TN: Three New Jaffurs...(short/boring)

[TomHill]

Tried these three over the weekend:
1. Jaffurs Roussanne StolpmanVnyd/BallardCanyon (13.8%) 2019: Med.gold color; lovely perfumed floral/Rouss/honeysuckle/my Grandma's cheap perfume light pencilly/toasty/oak slight chalky beautiful nose; slightly tart very rich/lush very strong floral/Rouss/honeysuckle/cheap perfume slight mineral flavor; very long/lingering very floral/honeysuckle/Rouss slight chalky beautiful classic Rouss finish; loads of classic pure Rouss fruit but w/ age (3-8 yrs) should develop loads of complexity; rather rich/lush but has the acidity to avoid that jiggly/silicone-laden DollyParton territory. $25.20/$36.00
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2. Jaffurs PetiteSirah ThompsonVnyd/SantaBarbaraCnty (15.5%; ArchibaldCuvee) 2019: Very dark color; very intense blackberry/boysenberry/PS/very ripe slight Thompson peppery some toasty/oak huge fruit nose; soft huge PS fruit/blackberry/boysenberry/black pepper strong toasty/smokey/oak slight earthy/rustic flavor w/ ample soft/rich tannins; very long/lingering intense blackberry/boysenberry/PS/Thompson peppery some toasty/oak finish w/ ample tannins; huge blackberry fruit but distinctly PS; no signs of earwig taint whatsoever; another classic Jaffurs PS. $26.60/$38.00
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3. Jaffurs Syrah SantaBarbaraCnty (14.4%) SantaBarbara 2019: Very dark/near black color; very strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/ripe quite spicy/some black pepper quite spicy some toasty/pungent/Fr.oak classic SBC spicy/Syrah beautiful nose; lightly tart very strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry very spicy/slight peppery some toasty/oak fairl; very long/lingering intense Syrah/blackberry/very spicy some toasty/oak structured structured classic SBC Syrah flavor w/ some ripe tannins; a beautiful classic SBC Syrah w/ the structure to take 3-8 yrs of aging; an absolute steal at the futures pricing. $20.30/$29.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. My Jaffurs futures order arrived last week, so I just had to try these three favorites. The prices are the futures pricing.
I have, of course, followed CraigJaffurs' wines from the very start. Yrs ago, BobSenn/LosOlivosWines&SpiritsEmporium (man...do I miss that guy...taken from us way too soon) suggested I should meet a guy that's very passionate about Rhone varietals. So on my next trip, Fall 1993, Bob arranged for Craig to meet us, myself & LarryArchibald, sitting out on the front porch on a cold/foggy morning. He was making his wine (Viognier & Syrah) up at the Miller's CentralCoastWineCoop in SantaMaria. He brought down barrel samples that morning in these very classy Reidel Gerber's baby food jars from Patterson's breakfast that morning. Since then, I tend to prefer the Jaffurs wines being served in baby food jars. We visited for over an hour & I was struck by Craig's passion for what he was doing. We've been buying his wines ever since. There are more Jaffurs wines, per capita, in LosAlamos, than any city in the entire World.
A number of yrs ago, Craig sold the SantaBarbara wnry to DanGreen, a producer of SantaYnez Pinot/Chard up in Lompoc. Of course, everyone was convinced that the Jaffurs wines would go to hell in a handbasket. They have not. I've been paying very close attention trying to discern if there is a change in style under Dan. If there is, it's very/very subtle. The wines are, perhaps, a bit more structured. Some of Craig's wines would occasionally be on the bombastic side, but I've not seen that in Dan's wines. Maybe a bit more restrained, but not a whole lot. We will continue to buy the Jaffurs at these stupid/silly futures prices.
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2. PetiteSirah: This wine was first made by DaveYates in 2003, targeted for Dave's CaneFelice label. First PS crop from Thompson and made sort of as an afterthought...the grapes were available. At the pre-release tasting the following year, the wine was such a huge hit that Craig sorta commandeered the wine and released it under the Jaffurs label, as I hear tell. It was a huge hit and has consistently been one of Calif's greatest PS's. More balanced than most PS's, it is not a tannic brute, but still ages amazingly well.
The PS is the famed ArchibaldCuvee. Available only in LosAlamos. There are a few CellarTracker reviews on the ArchibaldCuvee, but they are totally fake. The pics of the labels don't show the distinctive "Archibald Cuvee" in red lettering. It's release is tightly controlled and the few that have made it to auction have sold for astronomical prices. Even Monktown attourneys have been unable to score a btl.
Tom