Is anyone familiar with Roy’s latest release?
Just what I’ve seen on Roy’s video, as he tasted just before bottling. He loved it.
Purchased my allocation today
Ditto
All in!
In, and an odd thing to add: Roy is so great I might buy even if I got no bottles. He embodies what I think we should be about.
Someday, I’m gonna shake his hand.
Lemme know when you are out!
Thanks, all.
I signed up about a month ago and haven’t received any notice. I assume this simply means there is no offering (which I was assumed would not happen this year). Would I be correct in this assumption?
So I think I can add some light to this topic.
My wife and I were with Roy for Lunch on Wednesday. I believe Roy mentioned we were the 3rd or 4th people to try his 2017 after bottling.
I can very easily report the wine is gorgeous. The nose and aromatics are spectacular. The mouthfeel is wonderfully with pure fruit and body. I would say early on the wine is not quite as structured as the most recent releases from Roy, but that does not indicate any step down in quality. Roy can correct me if I am wrong but he seemed to mention he likes having the wine a little more approachable early and can build that into his wine making philosophy going forward. The depth on the finish is just awesome, All sorts of flavors going on that just last and last.
It went perfectly with the Lamb we were having for lunch at Mustards Grille.
Roy is among the classiest people in the business. I know there will be a lot of discussion about 2017, and it is justifiable. However, if Roy puts out a wine, it will be top notch. I know that he declassified a bunch of barrels in '17 because they didn’t meet his standards.
I recognize we are not even close to his largest buyers, however, he always makes time when we are in Napa and is always available for advice or a quick conversation. There is a reason that people don’t drop from his list. His wine is stellar and he is better.
Have no hesitations ordering,
Mark
This, transplanted to last July, when I think I was the first to taste the bottled 16s. But concur on Roy as a fine, fine person and always makes time.
Notes on that 2016 FWIW:
a mere 3 weeks old.
2016 Roy Piper Cabernet
14.6%, 97% CS with 3% Petit Verdot. I believe Moulds, Farrella and Houyi vineyards are the sources. Roy does a 15% bleed-off, then 20 months in 70% new oak, Bousset barrels. Aromatically, this sure wakes you up. Big spices presentation with nutmeg, allspice and clove, to buttress underlying plum fruit. Shockingly, this is already really good. The flavour is iron framing very beautiful blue and black fruit. Gains an attractive bitter twinge and depth with air.
We try a second pour from a different-shaped (Zalto more of a pinot-shaped) glass, where Roy shakes the wine a little. Gives much more beef blood in the nose and it’s remarkably more feral and aggressive on the palate vs. the finesse and sophistication in the normal Cab glass. Fascinating!
Sorry I didn’t look him up when I was in town last week. Would’ve loved to try his wines and our experience with other 17’s was the same. No reason to skip the vintage other than credit card shock from what we tasted. Did get a chance to drink with Will Segui which was an awesome experience as well.
Hey David, would love to meet next time you are out.
Mark is correct that I built a little more early smoothness into the 2017. Part of that was the vintage-style and part is that Moulds (87% of the wine in 2017) was already done fermenting in tank when the fires hit and because the winery was closed down for a few days and the valley was still smokey for a week, it got 7 days of extended maceration and that time rounded out the tannins a bit. I liked that effect enough that I repeated the process in 2018, by design. My wines have always been big and structured and tannic, so to say it is “not as structured” is in comparison to my own wines. It is probably still a bit more structured than many wines in my category, just a bit less so. But I like the fact this wine is already substantially recovered from bottling 5-weeks ago and I think it will have a wider drinking window than some of my wines which have required a good dose of time in bottle to get back to their level in barrel.