Susan & I tried this wine last night:
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Ch.Honfleur Syrah TraficantiVnyd/SantaCruzMtns 2007: Very dark color w/ slight bricking; fairly strong blackberry?syrah/earthy/dusty slight alcoholic slight smokey/pungent bit complex nose; slightly tart/tangy/mineral/metallic bit smokey/graphite somewhat smooth/elegant light blackberry/Syrah/earthy bit complex/rustic flavor w/ light/tangy tannins; med.long tart/tangy/mineral/SCM/metallic some pungent/blackberry/Syrah/earthy/dusty some complex/rustic finish w/ light/low-key tannins; not a profound Syrah but holding up well and rather on the earthy/rustic side; reminds a bit of the Tulocay or Cline Syrahs w/ a smack of SCM terroir; en enjoyable drink w/ grilled flank steak. $nc (LJ)
A wee BloodyPulpit:
- This is a wine that is pretty unknown to most people. Amazingly, Google give a bunch of hits to this Syrah, one priced at $298/btl. Sorta like Archibald Cuvee I guess.
This is, in fact, a Ho-Made wine of a friend in PaloAlto, LarryJones. Some 6-7 yrs ago, when he found out I was going to be in the area, invited me over for dinner to try some Syrahs. He had just acquired his BigGreenEgg and I was quite impressed by the steak that came off it. Larry, at the time, was working for a company that supplied the mass storage devices for the LosAlamos SuperComputers. It was a very fun evening and, as I departed, he gifted me a btl of his HoMade Syrah.
I dawddled around to get around to tasting it. At the NEB#5 public tasting in April, Larry approached me to (re-)introduce himself. I immediately knew who he was and recounted I still had a btl of his '07 Syrah to try. He assured me it was probably dead & gone. So I cracked it Sat night, with low expectations, and was amazed to find it still in very good drinking condition.
Don’t know anything about the TraficantiVnyd in the SCM. I sorta assume it’s owned by some Mafiosi chief in the BayArea.
Tom
From a TN of March 29, 2006:
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Ch.Honfleur Syrah LosAltosHillsVnyd/SantaCruzMtns (66% FreeRun, 33% Press) 2003: Very
dark color; strong minerally/gunflint plummy/blackberry/Syrah/spicy smokey/pungent
interesting nose; soft lush/plummy/blueberry/Syrah somewhat/minerally/gunflint/earthy
bit tannic flavor; med.long plummy/blueberry/Syrah slight earthy/gunflint finish
w/ some tannins; quite an interesting nose and the mineral/earthy character that
speaks of SantaCruzMtn reds. Interesting/well-made/unusual Syrah…and not just for
being a Ho-Made wine.
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Ch.Honfleur Syrah TrificantiVnyd/LosAltosHills/SantaCruzMtns 2007: Very dark color;
rather reduced/sewer gas/mercaptans that didn’t blow off w/ an underlying earthy/
minerally/blueberry/Syrah nose; tart somewhat lean/tannic/hard strong plummy/
blueberry/Syrah flavor; hard/tannic plummy/blueberry/Syrah bit earthy/minerally
finish; nose is pretty reduced but flavors are good; badly needs 2-6 yrs and will
probably turn into a pretty good/interesting wine.
And a wee BloodyPulpit:
2. ChateauHonfleur: Now here’s a label that is so under-the-radar that it swims with the
fishes. This is a Ho-Made wine by LarryJones of Sunnyvale. I had met Larry in CyberSpace
on eBob because of my LosAlamos connection, where his company (Panassus) provides
the mass storage device for our big iron here. After a few e-mail exchanges, we
agreed on dinner at his home that Sunday. He’s got a new smoker/grill (The BigGreenEgg)
that is a big ceramic thing and I gather is quite the “in” thing. Meal was simple,
grilled meat and baked potatoes and a salad. And lots of good conversation.
When I found out Larry was a home winemaker, I very much wanted to try his efforts.
He buys his Syrah grapes from a small home/non-commercial vnyd up in the LosAltosHills.
Oak treatment comes from chips. I thought the two Syrahs were quite competently
made, certainly spoke of Syrah, maybe even of LosAltosHills terrior, and no obvious
winemaking flaws. The '07 was pretty reduced on the nose, but I’ve had some of KenBurnap’s
reds that were even worse, and it bodes well for it’s aging, I think. Anyway,
a fun evening.
Tom
Thanks again for your notes