In a previous rant on Three Natural Wines, TN: Three Natural Wines...(short/boring/rant) - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers. I made the comment of natural winemakers whose wines I liked and one of them was BrocCllrs. I was taken to task by one responder who characterized them as undrinkable. I admitted that I had not tried Chris Brockway’s wines in a number of yrs. So I visited some that were currently on the market in NM:
- Broc LoveRed North Coast RW (12%; Carignane/Valdigue/Syrah) BrocCllrs/Berkeley 2020: Deep ruby color; rather earthy/dusty/loamy bit funky some cherry/blackberry/grapey rather old-timeyCalif/redwood tanky light pencilly/oak rather rustic nose; lightly tart bit sour rather earthy/loamy/rustic cherry/blackberry/boysenberry bit MendoCnty/tomatoey slight pencilly/oak rather old-timey/rustic flavor w/ light rough tannins; med.long rather earthy/dusty/loamy quite rustic old-timeyCalif/redwood tanky finish w/ light bitey tannins; no natty/unclean character evident but rather earthy/loamy bit coarse/rather sour rustic expression of Mendo Carignane; not very interesting & reminds some of the old GusSebastiani or JohnParducci reds. $19.50 (KK)
- Broc VineStarr Zin SonomaCnty (12.8%) 2018: Very dark color; strong blackberry/Zin/fairly spicy bit licorice/peppery/RRV bit dusty/OV light pencilly/oak quite attractive nose; fairly tart slight earthy/dusty/OV strong blackberry/peppery/licorice/spicy Ziclassic RRV Zin slight funky/old-timey Zin bit complex flavor w/ light tangy tannins; very long slight old-timey/funky strong blackberry/Zin/RRV peppery/very spicy light pencilly/toasty/oak bit complex finish w/ light tangy tannins; a slight degree of funky character but not natty/unclean character at all; a quite delicious 4-square Zin that resembles some of the Bedrocks but a bit more old-timey/rustic. $32.00 (KK)
- Broc LoveWhite WW LoveRanch/Madera(11.5%; 38% Marsanne/24% Picpoul/22% Roussanne/16% GrenacheBlanc; 1,100 cs) 2019: Med.gold rather cloudy color; rather earthy/slight funky/natty some floral/honeysuckle/honeyed/appley pleasant enough nose; lightly tart somewhat earthy slight funky/natty light honeysuckle/Rouss/honeyed bit floral/marigolds/pungent/appley some clunky/old-timey flavor; med. some appley/Marsanne/honeysuckle/Rouss bit earthy/rustic bit soft light natty/funky rather dull/uninteresting near vapid finish; speaks quietly of Marsanne & rather on the earthy side & shows a slight bit of natty character; not a very interesting wine; overnight the floral/Marsanne nose starts to come out but still a bit vapid on the palate. $20.00 (AV)
- Broc Noveau Calif RTW (12%; Blend of everything that comes into the wnry; 390 cs) 2021: Med.light cloudy color w/ some bubbles; quite earthy/loamy light fruity/grapey fairly Noveau-like pleasant enough nose; quite tart/tangy rather earthy/loamy/root cellar light fruity/grapey very light funky no frizzante flavor w/ light tannins; med.short light grapey/fruity/Noveau rather earthy/loamy bit bland finish w/ lightly sour slight funky aftertaste; a pleasant enough Noveau w/ little natty character but thoroughly unthrilling; pricey at $26.00 (AV)
A wee BloodyPulpit:
- The last time I recall tasting much of the Broc wines was probably 5-6 yrs ago when I visited their tasting room. I found the wines solid wines & fairly interesting. But nothing that really excited me. Chris has moved, I gather, more & more into the natural wine movement.
Of these wines, the Zin was my easy favorite. All four of these wines displayed a bit of funky/old-timey character but not a badly-flawed natty character I find in a lot of natural wines. Perhaps just enough funky character to make them a bit interesting, but not nearly enough to render them unpalatable or undrinkable. Just not a lot of bright fruit and not particularly interesting or compelling wines.
Tom
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