 |
And some words from the BloodyPulpit:
-
The DRC: Hadn't seen a DRC wine for a half-reasonable price in years. Hadn't
had a DRC in a goodly number of yrs. Used to buy them when in college from
the dreadful '65 vintage but at a price in the upper-teens. So thought
this would be a good time to return to my RedBurg roots. The wine was served
as a mystery wine. Virtually everyone who commented picked it out as a
Calif Pinot. I even tried to sucker LarryA into choosing betwixt RussianRiver
or Santa Barbara; but he wisely refused to take the bait. Had I not known
the wine, I think I would have picked it as a Siduri, possibly from BienNacido
Vineyard (Adam doesn't make such a wine, though). It was very Calif/international
in style. Nary a trace of RedBurg I could find, save a slight earthiness
to it. Not that much tannin, but it may evolve into something very good,
though I have my doubts it'll ever a achieve greatness. Certainly not worth
$130 IMHO.
-
Brewer-Clifton: This winery is, of course, recently annointed by certain
Monktown attourneys as one of Calif's great Pinot producers. I've followed
Steve & Greg's wines from the very start when they first showed them
at a WineCask futures tasting and have, in general, liked their Pinots
& Chards quite a lot. Didn't try the 2000 ones because of their RP-induced
scarcity; but I had my Siduris, so wasn't lacking for good Pinot. Some
people thought the alcohol really showed on this wine, though I didn't
find it all that objectionable. I did find the wine totally bizarre, very
eccentric. It did not speak much of Pinot Noir to me; though I'm not very
big on demanding that a varietal display typicity. I did, however, like
the wine.
-
Dehlinger Pinots: Tom Dehlinger never seems to stumble when it comes to
Pinots. Consistently one of my favorites w/ a spiciness to them that always
speaks of Dehlinger. This was a good comparison betwixt the Pommard and
the Swan clones. On the nose, I found the Pommard to be a bit more earthy/Burgundian
in character and more elegant/delicate on the palate. On the nose, the
Swan was more fragrant/perfumed but a bit more clunky/Calif-style on the
palate and needing more age. Both were terrific Pinots and a real step
up over the regular Estate.
-
Fiddlehead Fiddlestix: Kathy Joseph was pouring this at the SantaBarbara
Harvest Festival last Oct and I was very impressed by it. We had it a couple
of months ago in a tasting and I was rather underwhelmed by it. Tonights
version was terrific; lots of oak but plenty of Pinot fruit and a certain
kind of minerality and structure to it that I really liked. This fairly
new Vineyard of Kathy's is located in the western SantaRitaHills, not too
far from Peter Cargassachi's Vineyard. We're seeing some mightly impressive
Pinots from the SteRitaHills. The best is yet to come.
-
Tantara Wines: First tasted these at the SantaBarbara Harvest Festival
and then, the next day, at their Open House. Owned by Bill Cates &
Jeff Fink, they are making some very well- made wines. They're located
on the BienNacido property, just across the creek from that "Like Wines
from Incestuous Minds" winery of Qupe/ABC/...... the list goes on and on.
A winery to keep your eyes on. Proud to say that "I followed them from
the very start". Eventually they will be making Syrah, always a good sign
for an up&coming winery.
-
Bonaccorsi: This is the fourth one of Mike Bonaccorsi's wines I've had,
and probably the best one yet. He's the winemaker at Spago restaurant in
LA and very much knows what he's doing. His wines are sourced from a bunch
of different Vineyards in Santa Barbara and Edna Valleys. The Red Monkey
Syrah, which I stumbled onto at a restaurant in Denver, is a very good
Syrah for $21, worth tracking down.
TomHill
Return to the Tom Hill Archive Index |
