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Clearly, Mat's wines deserve a BloodyPulpit:
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Garretson prices are all futures prices plus shipping.
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I've followed John MacCready's Viogniers from the very start. The early
ones were a bit lean & hard, but he's very much mastered the variety
now and makes one of the best (the Cedarville being the other one I really
like) SierraFoothills Viogniers. They always have wonderful aromatics,
but show some restraint on the palate and never over-the-top.
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The two Garretson Viogniers were an interesting contrast. The Paso was
very DollyParton in style with loads of in-your-face Viognier fruit. I
actually preferred the Central Coast version as being a bit more interesting,
despite having less blatent Viognier character. For a MrViognier wine,
I actually much preferred his Roussannes. Go figure!!
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Two of the wines were pretty hazy/cloudy, which made me a bit concerned.
Mat assured me not to worry. They didn't fall a bright as he would have
preferred, but chose not to do a Polish filteration on them in order not
to take anything from them. Just a cosmetic problem.
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Renwood Viognier: This was, I believe, Scott Harvey's first Viognier at
Renwood. In its youth, it was a huge/rich/luscious DollyParton Viognier;
loaded w/ ripe fruit. Though the wine had not gone bad and is still in
good shape, it's not gone much of anywhere either. Of course, the current
Renwood Viogniers don't hold a candle to what Scott did there.
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Grenache&Mourvedre: I already knew that Mat could make great Syrah.
The two wines I was really taken by were both the Grenache and the Mourvedre.
The Grenache was one of the most impressive ones I've had from Calif. Not
in the Alban league, but getting close. Likewise, the Mourvedre was one
of the best I've yet had from Calif. In the league w/ some of Steve Edmunds
and Dave Corey's. It has the structure that you don't often find in the
Mourvedres from ContraCosta.
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The Syrahs: A very interesting group of Syrahs. All of them were most distinctive
from one another; they all displayed their differing vnyd sources. Yet,
unlike Novy who makes a range of Syrahs that are distinctive in character,
but similar in style; these Syrahs did not show anything to me that shouted
"Garretson" in their style. A very interesting bunch and all well-made.
Almost as if Mat was wanting to let the terroir speak it's voice, and not
pound them all into the same mold. Whatta concept!! The Rozet was my (slight)
favorite over the Bassetti; a bit simpler and more straight- forward in
Syrah character; it was bigger & more structured for the long haul
than the Bassetti I thought; a bit harder & leaner. Probably the best
Rozet Syrah or Rozet red I've yet had. If Steve Edmunds & Mat believe
in this vnyd; we'd best keep our eye on it. I was expecting a bit more
from the Hoage Syrah. This is what was formerly the Ken Winchester Vineyard.
It was not quite as big & extracted as I expected. But it is priced
very fairly and probably a vnyd that will deliver more in the future I
would guess. The Bassetti Vineyard is clearly one of Calif's great Syrah
vnyds. Steve Edmunds, Augie Hug, and Mat all make exceptional Syrahs from
that vnyd. Alas, in 2002, Ellis Bassetti's crop was pretty much a total
loss. So sad. But the Syrahs coming from this vnyd are very much like Al
Rago's Que Syrah vnyd w/ that very spicy/cold-climate/peppery Syrah. Cold-climate
is where it's at for Syrah.
TomHill
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