Gorgeous golden color rhat gives no indication of age. Consumed at room temperature so rhe aromatics were at their ‘purest’.
Citrus, stone fruit, spice, honeysuckle, a touch of peanut skin that dissipated upon aeration. Pure unctuous mouthfeel that mimics the aromas with a finish that just doesn’t end. A touch of heat - this is stated at 15.9% - but not enough to distract.
This has 25% Viognier blended in and this most likely assisted in lifted aromatics and helped decrease the tendency towards bitterness in rhis variety.
Beautiful now, but my guess is that this has the stuffing to go out another decade or two.
Man do I love Roussanne!
Great minds…you and I could have had a great dinner tonight with your 06 Roussanne and my 06 Lorraine! Those Roussanne can definitely go longer!
Thanks for the note!
Larry and Brian: The roussanne may be my favorite Alban wine, including the reds. It is an ager. I just finished my last 2003, and the comments would be similar to yours. The Estate viognier seems over the top and clumsy by comparison, although I drink a few. He used to do a “Central Coast” version with purchased fruit, but it went away a few years ago. Another really good roussanne from the Central Coast is Jaffurs (and I’d assume Tercero!!).
James,
Yep, I’ve enjoyed his roussannes much more than his viogniers. It’s interesting - both are made in a full throttle manner, but for some reason, the roussanne seems to be able to ‘handle it’ better.
He used to purchase fruit for his Central Coast Viognier from vineyards down in the Santa Ynez Valley but my guess is that he just decided to concentrate on estate stuff instead.
Best domestic roussannes, IMHO, are Stolpman’s L’Avion, Qupe’s Bien Nacido, and Tablas Creek’s. Jaffurs is also very nice - and yep, I make one as well, but do not put myself in that category.
Cheers!
Larry, thank you (again) for your notes!
What color is the wine in 2016? All I could see was a green glass bottle
Drew,
Roussanne takes on a bright amber hue right from the get go - and this just deepens as it ages . . .
Cheers!