Tried this last night w/ my pasta:
1. JadeMtn LaProvencal (Mourvedre/Syrah + old vine Zin; ??%) NV: Dark color w/ slight bricking; some old CdP plummy/earthy/licorice/balsamic bit cedar/cigar box slight dried rose petal/aged somewhat fragrant nose; soft slight bretty/funky rather earthy/dusty some dried rose petal/licorice/balsamic bit cigar box/cedar bit dried out/tannic flavor; med.long plummy/licorice/dried bing cherries some cedary/cigar box somewhat tannic/dried out finish; attractive/interesting nose but starting to dry out on the palate; still a pleasant wine to drink w/ food. $12.00
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And a bit of TheBloodyPulpit:
1. This was a NV-dated wine but from its neighbors in the box, probably about an '88 or '89 or both. There interesting thing about this wine was there was nowhere on the front/back label a mention of the alcohol %, or a statement of TW or RTW. Curious.
This was a pleasant/little Rhone blend in its youth...nothing profound. So I was pretty surprised that it had hung in there this long. Getting a bit long of tooth, but still interesting/good to drink.
This wine was made back in the JadeMtn hey-days, when DougDanilek was making the wines. They had some pretty exceptional Syrahs, from ParasVnyd and HudsonVnyd. With the sale of JadeMtn to the ChaloneWineGroup and now to ??, the wines have not been nearly so interesting. Doug is now back to making wine (at MikeHavens place) for ParasVnyds, a part of ScottWoodward's AppellationWineGroup, and the wines there are absolutely first rate.
Tom