TN: Tasting Boheme w/ KurtBeitler...(long/boring)

Afore NEB#6, I made arrangements w/ KurtBeitler to taste his Spring releases there in Occidental.
Usually, we get together over in Freestone, get some crepes from Omar at Freestone Artisan Cheese,
and adjourn to the Freestone Municipal Park out front to sit at the picnic table amongst the
stand of redwoods and partake. Alas, this Wed, Omar was closed. So Kurt’s backup plan was to get
some cheese & salami there at the CostCo in Occidental and adjourn to the picnic table bordering
the pond at nearby StullerVnyd, the source of one of his Pinots.
Kurt is a member of the Wagner/Caymus family. He left Oregon to return to Calif and plant the
Caymus Pinot vnyd up on TaylorRidgeRd, just NW of Freestone. He has made wines under a number of
labels, includine RanchoBodega and, now, Boheme. He specializes in Pinot/Chard/Syrah from the far
SonomaCoast. I first was attracted to his wines because he was making Syrah from the QueSyrah vnyd,
after it was given up by EhrenJordan. But I have since fallen in love w/ his Pinots & Chards
as well.
As we were preparing to depart Occidental, who should drive up but AlRago, owner of the nearby
QueSyrahVnyd, up on TaylorRidge. Kurt used to farm QueSyrah for Al and make his Syrah from there
until Al switched to Arnot-Roberts several yrs ago. Al & I go way back to my one Summer working
at ArgonneNationalLaboratory in ReactorPhysics in 1967. Followed Al from (before) the very start.
Kurt invited Al to join us at Stuller, to which Al eagerly accepted.

So…sitting at the picnic table, chatting about times old & new, we tried:

  1. Boheme Chard TaylorRidge SonomaCoast (13.7%) 2013: Light gold color very perfumed/aromatic
    very light oak/pencilly rather melony/ripe slight herbal/new mown grass nose; rather tart/tight/
    wirey some melony/Chard/ripe slight herbal/new mown grass slight earthy flavor; a bit more
    interesting of the two Chards and needs more time yet. $45

  1. Boheme Chard EnglishHill RRV (14.1%) 2013: Med.gold color; more ripe/melony/Chard/lemony
    some pencilly/oak more fragrant/perfumed nose; slightly softer ripe/melony light pencilly/Fr.oak
    lemony/melony/honeydew/Chard flavor; a very attractive fairly fragrant 4-square Chard. $45

  1. Boheme PinotNoir TaylorRidge (14.3%) 2013: Med.light color; strong fragrant black cherry/
    black cherry cola/PN light toasty/oak/pencilly perfumed/bright/cherry nose; lightly tart bright
    spicy/cherry/black cherry light pencilly/toasty/oak bit dusty/earthy flavor w/ light smooth/
    polished tannins; a bright/zippy/spicy perfumed Pinot. $55

  1. Boheme PinotNoir EnglishHill SonomaCoast (14.3%) 2013: Med.light color; slight herbal
    bright/spicy/black cherry/PN bit earthy/dusty light toasty/oak very fragrant nose; bit softer
    ripe/cherry/black cherry/PN slight herbal more earthy/dusty light toasty/oak flavor w/ light
    ripe/smooth tannins; a bit bigger & less bright/lithe than the TaylorRidge. $49

  1. Boheme PinotNoir StullerVnyd/SonomaCoast (14.3%) 2013: Med.light color; bit bigger
    more earthy/dusty strong perfumed/black cherry/PN/spicy some toasty/oak more complex nose;
    lightly tart some toasty/pungent/oak strong black cherry/PN/black cherry soda/ripe some
    toasty/oak bit earthy/dusty bit more austere flavor w/ light bit rough/hard tannins;
    a bit bigger/riper less bright/lithe/zippy but more interesting than the other two Pinots. $53

  1. Boheme Syrah OccidentalHills/SonomaCoast (80% QueSyrahVnyd/20% EnglishHillVnyd; 13.3%)
    2012
    : Med.dark color; light herbal/cold-climate/black pepper strong blackberry/Syrah/
    spicy slight earthy light toasty/smokey/oak rather perfumed nose; lightly tart peppery/c-c/
    smokey/slight Rhonish/roasted light toasty/smokey/Fr.oak strong blackberry/Syrah/spicy/
    peppery flavor w/ some smooth/ripe tannins; shows some peppery/c-c character w/ plenty
    of blackberry/Syrah fruit; balanced & structured & coming together quite nicely. $49

  1. Westlander Zin ManciniRanch/RRV (14.8%) 2013: Very dark color; very strong/intense
    boysenberry/blackberry/Zin quite spicy light toasty/oak rather dusty/OV lovely/perfumed nose;
    lightly tart very spicy/blackberry/raspberry/Zin some dusty/OV light toasty/oak flavor w/
    light smooth tannins; a balanced pretty classic RRV Zin that reminds some of the old
    Joe Swan Zins or a Zin made by a Pinot producer.

  1. CarolShelton Zin ManciniRanch (14.2%) 2013: Very dark color; very strong toasty/
    Am.oak/vanilla spicy/blackberry/Zin slight earthy/rustic nose; soft very strong Am.oak/
    vanilla/toasty strong spicy/blackberry/Zin flavor w/ light soft tannins; shows lots of
    typical CarolShelton oak and a bit on the soft/fat/ripe side.

A wee BloodyPulpit:

  1. The TaylorRidgeVnyd is AlRago’s son, Vincent’s, vnyd there on TaylorRidgeRd, just afore you
    get to Al’s QueSyrah vnyd at the very end of the road.

  1. The Boheme Syrah 2012 is the last yr Kurt took Syrah grapes from QueSyrah. It was blended w/
    his oncoming production of Syrah from EnglishHill

  1. EnglishHill is a vnyd Kurt planted SE of Freeport, high on a ridge looking down into the lower
    reaches of the RRV and towards SantaRoso off in the distance.

  1. In 2013, Kurt was given the option to buy some old-vine Zin grapes from ManciniRanch, long used
    by JosephSwan and, more recently, by CarolShelton. He went into a partnership w/ a good friend.
    The btl is still a shiner as they haven’t yet settled upon a name for this joint venture yet.
    Westlander is Kurt’s choice, but it may be labeled something else down the road.
    I was quite taken by Kurt’s Zin, as was MikeOfficer that night at dinner. It’s a bit on the
    old-timey SonomaZin side and reminds me of early JoeSwan or Cecil DeLoach Zins from yrs ago.

  1. Of the Chards, I slightly preferred the TaylorRidge as being slightly more nuanced & interesting.
    The EnglishHill seemed a bit more simple. Both are very attractive, perfumed, balanced Chards and
    would fit right in w/ the IPoB crowd.

  1. Of the Pinots, they were stylistically very/very similar. I slightly prefferd the Stulle for being
    a bit bigger & more interesting and maybe more ageworthy. These Pinots have a somewhat Burgundian
    character to them and a strong sense of balance & restraint. They would all be right at home in
    the IPoB crowd. They remind me a lot of the Peay Pinots, maybe a bit like the Calera Pinots but
    w/ less oak & earthiness & less bombast. I see no reason that these Pinots won’t go out 3-6 yrs,
    maybe beyond, because of the great balance they show.
    Tom