2007 Robert Foley Griffin- USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District (12/5/2009)
First of 3. At the price of 32 bucks, I actually bought more of this than the petite this year. Tasting tonight for the first time, dark color and some new oak, the kind that is mocha-like, cocoa powder noted. The palate shows some of the same mocha/chocolate edges, but with the cab and petite playing back and forth with tobacco and black cherry notes from the cab and the juicy blackberry and spice from the petite, perhaps even some plum that I would attribute to the merlot. I will agree with others that have noted the wine is not big boned like other Foley bottlings (i.e. the Foley Petites) but more medium weighted and gentle with dark notes. For the price, with the wood and fruit notes mixing, it works for me.
Thanks FMIII
I picked up a bottle of this a few weeks ago and am planning on opening it sometime this holiday season. I fear that it will be too “Foley” for me, but was intrigued by the blend. I’ll share it with my boss and he will love it.
My 6 bottles of Griffin (along with the rest of my Foley order) arrived via my son-in-law yesterday. One of the Griffin’s is going into the near-term queue!!!
WooHoo. Glad I have another bottle for the future. Sweetish and a bit hot on opening. The heat wore off quickly. I thought this was full bodied and smooth. I tasted chocolate and mocha/mint. No improvement at 2 hours… it was still delicious. I’ll wait at least a year to drink my other bottle.
I drank one of these about 2 months back, the second of three that I had originally bought. This wine, much like the 2002 Paloma Merlot I had last weekend, is about powdered cocoa, chocolate and dark fruit, and moreso for the price of about 30 bucks-ish, it’s a great drink. Certainly not going to be mistaken for french but I really like this wine and if I ended up in a retail store again, with a handful of bottles for sale, I’d buy a few more.
Tex, well, I guess is wasn’t all that long ago. I had forgot that I had dropped the TN into CT. Here you go…
2007 Robert Foley Griffin- USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District (5/31/2010)
Tasted more ripe and forward to me this time, as opposed to the last bottle. While the ripeness is present, it does not create a thick or clumsy wine so what I perceived is a more forward wine, with some ripe edges, but enough balance within the palate to make it work. Lots of black fruit and black cherry. Ready to drink.
I had one of these the other night, and my notes were similar. Overall, it was very enjoyable, and a good value at $30. I had the bottle with a with a pepper crusted Ny strip cooked on a treager wood grill… Excellent pairing. Enjoy
How is the alcohol on this puppy? The '07 Foley Merlot was like jet fuel. I am interested in the petite sirah, but was turned off by the alcohol content and balance in that merlot.
I regretted not getting more of the 07, so I ordered more of the 08. Bob Foley is pretty confident about all of his 08’s.
I think alot of his merlots are styled more to the tastes of cab drinkers… require age, and should be decanted young to blow off some of that alcohol reported above. I find with decanting it is a good drink.
I noted that he was reporting charbono in the Griffin 08 blend. I don’t recall if this was true of the 07!?! I do agree with the general concensus that this is a great wine for the price. I don’t think these are bought or even really surplus grapes. I think it is a concession to the economy, and that these are really the same grapes used to make all of his other wines individually (if that is properly stated?)! As I have reported elsewhere, I really enjoyed the 07 Foley lineup… so the blend was made with terrific components. I doubt I will actually be tasting any of the 08’s until next summer!