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 September 9, 1998:

I've posted before about Aja. It is a very good, inexpensive out of the way restaurant that specializes in Pacific Rim cuisine. They generally do not charge corkage, but Tim, the owner enjoys sampling the wines that people bring in. Our selections did not disappoint.

About mid-way through dinner, Bruce McGuire, winemaker at Santa Barbara Winery, came in for dinner, so we poured some of our wines for him, too.

It was a delight to meet Henry, Lauren, and Matt. If you're ever in SB again, let's have another get-together. Now onto the wines...
 

97 Robert Weil Riesling Spatlese (Rheingau)--Light gold color. Subdued nose. Smooth, medium sweet, modest acidity. Cantelope, tangelo, honeydew. Moderately short finish showing some minerals, flint. The wine married nicely with the corn fritters with Thai hot & sweet sauce. 88

94(?) Arrowood Viognier--Light gold. Nose of minerals, hay. Very dry, flinty, stoney, minerally, grapefruit, chalky. Austere and a bit flat in the mid-palate, but long mineral-driven finish. 87

96 Joseph Swan Zin (Frati Ranch)--Medium red violet. Nose is cherries, violets, pomegranate. High acid, very tannic, but good fruit. Almost syrah like when first tasted. Not a lot of zinberry flavors. More plum, cumin, dried roses. Very young now. Good with lamb kabobs. 88+

96 Ojai Syrah (Bien Nacido)--Inky purple. Berries, briary, forward black raspberry nose. Very lush, rich, almost medicinal black cherry flavors. American oak, toasty, cherry cola. Long finish with substantial tannins. Wine is showing very well now, but should improve over the next decade. Also went nicely with Asian lamb kebabs. 94

96  Ojai Syrah (Roll Ranch)--Even darker than the BN. Beautiful black raspberry, roasted almonds, cola nose. Very shiraz-like, almost salty, briny, toasted character. Blackberry, plum, cola, chocolate. Very tannic, very big, dense, intense. Bit clunky now, but give it 8-10 years to show its best. 93+

A few bloody pulpitisms, just for the heck of it:

As many others have advertised in the past few months, the 97 Rochioli SB is great. One of the best CA SBs I've had. This was my first taste and I'm grateful Hank brought it down (along with the Arrowood and the  Swan).

Sorry I missed the vintage on the Arrowood viognier. It was not a recent  vintage, but wasn't as old as the 92 I reported on a few months back. At the time, the 92 Arrowood viognier was beautiful, very Condrieu-like. This vintage was not quite to the same level and the fruit had faded a bit more.

I haven't had many Swan zins to compare, but the 96 Frati is a bit weird. Not bad, but not especially varietal.

Of the syrahs, Matt brought the BN and Seth the RR. It's good to taste them now that they've been released. At the Wine Cask tasting back in March, it was clear that these were outstanding wines. Six months later, it's the same story. These are among the biggest syrahs I've had from CA. Both will benefit from substantial aging. If you have the Roll Ranch, I really recommend holding it a few years before drinking--it needs the time.

I provided the Weil riesling. This is not one of the vineyard designate wines from Weil and it did not show the character of the better QmP wines from Germany. But it is a perfectly acceptable dinner wine, especially in summertime, as it drinks lightly and sets the stage for a more  substantial red to follow.