Last night, had some din/din with a few guys from the board, Rob and Gerry, along with their wives. We dined at Urban Wine Bar in Foothill Ranch so for those of you in the OC, I would make a strong recommendation for you to get up there and try the food. This is my second time in and I really enjoyed the meal last night. I had the flatbread, then the mediterranean chicken, and both were excellent. FWIW, I am going to spec this out for a winemaker dinner but in the meantime, plan to get back up there again and support them.
So, to the wines. I brought the Copains bagged to test Rob and Gerry’s palate and Rob was damn close on the Laureles Grade and Gerry was also very close on the Baker Ranch–the palate experiences on these two was on display. In addition, I found an early ‘aha’ wine, this one brought by Rob, which was the Fogline Sun Chase pinot (and I also think was a Berserker Day wine?). Damn, this is good and it was one of those experiences where having no bias or background, I simply tasted what was in the glass and had one of those moments where I knew I had an excellent wine in front of me–see my signature line now for what I mean. For those coming to Falltacular, you will get to meet Evan from Fogline, as he will be coming to the event. So in that serendipity, it was a great find. And, to the Cayuse. Damn, one of these days I will find my way onto the allocation but it’s good right now I am still wait listed, as I don’t have the budget nor space for more new wines. One day…
As to the notes, here they are. Thanks for reading.
2010 Cayuse Syrah Armada Vineyard- USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley (2/10/2014)
Seems like each time I have Cayuse, I understand the praise. This is really good syrah. Incense and pepper aromatically, then blueberry fruit, game, peppercorn sweet leather, soy and bbq sauce. I remain on the waiting list to start buying and one of these days, I’ll actually get an offer!
2010 Copain Syrah Baker Ranch- USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (2/10/2014)
Poured blind, with a couple guesses as syrah and pinot. Berry, berry, lots of it. There is some leather in the aromatic, along with some game but like with the last few times I have had the wine, it’s quite pinot-like. I left the wine behind for the restaurant staff to finish so I won’t have any further notes. I don’t see any reason to age this wine, as it’s unique for what it is and light, elegant.
2010 Walter Hansel Winery Pinot Noir Cuvée Alyce- USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (2/10/2014)
I typically like the wines from this producer but given what I look for in pinot now, the way this came across last night, I didn’t care for it. Dark fruited, blackberry profile, riper styled. Just seemed big to me. This will appeal to a cut of the CA pinot crowd, just not for me.
2011 Graft Wines Viognier SaraLee Vineyard- USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (2/10/2014)
Listed at 14.2%. Aromztics of honeysuckle and spearmint. Glossy texture with lime, orange blossom and peach.
2011 Omero Cellars Pinot Noir- USA, Oregon (2/10/2014)
This had some nice flavors of blueberry and strawberry, sweeter profled and gentle.
2012 Fogline Vineyards Pinot Noir Sun Chase Vineyard (Petaluma Gap)- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (2/10/2014)
This was a surprise, one of those moments each year where a wine hits my glass and I have a ‘wow’ moment. This wine got better with air too, which underscored why I continued to keep retasting it throughout the meal. Herb, dried dark cherry, cedar and some grippy tannin. The fruit, acid and balance on this wine, such a young wine at that, predicts a great wine ahead. Fantastic, a WOTY candidate is found.
2012 Habit Wine Company Sauvignon Blanc McGinley Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara (2/10/2014)
Enjoyed this. Texture is a bit fatter than some other SBs I have enjoyed but there is acid here to keep the wine fresh, too. Melon, fig and a creamier finish.
2011 Copain Chardonnay Laureles Grade- USA, California, Central Coast, Carmel Valley (2/9/2014)
Pulled this from the cellar, right into the glass. The slate is noticeable in the aromatic and a bit less appears in the finish but it’s there. What I enjoy about this first vintage of LG is the purity—wet stone, yellow apple, pear and a brushing of mandarin orange. I’m going to put a chill on this, get it a little colder and take it to dinner and see how it shows. At dinner, continued to show well and exhibit the chablis-like characteristics. These are moderate in tone, however, not bracing or chiseled. This makes it a good wine for the wood and butter side of the spectrum, who may not have the context for chardonnay made in this leaner, old world style.
Great notes! I had the '11 Copain LG at the winery, and loved it - enough to pick up a few extras. Very lean and pure, it hits my wife’s palate because of it’s lack of noticeable oak.
The Fogline note is interesting to say the least. Unfortunately I’m reading it within hours of thinking “I need to reduce my pinot purchases”
FWIW, here is the location of Sun Chase, which I believe we could drop into the same discussion thread related to the Petaluma Gap and Sonoma Coast AVA.
Thanks for the note Frank. Sun Chase is an exceptional site in both beauty and quality. It was part of the CALPERS vineyard investment fund along with Gaps Crown and Rita’s Crown. It is now owned by the Gaurachi Family.
I’ve been to Sunchase numerous times sampling fruit with Mike Smith. He uses the fruit for his Ancillary label. About 800-1200’ up the side of Sonoma Mountain on another freaking one lane dirt road to nowhere. Chard down low and Pinot 115, 667, 777, 828 up above. It sits right at the fogline as it breaks just above the upper portion of the vineyard. Very rocky soil reminds me a lot of Halcon. Rumor has it that the 828 cuttings were smuggled in from DRC. great vineyard to visit and walk as it rolls all over the hillside. Even better wines.
The 3 clones produce stunningly different fruit profiles. The 115 being kinda pedestrian pinot, the 667 heavy on strawberry and the 828 very raspberry and spice. I tasted through the '13s yesterday from barrel and that same profile played out with the winner being a barrel of 828 whole cluster. For sure keep this vineyard on your radar.
Here’s a few pics I took of the site last year for the Ancillary website.
Nice to hear that the Armada treated you well. It continues with each vintage to push the Frog as the top Cayuse bottling for me. I’ll be in your neck of the woods for 4 days in September and would love a chance to hook up and drink 2, 3, 4, or 5 bottles of Cayuse with you. My treat !!
I picked this wine up on Berserker day and decided to share this young beauty with the gang at dinner and get some thoughts on it. I was pleasantly surprised how approachable this wine was. Lots of tart bing cherry with cranberry intertwined. Plenty of fruit with great acidity. This wine really developed nicely and I kept going back to this wine throughout the night. Very balanced wine for such a youngster. I now wish I would have bought two 3 packs of the mixed set. Looking forward to trying the other two wines from Fogline.
I am tasting this for the first time tonight, and I think the bolded part of FMIII’s note really is spot on (I can even see the “Chablis-like” reference, but in light of recent threads I thought it best not to bold that part of the note). This really is wonderful stuff, in a similar vein to that of Brosseau but singular in its flavor profile. If Copain keeps expanding its Chardonnay portfolio at this level, I may soon be buying more of its whites than reds!
Hey B, thanks for the post back. I have the 2012 Brosseau chard open right now, waiting for it to warm up a bit more and then post a final note. I am enjoying the discussion surrounding CA chard y Chablis so why not continue!
We won’t see the 2012 LG until I suspect November, when the 2nd half shipment is released. Will have to see if we can get Wells to open the wine before then and get us a preview.
Missed this thread the first time around. If you want some Cayuse, come to NY. I’ve been buying for about 5 years and I buy at a higher rate than I drink, so I need to mover inventory. I even got a FROG allocation last time around and I have three bottles, but I have not opened it yet. Watch out, though, I think the ABV may be too high for a 48 year old.
I’ve refreshed the thread here to again show my enthusiasm for the Fogline. A friend had us over for dinner y/day and she gave me the wheel to pull a bottle to go with dinner. With my memory of the first time with the Fogline Sun Chase back in February (see above), why not drive the bottle again. For me, a real WOTY wine must show the chops to be good on more than one occasion, in a different setting and this wine again delivers. Evan, you made a winner here.
2012 Fogline Vineyards Pinot Noir Sun Chase Vineyard (Petaluma Gap)- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (7/5/2014)
Second bottle this year, with the first bottle in early 2014 being an ‘aha’ moment. Eager to try again, and with the belief that context, food and setting all has the ability to impact for me how a wine shows, I enjoy seeing if what appears to be a wine of distinction can repeat the experience for me on more than one occasion. So to last night’s bottle, this wine is quite unique, very good once again. First off, there is bright red, tarter energized fruit here, a cherry that really zings. Perhaps a bit of black cherry but the main star here is red fruit. There’s herb in the aromatic too. With air, and this bottle was uncorked and went straight into action, I did find the wine add some body with air but even with it, it continued to remain energized, very youthful with just a hint of creamy accents. In sum, what I learned this time is that we have a wine that is going go for a long time, will please pinot fans (like me) who get jazzed up over leaner, red edged fruit with acidity. This is beautiful, although still very young, representing for me a real find, an exciting player for CA pinot.
Nice note Frank. I’ve been wanting to stop by the tasting room for a couple months now but I’m skyways either too early, too late or pass by on an off day. Really want to try that Sun Chase.
Nice note Frank. I live close to Laureles Grade and bike over it. I’d like to see Wells make this one a little more on the edgy side myself, but he’s got a captive audience with a locavore like me.
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