This is among a whole bunch of forgotten wines I bought from lists before it was easy to ship to Maryland, so they went straight to a CA storage facility. I was certain I would visit from time to time, but I have never been there. D’oh!
Anyway, I have been working though some of these old things. Some have been dead or not interesting enough to mention, but this one is quite enjoyable. I have to say, though, that I thought I had misread the label at first because my initial taste made me think I was drinking a nicely aged Lato Syrah. The wine is spicy and gamey, and it is still alive and full of flavor.
I probably bought this wine because Paul Lato used to be featured in TWA, with The Great Man himself touting the preternatural skill of the Polish immigrant who made world-class wines from a crush facility [supply additional adjectives and adverbs as needed]. Anyway, he was not wrong this time, as I generally have enjoyed Lato wines, and this one – at age 15 – is pretty, pretty good.
This wine certainly is a blast from the blast - when he was the consulting winemaker for their own wines and that vineyard still existed under that name.
I have rarely ever had an ‘aged’ Paul Lato wine - most of the ones I’ve had have been on the young side and have all had soaring aromatics and been finely textured. He knows what he is doing for sure - but I’ve always had a small concern that since his wines show so beautifully young, they might not age wonderfully.
I’m glad you’ve proven my hypothesis wrong - and I guess burg lovers won’t like his pinot style
