Gotcha! Thanks.
I was shut out of the 09 Bedrock Heirloom when they went on sale to the list, but got a taste of it yesterday at Willi’s Wine Bar in Santa Rosa (conveniently located one exit away from the Carlisle pick-up). I preferred it over Zins from Benovia (08 Sonoma) and Gamba (07 Moratto), but I’m not mourning having missed out, call it ~91 points, a very nice wine but not breathtaking. Although the youngest, it showed as the most integrated and complete wine with a nice range of fruit flavors and good depth through the finish. The Bedrock had a nicely proportioned texture, grippy without grit or dryness and a river of fruit to drive it over the palate with proper balancing acidity. I would definitely buy this near the release price. It’s drinking well right now, granted that I have no idea how long this bottle had been open.
The Gamba had a jammy oak bomb nose with lots of lush plummy fruit with enough spicy and closing raspberry tang to be enjoyable; the Gamba would surely be a crowd pleaser, but too straightforward to be considered superb, ~89. I prefer my Zins wild and rustic at the margins, and this wine is creamy velvet pleasure. Delicious, but I’m not sure it would hold my interest for a whole bottle.
The Benovia had more structure than the other wines but came up a little clipped, not showing as broad in the mouth, lacking a little pliancy. The Benovia had a slightly savory bramble character, with its blackberry fruit less eager and sultry. I can imagine this showing better with more time to unwind in the bottle or glass. ~90.
I matched the wines correctly when served single-blind; the Bedrock did show its blend and that complexity is part of what I think lifted it over its immediate competition, but it was not as obviously distinct from the 100% Zins as I had thought. Overall, I’m sorry I missed buying it but I’m not going to pay crazy shipping to get it at retail.
Carlisle, unsurprisingly, won the day with the 08 Papera’s (not as strong, or at least not as ready as the 07, but stacked with Zinfandel goodness) and the pepper-tastic black raspberry ganache barrel sample of 09 Martinelli Road (!). My zinfandel itch is pretty much going to be satisfied by Bedrock and Carlisle for the foreseeable future.
Those 2 Carlisles were good huh. I was surprisingly more impressed with the Martinelli barrel sample than with the Papera bottling.
Hard to beat those Carlisles.
Looks like the temperature may warm up after this current system is done. Could it get high enough that I get some wine shipments including the latest from Bedock???
For those in the SF Bay Area, Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa has the 2009 Rebecca’s Pinot Noir in stock for $37. Bought one bottle today.
I’m still waiting on two releases to ship. Seems they were short a bottle and it hasn’t surfaced. Can’t wait to try them, especially the Sonoma syrah.
Sorry to be a wet blanket and apologies to Poppy, but I remember when everyone had a circle jerk like this over the early releases of Sea Smoke. ![[stirthepothal.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/f40faec63ca1018898a40805efbf9f0066a3d205.gif "[stirthepothal.gif]"){kind=small}
The difference is this circle jerk is over a quality albeit cheap young lady.