“I got wiring loose inside my head.
I got books that I never, ever read.
I got secrets in my garden shed.
I got a scar where all my urges bled.
I got people underneath my bed.
I got a place where all my dreams are dead.
Swim with me into your blackest eyes.”
I have been in a dark place for a while (watching a parent die seems to have that effect) and when I am in a dark place, I often take refuge late at night with my headphones on, listening to something like “Blackest Eyes” from Porcupine Tree. For some reason, it just makes me feel better. My German ex-girlfriend from the mid90s used to say, disapprovingly, that I listened to too much “angry music”. Of course, for her, anything more aggressive than Celine Dion was angry music (come to think of it, when I am forced to listen to Celine Dion, I do in fact get ANGRY). Anyhow, even though I was the host of the dinner and it involved both a grape (syrah) and a winery (Jaffurs) that I love, I had a hard time mustering the same level of enthusiasm that I normally do. I imagine that the same thing could ultimately be said of these wine dinner notes.
I find Porcupine Tree’s music opaque and in a sense black as the darkest moonless night and at least in a physical sense the same can be said of Jaffurs’ wines. They are purple black, rich and dense wines. The Winos put Jaffurs on the map two years ago when a 2005 Upslope was slipped into a dinner with some of the heaviest hitters in the world of CA syrah and performed more than adequately. Now I know that you are thinking, ‘What is this “Winos put Jaffurs on the map two years ago” BS? Jaffurs has been around for more than a decade.” And you would be wrong. Not about the winery being around for more than a decade—that much is true. But before we discovered them, they were nuthin’—just a little garage operation near La Super Rica. Now, they’re famous, getting high Parker scores, being photographed by Annie Leibovitz for spreads in Vanity Fair and dancing the nights away at Oprah’s $50M spread in Montecito. But for the Winos, none of this would have happened (Winos Karma goes so far beyond “Jungle Karma”). And for our next trick, the Winos are going to expose to the world another upstart winery, this one with a name composed of three Latin words. Be on the lookout for this winery—someday Sine Qua Non is going to be big. Remember, you heard it here first.
OK, so a few of us were late to the Jaffurs party (although one of our members offered up 1998, 1999 and 2000 versions of one of their wines, so not all of us missed the boat), but the part about the tasting of the 2005 Upslope being a seminal event, at least for us, is true. I like to think of Jaffurs as being the Carlisle of the Central Coast, which may be unfair to both wineries, but I thought of it so I am going to stick with it. Both wineries make delicious syrahs at great price points and are run by good folk. Plus, Jaffurs makes a super-premium syrah cuvee, the Upslope, at a less than super-premium price (are you taking the hint, Mike?).
I really cannot remember the genesis of last night’s dinner. However, it quickly evolved into a tasting of several different cuvees that spanned much of the winery’s existence. Ultimately, both Craig Jaffurs and Dave Yates came down from Santa Barbara. Dinner was at Chez Melange in Redondo Beach, which is always an adventure since Robert Bell, the chef/co-owner, is a mad genius and you never exactly know what you’re going to be served until the dinner starts. You can make suggestions, point the dinner in one direction or another, but you won’t know until the event whether any of that registered. So I abandoned my angst and floated along the Robert Bell jetstream. The verdict was typical—a ton of food, ranging from very good to superb, at a relatively bargain basement pricetag.
We started out with two Champagnes, the Egly Les Vignes de Vrigney 1er Cru and the Henri Goutorbe Grand Cru Special Club, while everyone assembled. My apologies to David G and Jeff S who brought these no doubt fine juices, but I didn’t focus very much energy or attention on them.
The first course was four Jaffurs roussannes—the 1997, the 2000, the 2002 and the 2008. These were served with sweetbreads with pancetta and porcinis and fettucine. This was the most shocking flight of the evening for me. As my brethren know, I am very selective when it comes to white wines. Love Germans and Alsatians, Aubert chards and their CA and Burgundy ilk, but very little else. Most white Rhones fall into the greater universe of white wines that I don’t like. The older Jaffurs roussannes were a revelation for me. Other than the 2008, which was a blend of roussanne from Stolpman and McGinley vineyards, all were from Stolpman fruit. The 1997 was 8% viognier; the others were 100% roussanne. Craig Jaffurs indicated that these were picked between 22 and 24 brix. The 1997 was truly delicious. There was a hint of sweetness on the attack with honey overtones on both the nose and the palate. It had an oily viscosity that made for a very smooth, dense but still light on its feet, mouthfeel. It had no harsh edges and was fully integrated. The 2000 was similar to the 1998 and just a small step down. It did not have the same level of viscosity and had some sweetness on the finish, but it was a well integrated honeyed wine. The 2002 was my least favorite and, at least to me, resembled most of the Rhones that I have tasted. I thought that its acid structure really stood out and it was the least fruit forward of any of these. It was also much leaner. The 2008 was just a baby and Craig was confident that it would put on weight, get more honeyed and start to resemble the older wines. It was at this point light and lean, more citrus than honey (and I like honey).
Next up was when we started hitting my sweetspot, the syrahs. This flight consisted of five Jaffurs Thompson syrahs, the 1997, 1999, 2001, 2004 and 2007. These were served with Smokey’s current favorite sandwich, the pork bao, a pig burger with persimmon and micro-greens with a sweet spicy sauce on a bao. We had been warned that the 1997 had brett bloom and while it didn’t overwhelm the wine with barnyard tones, I felt that it did diminish the wine. The fruit was still fresh on the 1999, with a nice roundness to it. That said, I found it a nice, but not overly distinguished wine, particularly given the competition. I wasn’t a fan of the 2001; I felt that its acid really protruded (Acid Queen Traub really loved it) and it was a bit disjointed. 2004 is a tough vintage in the Central Coast IMO; I have written in the past about my lack of success with most 2004 Saxums. Of the three 2004 Jaffurs, I thought that the Thompson fared the least well. While it hadn’t degenerated into a witch’s brew of VA, alcohol and stewed fruit, like some 2004s, it did exhibit the combination of pruniness with fleeing fruit hitting the wall of oak. But the 2007 allowed me to quickly forget the 2004. It was young, loud and snotty—a dark brash wine. Still somewhat primary, it is stuffed with dark fruit. Quite a delicious drink.
The third flight was five Jaffurs Bien Nacido syrahs, including the high TWA scoring 2007—the 1999, 2000, 2004, 2006 and 2007. It was served with a twice cooked pork shoulder on a bed of black lentils (the slab of pork was probably somewhere around 8-10 oz—since I dig the pig, this course really was in my wheelhouse). The Bien Nacido flight was IMO superior to the Thompson flight. Even though I “like ‘em young”, I found the 1999 a very complete wine, with still fresh fruit, medium density and superb integration. While it did not have the aggressive fruit of younger wines, it certainly made up for it with additional complexity. I found the 2000 a little unstructured, certainly not flabby, but in a sense a bit awkward and disjointed—its acid seemed to be punching on the edges, like a boxer in a balloon. Again, the 2004 suffered from the vintage, but I found it less raisined than the Thompson. It was however very ripe so I wouldn’t hold onto these much longer. It had been about a year since I had the 2006 and, whereas 2009 pretty much sucked for everyone, it was obviously very good for the 2006 Bien Nacido. It had a strong cocoa/chocolate nose and some dark chocolate notes on the palate. It was dense, rich and delicious, with a smooth finish and no heat at all. If the 2007 Thompson was primary, the 2007 Bien Nacido was primordial—visions of being transported back to a time where there were bubbling pools and flying insects with six foot wingspans immediately came to mind. I loved it, in a rough and tumble kind of way, but I am giving my bottles a bit more time. That said, it is positively bursting with fruit and while it was a bit overwhelming, it was smooth for its age and heat-free and showed the potential for great balance.
Finally came the piece de resistance, the Upslope flight. Unfortunately, there was no 2002 Upslope to be found at the winery or in the personal collections of the Jaffurs folks, but we did have every other Upslope, the 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. These were served with prime NY steak—simple but quite good. I am not sure if they had the Upslope formula completely dialed in with the 2003. While it was certainly drinkable, there was a bitterness on the attack that I found mildly off-putting. Similarly, I found the 2004 good but not great, although it was probably my favorite of the 2004s last night. It was a bit over-ripe, but not cloyingly so. And then we get to the wine that started it all for us—the 2005. It is a brilliant wine and is as good now as it was a couple of years ago and also last year when it triumphed in a blind tasting of highly rated syrahs. In fact, with wines such as the 2005, I have difficulty putting words to the wine, but I will try—smooth, rich, balanced, with dark ripe fruit but not aggressively so. We tried the 2006 about 10 months ago and like the 2006 Bien Nacido, “2009 been very, very good to the 2006 Upslope.” The grapey qualities were gone, subsumed into a delicious balanced wine, with ripe fruit and a lengthy smooth finish. Will it ever be as good as the 2005? I don’t know, but it was one damned fine drink last night. I think that the 2007 shows enormous potential. It is in a much better spot in its development at this point than the 2006 Upslope was last year. It’s got stuffing galore and has great structure.
And with three cheeses, epoisse, Stilton with honey and Red Hawk (I have to admit that I miss the days when Chez would bring out huge slabs of cheese and one had to go to the Vomitorium prior to hitting this course) were three dessert wines, the 2005 SQN Mr K Strawman, the 2006 SQN Mr K Iceman and the 2002 Kracher #10 Trockenbeerenauslese. What can you say about a flight with superstars like these? I loved the nose on the Kracher and loved everything about the Strawman, but I would be a happy man to drink any of these at any time.
Thanks to the Winos for another great evening and thanks to Craig Jaffurs and Dave Yates for journeying down from Montecito Street and making great wines.
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