TN: HarborWnry Oloroso Solera NV...(short/boring)

WINE TALK
1

Tried this last night from my latest Corti order:

  1. HarborWnry Calif Oloroso Solera WW (22.4%) WestSacramento NV: Deep golden brown color; rather alcoholic/fumey/acetaldehyde quite Madeira-like some nutty/oxidized quite complex nose; very tart/tangy/sharp Madeira-like aldehydic rich/off-dry(?) some fumey/alcohilic bit Mission/oxidized/nutty rather complex flavor; very long/lingering near dry rather alcoholic/fumey nutty/Mission/oxidized/adelhydic very exotic/complex finish; the alcohol/acetaldehyde really stands out but there are a lot of interesting things therein; not as sweet/raisened/grapey as an Oloroso but more akin to a Bual Madeira; actually resembles a slightly sweet Catalan rancio wine or some of the old DeMueller Priorat rancios; not a lot of pleasure to drink on its own but there are places at table where this would work fine, like w/ soups or cheeses. $40.00 (CB)
  1. CharlieMeyers used to make a Mission del Sol, from OV Deaver Mission grapes. It would be made from ripe Mission grapes and has the frmtation progressed, he would add boiled-down Mission juice until the frmtation naturally stopped at 17%-18% alcohol, leaving a modest amount of RS. Two articles describe the Mission del Sol:
    Dunne/Mission del Sol
    Corti/Mission del Sol .
    Charlie made his first MdS in 1972 and the last bttld was the 1986. He would give it lengthy aging in Am.oak barrels. When he died a few yrs ago, there was a sizeable stock of MdS in barrel. His daughter, Margaret, blended them together and released a Criadera and Solera wine:
    Corti/Solera
    The wine is pretty fumey/alcoholic and should be served slightly cool to cut this down. A rather liked this exotic wine and it went well w/ my roasted corn/roasted butternut squash/Tasso ham soup.
    Tom
2

Excellent note as always Tom - appreciate you posting this. Any idea the age of the barrels that they combined to make this wine?

Thanks again!

3

By “age”, I assume you mean the age of the wines in the barrels?
Since the last one Charlie bttld was the '86, I assume it was mostly late-'80’s thru the '90’s…maybe into the early '00’s.
I’m not sure when Charlie actually quit making wine. Somewhere in the late '00’s I would guess. In his later yrs,
he’s was suffering from dementia and was put into a facility.
Tom

4

Thank you Tom! So far, no word from Corti yet.

5

I have 1 of these and 1 each of the Criadera and Mission Del Sol hanging around still. It’s hard to find what feels like the right occasion to open one with the idiosyncrasy and age and alcohol content of the wine.

6

Thanks Tom. Yep, that’s exactly what I meant (typing quickly/from phone)