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2013 Tercero Verbiage Blanc - 42% Roussane, 29% Grenache Blanc, 29% Viogner. Always a little worried about white Rhone blends from the new world - they can often be flabby and overly sweet. However, Larry has done a terrific job with this blend. Lovely nose of limestone, white peaches and just a hint of lemon. Nice blend of tart acidity and sweet peach and pear fruit on the palate with some nice texture to it. Nothing over ripe, everything in balance - very nice apertif wine.
Per the Bedrock grower profile on this wine it’s from “a 55-acre vineyard – a classic California field blend of zinfandel, petite sirah, carignane, mourvedre, alicante bouschet, gran noir, lenoir, golden chasselas, and sauvignon vert.” A couple others shared a taste from this bottle and all really enjoyed it. Notes from day 2.
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2012 Bedrock Wine Co. Heritage Wine Pagani Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley (12/27/2014)
Nose dominated by clove, black fruit, and some ridiculous floral notes. Palate is rich but with balanced acid. Black pepper, Black fruit, and other sweet spice. Creamy mouthfeel despite the acidity. Long pleasant finish. Really nice. (93 pts.)
David – great minds think alike!
My first foray into Corsican wine. Won’t be my last. Gave this around 45 min of air. Looks like a dark Pinot Noir. Floral aromatics accented with dark berries & cracked pepper. Bright & medium bodied. More red fruited on the palate, very fresh with emerging, serious tannic structure. Versatile & nimble.
Cool one Anthony!
Lirac tonight, 33% Grenache/33% Syrah/33% Mourvedre
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It just happens coincidentally that I served four Cab Franc heavy Bordeaux blends with a rib roast recently. The first was 2004 Chateau Villhardy St Emillion, 50% Cab Franc, 50% Merlot. Not a great year or a great Chateau, but a completely in character wine. A bit of herbal/green pepper edge, but enough ripeness that it didn’t distract. It would not have been nearly as pleasant without the beef.
Next was a 2006 Le Cupole Tuscany IGT with about the same blend. This had no Cab Franc leaf, and a nearly unctous mouthfeel. No doubt higher alcohol, although it was listed at 14%. O
once again, the beef kept it in line.
Then I opened a labeless Cab Franc, Cab Sauv, Merlot blend that was vinified by Cadence and blended by our production manager when he was interning there. Cadence is not noted for heavily oaked wine by Washington standard, but in comparison with the others it showed more. More Cab Franc showed through than in the Le Cupole. The wine was rounded, without any over-ripeness.
Last was a 2002 Spring Mountain Uriah, a blend much the same as the other Washington wine. I’d call this a whole step up in quality from the other three. The fruit was every bit as fresh, and the acidity just right. More definition, more subtlety. I think this is at peak, and naturally, I have no more.
P Hickner
2003 Clos des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape
I don’t know the exact blend, so we’ll assume the classic 3 grape GSM. Anyway, this is actually a nice wine to drink if you like a somewhat bretty, fully carbonic Beaujolais. It is completely un recognizable as a Chateauneuf du Pape. Odd wine.
2008 Mark Herold Acha 65% Tempranillo, 15% Grenache, 8% Carignan, 7% Graziano, 5% Petite Sirah.
Gave this around an hour of air. Red berry aromatics with some cedar/tobacco character. Full bodied, raspberry with layers of mocha & plummy dark fruit. Structured & serious, the tannins really balance the creamy texture. Generous & delicious w/lasagna.
2012 Michael David Petite Petit
But for this thread, I might not have rolled the dice. A blend of 85% Petite Syrah and 15% Petit Verdot, nose is chock full of very ripe plums, blackberry and blueberry. On the palate, not my style, this is sweet, fairly heavy and very fruit forward with blueberry, blackberry, licorice and plum all showing. Soft, without much structure at this point.
Salud,
Mike
A couple more…
1977 Sandeman Porto Vintage - Portugal, Douro, Porto (12/27/2014)
Disappointing given the other '77s I’ve had. This was part of a mixed lot I picked up a while ago – as much as I love the Sandeman’s logo and my visit in Oporto, the iwnes just ren’t competitive with the lodges in the Symington’s portfolio. This was over the hill, with only a bit of dried fruit left, but otherwise secondary flavors of tobacco and nuts. Finishes a little hot. (85 pts.)
2011 Bevan Cellars Ontogeny - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville (12/28/2014)
Blend of 50% Cab Sauv, 25% Petit Verdot, and some Merlot and Cab Franc. Fruit forward, with black fruit dominating both the nose and the palate. There are some interesting licorice and mineral notes that are in the background of the nose and come out with more air. Palate shows licorice, tar, and sweet spice, but is still very fruit forward. Moderate finish. The fruti overwhelms here, so make sure to give it some air. I found this simplistic at first, but there’s a good amount going on in the background. (90 pts.)
2007 Wind Gap James Berry Vineyard Grenache/Mourvedre/Syrah - I believe this is 51% Grenache, 33% Mourvedre, and 16% Syrah. Intoxicating nose of freshly picked blackberries, lavendar and black pepper. On the palate, more blackberries and pepper, along with a meaty/savory note that I am really digging on this cold night (cold at least for us West Coasters). Still showing a lot of juicy acidity - I imagine this would be great with food. Pulls up a little short on the finish, but nonetheless a very enjoyable glass.
All-
By my count, there are only two donors who have matched (or in both cases – well exceeded!) my donation to Profugo. That makes pretty good odds for people who want to get in on the drawing for the Saxum! Let me know (retroactive matches for past notes welcome)
All in all, I’m roughly counting about $400 so far including other donations and my matches… Let’s finish strong! 
CDP and Port seem to be the winners in buck-for-your-bang, but remember – even 2-grape blends count!
Paul – nice note – I’ve been curious about the Wind Gap JBV – special vineyard judging form the Saxum and Carlisles
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This Vasco Urbano label is the Rhòne blend side-project of Livermore’s Nottingham Cellars, one of the better wineries in the valley. Unfortunately, they seem to have swung for the fences on price, with quality IMO a little lagging. This bottle continues the theme. At $15-$20 I’d say this was a great QPR. At $36, it’s overwhelmed by the competition.
The labels illustrate a bit of Livermore history - featuring early 20th-century pencil sketches made by an itinerant artist named Vasco Urbano Loureiro, of patrons of The Hub Saloon. Vasco died of an infection after being wounded in WWI. His sketches hung on the wall of The Hub until it was torn down in 1927, after which they changed hands several times. They have recently been pulled together into a book featuring a slice of Livermore’s unique history.
The wine:
36% Grenache (Marina Ranch)
25% Grenache (Ghielmetti Vyd)
25% Syrah (Hayes Ranch)
14% Mourvedre (Raboli Vyd)
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Carlisle 2005 Zinfandel Tom Feeney Ranch – This part of the vineyard was composed of: Zinfandel – 92.3%, Syrah – 0.4%, Petite Sirah,– 3.0%,Peloursin – 1.3%, Alicante Bouschet – 1.8%, Grand Noir – 1.0%, Petit Bouschet – 0.1% and Trousseau noir – 0.1%
Popped and poured, the first night the wine opened with lots of astringency (acidity?) that dissipated after about an hour. The wine evolved into an elegant, balanced example of this wonderful vineyard (called Montafi Ranch after this vintage). I liked the wine even more the second night as the elegance and balance were even more apparent. It’s not a blockbuster, and has lost some of its intensity since I last had it in May 2013. The Carlisle drink chart says the drinking window is from 2008 to 2014, and I would drink any remaining bottles soon to catch this wine in its current state.
David
I just got message from Guigal about their CNDP. They report that it consists of Grenache, syrah, mourvedre, grenache Gris, Grenache Blanc, cinsault, clairette blanche, clairette rose, vaccarèse, bourboulenc, roussanne, counoise, muscardin, picpoul blanc, picpoul gris, picpoul noir, picardan, terret noir. But I will not b home until Thursday night. If I can gt an extension until then, I will drink one.
2011 Halcon Esquisto - 40% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 30% Mourvedre - On the nose, similar to the Wind Gap I had last night, with blackberries, a lot of black pepper, and kind of a ferrous quality to it. On the palate, this is interesting in that it attacks the palate almost the opposite from the Wind Gap in terms of the flavors - on this one, I get a hit of the black pepper up front, with the darker, blackberries swirling around the side and back of the palate as it goes down (while the Wind Gap had the fruit on the initial attack, with the pepper and meaty notes on the finish). This one also has a nice juicy acidity, making my mouth water as it goes down. This has a nice lingering finish, and since the fruit is a little more prominent on the finish, for my tastes I am enjoying this wine just a touch more than the Wind Gap without food - although both are very nice wines in a similar style.