Tasting with Russell Bevan and Florida Jim

WINE TALK
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I haven’t been drinking much wine or hanging on any boards over the last few weeks by design. However, I thought I would share some thoughts on some wines consumed over the weekend.

Sunday morning Traci and met Russell Bevan over Vinify in Santa Rosa (where Russell makes his wine, Westerhold Vineyard wines). Russell was pressing some 09 Westerhold Syrah (from John Westerhold’s property in Bennett Valley) and was appropriately stained from head to foot as only Russell can get that dirty during harvest.

While there we ran into Florida Jim who is making his small production Syrah (from Drystack Vineyard in Bennett Valley). The wines:

08 Westerhold Sryah Barrel Samples - we tasted the Syrah from two different barrels a Remond barrel and I forget the other but hold onto your hats the 08 is a big rockin wine on the scale of an Alban. The first barrel was big and richly fruited with terrific natural acidity the second was all game/meat with nice acidity and also richly fruited. Amazing the ripeness of fruit with the level of natural acidity in these wines…awesome Syrah samples and a wine to definitely look for when it is bottled and released.

08 Bevan Cellars samples - first off an approximate blend of the Merlot. Holy smokes was this good. Reminded me of a better version of Switchback Ridge Merlot. Dark, rich fruit, enough tannin to provide some grip, chocolate. Dense long finish. Next Russell put together his “bordeaux blend”. Again another sexy rich wine with plum, smoke, chocolate…dense long chewy finish but tasting very much like a finished wine already. And finally the Cabernet. I don’t think Traci was going to let go of her glass while we were comparing the 08 Bdx blend to the Cabernet. I did pry it out of her hands and it was very impressive. More plum, a little more tannic grip, a hint of mint and Cabernet underbrush, chocolate and cassis…again it is densely packed but superbly balanced. I am amazed at the quality level of Russell’s wines so early in his evolution as a winemaker. Look forward to tasting all his 07’s at his place on Turkey Day.

08 Florida Jim Syrah barrel sample (Drystack Vyd in Bennett Valley). All 2 or 3x filled barrels (i.e., no new oak) it is definitely a lighter wine than what Russell did from the Westerhold Vyd in the same year. It is lively and zippy with nice red fruits, pepper/spice and just a hint of vanilla. Striking acidity with fresh lively fruit. This is something that you’ll want to decant for some time and enjoy with a nice piece of steak…kudos Jim. An excellent wine!!!

WIth that we drank an 02 William Fevre "Bourgros, Cote Bouguerots, Chablis Grand Cru that was terrific. We left and headed back to Oakland…very excited with what Russell and Florida Jim are doing…

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I’m jealous. I was supposed to be in Sonoma this week.

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That’s what I thought. I hope everything is okay and hopefully we’ll catch up next time you are able to get out here.

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The least you could have done was type up an Open Letter first [dance-clap.gif] .

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Thanks for the notes. the FlJim wine sounds great, hope to try it some time.