We happy that Bernard, who has sampled so many wines, has shared his notes with us. We do have, or have had for sale a few of the wines Bernard writes about, and we include a link to our stock page whenever it is a producer we carry (but since the stock page is kept up-to-date and the wines are sold, don't expect any but the newest of wines to show up in our stock!). Mostly though, since we specialize in County of Santa Barbara Wine and Central Coast Wine, we don't carry a lot of the wines Bernard writes about. But we think it is important that you be able to have an idea what they're like in case you are planning to buy some somewhere, or have them in your own collection. Enjoy.

Here are Bernard's notes from February 26, 1999:

Here are the 6 PN tasted blind, in the order poured:
 

96 Flowers Camp Meeting Ridge Moon Select--Dark Burgundian. Huge nose, black fruit, floral, cocoa, layers of bouquet. Sweet concentrated gobs of fruit. Lush, very ripe, very tannic, but lots of fruit shows through. Black fruit, anise. Finish is long, tannic, almost syrah-like. Will improve over 5-8  years. 94+

96 Williams-Selyem Allen--Light Burgundy/marroon. Funky, leather, saddle pad, dried peaches, stinky, burnt rubber. Despite the off-putting nose, very suave in the mouth. Balanced. Plum, dry grass, cilantro, corriander powder. Fine finish...not real long but tasty. 88

96 Rocchioli West Block RRV--Medium ruby. Earthy, mushroomy, briary. Bright acid, raspberry, cherry. Big finish. Excellent food wine. Complex, herbal mid-palate. Great velvety texture. 2-5 years evolution. 93

96 Ojai Bien Nacido--Dark Burgundy. Black raspberry, earthy, gunpowder, warm. Spicy black cherry. Rich, very long, tannic. Great depth, length. 4-6 years evolution ahead. 93+

96 Talley Rosemary's Vineyard (Arroyo Grande)--Medium red violet. Smelly, tar, rubber, skunky. Smooth, lush, rich, black fruit, dirt. Long tannic, bit bitter finish. Dense mid-palate, showing some tar. 4-8 years. 92+

A mini-sermon from the bloody pulpit:

I rated the Flowers on top, but most everyone thought the Talley best. As you can tell from my tasting notes, I found slight faults with the Talley. But  I'm delighted to own some, it's still excellent wine, and it should improve as the off-odors diminish and the tannins soften. As good as this is, I still prefer Jim Clendenon's classier touch with the Rosemary PN.

My first Flowers PN, I'm glad to be on their allocation list. This is one to let evolve a while, unless you like your PN big and chunky.

The WS was a let down. The Burg was really pathetic. Should have been blended into a regular Bourgogne. Certainly not indicative of the vintage.

Rocchioli was better than I expected. Of the few Roccioli's I've had long ago, they never made much of an impression. So this was a pleasant surprise. I even thought on first whiff that the mushroomy nose was indicative of Bien Nacido. But the bright raspberry fruit flavor marked it as from another vineyard.

Ojai has suddenly come on as a premier producer of PN in CA. Adam Tolmach now ranks with Jed Steele, Stephen Ross Dooley, and (when he's on the mark) Chris Whitcraft as the finest producers of PN from Bien Nacido. For those that care about such things, IMHO Lane Tanner has been in a bit of a slump with BN fruit, and Hartley-Ostini has produced better PN from other sources. Am I missing anyone?

We also had a couple chardonnays:

95 Flowers Camp Meeting Ridge--Light straw color. Mineral, hay, toast. Lemony, butter, perky, tingling, mandarine. Very perky mid-palate. Mineral finish. 94

96 Konsgaard Napa--Light straw. Closed nose at first with straw, minerals. Very rich, butterscotch, flint, minerals, chalk. Tangerine. Oily texture.  Very long, very grippy finish. 96

Another mini-pulpit: This is the second time I've had the Flowers. Here's my TN from New Year Day.

95 Flowers Chardonnay Camp Meeting Ridge (Sonoma)--Medium straw color with some tartrate crystals. Lemon, floral, slight oaky nose. Crisp acidity, layered flavor profile of honey, minerals, flint, lemon. Almost like a sauvignon blanc. Very long finish, lingering minerality, bit of a bitter bite. Pineapple, butterscotch, balanced. Fine all around. 94/100

I guess I'm a consistent rater. Anyway, it is impressive, but more so is the Konsgaard. My first experience with this winery. This one is as good as it gets in CA chardonnay. I found the texture and finish reminiscent of a fine Batard. Please send me a bottle and I'll be your friend for life! Wow!

With dessert we had the now-standard LA charmer, the 96 Baumard QdC. I've had this wine on a number of occasions. This is the first time that it displayed a distinct butterscotch quality, both in the nose and on the palate. I guess the wine is developing complexity in the bottle more rapidly than I would have expected. Unlike the 95 version with its linear acidic frame, the 96 is more round and fat, and now more complex. But not necessarily better. It just depends on what style one prefers. For me, I go with the bigger acid 95.