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