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And the usual wind-bag pronouncements from the BloodyPulpit:
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The Jory wines were given to us to try by DanLewis, co-owner of Jory, who
lives here in NM.
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When I first saw the OrinSwift on the shelf at LiquorMart/Boulder I gasped....
the btl is a dead-ringer for a SQN btl; weighs a ton, wood-cut drawing
on the label like SQN, a name that M&E would use. But the price was
an immediate give-away that it wasn't SQN. Nonetheless, the wine was quite
good and fairly priced.
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Radio-Coteau Occidental: This is a Zin I've been dying to try. The vonWeidlich
Vnyd is an old-vine vnyd on the north side of Occidental, not far from
the SeaRidge/Eric-Ross property. This was the same vnyd that Ridge used
to take grapes from to make their Occidental Zins until PaulDraper gave
up on it after the '73 vintage because of the difficulty in ripening the
grapes. It (and the LafondVnyd/SantaRitaHills) is one of the coldest Zin
vnyds in Calif; nobody in their right mind would grow Zin here. The Ridge
Occidentals were legendary wines, some of the greatest Zins ever produced
in Calif. The Ridge Occidental '70, which I had 5-6 times is probably the
greatest Zin in my memory bank. Huge/black/intense/tannic, often w/ a searing
acidity to them that allowed them to age extremely well, though they were
always pretty hard/mean wines in their youth. So I was expecting this R-C
to be along those lines; huge & intense. Surprise, surprise; it was
not. Though it has good intensity; it was a much more elegant/balanced/svelte
kind of Zin than I expected. If anything, it had the incredible spiciness
of DryCreekVlly Zin and the perfume of a great RRV Pinot. Small wonder,
since the winemaker is Eric Sussman who used to make wine at Dehlinger.
It's not your usual style to see Zin made into; but it's a beautiful/beautiful
extression of Occidental Zin. One of the most exciting new Zins I've had
in some time. A winery, definitely, to watch. www.radiocoteau.com.
Trivia question: What was the old Italian guy's name of this old vnyd??
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Montevina LateHrvst '78: A great example of how big/intense/extracted LateHrvst
Zins can go astray. This was one of my ideals for a LateHrvst Zin when
it was released in 1980. I was sure it would age forever, maybe even outlive
me (well....that IS asking an awful lot of ANY wine!!). It did not. Pretty
much a goner now. Have one left.
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Blaufrankish: This Austrian grape is also known in WashState as Lemberger
(what a marketing disaster THAT name is!!). The familial resemblance to
Lemberger was clearly here in this wine, but it lacked to round/supple/lushness
of most I've had from WashState. It's a variety I'd like to see growing
in both Calif and Beaujolais.
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Cabernet Pfeffer: This was a cross between CabernetSauvignon X ?? (nobody
seems to know) developed in the mid-1800's (well before MY time...I have
NOT followed this grape from the very start!!). It had significant plantings
in Calif until the phylloxera pretty much wiped it out. It did survive
and was replanted in the CienegaVlly in the early 1900's (again...well
afore my time) and has survived there. Only about 10 acres reportedly exist.
In the late '70's, the premium line of Almaden wines under the Charles
LeFranc label made some CabernetPfeffer from these grapes that I recall
being quite good. In fact, the whole Charles LeFranc line had a bunch of
quite nice wines in it, much better than you'd expect from Almaden. Trivia
question: Who was the winemaker for the Charles LeFranc line??
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JoryWinery: I have followed Dan Lewis and Stillman Brown's Jory wines from
the very start. They make a pretty wide-ranging/ecclectic bunch of wines;
drawing a lot on their contacts and old vnyd sources in SanBenitoCnty.
They've never had their own wnry and probably have their wines scattered
on dozens of nooks and crannys betwixt SantaCruz and Paso. Probably even
they don't know where they all are. Nonetheless, they've made a bunch of
pretty interesting wines over the yrs; wines that I have, by and large,
liked quite a bit. These assorted wines that Dan gave us to try were wines
not meant o be aged. Some are a bit shakey; some have aged remarkably well
I thought. The RedZep, making fun of RandallGrahm's CigarVolant (though
they will assure you they are not and the similarity of the label is pure
coincidence), has been there blended/ Chateauneuf-style wine in the past.
The label now is supposed to be the focus of their Syrah wines. They have
already realeased one 2001 RedZep from the LockeVnyd/Paso that I thought
was a killer Syrah at a great price ($21). Alas, our inept (that's a kind
word for my true thoughts) NewMexico distributor, WinePatrol, didn't not
take their allotment and the wine never made it to NM, save the btl Dan
gave me to try. This 2'nd 2001 RedZep (a bit confusing I think) Syrah comes
from the LionOak & Massa vnyds in SanBenito/Gilroy. Not quite as good,
I feel, as the LockeVnyd version; but still awfully good for the price.
They have made some absolutly killer Sangre de Donohue/Lion Oak Syrahs
from that vnyd over the last few yrs. Not what you'd call a stodgy/stick-in-the-mud
type of operation. www.jorywinery.com
TomHill
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