Alpha Omega 2006 - any ok to open yet?

WINE TALK
1

In light of Bill saying the Realm Farella is still a beast and stay away for now, I was considering opening one of the 06 A-O wines. Any of them drinkable at this stage?

Chris

2

Proprietary Red or ERA…with a slight nod to the Proprietary Red.

3

I think their Era is just fine now with an hour of decanting.

4

Or, another choice would be the Arkenstone Obsidian from 06. Any thoughts on that one?

Or, maybe I just open them all?

Chris

5

All…and what time do we need to be over?

6

No kidding…but Id go with the prop red right now. I think the era needs a lot more time than an hour. It starts to open up in an hour or so but 6 hours later it was still moving.
BTW, thanks Tex, got some BTK

7

Sweet.

8

Uh, you do remember what it’s like to be around a 3 month old, don’t you??? You sure you want any part of that?

Chris

9

+1

Anyone know if all the 06 ERA was barrel fermented or was this a small section that was blended in?

10

Looks like “the palate” just panned the AO lineup relative to expectations. I guess that means it isn’t any good. I’ll have to find something higher rated to make sure I’ll like it.

Chris

11

Ouch. Not representative to my experiences at all. 90 pts for the 07 ToKalon??

Scared that he scored Lewelling so high – my least favorite so far has been the 04 Wight, the highest scorer up to today.

12

Frankly, with all the good reviews from people I trust and have tasted with, I take his opinion on California as having little authenticity anymore. I’m sure the high rated ones are good, but I think he missed it on many of the lower 90’s stuff. It’s irrelevant unless you want to sell. That’s the only area points make a difference.

Chris

13

what were the scores for lewelling?

14

YE OF NO FAITH WILL. The Lewelling 07’'s rock. What did the palate score them?

15

regular cab 95
wight 98

16

The 07’s had just been bottled when I hit them in August. I liked the 06 regular cab even more thn the 07, but the 07 Wight was insane.
I hope I get more than 6 next year but doubt it now.
dave Wight and Haley liked the 08 even more than the 07.
But what do they know next to the Palate??? [thumbs-up.gif] [thankyou.gif]

17

This is BS. I don’t even want to get into wines scored and what I thought of them.

18

Who be buying based on your scores beetch?
The sad reality is that these scores are only one man’s opinion. One man that in the estimate of many valued palates here has an agenda that is not necessarily in the best interests of the palates here.
deadhorse [whistle.gif]

19

For those of you that still have a eRP memberships, the post script note is the really interesting part of the AO story. He really got after them, saying he expected more and that there wasn’t much in the way of singularity in any of the offerings. It could very easily be honesty, but it almost felt personal, for someone that has always seemed to me to be above the fray in such things.

From my recent and semi-frequent visits to AO, they seem to be doing really well, so I don’t think this will be much of a hiccup for them as an ongoing business concern. While at this point, I do prefer many 06’s to the 07’s – I think the concentration & extraction on the 07’s is so great, that I can’t make heads of tails of them at this stage. I think Jean and his team are doing & making really nice wines, so I tend to trust him and his decisions.

Disclaimer: I know Jean on a first name basis, but do not have any business or personal relationships beyond this. I do buy AO wines, among many others from the Valley.

20

These reviews and ratings are soooo far off the mark from the wines that I tasted at the table with Jean. Not wanting to detract from TRB, but RMP is in love with him currently and it is reflected in the myriad wines made by him that got stellar scores. Having said that, I would not discount what Will stated in that it might be something personal against either AO or Jean. It makes no sense that he rated the AO wines so lowly when I think they are the equals of what he ratedso highly.