Look for some notes from 2 Bird/ 1 Stone… thinking of visiting when we are there in September…
Free corkage doesn’t really help much… how’s the authenticity of the yakitori?
Look for some notes from 2 Bird/ 1 Stone… thinking of visiting when we are there in September…
Free corkage doesn’t really help much… how’s the authenticity of the yakitori?
Part 2 - Rivers-Marie and William and Mary…
I met Berserker Will Segui at Mending Wall, where we (were supposed to have) snuck in a BRIEF tasting before our scheduled tasting at Mending Wall (1.5 hours later…). Berserker Bud Carey was there as well, fully enrobed in GLORIOUS Berserker gear - t-shirt AND lapel pin - and I must say he looked damn good in it. Our wives (mine and Bud’s) quickly befriended one another and probably spent most of the time making fun of us - we didn’t pay attention, as Bud and I were SERIOUS wine snobs, honing our craft!
One of my trip highlights is when I had to go back to get my notepad and Will proclaims ‘oh, for crissakes!’ - hilarious because that’s how I normally react when geeks take notes at everything (unless I"m also tasting and they end up writing notes I can just glom onto)
2016 Rivers Marie Sonoma Coast Chardonnay - oddly sweet, nose and palate, fell completely flat to me (found out in later conversation with Will some potential reasons why - if he wishes to elaborate, I’ll let him)
2016 Rivers Marie Bearwallow Chardonnay - stony, still rich on the palate, nice salinity which was a great surprise, long finish, sweet pear dominating the fruit profile - really nice
2016 Rivers Marie Thierot Chardonnay - so bright, Jen proclaimed she felt like it had the waxiness and mouthfeel of a Roussane, citrus-focused in fruit, very bright - fantastic and refreshing, yet complex
2016 Rivers Marie Summa Pinot Noir - beautiful complexity in the nose, raspberry, rocky stream, satiny weighty mouthfeel, darker fruit profile, finish ties seamlessly with the fruit profile, very nice, could use a bit more acidic bite to compete with all that texture and rich fruit
2016 Rivers Marie Herb Lamb Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon - served as a ‘mystery wine’, blind, we were told to guess, but I forgot what I guessed, but was likely wrong anyway. Nose is brighter fruited, like mountain Cab, but the flavor profile was more like a rocky valley - tremendous salinity on this wine, which was very odd (yet enjoyably so) for a Cabernet - fun characteristic. Great finish, worthy of sitting years and enjoying later.
2016 William and Mary Schifflet Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon - I TRIED to taste this at Falltacular but somehow all 3 bottles were guzzled in the first hour. I felt there must have been American oak in this wine, as I got the ‘pickle’ quality one normally gets from that, but the winemaker Will (like HE knows!), mouthfeel is amazing, perfect silkiness, weight, nice pepper on the nose. Tremendous wine. Dammit - another expensive Cab I can’t afford.
2016 William and Mary Proprietary Red (50/50 Cab Franc/Merlot) - perfumey (thanks, Merlot!), youthful, bright red fruited, soft and weighty, fruit sweetness comes late, tied with the finish, rounded tannic structure, so young.
That Schramsberg tasting sounds awesome! Happy 5th!
Noce job on the TNs, Frenchie. And, we get the Bud Carey and Will Segui bonus photo too. Happy anniversary to you and Jen, as well.
As to the wines, had the 2016 RM Bear Chard this past weekend…that wine is terrific. And the 2016 RM Summa a few weekends ago, where it showed with a lot of class for so young. And the 2016 W&M Proprietary red during our recent visit…i really like that wine, too.
You two look like Barb and Ken dolls.
It’s a family affair…
Nice one, Brian - did the two of you set that up? Far too perfect a segue (not Segui) to be pure coincidence…
On to Mending Wall, where we were incredibly late (though it was in the next room) because Will was hogging all our time. Amy was, of course, still the perfect host, and Jen showered her with compliments on the color of her eyes, much to my chagrin, as I wanted to drink more wines.
2016 Mending Wall Stone on Stone - great blend, combines the sweetness of the nose from Sauvignon Blanc with the sweetness of the fruit of Semillon - really enjoyed this blend, far more than most 100% Sauvignon Blancs. Jen wasn’t a fan, but she likes neither SB nor Semillon
2013 Mending Wall Pritchard Hill Cabernet Sauvignon - balanced, dark cherry and blackberry on the nose, with bright, popping delivery, nice structure with sweet tannins that still carry good grip, very long finish - my favorite of the Cabs tasted here
2014 Mending Wall Cabernet Sauvignon - fresh spring water, blue fruited nose, sweet red and dark cherry on the midpalate, mocha and vanilla, seamless finish, well made and drinking great right now
2015 Mending Wall Cabernet Sauvignon - sweeter red-fruited style, cocoa, weighty but a bit flabby as well, lacking texture and mouthfeel grip for me, shorter finish
Frenchie-poo, thanks for the TNs. But…where is the Palisades petite? You go all the way to MW and you don’t taste the petite?
Yeah, didn’t take notes on that as I didn’t like it - to me, it was too approachable, ‘spoofalated’ so that it was approachable now, but Petit Sirah rarely is. It was soft, and a bit boring to me.
Now you happy?
Me happy? Aren’t you talking to me in this moment? Then that answers your question.
As to the petite, which vintage did they taste you on? I prefer the 2014 over the 2015, and during our visit with Will a few weeks ago, we did both. I didn’t think the 2015 was compelling like the 2014, even the 2013, and I summarized that in my TN.
Now, let me ask you: are YOU happy?
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