Wow. I have had the opportunity to experience so many great gatherings recently thanks to Frank Murray. It’s like there must be III of him. (Thanks, I’ll be here all week).
Frank and Jill not only made this an amazing event, but it felt, from the standpoint of being a guest, like it was almost effortless. Everything went smoothly, nobody looked frantic, nothing went wrong, just amazing. Frank’s passion for wine, Jill’s passion for Laura’s House and the cause it represents, and their love for each other and all their friends, it all melds together like a great . . . wine, and we all got to drink deeply from it.
I already can’t wait until next year, though I may bring a tent and camp in Frank’s yard next year so I can stay through the evening period and soak more of the good vibrations and great wine into my system. And save myself an $80 cab ride each way from Newport – I don’t regret it for safety reasons, but damn, think how much more damage I could have done at the silent auction with that money!
I didn’t take notes, so just some impressions of some selected wines from memory.
Wineries that were consistently excellent spread across many of the different stations of the house:
Big Basin was probably tops on my list in this area. The Coastview Chardonnay, the Woodruff Family Pinot and the Grizzly (Grenache) were my favorites (the 2010 Grizzly being one of my very favorite wines of the entire Falltacular lineup), the Rattlesnake syrah was great if not exactly my thing, and my wife raved about the cabernet, which I missed out on. Matt Ryan (not the Atlanta Falcons quarterback, but the manager from Big Basin) was a really chill, likeable young guy.
Tercero was another. Their Grenache Blanc and Roussanne were my two favorites among the non-chardonnay whites. The Cuvee Loco, Mourvedre and Grenache were all standouts in the Rhones area. Larry was his usual engaging, outgoing and unkempt self. The Roussanne was brand new to me, and I was lucky to get to take home a 3/4 full bottle at evening’s end, which was beautiful all through Sunday. I personally feel like Cal Rhone whites (excluding Grenache Blanc) go overly bitter and harsh, on to ripe and fruity but simple, to overripe and rocket fuely, with very few that strike some good middle ground. But this one does it, with ripeness, complexity and elegance all at once.
Cabot belongs here as well. John Cabot was in attendance and a delight to talk to about his wines. His success across pinot noir, zinfandel, cab, syrah, merlot and probably others is impressive. His Anderson Valley and Nash Mill pinots were among the most refined and pretty of the pinots, his cabernets and cab blends are great in a traditional California / old world style, and the value for the price on the cabs and cab blends is crazy good.
Brand new discoveries that turned my head:
Amelle Pinot Noir. There were two pinots tucked away in the corner of the big room of pinots, a 2010 Sonoma Coast and a 2011 single vineyard Sonoma pinot. These were extremely impressive, with the 2010 Sonoma Coast in the best spot right now, while the 2011 suggested good promise with a few more years. I know not a thing about Amelle, including how to pronounce it, other than that a few people mentioned the owner was at Falltacular 2013, and he was a super likeable guy with a big beard. Anyway, my wife and I happily bought all four bottles of Amelle that had been donated to the auction, and we look forward to learning more about the winery, even though I need another great pinot discovery like I need a hole in my head.
Sandler Pinot Noir. I met Ed Kurtzman early in the event over at the chardonnays, and he was as terrific, genuine and knowledgeable a guy as I had heard on WB over the years. I mentioned to him that I bought his Berzerkerday 4-pack of 2012 pinots but hadn’t opened one yet, and he told me I was in luck, I could try all four over in the pinot room. In fact, he had all four SVDs plus a Sonoma Coast blend. These were great wines that showed a house style and yet distinct vineyard characteristics as well. My favorites were the Bien Nacido, Boer Vineyard (from Chalone AVA), and Sonoma Coast. The Bien Nacido was one of my small handful of favorites from everything at Falltacular, and Ed promised the 2013 was going to be one of his all-time best wines, so I can’t wait for that. The other partial bottle I made off with was the Boer, and I enjoyed that over Sunday; it just sang, definitely more open than on Saturday. The value for your dollar is off the charts on these SVD pinots, even without the Berzerkerday special.
Riverain. Steve Nordhoff was happily serving his 2011 Oakville cabernet and 2011 Bennett Valley syrah and sharing all the details with us. The syrah was an AFWE special, alcohol I believe in the 12% range, yet full of florals, complexity and energy, in a wild, raw style (at least at this age). Fans of Copain and Rhys syrah should be all over this. The cabernet was another candidate for best wine of Falltacular 2014. Really something special, with dense purple berry fruit, and a wonderful mint/menthol dimension, and a successful job straddling the cult cab world and the traditional Napa world. I tried to get the magnum of this in the auction, but not surprisingly with all the excitement about this wine in the house, the bidding went through the stratosphere and forced me elsewhere.
Ladd Cellars. I know zero about this winery, but the 2008 Moore Vineyard pinot noir was one of the top wines of the day, although it was also one of the only pinots there that wasn’t 2010-2012, so it had an edge.
Familiar wines that still managed to wow me all over again:
Liquid Farm. Liquid Farm seemed to have the biggest buzz within the house. I was the pourer at the chardonnay /rose table in the early afternoon, and there was a constant rush of people anxious to taste the three 2012 LF chards and the rose. None of them disappointed me or seemingly anyone else. Part of the fun is that the three represent different takes on the house style, and each person tasting through them had a different favorite. I’ve always been most fond of the White Hill, which is the relatively more Chablis like, while my wife most likes the more generous Cote de Beaune like Golden Slope. Has there ever been a chardonnay-only winery in California, or at least one that really blew the doors off the wine world like LF is doing? Although I imagine they could make good wines of other sorts, a selfish part of me almost hopes they just keep winning big on French-inspired chardonnay and plant their flag there, rather than morphing into an all-purpose winery, though I’m sure I’ll be along for the ride wherever it goes.
Sojourn. It had been since my initial . . . sojourn to the tasting room maybe 4-5 years ago that I got to try a lineup of their wines side by side. As I’ve felt in the past, the pinots can tend to show a bit too sweet of red fruit in their youth, veering into candied territory, but I’ve learned that the wines gain much better balance for my palate with a couple of years of age. I’ve also learned that the Rodgers Creek pinot and the Sonoma Coast pinot are the more acidic and less ripe ones in their portfolio, and they are tending to be my favorites. The Sangiacomo showed well also.
Other wines that were favorites that night:
Carlisle Carignan. Really, do they put the Carlisle label on anything if it isn’t damn tasty? I guess not. At this point, I’d probably buy the “Carlisle Concord/Blueberry Blend” if they sold it.
Switchback Ridge Merlot. Big, ripe and oaky, but a delicious wine when you want a hedonistic one like that. The 2011 Petite Sirah will presumably be a great wine someday, but it’s at “11” on the tannin meter right now and you’d be crazy to try to drink one in the next few years.
Lucia Soberanes Pinot 2011. Somewhat like Arcadian, Lucia has figured out that these great SLH pinot vineyards give you plenty of power and depth even without harvesting at high Brix (or maybe it was the 2011 vintage? I haven’t had other vintages of this wine), so you can have the power without the sweetness or heaviness that I too often find in SLH pinots. This was a showy, fun wine.
Okay, I’m sure I’m forgetting other good ones, and if they come to me later I’ll loop back. But what a great event, and what a positive vibe there was from start to finish. It was fun to meet so many Berzerkers for the first time as well – I’m almost afraid to list names for fear of omitting people, and I’m sure there were a few I met who I didn’t make the WB connection with, but anyway, I really enjoyed meeting The Todd, John Gonzales, Jay Hack, Ted Erfer and Mike Grammer.
It’s 12:20, and I have work tomorrow morning, so farewell for now.
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
(and in all honesty, we ALL tried to do that!!!); seeing the smiles on EVERYONE’S faces all day and all night!
