Juan Mercado was in town this evening for a tasting of the 2006s [Tempest, Dr Crane, Beckstoffer TK, and Farella]; as usual, I loved the Petit Verdot in the Tempest, but this time, the Farella really blew my socks off.
Farella sits about 300 [?] feet above the valley floor, and it’s producing a very old-world style of juice, with [by California standards] a lean and tight fruit profile and tannins which get all under your tongue and in between your lips and your gums and which leave your palate all puckery and your face in knots.
Mouthfeel kinda reminded me of a cross between Chateau Palmer and Paulo Scavino.
Apparently the Farella vineyard was re-trellised in 2002, and Juan & Wendell were warned that it might take up to six years for the vineyard to re-assert itself, but judging from what I tasted this evening, the rejuvenation of this property seems to be proceeding well ahead of schedule.
Also, Stephen Tanzer has been tasting these wines both in barrel & in bottle, and rumor has it that he went all ga-ga over the 2007 Farella.
BTW, the 2007s [which Juan judges to be their best vintage yet] were bottled in August, and will be offered to the mailing list sometime after the New Year.
PS: A little googling and picture-gazing leads me to believe that Farella is way the heck out in the middle of nowhere:
I have yet to try the lean Realm bottling – clearly Juan has been holding out on me! But in all seriousness, it may be the lightest bodied of the Realms, but that is like saying it is the fattest supermodel – they are all new-world, powerful, rich wines (that I love). Of the 06 Realm line-up, I was a huge fan of the Dr. Crane (I thought it’s mouthfeel was off the charts) but my notes/memory recall the 06 Farella to be their best to date.
That said – 2007 is the year. I am biased (I did some cellar work for them, put the final blend to tank for bottling), but I was really impressed. The 07 ToKalon was the best young wine I’ve ever tried from Napa and the line-up top to bottom is incredibly strong. Mike Hirby killed it for Realm.
I stand by the statement. Off the top of my head, I might put the 07 Seven Stones ahead of the Maybach as well. Again, fat supermodels – but there are some serious f*ing wines from 07.