3 BIG-A DELICIOUS WINE: SAXUM, CARLISLE, SINEANN** - (3/18/2014)
Maybe its this lingering winter, but over the last couple of nights we wanted to big delicious wines. Luckily my cellar accommodates almost all kinds of styles of wines and these three worked perfectly. Now come on Spring.
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2007 Saxum Heart Stone Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Pop and pour. This is port-like, syrupy and alcoholic. What happened. Not to worry. I waited about 20 minutes and resumed. It had come together nicely. Inky purple. The nose has black raspberries, camphor, and black pepper. About an hour later some grilled meats come out. The texture changed as it added weight but got smoother. The port-like quality and heat disappeared. In its wake was youthful fruit, depth, tight layering which slowly unwound in the glass. No heat any more. And such a juicy, lush mouthfeel. The bottle was drained all to quickly. Amazing wine, but it needs some air at this point. (96 pts.)
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2011 Carlisle Zinfandel Saitone Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
I am loving the Carlisle 2011 Zins. This bottle was no exception. Drank over two nights, it was even better the second night. Vibrant purple/ruby in color. The nose has candied black raspberries, bramble, and pepper. Lush texture on Day 1 is even more so on day 2. Delicious wine. There is depth here, but I doubt mine see middle age. It is juicy and so enjoyable right now. Great balance too. (94 pts.)
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2012 Sineann Pinot Noir Resonance Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton
Great showing, even better than a prior bottle. This from a screwcapped 375. This is huge and very fruit forward at this stage. I can imagine this being divisive to some. Not to me. Purple in color with a ruby tinge to it. Lots of cherries and dark cherries on the nose. There is also a floral note. On the palate, this is lush and deep and all about the fruit. Nothing candied or cough medicine but lots of cherry, and dark cherry fruit. Great texture and balance. Just delicious. I imagine that those who find this sort of Pinot offensive will love this one in about 20 years and it certainly has the good to last that long IMO. (94 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
Never had a Sineann, but I’ve had both of the other two and agree with your other reviews, so I guess I should find some Sineann to try.
No formal note on the Saitone, which I had about a month ago. Here’s my note on the Saxum. After this note, I decided not to abuse the rest of my bottles and let them age a bit gracefully. Time to check in again.
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2007 Saxum Heart Stone Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (7/7/2010)
I abused this bottle beyond belief and it still sang like Caruso in his prime. Four days ago, at about 1:00 pm, I double decanted this back into the bottle, recorked it, and expected to drink it that night. I carried it to a dinner, but we had too much wine and I never opened it. I put it in my car for 2 hours when it was about 83 degrees (at night, no sun) and then brought it home and threw it in the fridge. This morning, I took it out and carried it in 90+ degree weather to my office in a canvas bag and after about 75 minutes, I put it in the small wine fridge in my office. At noon, they announced power brown outs in NYC due to 100+ heat and they asked us to conserve, so I unplugged the fridge. At 5:30, I put it back in the canvas bag, went outside in the sauna, and took a cab to a restaurant. Opened at about 6:15 pm, more than 4 days after double decant.
Great balance, wonderful front of the palate red fruit flavor, with meatiness, pepper spice and a nice smooth mouth feel. Went down like velvet honey, but with lots of power. The alcohol was on the nose, but the palate was not disturbed by it at all, If you don’t like alcohol in your wine, drink Welches. This disappeared from the table very fast. I’ve got a lot of this wine and it is deliciously outstanding. This made me think of one very important question - Why worry about how a wine will age if a three year old Saxum delivers more pleasure than most 15+ year high end Bordeaux, and I do not have to wait that long?
BTW - no fizziness or other oddities in the wine, either at original decant or four days later. Color was dark dark red with no signs of the abuse the wine took, and there was no oxidation on the palate. (93 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
I opened a 2012 Sineann Resonance Vyd Reserve last week and was impressed. I think my tasting note started with the word “Wow.”
It was opened after tasting some big wines, including a 2009 Saxum Broken Stones, and a 2011 Lucia Syrah, Gary’s Vineyard.
The Sineann Reserve was rich, dense, and full of flavor. It is not a light and ethereal wine, nor is it candied and syrupy. Just delicious. A Pinot with the volume turned up. I have a second bottle that I will hide in the cellar for a few years.
As a side note, I enjoy the full line up of the Sineann wines. I had a 2004 Sineann Pinot Reeds and Reynolds (former vineyard name for Resonance) that was corked. Loren suggested I contact Peter Rosback, which I did, who sent a replacement (although a different vintage). I appreciate that type of customer service. Peter said something about corked wines as a reason why he no longer uses “tree bark.”