TN: Two LateHrvst GWTs...(short/boring)

WINE TALK
1

Opened these last night for Steve to try:

  1. CaseyHartlip GWT LateHrvst OrdwayVnyd/AndersonVlly/MendoCnty (12%; RS: 15%; Brl frmtd; Winemaker: GregGraziano) 2013: Med.dark gold color; beautiful intense GWT/hair oil/lychee/spicy/very ripe bit cedary/oak quite complex nose; quite tart/tangy very intense GWT/hair oil/lychee/quite spicy very sweet yet balanced bit cedary/oak very complex flavor; very long/lingering intense GWT/hair oil/very spicy/lychee rather tart quite sweet slight cedary/oak very comp-lex beautiful finish that goes on&on; no signs of botrytis present; as good as any Alsatian SGN or VendangeTardive that I can recall; should go another 10 yrs at least; the best Calif LH GWT I can recall.
  1. Bedrock GWT LateHrvst AltaVistaVnyd/SonomaCnty (10.5%; Plntd: 1940ā€™s; Picked: Nov.5ā€™th; SaH: 31.2Brix; RS: 13.8%, pH: 3.20) 2018: Med.light gold color; some earthy/dusty some lychee/GWT/lightly spicy rather subtle/restrained bit late hrvsty/grapey not strongly varietal GWT nose; bit soft very strong grapey/late hrvsty/passito-like not very GWT-like fairly sweet bit simple/primary flavor; very long strong grapey/late hrvsty/passito/peachy bit earthy/herbal light dusty/earthy fairly sweet finish; not a whole lot of GWT character & lots of primary grapey fruit; a bit underwhelming but suspect it will get a lot better w/ 4-8 yrs of age. $50.00/hlf

A wee BloodyPulpit:

  1. In 2013, Casey had a row of GWT at Ordway that was unspoken for and getting riper & riper. So he approached Grazie about making a LateHrvst GWT with them. ā€œTwist my armā€!! This was that wine. Obviously, not a commercial release (except to the LosAlamos crowd). Iā€™d last had it about a yr ago and it was dominated by the GWT fruit but still rather primary. Since Iā€™d just got in my Bedrock LH GWT, I decided to open them both when Steve was here last night. I was pretty much blown away by the wine it has evolved into. Blew away the Bedrock, but not too surprised because of the youth of the Bedrock.
    Back in the late '60ā€™s, I was buying the A.Willm ClosGaensbroennel VendageTardive '59. I was the wine that cemented my love for Alsatian wines. It had a complexity & spiciness that was impressive. And it was dry and about 14.5%. Back in those days, a VT GWT simply meant a LateHrvst GWT. That was pre-Z-H days. Nowadays, a VT Alsatian wine is almost always sweet, and an SGN is usually botrytis affected. And very sweet. The aromatics on Caseyā€™s GWT reminded me a lot of the spiciness & complexity of that Willm VT.
    I was a bit underwhelmed by the Bedrock. Lots of primary fruit but not much else. It is, however, a wine Iā€™m confident will improve greatly over the next few yrs and be a wonderful LH GWT around 10 yrs of age.
    Tom
2

This is the same one bottled by Elke as ā€˜fraulein Elkeā€™ right? I think last time a note was posted Casey said as much. I thought this note was all too similar to my own on the Elke. Thanks for the update! Will continue to hold some of these buried as deep as possible. Just tons of fun!

1 Like
3

Clueless, Dan. When I bought the case from Casey, they came as shiners & I made up a label for it for my LosAlamos group. At that point,
I donā€™t think Casey had really decided what he was going to do with the wine.
Tom

4

Better than the old Phelps late harvests?

1 Like
5

Thanks for the TNs Tom!

I already consumed or shared the Late Harvest GewĆ¼rztraminer from Casey. Great stuff!

6

Most of the Phelps LHā€™s were botrytis affected, Eric. Which makes for a much different wine. I particularly like this wine because it spoke so strongly of old Alsatian GWT.
Tom