Over the last few yrs, both SteveEdmunds and BobLindquist have been taken to the “woodshed”
by Parker’s WA, for the decline in quality of their wines from their earliest efforts (twice in
the case of Bob, first by Parker, then by Dunnuck). This is, of course, complete baloney. With
their grape sources nailed down and the increasing maturity of their vnyds, they are, IMHO, making
the best wines of their career.
I suspect they were both sent to the WoodShed because their wines are not big/flashy/extracted upon
release and it’s only after some time in btl that they start to realize their glories, mostly from the inherent
balance they both possess. Unless you’ve followed their wines closely over the yrs, this is a trait that
Parker & Dunnuck are clueless about.
I’ve ribbed both Bob & Steve, over the last few yrs, about what a neat WoodShed they hang out in and
there are a lot of people who would love to hang there with them. So, I suggested to Bob & Steve that
it might be nice to organize a special dinner at BayWolf restaurant in Oakland just afore RhoneRangers,
centered around some of their wines from their libraries. They both agreed that that would be a grand
idea and would love to do it. Steve thought we should have T-Shirts printed up that stated on the
back “Parker can kiss my a$$”. I thought T-Shirts with two old gents peering out a cracked door of a
WoodShed, wine btls littering the surrounding ground, giving the finger to Parker off in the distance,
would be neat. Alas, the T-Shirts never got done. But we assembled a fine list of real RhoneHeads:
BobLindquist/Qupe
SteveEdmunds/EdmundsStJohns
KenZinns/HarringtonWnry
PatrickComiskey/Wines&Spirits magazine
LukeSykora/Wines&Spirits magazine
CyrusLimon/Cold-Climate Syrah blogger
LouisaLindquist/Verdad
MarleneRaderman/rep for Qupe/Verdad
AlanRath/Bay area wine geek
BrianGoehery/Wines On Piedmont shop owner
LarrySchaffer/TerceroWnry
DougWilson/LosAlamos wine group
KevinClancey/former rep for EdStJohn
MichaelWild/Baywolf restaurant
TomHill
The wines were served in pairs. Many of the Qupes were from magnums. Before we tried the wines,
Bob & Steve would say a few words about their making. After we tried the wines, Steve would get up
and read the Parker review (kindly provided him by PatrickComiskey) and its score. There would then be
this wave of derisive laughter that’d sweep over the table at Parker’s obviously clueless screed.
So…onto the wines:
-
EdStJ Heart of Gold (Vermentino/GrenacheBlanc; 11.7%) 2014: Light gold color; very fragrant/perfumed
honeysuckle/Rouss/flowery/peach blossom slight stony/chalky nose; fairly tart bright/flowery/honeysuckle/
pear/Viog slight stony/earthy lovely flavor; a bit leaner & food friendly and not as ripe/blowsey
as some previous versions but the same lovely aromatics. -
Qupe Roussanne BienNacidoHillside 2011: Med.gold color; deep Rouss/honeysuckle/honeyed/floral slight
stony light toasty oak quite perfumed nose; somewhat tart rich/structured Rouss/honeysuckle/pear light
stony/mineral very light pencilly/oak; quite a good Rouss but I think this is going to be quite a profound
wine down the road w/ 10 yrs of age or more; one of Calif’s greatest Roussannes being made. -
EdStJ LosRoblesViejos RozetVnyd/PasoRobles (Viognier/Roussanne/Marsanne) 2003: Med.gold color; bit nutty/
toasted hazelnuts/honeyed/waxy/figgy fully mature beautiful complex oldRhone nose; lightly tart smooth/velvety
lightly nutty/toasted hazelnuts/earthy/spicy bit waxy/beeswax very complex/nuanced/elegant flavor. In its
youth, this was a rather simple/pleasant enough white Rhone blend that spoke mostly of flowery Viognier.
I was surprised by hoow beautifully iit had developed into a lovely oldRhone. No signs of oxidation. -
Qupe Marsanne LosOlivosVnyd 1993: Med.gold color; beautiful nutty/toasted hazelnuts/honeyed bit smokey/
pencilly light stony/mineral quite complex w/ slight oxidative notes; tart stoney/mineral some nutty/
toasted hazelnuts/honeyed smokey/earthy slight oxidized bit metallic/tangy very complex flavor; a great example
of what a profound/complex wine the Qupe Marsanne can evolve to. On one btl, the cork plopped into the btl
as Bob started to extract it. The other btl, w/ a sound cork, was a bit fresher and didn’t show any
oxidative notes whatsoever. -
EdStJ Rocks & Gravel 2005: Med.dark color w/ little bricking; very Rhonish/CdP-like some earthy/loamy light
Grenache/strawberry/plummy/licorice some smokey/pencilly quite complex/Rhonish nose; soft/balanced light
strawberry/Grenache/plummy fairly pencilly/smokey bit earthy/loamy/dusty/licorice flavor w/ light/gentle
tannins; probably nearing its peak I would guess; a fully mature complex Rhone red. I find the R&G on release
an understated/simple/not very dramatic red. But I’m always suprised how, w/ some age, they can rise up
and bite you on the a$$ by how good they’ve evolved. Thiis was another good example. -
Qupe Syrah BienNacidoHillside 1998: Dark color w/ no bricking at all; classic mature Qupe smokey/pencilly/
pungent/coffee some blackberry/Syrah/blueberry very complex beautiful nose; slightly tart/metallic very
smokey/tobaccoy/pencilly/coffee/Rhonish some blackberry/Syrah/very spicy very complex flavor w/ light/smooth/
velvety tannins; lots of pungent/smokey/Rhonish character and a classic example of a mature Qupe Syrah; should
go out another 6-10 yrs I would guess. -
EdStJ Syrah Wylie-Fenaughty 2005: Dark color w/ slight bricking; Dark color w/ slight bricking; beautiful
licorice/pungent/graphite/mineral/earthy strong plummy/blackberry/blueberry/Syrah complex perfumed nose;
lightly tart slight earthy/mushroomy/truffly/ElDorado some licorice/pungent/graphite strong blackberry/Syrah/
blueberry/plummy velvety/smooth textured complex flavor w/ some smooth/ripe tannins; a lovely Syrah that’s
probably nearing maturity and shows some of that mushroomy/earthy ElDorado terroir. -
Qupe/EdStJ Syrah Auction blend 1995: Very dark color w/ no bricking; slight bretty/horsecollar/Rhonish rather
blackberry/Syrah/blueberry/licorice slight funky/Rhonish complex nose; lightly tart bit bretty/leathery some
blueberry/blackberry/Syrah/licorice some coffee/roasted/old Rhonish flavor w/ light/sharp tannins; a noticible
brett component that gave it a bit of SouthernRhone character. A special 50/50 blend of one barrel each that
Steve&Bob did for the CentralCoastWineFestival auction. -
EdStJ BassettiVnyd/PasoRobles 2005: Black color w/ no bricking; beautiful cold-climate/black pepper/spicy
intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice some smokey/Rhonish/espresso/roasted complex nose; rather tart
very rich/mouthfilling black pepper/cold-climate intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/spicy bit herbal/thyme
structured some complex flavor w/ ample/smooth/ripe tannins; amazing youthful and sure to go another 10 yrs
at least; my easy favorite of the EdStJohn. -
Qupe Syrah BienNacidoHillside 1993: Dark color w/ no bricking; classic mature Qupe Syrah smokey/roasted/gamey/
smoked meats pungent/espresso light blackberry/Syrah very complex aromatic nose; fairly tart/bit metallic
very smokey/pencilly/roasted/roasted meats/gamey slight peppery/licorice some blackberry/Syrah/blueberry
rather Rhonish/espresso/pungent very complex classic mature Qupe Syrah flavor w/ smooth/gentle tannins; as
good as a Qupe Syrah can get and showing no signs of age at 22 yrs old; a beautiful Syrah that they would
die to make on the HermitageHill. -
EdStJ Zinfandel StoryVnyd/ShenandoahVlly 1994: Dark color w/ slight bricking; some blackberry/Zin/Amador
briary some earthy/loamy bit smokey/oak old Amador Zin/cedary/pencilly lovely complex nose; slightly tart
light smpkey/oak some Amador blackberry/briary/Zin rather pencilly/cedary light earthy/dusty smooth/gentle
complex flavor w/ light/smooth tannins; probably a bit beyond its peak but holding up amazingly well for
a 20 yr old Zin; probably just going to fade quietly away into the night. This wine obviously didn’t fit
the theme of WoodShedRhones. Steve wanted to show it because Parker’s review thoroughly trashed this wine
and he gave it a 74 or 75. What a laugher. -
Qupe Marsanne Doux Sawyer-LindquistVnyd/EdnaVlly 2012: At thiis point, I just decided to sit back and enjoy
this dessert wine. It was intensely grapey/peachy and much like an Italian passito like a Caluso Erbaluce
Passito. Now evidence of botrytis that I could find. Bob only rarely makes a dessert wine, but when he
does, they’re outstanding. His & JimClendenen’s ThumbsUp Riesling was one of my classics.
A wee BloodyPulpit:
- This was one of the most special wine events I have ever attended. It was great to listen to Steve & Bob
share their stories and their wines. There was much spirited and informative discussion the length of the
table. A finer group of people could not be found.
Across the board, all the wines showed extremely well. There were no wines that I felt were getting a
bit creaky w/ age. They will all probably just quietly fade into the sunset and never really fall apart.
Many Calif Syrahs, especially those made in a big/massive/extracted style, just keep “lasting” in the
btl…but don’t really show much evolution or develop much complexity (are you listening JohnAlban??).
What is special about the wines of Bob & Steve is that they are ones that do develop complexity and
nuance w/ age. I think it’s probably because of the balanced way the wines are constructed. Alas,
it’s a lesson that’ll probably never be understood in Monktown.
Many thanks to both Steve & Bob for generously sharing these btls from their archives. It was a most
special treat. And a special thanks to MichaelWild for fashioning a menu at BayWolf that allowed these
wines to really shine. And much thanks to all those who attended this event and contributed many insightful
questions & comments. We will, hopefully, repeat this event again in a few yrs afore a RR.
Tom
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