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And all the usual blatherings from the BloodyPulpit:
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Wine@Work: This is a new vnyd operation started by Peter&Becky Work
in Buelton, on the hgwy West right off Post Rd, just to the East of Melville&Foley,
on the South side of the road. They have about 20 acres planted in Pinot
& Chard and a little Syrah that is destined to go to Brian Babcock
and Royal Oaks. Their son, Don, was formerly asst. winemaker w/ Brian.
Eventually, they will make their own wine from their grapes. To stick their
toe into the winemaking waters, they bought three barrels of Grenache and
Syrah from BeckmenWnry and this is the first of their results. Not available
for sale, alas. A Syrah/Grenache blend will be btld later.
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AugieHug: Great guy, good winemaker, but marginal bowler. I've followed
AugieHug from the very start. A good friend of John Alban, he's made his
wines there for a number of yrs, some from Alban grapes, some from purchased
grapes. These two wines got a mixed reception from my group. They are both
some reduced and stinky at the start, some felt they may have a bacterial
problem. The reduced/stinky character doesn't bother me; that will disappear
w/ age. With their high acidity and huge extraction, I think these wines
are going to be outstanding down the road w/ some age. It'll be interesting
to follow them. But they do (now) need some time in the decanter to breathe.
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TheGourt: I've followed TheGourt from the very start. It's a pretty unusual
wine for CdR and Rasteau, incredibly intense. Or Grenache on steriods.
This '00 strikes me as the least Gourt that I've had because of it's hard/astringent/chalky
character on the palate on not the intensity of fruit on the palate I've
come to expect from TheGourt. It may just be a phase and will turn into
an incredible wine down the road... who knows??
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Qupe LosOlivosCuvee: I've followed the LOC from the very start. This is
BobLindquist's Rhone blend, originally just Syrah/Mourvedre, but now w/
Grenache included therein. Chateauneuf it is not (that's a plus), but good
drinking red wine it definitely is. It consistently represents one of the
best red wine bargins around. Never particularly big or intense, balance
is its hallmark. Because of that (probably), it also ages amazingly well.
I've had 10 yr old versions that were still great drinking/pleasurable
wines, not just intellectual experiences.
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Qupe CentralCoast Syrah: The '01 CC Syrah is normally released at SantaFe
Wine&Chile Fiesta in September, right after bottling. Because there
still remains the '00 in stock, the '01 has not yet been released in 750's,
only in 375's. I had tasted it several weeks ago from hlfs and thought
it was Bob's best CC Syrah since the early-mid '90's, when it was primarily
SantaBarbara Syrah. I'll revisit the 750's when they're eventually released.
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WhiteHawkVnyd: This is a relatively new Syrah vnyd up on CatCanyonRd just
east of Hwy101, next to the highly acclaimed SutterHome (jeez..... can't
imagine what SutterHome's doing w/ grapes from a quality growing area)
vnyd and a second Melville vnyd as well. Bob made his first single-vnyd
Syrah from WhiteHawk w/ the 2000 vintage. I expect it to be another very
good Syrah vnyd.
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MargerumSyrahs: Doug Margerum, of WineCask fame, has been making wines
for a fair number of yrs w/ BobLindquist/Jim Clendennen for the WineCask
futures program. He has now struck out on his own (still very much at the
WineCask, though) with his own label. The first, a PinotGrigio released
this summer, was a lovely wine from a variety that tends to make rather
boring wines. I tasted these two wines at the SantaBarbara Harvest Festival,
under not the best of circumstances, and thought them two of the best Syrahs
there. Now, back home, under more ideal circumstances, I was even more
impressed with the wines. It took WS/RP a few yrs to "discover" Adam Tolmach
and John Alban, so we can count on these gems for a few more yrs as "our
secret". These two Syrahs remind me a lot of Joey Tensley's Syrahs, with
that same intensity of pure Syrah fruit, but a bit more complexity and
structure.
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BassettiVnyd: This is a relatively new vnyd midway twixt Paso and Cambria
and, like QueSyrah vnyd, one of the really cold-climate Syrah vnyds in
Calif. He sells Syrah to Steve Edmunds and Mat Garretson in addition to
Augie. Based on the first wines from here, it is undoubtedly one of the
great Syrah vnyds of Calif. It's going to be a fun journey to follow these
wines... from the very start... as they say!!!
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Grenache: There seems to be a growing interest in Grenache in Calif, we're
starting to see a lot more varietal versions, not just considering it as
blending material. The reason is pretty obvious; people taste JohnAlban's
version and, all of a sudden, realize that you can make great/world-class
wine from this variety, as great as any other variety in existence. When
I pour an Alban for someone who has never had one; they invariably have
the same reaction I had when I first had John's Grenache; they can't believe
this is Grenache... surely it's gotta be a Syrah!! As far as I'm concerned,
the Alban Grenache is the gold standard by which all others are measured;
either Rayas or many of the Oz versions.
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AlbanReva: Named after John's Mom, I've followed them from the very start.
This is John's "entry level" Syrah, and better than most other producer's
top-of-the-line Syrah. This '00 version is fully up to snuff, and then
some. Back in the days when they were priced in the mid-$20's, they were
absolute steals. Even now at $40, they are not unreasonably priced I feel.
TomHill
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