In Pursuit of Balance - SF Tasting Thread

WINE TALK
1

Ok, I’ll start it…was hoping more people were discussing this today but then again, we have Rhys Spring allocations!

Wineries in attendance, bold for wineries I tasted:

Anthill Farms Winery
Arnot-Roberts
Au Bon Climat Winery
Bluxome Street Winery
Calera Wine Company
Ceritas
Chanin Wine Company
Cobb Wines
Copain Wine Cellars
Drew Family Cellars
Failla
Hirsch Vineyards
Knez Winery
Kutch Wines
LaRue Wines
LIOCO
Littorai Wines
Mount Eden Vineyards
Native9 Wines
Peay Vineyards
Red Car
Sandhi Wines
Soliste Cellars
Ojai Vineyard
Twomey Cellars
Tyler Winery
Varner
Wind Gap Wines

My thoughts:

  • Mount Eden: the gold standard of this event IMO. I didn’t taste the Domaine Eden wines, smart strategy. The Chards were amazing, 2007 so good. 2010 Pinot is gonna be amazing, 2007 Pinot was great. Those 4 wines were incredible to taste.
  • Kutch: Poured the 2011 Sonoma Coast and 2011 McDougall. SC was super tight. Plenty of acid. Should be a fun wine to drink in a few years. Jaime’s McDougall never disappoints, it was 2x as tight as the SC but showed McDougall. All in.
  • Anthill: Hmmm, I’ve always supported these guys. 2010 Campbell Ranch Pinot wasn’t memorable. 2010 Peters was better. After 4.5 vintages, I think I’m out.
  • Ceritas: How about John Raytek making a Martin Ray Chard? Yeah, money. Nailed it. The 2011 Porter-Bass was better for me then the Heintz, but that is just a style thing. Sonoma Coast Pinot was great. The Ceritas Chards and Mount Eden Chards were the best I tasted, hands down.
  • Peay: Don’t remember much of anything, blended in for me, didn’t try the 2011 Savoy.
  • Ojai: Didn’t enjoy a single wine poured. Chards felt thin and lackluster. Pinots weren’t for me. 2010 Bien Nacido & Solomon Hills Chards, 2010 Kick On Ranch & Bien Nacido Pinots.
  • Tyler: I jokingly poured my remaining Ojai in Tyler’s spit bucket upon arrival. It was a metaphor. This lineup was the best in class for Central California wines IMO (didn’t taste Chanin or Sandhi). I really enjoyed the 2010 Clos Pepe Pinot and Justin knocked it out of the park with the 2010 Bien Nacido N Block Pinot. Rising star if you like Central Cali Pinots.
  • Hirsch: I hate to say this, but very unimpressed. 2011 Estate Chard tasted like a Pinot Gris to me. I couldn’t find enjoyment in the Estate Pinots.
  • Drew: First time tasting Drew, 2010 Talfryn & Calder Pinot was nice, very good wine, more open then the others. The 2011 Morning Dew Pinot was uber tight, but this has the stuffing. Really enjoyed these wines across the board. All the 2011’s showed how strong and structured the wines of this vintage will likely be. So early.
  • Copain: Only tasted the 2010 Monument Tree and Kiser en Haut Pinots. Both excellent. Strong supporter of this endeavor. I’ll buy both of those and will be happy I did, as long as I could figure out the damn wine club thingy.
  • Calera: Most tannic wine in the room had to be the 2010 Ryan Pinot. Damn. Wall. Nice wine once you got past the tannins. The 2010 de Villiers was nice as well. Calera tends to always show well and Marta is always fun to hang with. Slightly disappointed there was no library wine (last year they yanked some 1998’s out of the celler).

Standouts: Mount Eden, Ceritas, Kutch’s McDougall, Tyler’s N Block
Disappointments (for me): Ojai, Hirsch

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I can add to this - looks like we had a lot of overlap in tables visited. I mostly stuck to producers I already buy from since I really can’t afford to be seduced by something new at the moment…

Anthill - I talked to Anthony at the Anthill/Knez tasting at Arlequin in SF a couple weeks ago and he was very high on the 2011 Anthill Sonoma releases so I was looking forward to them, but was also a bit underwhelmed. Do agree that the Peters was the better of the two, but neither really grabbed me - not flawed, just not as compelling as I expected.

Ceritas - loved the '11 Heintz and Porter-Bass Chards, not as sure about the Martin Ray Chard, which had a distinct aromatic/herbal flavor I couldn’t really ID (meant to go back and try it again but got sidetracked). I’ll buy a few bottles anyways. The “Coastalina” Pinot, which iirc Phoebe said is a blend of Annabelle and declassified Escarpa was very good, w/o quite the structure or weight of the '10 Escarpa. Sounds like allocations of the Pinot won’t be quite as tight as the last couple releases. Release of these is imminent. Oh, and thanks to Alan Rath for correcting my pronunciation of “Ceritas” - like veritas (duh!).

Peay - The '11 SC and Pomarium were good, but the star for me was the Savoy, I thought it was head and shoulders above the other two. Hopefully AV fruit will be a regular in the Peay lineup. After the problems with the Fall release where they ran out of wine prematurely Andy says the release of these will be staggered into three increments, with the first coming this week (not sure if that’s based on seniority).

Mount Eden - seems like we may be in the minority here but neither my wife nor I really liked the Mt Eden Chards (iirc they poured the '07 and '10 Estate as well the '10 Domaine), they had a residual (barrel?) sweetness that just didn’t work for us. Pinots, the '07 and '10 Estate plus the '10 Domaine, were better but I was expecting to be more impressed than I was (I have one bottle of the '09 Estate and four of the '10 Domaine in my cellar, purchased based on reviews).

Kutch - thought the '11 SC was surprisingly open at the pickup party last year but agree it seemed tighter last night, and also found the '11 McDougall even tighter; both are definitely keepers.

Drew - I may have gotten the lineup wrong or maybe it changed during the evening, but the three Pinots I (thought I) tasted were the '11 Gatekeeper (mostly Balo fruit I believe and good for the price), the '11 Weir (a bit lighter than the other two but great structure, big fan of wines from this vineyard) and the '11 Morning Dew (needs time but tons of potential).

Hirsch - I didn’t dislike the '11 Chard as much as Lance did, but also wasn’t blown away, I think the '10 was/is better. Really impressed with the '11 Bohan-Dillon, I’m a fan of the '10 also but it seems a bit rustic compared to the more elegant '11. I skipped the '10 San Andreas since I’ve tasted before and have a few bottles - had a quick sip of the '10 Reserve which needs lots of time (I like it but the QPR isn’t very good).

Red Car - Have all the Pinots already so I skipped those and went right to the Zephyr Chard which I tasted from barrel last year - superb, bright acidity and real depth/body, my favorite Chard of the evening (Ceritas Heintz a close 2nd).

Copain - my first real opportunity to talk to Wells which was a treat. Chatted him up about the Greffieux, he was pretty cagey about when and in what quantities that would be available. I believe he said they bottled 1 barrel ea of 750s, mags and 3Ls but I’m not 100% sure about that (he’s pretty soft-spoken and it was kinda loud in there). Psyched to try the '10 Kiser En Haut, which didn’t disappoint - seductive nose, not as fruit forward as the '09 I cracked a couple weeks ago but with more depth I think.

Arnot-Roberts - got there just in time to get a splash of Pinot before they ran out, not sure which one but it was really distinctive, tons of aromatics and spice (must have a fair amount of whole cluster). They were also pouring their '11 SCM Chard, which must be the brightest Cali Chard I’ve ever had, was surprised to hear that it went thru something like 60-70% M-L. Talked to Duncan a bit about their Trousseau - I’ve only been on their mailing list for a short time so maybe this isn’t news, but in the future the Trousseau will be a blend from 3 vineyards (Bartholomei, Luchsinger and another one I don’t remember). Need to swing by there for a tasting sometime soon.

3

I didn’t attend the tasting but popped a 2010 Ceritas Heintz Vineyard chard last night. It was my first Ceritas. I was blown away. Really complex, great structure, and a killer combination of baked granny smith apple tart, floral aromas, toast, lemon curd, and limestone. Still rich and ripe, but not fat or tropical, and combined with really nice cut that cleans everything up. Wonderful stuff.

4

I went to the media / trade tasting and tasted at 20 of the tables there. I only tasted at 2-3 of the Sonoma Coast producers since there is so much overlap with the West of West event in the summer. And I did limited tasting at Chanin and Tyler since I’d visited their wineries and done more extensive tasting there a few weeks ago. Fun to see some “legendary” vintners pouring their wines - Jim Clendenen, Adam Tolmach, Ehren Jordan, Jeffrey Patterson, Josh Jensen among others. Didn’t spot Ted Lemon, Wells Guthrie, or David Hirsch though.

Overall I found fewer overtly stemmy Pinots than last year and was surprised that a few in particular were as well-integrated as they were - even the Calera Ryan. The 2011 wines were a departure for a few producers I went to from whom I usually expect somewhat bigger wines - it will be interesting to see whether their wines are more similar to previous ones in 2012. Of wineries whose wines I had not tasted before, Knez and Soliste were both very good. Others I liked a lot were Hirsch, Ojai, Mt. Eden, and Copain. I was surprised that probably liked as many or more Chardonnays than Pinots - I would never have expected that.

More detailed notes to come, but it will take me another week or two to work through the backlog I already have.

5

I’m curious if anyone knows – were the wineries involved completely self-selecting? For example, if Martinelli wanted to be in it, could they be? Or does someone determine if you’re in the “right” stylistic camp, and if so, who, and based on what?

Just curious how that works. Thanks.

6

Chris,
This event is RajParr’s event (mostly) w/ JasmineHirsch heavily involved. In the past, I think the selections were mostly made by those two.
This year, Raj had a panel that made the final decision as to which wines were selected. I suspect Raj (maybe Jasmine as well) selected the
candidates. Raj did not vote in the selections, though, this year. I was a bit surprised to see Failla and Ojai in there, as their Pinots are
fairly big Pinots. But not their Chards. I suspect the likes of Loring or Kosta-Browne or Martinelli or Marcassin would be as welcome
as a skunk at a SundaySchool picnic (Kansas colloquialism that needs no interpretation). But I think this event is mostly Raj’s thing
and he wields the greatest influence.
Tom

7

No, you can’t just choose to pour at the event. They have a panel that tastes submissions blind to select participants.

8

Wells was there…at least later in the day portion (don’t know about the evening session). I didn’t see him behind the table earlier, so he ways probably socializing with folks. Didn’t see Ted Lemon or David Hirsch tho.

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Very interesting, Stewart and Tom. Thanks for the explanations.

10

Perhaps one day this will happen not on a Monday!

11

I’m surprised you and Steve were both down on Anthill’s Campbell Ranch. My impression may have been colored by the fact that it was the first PN I tasted after making the chard rounds, but I thought it had very attractive, spicy nose. I preferred it to the Peters.

12

Great event! Attended the trade tasting and got through about two thirds of the wines poured. Did not take notes, but thought the top white wine was the Ceritas Heintz Chardonnay and top red, the Soliste L’Espérance Pinot, I think that was the name. Have never tasted Soliste wines before, but was super impressed with the quality!

13

Stew - no clue why it didn’t appeal. It was probably around middle of my time there so I wasn’t ‘distracted’ yet. It just didn’t have much of anything to offer when I tasted it. The Peters was clearly better for me. Both slightly lacking.

I look forward to you pouring next year :slight_smile:

14

Thanks, Eric. He wasn’t at the table when I tasted there either, but good to hear he was there.

Jasmine mentioned yesterday that the “core” group of wineries at IPOB will continue to be part of it, but it sounds like others may be invited to pour but then may or may not be invited back. I heard of one producer that had poured there in the past but was not invited this year. I’m not totally sure how all this works, and whether they are looking at a maximum number of producers to pour at their events, but I gather they would prefer to keep things at a manageable size, as the events have been so far.

15

Stewart, I was surprised too. In my case Anthill was the last stop of the night so it could have been abit of palate fatigue.

Forgot to mention LaRue. Katy’s father was working the table with her, and he was pretty entertaining. They were pouring the '09 and '10, both of which I purchased last year. Finally got around to opening one of my '10 Poe Angel Camp Pinots tonite and it’s interesting how similar the flavor profiles of the LaRue and Poe are given the different appellations - both show bright red fruits with a hint of citrus, spice and earth. The '10 LaRue (all Rice-Spivak fruit) is a touch darker than the '09 and a bit less forward. Both the LaRues - as well as the Poe actually - are dense without being heavy, and excellent wines.

16

My highlights:
Reds:
Drew’s Pinots- well crafted. bright acid, good texture. solid fruit. really enjoyed these.
Lioco’s -Hirsch PN (2011?)
Anthill-Campbell Ranch

Whites:
Ceritas-2011 Porter Bass CH
Mt. Eden-2007 CH
Arnot Roberts-Santa Cruz Mountains Chard

My only (tiny) complaint is that the overall style of wines at this tasting begs for some bottle age. Many of the young wines i tried yesterday would be better off with 2+ years on them. I absolutely love Racy chardonnay, but prefer to drink them after they tone down a bit. Still had a blast. The bar was very high at this tasting.

17

What did Native9 pour and how was it?

Tom

18

I think that’s a good point that a lot of these wines would show better with a couple more years in the bottle. The Arnot-Roberts Santa Cruz Mtns. Chardonnay was the first wine I tasted and that acidity was something of a shock to the system! Probably would have been better had I tried a few other wines before that one. I neglected in my earlier post to mention Drew as one of my favorites of the tasting - really liked their 2011 Pinots.

19

No TNs for Varner? This was their first year, and Bob was on the Chard pannel. Some of the most interesting Chards I’ve had. Jim and Bob are long time drummers of SCZ Mts and great company.

Had the Arnot-Roberts SCZ Mts Chard a few weeks back with crab cakes. Laser focused acid, and the sea-breeze aromatic/palate components which make SCZ Mts Chards epic.

20

Should I be alarmed that none of my favorite producers were in attendance? Dehlinger, Rochioli, KB, Rivers Marie, Sojourn, Williams Selyem, etc.

Tom