagine her wearing to a State Dinner: Eucalyptus honey, lily of the valley, dewy sawgrass, lemon verbena, yellow Chartreuse, Seville orange zest, thieves oil, freshly soaked whetstone and diamond encrusted brass knuckles.
DRINK NOW: Pop & Pour CELLAR: 5 Years

NUTS & BOLTS
VINTAGE: 2016
VARIETALS: 100% Syrah
APPELLATION: California
OAK: 80% New French Oak
ALC: 15.8%
TASTING NOTES: At last, the guitar is yours. Its velvet lined case contains the spirits of 1000 shows: fine Cuban Anejo rum, Connecticut wrapped Gurkha Beauties, motor oil, and chicory coffee. In your hands the guitar unleashes a series of riffs that rip like a ¼ mile drag race on cherry tarmac. This thing destroys, like a dragon breathing fire on a California hillside. Outside the garage, a crowd has gathered, they build a funeral pyre and offer up baskets of Australian red licorice as you strike one more chord and melt the iron shackles holding the maidens.
DRINK NOW: Decant for 30 minutes CELLAR: 7 Years

MILK & HONEY
VINTAGE: 2016
VARIETALS: 32% Tempranillo, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Petit Verdot, 19% Syrah
APPELLATION: Paso Robles
OAK: 65% New French Oak
ALC: 15.8%
TASTING NOTES: If a cigar smoking saber tooth tiger crashed it’s Peterbilt into a chocolate factory while making a Valentine’s delivery of fresh cut flowers, this is what the eyewitness news crews would be reporting: exploded bank vault, smoked paprika, blueberry pomegranate donut, fresh Nat Sherman MCD Blacks, rain, chocolate hand grenade, rose flower water, elderberry syrup, dried violets, cinnamon toast, cherries & berries. With the lingering thought that you may not know where your children are.
DRINK NOW: Decant for 1 hour CELLAR: 7-8 Years

BIEN NACIDO VINEYARD
VINTAGE: 2015
VARIETALS: 100% Grenache
APPELLATION: Santa Maria Valley
OAK: 70% New French Oak
ALC: 15.7%
TASTING NOTES: This is the wine that Wes Anderson was drinking when he made The Darjeeling Limited. As big as India itself, rolling on train tracks through miles of Jasmine and Hyacinth, often in the dark of night, with wild children going from cabin to cabin selling armfuls of fresh berries for a pittance. In the dining car they’re serving Tomahawk Ribeye Tandoori served paired with spiced drinking chocolate. Within the dark richness, the destination is practically rendered insignificant by the journey itself.
DRINK NOW: Decant for 1 hour CELLAR: 6-8 Years

BIEN NACIDO VINEYARD
VINTAGE: 2015
VARIETALS: 100% Syrah
APPELLATION: Santa Maria Valley
OAK: 100% New French Oak
ALC: 15.8%
TASTING NOTES: Like watching Gronkowski dance a Merengue at a white tie affair, all that power put to a very delicate purpose. It’s hard to pull your eyes from the spectacle, but this Szechuan crusted filet mignon and ginseng infused pastis are giving it a run for its money. Dessert is Swedish buckwheat pancakes topped with fresh strawberries and clove dust. As the music reaches its crescendo the demolition team brings down the courthouse across the street and everyone is on their feet.
DRINK NOW: Decant for 45 minutes CELLAR: Until you can’t take it anymore

AFTER HOURS
VINTAGE: 2017
VARIETALS: Rosé of Grenache
APPELLATION: California
ALC: 15.6%
TASTING NOTES: You come-to in the backseat of a Land Cruiser that has what must be a $20,000 steering wheel. The two guys get back from the gas station, “Hey, hey, look who’s up!” the passenger says as he hands you a bag containing red Minute Maid ice pops, some raspberry sorbet, red velvet macarons, a pack of clove cigarettes and Swedish Fish. Wait a second… You recognize him, it’s Snoop Dogg. “I’m Calvin” he says, “you’re lucky we found you! Here” he hands you a cherry blunt as he inexplicably plays Roger Miller on a stereo branded with his name.
DRINK NOW: Apply liberally directly to mouth CELLAR: YOU DRINK THIS NOW.

SMASH CITY
VINTAGE: 2016
VARIETALS: 100% Pinot Noir
APPELLATION: Santa Maria Valley
OAK: 70% New French Oak
ALC: 15.9%
TASTING NOTES: Bebop and Rocksteady walk into a bar. You think this is some kind of joke?! It is not. They are here to crush you. They shoot first and so fast you can taste the gun metal and smoke. The heat chars the oak walls and bubbles the black and blue berries in the kitchen. A suplex drives a mushroom cloud worth of head swelling kirsch. Before the finishing blow, they pick you up; “haha! You should’ve seen your face!” as you’re passed a strawberry daiquiri and a quarter stick of dynamite.
DRINK NOW: Splash decant into thermos CELLAR: Why? It’ll last, but what’s the point

Copyright © 2018 Herman Story Wines, All rights reserved.
Our address is:
Herman Story Wines
1227 Paso Robles Street
Paso Robles, CA 93446

Interesting notes from a website that claims to offer “all of the facts with none of the filler.”

But, my 16 year old thought they were pretty funny.

I’m a big fan of their wines. Drew, kick you in the teeth they will, but there’s a place in my table for such wines sometimes.

Been enjoying their wines and tasting notes for a long time. An absolute must visit if you’re in Paso. You can only imagine what their founder and chief cook Russell is like. He’s all this and much more. Highly recommend.

Not ‘shy’ wines, are they??!?

You have to love Russell - he has been making ‘big bold’ wines for nearly 20 years, and he’s not about to stop now! Still, a 15.6% Rose might be an interesting one to try - not sure how one would down an entire bottle, but I’m gonna have to get a bottle and check it out.

And here’s someone who is definitely NOT cutting back on new oak. Yowsa!!!

Cheers.

I’ve had less than a handful. While they aren’t my preferred style, I think that they are well made for those that like big, bold flavors. I had dinner with Jay Hack and Scott Nelson a few years back and Jay requested our “biggest” wines (maybe Jay didn’t request, but that was the theme) and I brought a Nuts & Bolts with a couple years in the bottle. Day one was full throttle, but on day two, the wine settled down into a more subdued, peppery Syrah that was quite tasty.

• 2011 Herman Story Syrah Nuts and Bolts - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County (5/2/2015)
  A big, hedonistic wine with an explosive nose of red and purple fruits. The palate follows the nose with a pronounced black pepper finish. For a wine that carries 15.1% ABV, this wine is surprisingly well balanced and fresh with no apparent heat.

Not a wine for everyday, but proof that a brawny wine can sometimes produce pleasant surprises.

Update: Day 2 was notably smoother with the pepper notes more prominent. Recommend a decant of at least 3-4 hours.

91-92 (91 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

I used to buy, particularly the grenache. Unlike my friend Tom Hill, I still love Alban Grenache and admire how they age in a positive manner, so for a while I was searching for other ballsy grenache that I hoped would age well. The Herman Story seemed to get only clunkier and more monolithic with age. The mid-body fruit faded while the rest of the wine’s character stood out-oak and high alcohol. They were best drunk young. I quit buying.

I love their stuff, too.

If you’ve never been to one of Russell’s release parties, you are missing quite an event. The food, drink and traveling zoo that he hires are all outstanding. The next one is in a couple of weeks and we would not miss it for the world.

I love visiting Herman Story and enjoy the wines.
His wife makes wonderful wine, as well. https://www.desparada.com/

Holy cow!

I did not know the connection!

We also love Desparada!

Both tasting rooms are very friendly, as well!

Thanks for posting that.

He is certainly one of a kind, and anybody who has met him probably has a great story.
I do dig some of his reds and has some great vineyards to work with.
The Rose is worth a try as a data point or a cocktail. Not my fav but YMMV

^ +1. Not a fan of the Rosé or the Tom Boy Vio. Casual Encounters (GSM) is probably my favorite of their wines.

I think big and kick-ass are really all you need to know. The alcohol pokes out of them like a dorsal fin.

Circling back to another thread, I’m wondering how these have stood the test of time - anyone have experience opening older ones (say ten years of age or more) to see how they’ve held up - or not?

Cheers.

have you tasted many of these wines?

Yes, a few, and all with similar impressions.

I haven’t had one in a while, but I still own a few from 2008. I have wanted to try them, and will report back when I do (hopefully soon).

I have been to the tasting room once, it was a hoot.

Recently opened On the Road Grenache and John Sebastiano Syrah.
The Syrah was the better of the two.
Like others have said, these wines are a bit over the top for me, but its nice to try on occasion.

im glad your opinion is based on actually having it.
some are more sensitive to alcohol in wine. theres plenty of lower alc wines out there. like you with herman story, i cant enjoy california wines made in the opposite fashion as i find them to be ‘unbalanced’
different strokes.