You just need to clone yourself, Frank—one Frank to play genial host and one to continue with what are sensational notes on the next-day wines. Do you remember any TN thoughts on the 08 Alpine PN? I seem to recognize quite a few rogues in the picture gallery there!
Mike
Nice job guys. Thanks so much for these notes.
Well done Frank. I understand the challenge of putting on an event and being responsible to all who attend at the expense of being the geeky note taker such as I am.
Like your innovative scoring method.
Appreciate all the posts from everyone. This is the 4th one of these we have done. I recall us doing a couple smaller formatted ones earlier in the series and I have mixed feelings about which is better. I like the premise of getting a lot of bottles open, as we can find the gems within the craft, and get the wines into a discussion like this. Or, we go smaller as we did in a few of the previous events and work for more focused discussion around a table–less wines, more focus. I like both and with this one and the last being the big format, I am going to do the next one using the smaller format. Have to think about how to arrange it but likely no more than 8-10 bottles.
The other cool thing about this event, and you can see the folks in the photos above, is that I would have met none of these people without the internet wine forums. Starting with Parker, then now here, all of these people are connected with me because we did events, we took some chances to meet each other and the relationships have lasted and strengthened. I challenge members and people here to do events, to make your world bigger by sharing wine and bringing others into it.
Mike, my TN on the 2008 Alpine is not worth posting. I do recall it being my WOTD but that’s it. Clearly, that wine excelled for a # of people and given our scoring system, you had to cheat to see the voting as the stickers were on the back of the bottle tag.
I thought this was a great tasting format. The one thing I learned, though (which should have been obvious, but…) is that I needed to be taking my own notes as I went. I thought I would remember which ones I voted for and what I thought of them (and I made no real attempt to remember the ones that I didn’t vote for), but by the end it all blended together. Next time I will be more diligent…
Thank for hosting, Frank!
Overall impressions:
(1) I don’t know if Rhys’s chardonnays are “better” than their pinots, but I think in any crowd from geeks to civilians, they are going to make a much bigger impression. Great wines which are both cerebral and delicious. Sometimes the pinots are too much of the former and not enough of the latter.
(2) Patience is the key with the reds. The pinots at 10+ years are usually far better than the younger ones. That’s not to say you can’t drink and enjoy the younger ones (and depending on the vineyard - Bearwallow seems easier to drink young, for example), but patience is going to be rewarded.
(3) I think, for me, it was too many similar wines, and it was pretty hard for someone of my modest tasting skills and note-taking abilities to keep parsing the distinctions. I’m usually an advocate for blind tasting among wines with some similarities - for example, I see much less value in blind tasting a flight of one Loire Chenin, one Sonoma chardonnay, and one CdP blanc, than in a flight of three wines from one of those categories. But all one producer, mostly one grape, over a large number of bottles, mostly the same vintages . . . it was just very challenging to have a sense of the differences, and it became kind of mentally exhausting.
(4) Frank, and Rhys, really bring some people together. Lots of kind folks, good conversation about Rhys but also many other things, beautiful weather, Frank and Jill’s lovely home. Hell of a way to spend an afternoon.
My brief tasting notes. I didn’t get to taste all of them. These are in order in which I tried them (which plays some role, I’m sure - me as the taster, the table talk I gradually would hear about wines as the event went on, the amount of air the wines had received, the amount of energy I had to write notes). I did try them all blind, though, except as otherwise noted.
#16 2013 Alpine Hillside: Light bodied, whiff of cinnamon, bit of funk (brett?) on the nose, bay leaf. Savory, light bodied, not much fruit. More interesting than delicious.
#17 2013 Alpine: Less ripe red cherry and cherry skin, lean, tart, pine, bay leaf. Not much fruit showing right now, more acid and chalky tannic structure.
Non-blind 2004 Family Farm: Great nose, sweet cherry, still some stem character, baking spices. Seems to be in the middle of its peak window, very enjoyable. I think others found it bretty, but I did not.
#18 2013 Home: More expansive fruit initially, but then it pulls back. Chalky, structured finish. Not there yet, but I like the potential for the future.
#19 2013 Horseshoe: More tart and fresh, almost a bit sour in the cherry fruit. Pretty nose. Less herbal and complex, but easier to sip and enjoy.
#20 2013 Swan Terrace: Corked.
#21 2008 Horseshoe: Darker cherry, more concentrated. Nicely integrated hints of stem, sage, and pine forest. One of my favorites of the tasting.
#22 2014 Horseshoe Hillside: Broader dark cherry, but very savory and bony the rest of the way. Seemed to have more concentration and weight than most of the other pinots. Probably better in 5-10 years.
#23 2013 Skyline: This was more open and more joyous than most. Dark ripe cherry, dark spice, bay leaf. This had good power and concentration. One of my favorites from the tasting.
#24 2013 Bearwallow: Ripe cherry, red apple, nice baking spice at the finish. More relaxed and less tense than most of the other pinots. Guessed Bearwallow.
#25 2003 Alesia Syrah: Sweet dark fruit, almost overripe (or maybe just that’s how it seemed in a lineup of Rhys pinot), liqueur, not really much complexity. Just okay.
#4 2013 Horseshoe Chardonnay: My WOTD. Pleasant earthiness to the nose, salted butter, pineapple, yellow apple, white pepper, medium acid. I think this may have been too obvious of a style for some tasters, but it really hit my sweet spot.
#2 2017 Chenin Blanc Mt. Pajaro: Banana, yellow apple, kind of rounded and lacking edges or energy. Okay, but not for me. Might have guessed a Rhone white.
#3 2013 Alpine Chardonnay: Beautiful wine, white spice, pineapple , tart green apple, long lemony finish. About equal to the 2013 Horseshoe in quality, but appeals to a little more serious side. Maybe my second most favorite wine of the day.
#1 2016 Aeris Etna Bianco: I didn’t really like this bottle (and I loved the 2014, which I’ve had twice). Lemony tart, some orange peel, but I was distracted by a kind of dishwater minerality that left an unpleasant finish. Entirely possible this was just me, as it seemed in conversation that others liked it just fine.
#5 2013 Alpine Chardonnay (duplicate bottle): Intense, lemony, white spice, tastes young and full of energy. Very good, one of my favorites of the event.
#6 2010 Horseshoe Chardonnay: Melon, honey, light, not really enough “there” there. Decent, but a big step below the other chardonnays. Maybe past its prime?
#13 2008 Alpine: Dark, spicy, good extract, large frame to it, mix of diced herbs complement the generous fruit. One of my favorites from the event.
#7 2013 Horseshoe Hillside: Very savory, lean, minerally. Little fruit, not really fun to drink at this age. Probably needs many years.
#14 2007 Alpine Hillside: Red cherry, red apple, open and tasty, into its prime window.
#15 2007 Horseshoe: Another good one, lots of spice, dark cherry, more masculine, good mix of herbs. Into the early part of its prime window, I think.
#11 2014 Alpine Hillside: More power, more impressive, intense beam of fruit. Chalky tannins, lots of structure. I saw a lot of potential in this, I think in 6+ years this might be a great one. Perhaps the most upside of the pinots, in my opinion.
Here are my impressions. Not really doing full CT treatment minus a few exceptions.
A fun tasting. A big range here. Some showed much bigger than I expected but few were as large as what we think of as bigger CA Pinot. A lot of the wines were in funky places. I remember talking to Viet about how he was surprised that revisiting the wines gave him extremely different impressions. I remarked that that is Pinot often. But it’s not really what we think of in terms of Cali Pinot. It is in terms of Burgundy. Not making a direct comparison but it is note worthy given that many of these wines were not all that open or seemed a bit awkward.
The quality is apparent as is the craft. Even if I didn’t love a lot of these wines I would have to note that I doubt there is another Pinot producer that I could taste such a wide range of wines from and come out with so few wines where the fruit was the biggest show. That’s a compliment in my book.
I dropped in some oldies. I think I confused the 04 Fam Farm with the 09. I know the 09 can often not show the brett. This 04 did so I left it unbagged. I’m extremely amused it received any votes. I also brought the 03 Alesia SC Syrah. I had hoped it would be leaner and more subtle. It’s still showing like a younger thing full of tar.
Notes in order of my tasting. Wines I voted for are 1,3,5,17,21,7,8,13. 21 Being my fav.
2017 Mt Pajaro Chenin - Sweet honeysuckle nose. Weighty and a bit sweet with a somewhat harsh finish. Seems obviously not Chard now but I didn’t make the call at the time.
2016 Aeris Carricante - Stony nose with light straw notes. Mineral and stony. Strong lemon. This came off as definitely not Chard to me. I liked this but didn’t find it exceptional.
2013 Horseshoe Chard - Sulury/oak aroma. Rich lemon oil palate. Rougher finish.
2010 Horseshoe Chard - Lots of color like it was quite advanced. Stewed riper fruit. Hints of butterscotch. This really showed advanced. Really makes me wonder about it. I’ve had older bottles that showed much younger than this.
2013 Alpine Chard - Floral, sweet nose. More reserved on the palate being tight but with refreshing acidity. Voted.
2013 Alpine Chard - Whiff of sulfury oak but Chablis like overall. This was also tight and reserved. Kinda maybe something better on the way. Voted.
2013 Alpine Hillside - Piny/Stemmy but lifting. Elegant and light bodied though drying. Nice but actually came off as basic.
2013 Home - A lopt more color here. Rich nose with a mix of fruit. Touch of mineral. Grippy, tight palate. Good acidity. This seemed more complete. Voted.
2013 Alpine - Stewy nose of ripe fruits. Dark fruits. Drying and a bit watery towards the finish. Guessed might be a Family Farm.
2013 Horseshoe - Cranberry nose. Ripe/baked fruit. Juicy with a light grip. Drank like just a nice Pinot.
2013 Swan Terrace - TCA. Corked.
2008 Horseshoe - Rich, expressive with an herby presence. Young. Minerals. Tannic. My fav at the tasting. Was surprised to be able to take some home. The next night it was consistent from the day before. I noted that it was not harmonious but had fantastic expression.
2014 Horseshoe Hillside - Showing riper, more advanced fruit but then gets subtle. Fat fruited. Wallows a bit. Seemed to want for acid.
2013 Skyline - Bretty nose. Lean and harsh. Bretty and grippy. Biggest shock on the day.
2013 Bearwallow - Sweet baked fruits with subtle minerality. Medium bodied. Fresh acids. A bit wrapped. Nice parts but seemed unintegrated. Looking back I might have voted for this as it seems like there is potential here given a few more years rest.
2003 Alesia Sonoma Coast Syrah - Rubbery, tar nose. Sweet fruit that is comes off younger than I might have guessed.
2004 Family Farm - Bretty and herby. Juicy but too much brett. But it’s known for that.
2013 Horseshoe Hillside - Forward nose like a more typical big Cali Pinot. But the palate is fresh and not too big. Nice body with a bit of grip. Voted.
2008 Bearwallow - Reserved nose. Expressive big fruit. Strong tannin. Broad yet with some mineral. I wrote ‘good but could be great, needs time’. Ha! Voted. Maybe the most impressive surprise on the day.
2013 Horseshoe - Dirty, herby nose. Maybe a whiff of brett. Slightly stewed fruits. Juicy fresh with lots of acid. Nice build. Mixed bag.
2013 Family Farm - Complex nose. Floral, mineral, herbs. Juicy palate with not much going on. But great nose. Notable looking back.
2014 Alpine Hillside - Big nose with green stems. Juicy with some grip. Took some home. Night two shows some mineral. Still grippy but lean and balanced. Touch of citrus peel.
2006 Alpine Hillside - Rich with lots of color. Expressive nose. Sweetish fruit but notes of mineral. Nice structure with late tannin. I wrote it needs time to integrate. Ha!
2008 Alpine - Blackberries, mineral, touch of asparagus. But subtle nose overall. Dark fruit but with a glassy feel. Lots of grip. I wrote good potential but young!! Voted. Second fav on the day.
2007 Alpine Hillside - Baked fruit. Stems. Lean feel. Grip around the outside. Doesn’t really come together. The stems seem omnipresent.
2007 Horseshoe - Reserved nose. Touch of stems. Narrow and wrapped up. Dark fruited with grip. Tight. Some potential.
Sad to have missed this event, but I’m really appreciating the notes, everyone. Thank you!
Cris,
It’s interesting to me that baked/stewy shows up in so many of your 2013 Pinot notes. Worrisome.
David, I finished both the 2013 Alpine and Shoe Pinots last night before dinner, both open since Saturday AM, and neither showed anything stewed or baked. You don’t need to be worried, IMO. I edited within CT as I retasted both wines last night, with the comments being what you see at the end portion of each TN. I respect Cris’ palate and can’t argue if he perceived the wines as he did but this is not my tasting impression of them.
Posted from CellarTracker
Thanks Frank.
Side by side after 3 days. The '13 apline shows much more stem or oak and lots of structure. The horseshoe had notes of distinct red apple. both were delicious. And my wife loved the Chennin.
Wines with good acid can sit out for days.
Thanks for the notes, all - and I wish more bottles were left open for multiple days and reported on for comparison sake. ‘Stewed’ flavors on day 1 certainly can mellow out over time - but if they are on day 1, they are there. A ‘challenge’ here is that not everyone will allow these wines to sit as long as Frank and Brig do.
I agree with you, Frank, that these types of tastings are always a challenge. Too many wines lead to difficult truly discerning them, especially if they are more similar than different which sounds like the case here, and even moreso when you’re socializing at the same time. If I were taking notes - and I rarely do - I would prefer smaller tastings with fewer bottles for sure.
The tasting kind of reminds me of Falltacular, which I’m looking forward to taking part in once again. With well over 100 bottles open, it really is difficult to ‘concentrate’ on all of them - and so I don’t. I quickly tasted a range of wines and then spend the rest of the time socializing. The big difference between a tasting like that, though, and this tasting is the sheer variety of wines being opened. Differences are clearer across vintages/producers vs comparing all wines from the same producer.
Thanks again all . . .
I wish I had remembered to make this point in my earlier post. Regardless of the extent to which certain bottles of these may be more or less your thing, there is no doubting the earnest and diligent commitment to quality at Rhys.
And “commitment to quality” doesn’t mean more of everything, more oak, more ripeness, more power. It means a commitment to produce excellent wines with balance, complexity, the ability to improve with age, and reflection of their terroir. And to provide top notch customer service.
Agreed my friend. I did try to lure people in…
Well as Frank is the final word I guess you don’t have to worry. ![[wink.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/04707e6a7bbb03e0153e349d8a9270d30e1e9525.gif "wink"){kind=small}
I notice that note in Pinot a lot from riper climates. It might be just how I express the fruit. It might be something I’m more sensitive to.
I don’t think any of these wines showed the sort of ripeness that left them completely hollow. But I do think they show their terroir.
I took a walk today and was thinking about all the feedback here, as well as what I discussed with Brian Bohr during the event, too. I have decided to put on another event, but will pull back on the total bottles, which will also affect attendance count, unfortunately. I will send out a note to all those attended last weekend, and we’ll just pick a date and let it land with 8 total seats, which to me seems like the right number.
Ultimately, I don’t want to throttle back on inclusion, as the premise of involving people and connecting is important to me but I just have come to the point where doing 20+ bottles isn’t effective anymore for an assessment of things like we sought, at least for me. We’ll do one vintage, tackle the wines of that range, and then have one table that we share where we can discuss differences and themes of those wines. I’ll do it in January once the holidays are over.
Thanks again to Frank and Jill for hosting and also to everyone for their contributions. I had a great time and felt lucky to attend this event and spend time with a great group of people. Disclaimer on my notes here: I am not experienced with big tastings (or even wine compared to many others on here lol). I powered through the wines (from 1 to 26), in 1-2 ounce pours which only gave me 2-3 sips/chances to get a quick impression on the wine. I enjoyed almost all of the wines with the exception of the flawed wines. My call outs of the night were 5 / 10 / 14 / 17 / 21 which I revisited with food and was able to really enjoy myself and socialize a bit more. Ultimately my favorite white was the 2013 Alpine Chard. I loved how the fruit and oak treatment worked together to create something beautiful, balanced with acid and a great finish. My favorite red wine was the 2007 Alpine Hillside PN. I thought it was in such a good spot for drinking. A wonderful nose with those alluring notes that only come with age. Pretty red/PN fruit (which I prefer over darker fruit in PN). Integrated tannin that doesn’t punish you for taking another sip… so good. WOTD? I enjoyed the chard more with the chicken but I enjoyed the pinot more on it’s own. This is a big shift for me. Two years ago it would be hard for me to think that I’d vote for a white wine over red.
STARTERS (Non blind)
NV Pierre Gerbais Champagne l’Audace Brut Nature: Apples and lemon accented with light floral notes and a citrus finish, fine bubbles, no oxidative notes. What a nice refreshing start to the event.
Loring Rose Sparkling wine: some VA notes, pinot flavors, a little sweet for me.
WHITES
REDS PART I:
7) 2013 Horseshoe Hillside - Off to the races with the reds. Loved the nose on this, very aromatic/expressive with hints of pine. Denser red fruits here compared to some of the others. Good balance of acid/grip.
8) 2008 Bearwallow - Darker fruit that #7, with very strong tannins. I’m surpised by the reveal, thought it was a younger wine, maybe a hillside (nope).
9) 2013 Horseshoe - I guessed this was one of the younger wines due to the high tannin.
10) 2013 Family Farm - Nose had a lot going on, fruit/pepper/roses but the taste was less espressive. I guessed this wine was one of the older bottles (nope). I had a star on my notes for this one, but ultimately voted for #14.
11) 2014 Alpine Hillside - This wine felt closed, would be nices to see what it turns into with time.
12) 2006 Alpine Hillside - Fruitier than the wines before and fairly easy going/open for business. Tannins integrated (esp after #11). The reveal makes sense.
13) 2008 Alpine - Darker fruit with a hint of licorice. Denser in texture, less tannic than some of the prior wines.
14) 2007 Alpine Hillside - Loved the nose on this and back to red fruit highlighted with acid. Drinking really well right now and my WOTD.
15) 2007 Horseshoe - Nose on this wine was nice but compared to #14 this wine was more tannic and less expressive.
REDS PART II:
16) 2013 Alpine Hillside - darker fruit with stronger tannin, not ready
17) 2013 Home - really pretty nose violets, red fruit hightlighted with spices, drinking well. Had a star next to this one but ultimately voted for #21
18) 2013 Alpine - Darker fruit with tannin again
19) 2013 Horseshoe - Lighter red fruit, a good wine but did not stand out for me
20) 2013 Swan Terrace - Flawed (corked)
21) 2008 Horseshoe - This got my vote for this flight for it’s delicious and espressive red fruits, nice texture/finish. There were other wines that were more interesting but this one was nice to sit back and relax with on the revisit with food.
22) 2014 Horseshoe Hillside - I wrote the acid was out of balance for my small taste
23) 2013 Skyline - Flawed (brett), milder than #26
24) 2013 Bearwallow - Good wine, but did not stand out to me (with my small taste)
25) 2003 Alesia Sonoma Coast Syrah - My least favorite/outlier from this flight. The fruit/texture was a lot denser, I wrote “simple” fruit and felt that it was not as stimulating/complex as the other bottles.
26) 2004 Family Farm - Flawed (brett), more so than #23
I completely agree with this. I’ve been fortunate to be a part of all of these tastings and I thought the first 2 were the best format. We sat down at the big table and got to taste though a focused group of wines for a good amount of time. This allowed the wines to evolve properly and time for us to discuss them as a group.