2001 Ferrando Nebbiolo di Carema Black Label (Etichetta Nera)- Italy, Piedmont, Northern Piedmont, Nebbiolo di Carema (2/10/2012)
Tasted non-blind at home. PnP and enjoyed over 3 hours. Beautiful garnet with significant bricking. Nose of red fruit, hints of leather and tobacco. On the palate, it has dark fruit- sour black cherries, licorice, spice and a hint of cedar. Long finish with more spice, some sour rubber and a bit of cedar at the end. Still has plenty of structure and nice Nebbiolo acidity. Almost undetectable alcohol and hard to keep in the glass before pouring more. Ready to drink but still has a few years of life left. (91 pts.)
2006 Davis Family Vineyards Syrah Guyzer Block Russian River Valley- USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (2/9/2012)
Tasted non-blind at home. PnP, decanted and tasted over 4 hours. The nose is a bit weak but has dark fruit and violets. On the palate it has more dark berries, a hint of earth and some black tea. The finish is very consistent and fairly long. The tiniest hint of smoke at the very end is pretty much the only evidence of barrel treatment. Medium tannins. Drink now with a few hours of air or hold. Seems to have several years of life ahead of it. (91 pts.)
2003 Windy Oaks Estate Pinot Noir Proprietor’s Reserve Schultze Family Vineyard- USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (2/7/2012)
Tasted non-blind at home from a split. PnP and drank over 3 hours. Very bright nose of red cherries, oak, spice and a hint of smoke. On the palate, it has more red berries and is a bit dominated by the oak. My first tasting of this wine so I can’t comment on how the oak compares to earlier in its life but I would say it is far from fully integrated. Very long finish with sour cherries, spice and smoke at the very end that lingers for a full minute. A bit hot on the finish but not overwhelmingly so. Seems to have plenty of potential ahead of it. Very drinkable now but I would rather wait to see if the oak settles down some. (92 pts.)
Windy Oaks to me seems to be more and more dominated by oak. I wish they would sometimes just back off a bit as the rest of the wine minus the oak is quite enjoyable normally.
Love the Ferrando Carema’s as well. They are normally so feminine for the grape even in comparison to the Barbaresco of further south. Though I drink far more of the white label I enjoy them both. Have found a decent amount of corked wines in the white label 2006 unfortunately.
Interesting that you mention you have experienced a number of corked Carema bottles as I have seen the same thing with the black label 2001- 2 out of 7 bottles so far. Not a big enough sample to be statistically relevant but out of the 200+ bottles I have opened in the last year, the Carema’s account for more than half of them.
I’m quite oak-averse, as I’d rather experience the beautiful Pinot grape just as nature intended…however, I buy a lot of Windy Oaks because if you give them some time, they absolutely soar. Fantastic wines if you let the oak integrate. There are a few bottles, like Wood Tank Fermented, which don’t seem to have the heavy oak treatment early on, or mask it well.
Just to set the record straight, when I first started Windy Oaks Estate I did not want to buy used barrels and take the risk of Brett; so for the first four or five years–until about 2005–we used mainly new barrels. The 2003 Reserve, for example, was 100% new oak. As our vineyard production started to level off, we increasingly used a mix of new, 1 vintage, and 2 vintage barrels. We just finished bottling the last of our 2009 vintage, and it ranges from about 50% new oak in our Reserve to 0% new oak in our Diane’s Block. We now purchase about 1/3 of our barrels new each year, and they are all extra tight grain French oak made with 3-5 year air dried wood (to minimize oak intrusion since we age our Pinots in barrel 17-27 months).
Thanks for posting Jim. I am a big fan. I think the 04 Henry’s is probably the best New World Pinot Noir I have ever had to pleasure to enjoy.
Tom, it is interesting that the 03 shows as still being oaky, the 05s that I have had have integrated it pretty well. Jim’s post seems to have cleared up the mystery.
Welcome, Jim! Thanks for providing additional info. As a long-time Group member, I’ve enjoyed Windy Oaks since the 2006 vintage, but I must admit I like how your strategy has evolved! For me what sets Windy Oaks apart is the quality of your estate fruit, and I look forward to upcoming vintages under the modified regime.
Mike, Joe, David, Andrew–thanks for the welcome! So many of our customers participate on the boards, I thought I should be involved (particularly since Rhys is now a neighbor)!
Count me as grateful for this information. I bought the 2005 and 2006 vintages and then stopped, almost exclusively due to having too much CA Pinot. However, my experience drinking just these two vintages is that I liked the 2006 better, perhaps a result of this beginning push toward using less new oak. As I start to selectively buy Pinot again, this information will be helpful to me and makes me want to reconsider Windy Oaks again, in later vintages. I take seriously Frenchie’s take on the wines, and I think I should re-evaluate.
We will be up in the area in early March for the Ridge assemblage event. I’m hoping we can perhaps schedule a visit. I’ll be in contact.
If there is a wine to get you back in the WOE program, it is the 2008 Reserve. This was jaw-droppingly good and, as it came at the end of the tasting program, was quitye a step up in terms of early drinkability. Perhaps Jim will chime back in as to the why’s and wherefore’s of the '08 Reserve.
Seems to me that there is a nice progression as Jim makes more informed opinions regarding his barrel choices…hearing him describe his “best barrel” program that he uses to evaluate his barrel suppliers is quite insightful.
Jim, welcome to the board. Thanks for sharing the background on your oak program. I would be curious to hear your thoughts on the Reserve 2003. It seems that while the oak is certainly front and center right now I’m thinking that it has enough aging potential such that it will come into balance eventually.
Oh, and thank you for your commitment to producing well made wine.
Let me echo the welcomes. Thanks for the info. I bought the 05 Diane’s Block from a retailer last year and enjoyed it very much. That led me to take advantage of your BerserkerDay offer - thanks for participating. I have seen Todd and others say to be patient and give your wines time. How long should we hold off on each of the wines you included in the BerserkerDay offer? I look forward to exploring your wines.
Jim, thanks. We built a new tasting room this year at the winery and are now open every Saturday 12-5, but we are also open other times by appointment. We’d be pleased to show you the winery and vineyards.
Stu, thanks for your comments on the '08 Reserve. I am quite happy with the way it is maturing, and I think it is probably our best Reserve to date. I think several changes we made in '08 had an impact. First, in the vineyard, we modified our canopy management and started pulling leafs inside the canopy, so that we were getting a more dappled sunlight on the clusters and had many fewer in full direct sun. In the winery, during fermentation we started waiting until the caps were starting to drop and then tasted until smooth before pressing; this resulted in total skin contact of 30-45 days. We also started using all 3-5 year air-dried wood in our barrels. Then after 23 months in barrel, I think the tannins were more fully integrated in the wine on release, resulting in early drinkability but also good aging potential.
Tom, thanks for your welcome and comments. I’m sure you have some of the little '03 left–we only made 150 cases of the '03 Reserve, of which about 40 were 375’s. 2003 was a model growing year for us with late harvest and fairly high acid levels; the '03 Reserve spent 24 months in almost all new French oak. Hence, I think the wine had very good aging potential, and should continue to improve for at least another 2-3 years. I wish there was more around to really test the aging possibilities!
Steve, thanks for your comments. RE the Berserker Day package, the 2009 Terra Narro is meant to drink well at a young age; it and the 2009 Estate Cuvee are new releases and I would hold at least 6 months or so before drinking; the Estate Cuvee seems to age well for at least 4-6 years. The 2008 Whole Cluster has about a year of bottle age on top of about 21 months in barrel; it had a very long fermentation (average close to 45 days), and it is one of those wines that is drinking well now, but has the structure to continue to improve for another 7-10 years. Enjoy!
Had the 2007 version of the Davis Guyzer Syrah last night, with much the same results as Tom, reticent nose, dark fruits, and agree it needs lots of air or a few more years. Great wine for the price at under $30.
It is $30 here but I found it in a clearance area at 60% off. I bought 2 bottles and with the intention of trying one and possibly going back for the rest. Unfortunately, the sale was ending the day I bought the first 2 and I didn’t know it. I’m going to roll the dice and hope it goes back on sale. This is why I hate finding deals as it makes me never want to pay full freight for the same wine again.