Wineberserkers Virtual Tasting Series: Cal-Rhone til Sun Aug 22nd!!!

WINE TALK
41

I didn’t notice any unbalanced heat in the viognier. A little on the sweet side but with decent acidity to balance it.

42
  • 2007 Audelssa Estate Winery Zephyr - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley (8/20/2010)
    Popped and poured. Nose is initially bittersweet chocolate and white pepper. With some air, become more herbaceous giving notes of crushed oregano, cola and currants. Palate full of black fruits (cherry, raspberry, blackberry), some cola. Acids and tannins are both medium plus and forward, but will likely smooth-out with some age. Mouthfeel is full and silky. Long finish with lingering mocha notes and a minor alcohol burn. Quite good now, but obviously young. Would benefit from a decant and will likely improve over the next 5 to 7 years. (92 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

This wine is 37% Grenache, 33% Syrah, 29% Mourvedre and 1% Viognier

43

Whites count? This week I’ve had the 2008 Tablas Creek, Grenache Blanc and the 2009 Kinero, Grenache Blanc. Both lovely well balanced wines.

44

Cracking this open on Saturday. 2006 Tercero Cuvée Christie

45

Cracking this open on Saturday. 2006 Tercero Cuvée Christie

46
  • 2005 Pax Cuvée Moriah - USA, California, Sonoma County (8/20/2010)
    Brownish-red in color. Nose of spring flowers, blackberries, bing cherries, leather and tar. The palate has a light to medium weight and is all grenache, all the time. There was some sour cherry, licorice, damp forest floor, rubbed leather and reddish plums, and a hint of grapefruit? It lacked backbone and structure and was somewhat flabby and easy-going. Tannin seemed almost fully resolved, and acidity a tad high. Balance was off-kilter. Certainly not flawed, just not present in its full glory.
    What else could I say? Oh yeah, rather simple for what it is. (85 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker


Can we go back to Syrah yet? [drinkers.gif] hitsfan

47

What if Syrah is still the highest-percentage grape in the blend, but is less than 50%? Can I get a virtual ruling?

48

Do it. You know you want to…
[cheers.gif]

49

Impressed with this vintage of Cuvee Le Bec (2008) and then for a stepup-the 2005 Core Red. I often find myself in the minority for my fondness for Grenache-dominant Cali-Rhone, so it’s cool to see such a strong response.

50

An interesting wine that is sort of the flip side of that would be the 2006 Copain Les Voisins ‘Syrah’, which though labeled Syrah (and i’m guessing labeling error) is really 1/3 grenache, 1/3 syrah, and 1/3 field blend of pelercin, aubon, durif and cariganan.

Anyone cracked this one lately? I have the wine but it is buried offsite at the moment (though I’m fixing that soon), and i’m not home anyway…

51

The 2007 Core, Grenache, is another winner from this winery. Pure raspberry aromas followed by nicely balanced palate and showing definite tanginess. Great pure after taste that lingers. This is a winner that we can all afford as I think it was only about $18. Again I felt a lovely similarity with some of the Spanish wines I like. [cheers.gif]

52
  • 2008 Tablas Creek Côtes de Tablas - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (8/22/2010)
    42% Grenache, 21% Syrah, 20% Counoise, 17% Mourvèdre. Screw Cap. LIght Ruby color. Red fruit aromatics - strawberry and rasberry. On the palate straberries continue with spice/pepper and plums on the finish. Fruit forward and approachable right now, and a crowd pleaser. Not getting any grippy tannins, just enough acidity to keep it in balance. New world for sure but showing more elegance than a typical Paso fruit bomb. (89 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

53
  • 2007 Addamo Vineyards Rosé - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County (8/12/2010)
    – popped and poured –
    – tasted non-blind over a few hours –
    – Syrah and Grenache –

NOSE: ras-cherry; salad greens with vinaigrette dressing; hint of menthol; cherry kool-aid; not complex, but unique and intriguing.

BODY: dark for a rose; purple-ruby color of light depth; medium-light bodied.

TASTE: nice earth/fruit balance; strawberry and raspberry on the palate, with a hint of embedded minerality; hint of strawberry on the medium length finish (31-45 sec.); not complex, but enjoyable; seems to be dry or almost dry; 14.3% alc. is not noticeable. I recently purchased a couple bottles of this because I thought it would pair well with a greens salad topped with a vinaigrette made using this wine – I tried this out and it worked well enough for me to plan on repeating the procedure with our remaining bottle.

B: 50, 5, 11, 16, 7 = (89 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

54

NOSE: dark loganberry aromas lurk behind a gentle leathery gaminess; intense plum – not pruney; hint of boysenberry jam in the background.

BODY: clear; rustic garnet-violet color of medium-deep depth; medium bodied.

TASTE: a touch sweet on the front palate, leading into stronger flavors of earth, hay, and horse stable; this is near the limit of how much funk I can enjoy before it starts detracting from the wine … in fact, this might even cross that line a little bit; slightly drying tannins on the finish (45-55 sec.); finish is of moderate intensity; not as tannic as the bottle we sampled from at the winery; slightly hollow on the rear mid-palate; 14.9% alc. is not noticeable; from old vines in Mendocino County.

B: 50, 5, 12, 15, 7 = (89 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

55

Brian,

Nice to see you ending strong! Ranchero’s making some nice wines . . . have you tried their Picpoul?

Keep on drinking those Central Coast wines - we all appreciate it (-:

Cheers!

56

I think I will always drink Central Coast wines! I have not tried Ranchero Cellars’ Picpoul Blanc. Only two Ranchero bottlings I’ve tried is the above Carignan and also a Grenache Blanc, which I thought was very good, but on the pricey side at $28.

57

Drank another super nice 2005 Core Hard Core. Surprising how little we hear about this winery. Outstanding, interesting, and food friendly wines.

58

Just had my first Core, Hard Core (forgot the vintage) last weekend and was quite impressed. Very delicious. [cheers.gif]
Also, just had a 2006 Tercero Cuvee Christee (60% Grenache) and it was excellent. Great balance between the acidity and the beautiful fruits. Very easy to like. [welldone.gif]

59

Better late than never…? 2007 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel. Mourvedre is the dominant grape…really lovely stuff. Almost tastes less ready than some of the Rhones I have had from the same vintage. Black fruits, great balance, coats the mouth. Looking forward to this in a year or two.

60

Nice job everyone!
Until next time…