TN: Topolos Alicante Bouschet '98.....(short/boring)

WINE TALK
1

Linda brought this to our tasting last night to try:

  1. Topolos AlicanteBouschet OldVines SonomaCnty (12.1%; Bttld: Aug 27/1999; 491 cs) Michael Topolos/Topolos @ RRV/Forestville 1998: Very dark/near black color; rather earthy/rustic/coarse slight blackberry/AB slightly herbal rather toasty/smokey/oak spicy rather complex fairly fragrant nose; bit soft slightly aged/tired/metallic bit coarse/rustic some blackberry/AB/boysenberry/herbal rather earthy/dusty/OV smokey rather complex flavor w/ bit tired/dried out tannins; very long slightly tired/dried out/metallic some blackberry/AB/earthy/rustic/coarse/herbal fairly dusty/OV light toasty/oak finish w/ light drying tannins; this is a wine that should be totally dead…it is not; has not matured into anything really profound, but in much better shape than it has any right to be; interesting and still has some life in it. $nc (LD)

More skeezerfrut from TheBloodyPulpit:

  1. This was a fascinating trip down memory lane for me. TopolosVnyds was founded in 1972 by Michael & Jerry Topolos, who put in a vnyd then. Their first wine was a Cab in 1978, from their Estate grapes. I started trying their wines early-on & rather liked them for rustic character. My favorite was the Topolos Ultimo Zin, a near-late hrvst Zin that was quite big.
    In the late '80’s, I did a visit with Michael at TopolosVnyds. Walked the vnyds a bit & then tasted in their rustic tasting room. The wines were pretty bad; marred by huge brett & a very high volatile acidity…clearly very inattentive winemaking. I don’t think I ever bothered w/ their wines again.
    They had a small house there on the property in front of the wnry that housed a restaurant. Sorta French bistro food. It was very good, in a time when dining options in Forestville were pretty grim.
    AlicanteBouschet is a teinturier grape, which means there is anthocyanins in the juice. Which explains the black color of young AB. When JohnBalagna made his AB, his hands would be stained black for more than a week. But the color in AB is pretty unstable and it tends to go brown pretty rapidly. This wine, though containing a ton of sediment, showed very scant evidence of browning. Though showing a bit of age, it was much more healthy & youthful than it had any right to be.
    This was the next to last btl from Linda Deck’s first case purchase. The wine was pretty inexpensive she relates.
    Tom
2 Likes
2

As I recall,Parker gave this wine a rave. An English wine importer and I went up to try the wine. It was ok, but one of the wines tasted as though a septic line had gotten mixed in. We said we had an appointment elsewhere, raced to a 7-11 for slurpees to get the taste out of our mouths.

I always felt this was a great location.

2 Likes
3

The restaurant was Greek based since the boys were Greek as well. Souvlaki, Stuffed Roasted Tomatoes and Tzatziki were prominent staples on the menu.

A friend of mine brought a ‘98 Topolos Zinfandel to an HVS afterparty at Limerick Lane a few years back. It wasn’t a good wine either.

2 Likes
4

Thanks for the tasting note, Tom!! I never had an opportunity to try any of these wines.

Years after the winery’s closure, the overall quality and soundness of Topolos Cellars’ wines remain the subject of debate. Even so, its Alicante Bouschet bottlings undoubtedly have garnered the most acclaim.

The Cook’s Cook
“The Odd Bottle: Equivocal Hello, Triumphant Farewell”
by J. D. Landis
~2018


On a different thread, a discussion between Clyde U, Mike Officer, and me touched on Sonoma Valley’s old-growth teinturier plantings.

Rhoda Stewart’s book states that Michael Topolos got much of his Alicante grapes from Val Rossi.

I still don’t know what Russian River Valley vineyard Topolos sourced its Ali Bou.


I was not familiar with the individual you mentioned (John Balagna). The first result from my subsequent Google search was a memorial article written by “Tom…Hill?”

Los Alamos Daily
“Remembering John Balagna…”
Submitted by Carol A. Clark
November 21, 2018
by Tom R Hill

1 Like
5

John was a commercial winemaker here in LosAlamos. BalagnaCllrs/IlSanto Cllrs.
His wines were OK… just that.

1 Like
6

Well damn. That probably doesnt bode well for the 3L of 1991 Rossi Ranch zin that i (for some reason) have in the cellar, ha! I should probably find a reason to open that soon and put it out of it’s misery.

1 Like
7

IIRC the Rossi Ranch was the best of the Zinfandels that they produced. But that is based on one visit and a few other wines purchased all from the late 1990s timeframe.

2 Likes
8

Welp…only one way to find out! Wish me luck, ha! :cheers:

1 Like