TN: Some Wines from the Archives...(long/boring)

WINE TALK
1

We tasted last night (11/27/13) some Archive Wines:

  1. AlbanVnyds Roussanne AlbanEstateVnyd/EdnaVlly (14.5%) 2000: Deep golden/bronze color; strong toasted coconuty/
    toasty/charred/oak honeyed/toasted hazelnuts/nutty/aged Roussanne some oxidized complex nose; tart/tangy rich/
    lush toasted coconut/toasty/oak old Rouss/toasted hazelnutty/nutty slight oxidized flavor w/ strong bitterness;
    very long some honeyed/old Rouss/toasted hazelnuts/nutty strong charred/toasty/oak/coconutty slight oxidized
    complex finish w/ strong bitterness.
  1. AlbanVnyds Roussanne AlbanEstateVnyd/EdnaVlly (14.4%) 1998: Slightly lighter golden/bronze color; bit oxidized/
    sherry toasted/charred/oak less honeyed/toasted hazelnuts/old Roussanne more aged/oxidized complex nose; softer
    noticibly oxidized/sherry some old Roussanne/toasted hazelnuts rather bitter flavor; long somewhat oxidized/sherry
    some old Roussanne/toasted hazelnuts finish w/ definite bitterness; more oxidized & less interesting/intense
    than the 2000.
  1. Sellards Zin DryCreekVlly/SonomaCnty (14.5%) ThomasSellardsWnry/Sebastapol 1981: Med.dark color w/ some bricking;
    rather cedary/pencilly/old Zin rather earthy/dusty slight raspberry fairly complex nose; soft some dried out/
    astringent rather cedary/pencilly/oak/old Zin earthy/dusty complex flavor; med.long cedary/pencilly/old Zin
    somewhat earthy/dusty finish w/ drying/astringent tannins; barely hanging on and just oldZin character remaining.
    $7.50
  1. RosenblumCllrs Zin CullinanVnyd/SonomaCnty (70 yr old vines; 1/2 ton/acre; 12.9%) Emeryville 1983: Med.color w/
    some bricking & bit of browning; strong menthol/minty/eucalyptus some blackberry/boysenberry/Zin bit toast/oak
    slight cedary/pencilly complex nose; soft some menthol/eucalyptus bit boysenberry/blackberry/Zin bit cedary/
    pencilly somewhat lush flavor w/ slight drying/astringent tannins; long some menthol/eucalyptus some lush/
    blackberry/boysenberry/Zin light cedary/pencilly complex finish w/ bit astringent tannins; still carrying some fruit
    and hanging onto life but heading down. $6.75
  1. RosenblumCllrs Zin NapaVlly (11% NapaVlly PS; 13.4%) Emeryville 1983: Med.color w/ slight bricking; rather cedary/
    pencilly/old Zin slight blackberry/Zin/eucalyptus some complex bit tired nose; soft rather pencilly/cedary/old Zin
    slight eucalyptus slight blackberry/Zin flavor w/ some tired/astringent tannins; med.short soft/smooth light
    blackberry/Zin some cedary/pencilly/old Zin finish w/ somewhat tired/drying tannins; barely clinging to life
    but not totally shot. $7.50
  1. Elyse NeroMisto NapaVlly RTW (60% PS/25% Zin/15% lesser known blacks; 12.9%) 1990: Med.dark color w/ slight bricking;
    some wet wool/wet Army blanket bit earthy/dusty/OV very little fruit nose; soft/smooth some earthy/dusty very little
    fruit bit wet wool/peppery/old PS light toasty/oak flavor w/ gentle/smooth tannins; med.long soft/smooth bit wet wool/
    funky slight peppery/PS finish w/ smooth/gentle tannins; not much fruit left; a fully mature quiet/gentle sort of PS
    that doesn’t have a lot going for it.
  1. AlbanVnyds Grenache AlbanEstateVnyd/EdnaVlly (14.2%) 1998: Dark color w/ slight bricking; strong toasty/smokey/
    pencilly/oaky very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah-like/big fruit bit complex nose; fairly tart big fruit/strawberry/
    blackberry/boysenberry/very ripe some toasty/oak/smokey/charred fairly smooth flavor w/ light/gentle tannins; very long
    quite tart very strong boysenberry/blackberry/strawberry strong charred/toasty/smokey oak finish w/ smooth/well-integrated
    tannins; not developed a lot of complexity and dominated by big Syrah-like fruit and charred oak; seems only to have smoothed
    out the tannins w/ age.
  1. AlbanVnyds Syrah Reva AlbanEstateVnyd/EdnaVlly (14.1%) 1998: Very dark color w/ little bricking; somewhat reduced/sewer gas
    very strong blackberry/Syrah/spicy/peppery/licorice strong smokey/toasty/oak/charred rather complex fragrant nose; fairly
    tart slight pungent/sewer gas/reduced very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah some smokey/charred/oak bit complex flavor w/
    some hard tannins remaining; very long bit reduced/sewer gas very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice/peppery
    strong charred/oak/smokey some peppery/spicy/pungent finish w/ some hard tannins; still huge fruit and developing at a
    glacial rate; don’t see it getting a whole lot better nor developing much complexity.
  1. GarretsonWineCo Syrah TheAisling PasoRobles (13.8%) 1998: Closed w/ a NeoCork & not a good sign; med.color w/
    some browning; very ripe/blackberry/Syrah somewhat jammy/herbal/menthol rather interesting/complex nose; soft
    some herbal/rosemary very ripe/jammy/boysenberry/Syrah maybe off-dry slight oxidized rather late harvesty flavor
    w/ light/soft tannins; med.long very ripe/jammy/boysenberry/Syrah slight herbal slight oxidized off-dry/late
    harvesty finish w/ light/soft tannins; rather on the late harvesty side but still in quite good shape for a
    Garretson, especially w/ a NeoCork.

And the usual stuff from TheBloodyPulpit:

  1. AlbanRoussanne: Age has not been kind to these wines. Both had a noticible oxidized component. Both were
    interesting wines but they had a stron bitter component on the palate that made them unattractive. Because of
    their age, they were served at cool room temperature, but the bitterness was still off-putting.
  1. Rosenblum: Note the Emeryville address. That’s where Kent was making his first wines afore he bought the
    old locomotive repair bldg on Alameda NAS property that was excessed off. Don’t know if there are any Emeryville
    wnrys these days or not. Did a visit to several in the long past: J.W.Morris PortWorks (JimOlsen) and
    Veedercrest (Al Baxter), in an old ShellOil VanDeGraf accelerator bldg. And had my first visit w/ Steve
    Edmunds, out back of the OaksCardShop.
  1. Alban: I liked both the Grenache & the Syrah quite a bit…but because of their huge fruit & size, but, w/ 15 yrs
    of age, they are not developing a whole lot of complexity. I have my doubts they ever will.
    Tom
2

Tom,

Couple of questions:

  1. When was the last time you had the Alban Roussanne’sand how have they changed since then?
  2. Have you had the Qupe Roussannes at the same age and wondering how they are holding up relative to the Albans?
  3. Do you normally serve Roussanne at room temp?

Just curious . . . [cheers.gif]

3

Larry,

  1. Don’t recall last time I had these. Back in that era, I always thought John’s Roussannes were on the overripe side and too much
    charred oak. I didn’t think they’d age particularly well for that reason. These sorta confirmed my suspicions. I’ve not had his recent
    Roussannes since I was tossed from his mailing list in the early '00’s.
  1. I think Bob’s Roussannes hold up better w/ age than John’s. I regard his HillsideRoussannes as some of the world’s greatest Roussannes.
  2. Depends on the Roussanne. For any old white wine, Chard/Roussanne/Viognier/whatever; I normally serve at red-wine temps to allow
    the aromatics to show thru.
    Tom
4

Thanks Tom. Made my first Roussanne in 2012 and bottled all of 47 cases! Dug it so much that I made quite a bit more in 2013 - and from two different vineyards.

I’ve opened a couple and really enjoyed them at room temperature - love the aromatics and the mouthfeel, and feel that if it were much colder, the latter would be pretty compromised.

Cheers!

5

Wow, I made my first (and so far only) Roussanne in 2006 - can’t believe I beat you to the punch, Larry! [wink.gif] Looking forward to trying yours. I’ve been saving some of mine to see how they’ve aged…I’m guessing they probably could still use a few more years - I’ll have to share one with you sometime (you too, Tom).

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Ken,

Me thinks you’ve been making wine longer than I have!

Would love to try some of yours next time we get together and will certainly share mine with you ta boot!!!

Cheers!

7

Thanks Tom. While the bitterness you found in the Albans is different, the slight oxidative, at least in the 2000, doesn’t seem to be, from my limited experience of how Roussanne behaves in the white Rhone iteration of the grape. I have found that those wines (Beaucastel and Chave being tops for me) can be enjoyed very much in their first 3 years of life and then go to sleep for about a decade before re-emerging as very different and often more complex wines.

Haven’t seen a note on a Garretson in ages, thanks for posting, and fine to see it has stood the test of time.

Larry, glad to see you’re turning your hand to Roussanne—will there be a FallTacular entry? Ken, would be keen to try yours too one day. Maybe in 2015 when I have a semi-scheduled trip back out to NorCal…

All best,

Mike

8

Mike,

I do have this slated to be there. I am still planning on being at FT, but may have a conflict )-: That said, if I can’t be there, my wines will . . . and I will still try to make it for the dinner the night before if at all possible . . .

Cheers!