I got to taste this out of barrel too many years ago and ended up getting a six pack. At the time, I would have sworn it was a N. Rhone with its wonderful spicy black pepper character. I finally pulled out bottle #1 last night and to my shock (!) was it was 13.8% AVB. A Goodfellow!?!?! But a quick peek showed that the 2015 is the same level. Well this wine is just fantastic! It might be a bit bigger and riper than the 2015 (odd considering the vintages), but it was so complete, balanced, and inviting as a pnp. It ruled the table paired with a filet mignon. Goodfellow’s greatest gift to the world - the sparkling program. Goodfellow’s greatest crime - discontinuing Syrah.
2015 is widely known for being warm, and was the hottest Willamette Valley vintage on record, it only held that record for one year. But 2015 eas hot during the growing season and then cooled off mid-August, 2016 was only slightly above normal until September when it stayed quite warm through the konth and into October. We picked Pinot Noir early before sugars elevated, but Syrah needs the time to develop and with 2016s smaller crop the sugars were 24 Brix when we picked. The 2015 Syrah was actually slightly lower in sugar levels at harvest but we had a slightly more efficient sugar conversion rate in 2015.
I’m glad to see the Syrah from Deux Vert in the hands of Chris at Twill. Both Megan and I miss making that wine but with sparkling being such a heavy lift during the frontside of harvest adding Syrah that comes in 3 weeks after everything else is just more than we can manage ourselves, but I’m looking forward to trying the Twill version very much!
Celebrating the Patriots big win with a bottle I’ve been dying to open since it was delivered in the fall. First impression is FUCKING A RIGHT! I need to keep this away from my wife. It’s 2012 Matello Riesling, Willamette Valley designation.
Yeah, it came in my second mystery pack after the first one got stolen. I told Marcus and Megan not to replace the stolen one from their personal library, but I have a feeling that’s where at least some of the bottles came from.
It might be the best Riesling I’ve ever had. I don’t have a ton of experience but it seems indistinguishable from the better German dry bottles I’ve had. (Meaning if you told me this was from Mosel I would totally believe it.)
But if it didn’t come from the personal stash and there are more hanging around, Marcus I am your huckleberry! This one bottle was worth the price of the six pack.
Now we’re working on a 2023 Whistling Ridge Riesling but I can’t get a picture because I have a broken leg and broken shoulder and my wife fell asleep. I’m probably on my last glass anyway but if not I’ll have to wake her up because the wheelchair isn’t in reachable position at the moment.
You know when you drink too much and the next day you wake up and there are just these random flashes in your mind of the previous evening? Back labels are like that…
Saw your picture and first thought was, “oh shit, I did write that.”
Sorry to hear about the leg and shoulder though John, I hope you are on the mend and neither break is too nasty.
Thank you. I just got the good news that the shoulder is healing properly and won’t need surgery. The leg is a bit of a mess, with a plate and 15 screws for the tibia fracture. The fibula fracture was clean and not much of an issue. But the first set of x-rays shows everything healing well so far so it’s all good news to date.
