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And the customary rantings from the bloody pulpit:
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Wine rep Jill Cashman had tasted our group a month ago on the two Phelps
Pastiches and I liked them a lot then. Previous Phelps Pastiche has been
a pleasant red but just that. These were a real notch up in quality. The
Blanc (their first Pastiche Blanc I believe) is a particularly nice
white wine that has a strong Marsanne varietal character but a richness
instead of the usual lean/hard character you get from Marsanne. And at
a great price. Highly recommended. The Rouge is not quite as exciting but
still a very nice quaff w/ good Rhone style (though still distinctly Calif)
at a good price. Two really superb wines for restaurants by-the- glass
program. The Blanc: 45% Chard, 26% Marsanne, 21% Roussanne, 6% Viognier,
and 2% Muscat.
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Cline Cellars: I don't recall the past Cline Mourvedres having so much
minty/ eucalyptus/sage character as these. Some tasters thought it excessive
but I felt there was plenty of Mourvedre/plummy fruit to carry it. The
SmallBerryVnyd '96 is probably the best Mourvedre they've made yet. I've
been rather impressed w/ the increase in quality of the Cline wines over
the last yr or two. They're not quite yet in the top tier of Calif/Rhone
producers but they make awfully good, interesting Rhone varietals at a
reasonable price (now the Jacuzzi Zin... that's another matter!). As more
of their Sonoma plantings of Rhone varietals come on line, Cline is a wnry
to keep your eye on.
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Whither Mourvedre: I think the jury is still out on whether Calif will
make great Mourvedre or not. There's precious little 100% varietal Mourvedre
from France (don't know that I can think of even one) so it's hard for
me to get a good feel for what the grape is capable of (that's sorta assuming
that if GREAT Mourvedre is produced, it will be French.... hardly a sensible
assumption!). Most of the early Mourvedres produced were from Cline/ContraCosta
grapes which has a rather distinctive plummy/dusty character to them and
probably distorts somewhat people's impression of what Mourvedre can do.
Most Calif/Rhone producers use it in their Rhone blends. And of, course,
there's the Ridge Mataro (Mourvedre) that's quite good, but speaks more
of Ridge than of Mourvedre. As more and more Mourvedre plantings come on
line in cool areas, like SantaBarbara, it's going to be exciting
to see just how far the Calif winemakers can push the variety to greatness
At the Raisin'Rhones '99, there is supposed to be a panel on Mourvedre
that will hopefully shed some light on this question.
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Calif Grenache: I've sung before the praises of Calif Grenache & the
fact it is destined for greatness in Calif. The Alban Grenache is world-class
Grenache. This version from Andrew Murray is right up there close behind;
a bit more harder & tannic & rough than the Alban, but it
has all the fruit intensity that John's has. Keep you eye on Grenache from
Calif!
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Ch. Rayas: I thought it was pretty gutsy to pair Andrew's Grenache against
the '96 Chateau Rayas (this WAS, of course, the special RESERVE wine of
Rayas!!). The Andrew Murray blew it away. Even the FrancoPhiles in the
group were embarassed by the Rayas. Addmitedly not the best of yrs in the
Southern Rhone but for the price, one should be getting a whole lot more.
I would be embarrased to be selling a wine like this at that price; I'd
be a laughingstock! Like the Kermit Lynch wines, New Mexico gets only the
dregs of Martine's wines after the "better" customers have had their pick
( in my Kansas vernacular; it's called being "the hind tit on a boar
hog"!), so the '95 Rayas never came here & I didn't get a chance to
try it; reportedly it was quite good. And I've had Rayas in lesser yrs
that I thought were quite good. But this '96..... stupid wine at a stupid
price!
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Sierra Vista & ElDoradoCnty: I've always like John & Barbara MacCready's
SV wines since I first started trying them (Jeez.... he's an engineer by
training.... they gotta be good!!). ElDoradoCnty seems to have a definite
terrior character in their red wines that gives them a (to me) distinct
earthy/dusty/mushroomy character not all that unlike found in Southern
Rhone, Provence, and points South. Because of this ElDorado character,
John's Syrahs have probably reminded me more of Chateauneuf than Northern
Rhone. Thus I've long felt ElDorado had quite a pontential for making Calif
Rhones. I've been impressed w/ the big improvemennts he's made in
his Zins over the last 2 yrs or so. Now, with these 2 Syrahs, John has
hit two homeruns here; these are terrific Calif Syrah, with lots of Southern
Rhone character; easily the best Sierra Vista Syrahs yet made and easily
the best ElDoradoCnty wines I've ever had. Worth seeking out and trying.
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x. And although I'm not too keen on numbers & scores, for those folks
who get a nice warm, fuzzy feeling from them:
Number of Wines from Your Opponents BackYard
Tasted Before He Even Got A Chance to Taste Them
Bernard Roth-1 TomHill-736
and if I can get to my just-arrived Jaffurs release afore Bernard (throwing
down the gauntlet here, Bernie!), my lead shall become insurmountable!
TomHill (launching a pre-emptive strike on Bernie here!)
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