TN: 2012 Apsara Cellars Syrah 100% Whole Cluster Las Madres

WINE TALK
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  • 2012 Apsara Cellars Syrah 100% Whole Cluster Las Madres - USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros (4/17/2014)
    Nose of stewed meats and blueberry compote. Palate shows a deep and profound multilayered expression of Las Madres that really is interesting to experience. Certainly more intense than last years non-WC which is all I can judge against.
    coaxing bring forward some nice dark black and blue fruits. For the first hour or so this is pretty full throttle and Formula 1-like. After that if goes round full body with incredible complexity. It is fragrant and chewy with great texture. Balance deft and acidity spot on. This wine is a very true expression of the popular and rightly so Las Madres vineyard. Long and true. (93 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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Great note Mike! Couldn’t agree more. I attended the Las Madres Winemakers lunch yesterday and got to taste through the '13s. They are all full throttle as well. Start saving now!

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Thank you you two. I just signed up for their mailing list.
Like I need more wine.

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Nice note. Robin just shipped me a sixer of his wines for the next Laura’s House charity event here in the OC. We plan to blind taste people on the Las Madres syrah, both the whole cluster and regular to see how folks react. Should be a gas. Props to him for supporting the charity down here.

I need to pour a glass of each behind the table and try the wines as I too have yet to taste them.

Mike, that avatar is bitchen. Bitchen.

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Drinking the 2012 Sauvignon Blanc on a warm Spring day. Lovely. Almost green in the glass. Waxy green apple with a streak of lively acidity. Yum!

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I really enjoyed the '12 SB as well as the '11. Had the '13 last week but i think I opened it too soon.
Gave me the sensation of being sweet. I asked Robin and he said it was bone dry but the alcohol might have given that impression. It measured out @ 14.6. '13 was a ripe year and he didn’t want to water back. He told me to give it a couple months to settle down.

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Agreed, Mike.

You will not find a nicer guy out there in Napa (well, maybe his boss up at Myriad).

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Have you tried the non-whole cluster Las Madres? I just bought two bottles of the 2012. I shied away from the whole clusters, because I’m not a fan of even the slightest hint of stems that would lead in the direction of green or vegetal flavor profiles.

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I have, the 2011. Today I ordered more of both.
No green. I would have mentioned it.

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Here’s my note from the regular '12

I LIKE THIS WINE:
February 10, 2014 - From barrel one month before bottling.
This one saw 30% new oak. Drank out of a beaker so it was hard to coax the nose out of it. In the mouth it was plush meaty blue and black fruit, med+ bodied great freshness and balance with soft embracing tannins.

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Thanks for posting Mike. This is a new label to me, so excited to hop on board.

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For anyone interested, I just posted an interview with Robin on my blog.

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A statement like that should aways include a link. [cheers.gif]

BTW, nice write-up! Tried to leave a response but the blog format is not very iPad friendly.

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Here is my note from back in March:

  • 2012 Apsara Cellars Syrah 100% Whole Cluster Las Madres - USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros (3/6/2014)
    A Whole Lotta Syrahs (and more) at the Girl and the Fig; 3/4/2014-3/6/2014 (The Girl and the Fig): Robin stepped up to add another bottle to the flight. As he described including day-glo green stems as part of the whole cluster experiment, I had my doubts, but this worked. At lease it did in this vintage. I love the 2012’s as a general rule so far and this was no exception. Purple/ruby in color. The nose really jumps from the glass. It has this brightness to it, that is really interesting. Spice, boysenberries, slight blueberries and some charred meat qualities. On the palate, this is young but really accessible. That is a quality I love in the 2012’s so far, but I do think they will age as well. I think this was a tank sample to be bottled on the following am. Its delicious and while cool climate, there is structure and more than enough fruit. (92 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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Brian, thanks. I find posting a link here almost as challenging.

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Last glass from a bottle I opened last Friday (9 days ago) and have kept corked in the cellar.

Color is a translucent ruby at the rim, darkening to a murky ruby/purple at the core. At this point in it’s evolution, really more red-fruited on the nose, with nice framing minerality.

On the palate, more black than red fruit (blackberry?), nice acidity supporting the fruit, decent persistence on the finish. Very focused - with the caveat that much of what California does these days does not fit comfortably into my AFWE-centric wheelhouse, this is pretty darned good. And for a nine-day old glass to show this nicely probably implies that this should age effortlessly through at least the near-term.

I do have to admit I like the “35 cases produced” notation on the label - kind of like owning a few bottles put’s you in some kind of wine fraternity [cheers.gif] . I saw that Loren posted his TN in the thread - when I read that note, that was the “trigger” that caused me to order this, so a tip of the cap to a fellow Berserker.