ScottWoodward og AppellationWineCompany was in town ystrday showing some of his new wares. Three that stuck out were:
1. ParasVnyd Viognier MtVeeder/NapaVlly (14.5%) 2006: Pale yellow color; beautiful/powerful/aromatic floral/pear/peach/Viog slight minerally ripe but not overripe nose; rich/lush bit tart intense pear/peach/mango/Viog slight oak some minerally flavor; very long/lingering very strong pear/peach/Viognier light mineral/earthy finish; beautiful Viognier aromatics but an underlying structure that keeps it out of the DollyParton camp; very fairly priced at $43.00
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2. ParasVnyd Grenache MtVeeder/NapaVlly 2005: Med.dark color; lovely/perfumed bright/strawberry/Grenache/blackberry very light oak slight dusty/earthy nose; tart light tannic bright/strawberry/Grenache light earthy/Rhonish flavor; med.long bright/strawberry/Grenache light earthy finish w/ light tannins; lots of bright Grenache fruit but the structure and depth to keep it out of the NehiSodaPop camp.
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3. ParasVnyd Syrah MtVeeder/NapaVlly (14.8%) 2005: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/blueberry/Syrah slight toasty/oak slight earthy/dusty slight licorice/tarry/roasted bit Rhonish nose; fairly big/rich/powerful blackbery/blueberry/Syrah slight toasty/pungent/licorice some tannic flavor; very long intense/blackberry/blueberry/Syrah light toasty/tarry/licorice bit Rhonish finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-4 yrs and should go 10. Very fairly priced at $46.00
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. ParasVnyd: This is a small 22 acre vnyd planted by JimParas back in the early '90's. He started up JadeMtnWnry around this time and the wines were made over at WhiteRockWnry by DougDanilek. Those early JadeMtn wines were pretty impressive. They made a HudsonVnyd Syrah and several different ParasVnyd Syrahs. They were, at the time, some of the best NapaVlly Syrahs being made then. But the Viognier was always my favorite and I thought it one of the very best Viogniers made in Calif in the '90's. They made a LProvencal blend that was mighty fine as well.
The JadeMtn label was sold the the ChaloneWineGroup, DougDanilek departed, but JimParas continued to sell to JadeMtn.
But the JadeMtn was a label only and the wines suffered a gentle decline IMHO.
Eventually, the Chalone Group was taken over by Diageo and Jim thought his grapes should go into a better wine than JadeMtn. So he contacted Scott and Doug and, voila, ParasVnyd wine has now reappeared as a label. And from these three wines, and with DougDanilek at the winemaking helm, making the wines at MichaelHaven's wnry in Napa, the wines are as good as ever and appear, I would say, to be on the fast track to the forefront of Calif Rhones. I'm excited to be seeing ParasVnyd wines again. I'm hoping they'll go back to making HudsonVnyd Syrah and maybe LasMadres as well, as I always thought Doug's Hudson was about the best around back in the '90's.
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2. They also have Cabernet planted in Paras and the one I tasted last night was pretty good...for Cabernet. But not being a big Cabernet fan, I didn't pay it a whole lot of attention.
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3. GraffFamily PinotBlanc: Back in early '70's, I fell in love w/ the Chalone Chard and PinotBlanc (and liked the PinotNoir) after I tasted the '68's at 6 yrs of age. Absolutely stunning/stunning wines. They were always very big wines, lots of toasty oak, but an intensity of fruit and an underlying minerality that carried the oak well and they had the structure to age amazingly well. The PinotBlanc was a bit more restrained and tight and I thought they aged better than the Chard. I would make an annual sojourn up to Chalone to pick up my wine and visit w/ winemaker PeterWatson Graff, original winemaker Dick Graff's bro. On one of these trips, Phil Woodward was there and had had the chance to visit with him at length. Amazing man he was. The partys they had up there at Chalone for the investors were legendary.
It's been no secret that the quality of the Chalone wines has slipped over the yrs after they were sold. Now owned by Diageo. But the Graff Family kept the original vnyds up there on the Chalone benchland and have been making wine from them for a few yrs.
Scott was pouring last night the newest ('06?) GraffFamily PinotBlanc. It was terrific. It had that same minerality that made the old Chalone PBs so special, but a much more reigned-in toasty/oak from those olden days. Forgot to note the price, but it was a better Chard than most of those out on the shelf at Susan's last night.
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4. Always thought that it'd make a nice book to tell the Chalone story. David Darlington would be the one to write it, I think.
TomHill