WTN: Some New Calif Rhones...(long/boring)

We tried last week (1/20/10) Some Calif Rhones:
1. WindGap 51%Grenache/33%Mourvedre/16%Syrah JamesBerryVnyd/PasoRobles (14.9%; #673)
PaxMahle 2007: Med.color; quite fragrant strawberry/Grenache quite spicy rather Rhonish/garrige very
interesting/complex nose;fairly tart very spicy/strawberry/Grenache bit rosemary/garrigue/herbal/
Rhonish balanced/restrained flavor; long balanced/restrained quite spicy/strawberry/Grenache bit
garrigue/Rhonish finish w/ light tannins; a very nice CdR-like wine that shows virtually no Paso
character; should age well for 2-6 yrs. $45.00
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2. StageLeftCllrs TheBreadwinner CentralCoast (60% Syrah/12% Mourvedre/10% PS/18% Grenache;
15.0%; 220 cs; U/U) 2006: Dark color; slightly reduced ripe/blackberry/Syrah slight jammy/alcoholic/
plummy/licorice attractive nose; soft ripe/blackberry/Syrah/spicy bit plummy/licorice slight alcoholic
flavor; long ripe/plummy/blackberry/Syrah slight licorice finish w/ smooth/light tannins; can use several
yrs of age; attractive/pleasant red that speaks mostly of Syrah; nice wine but just that; bit on
the pricey side vis a vis what's out there. $42.00
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3. StageLeftCllrs PetiteSirah CentralCoast RussellFamilyVnyds/PasoRobles (15.1%; 110 cs; U/U;
www.StageLeftCellars.com) 2006: Very dark/black color; very intense boysenberry/PS bit licorice/peppery/
plummy slight licorice/ozone/pungent very attractive/ripe/PS nose; soft/fat rich/lush pretty tannic plummy/
blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah slight pepper/pungent/burnt rubber bit chalky/earthy flavor; fairly long
plummy/blackberry/PS rather hard/tanic slight pepper/pungent/earthy soft finish; quite attractive nose
but doesn't quite follow thru on the palate; needs 3-8 yrs; reminds me a bit of the VincentArroyo PS.
A bit pricey for a PS at $40.00
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4. StageLeftCllrs Syrah CentralCoast (WatchHill & McGinley/Westerly vnyds; 14.8%; 220 cs; U/U; 35 mo. in
oak/20% new) 2006: Very dark color; fairly spicy/blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry slight vanilla/oak fairly
lush/ripe attractive nose; soft/smooth/elegant spicy/blackberry/Syrah balanced light vanilla/oak ripe/lush
flavor; med.long bit tannic attractive/blackberry/Syrah bit spicy/peppery some vanilla/oak balanced/lush/
elegant finish; needs several yrs; nicely done Syrah at a fair price. $28.00
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5. WindGap Syrah GriffinsLair/PetalumaGap/SonomaCoast (14.6%; #2188 of 365 cs) 2007: Very dark color; lovely
peppery/blackberry/Syrah some floral/violets bit Rhonish/smokey/roasted complex nose; tart structured/
tannic/hard rather peppery/cold-climate roasted/pungent/espresso quite floral/violets strong blackberry/
Syrah rather Rhonish flavor; very long Rhonish/pungent/roasted peppery/blackberry/Syrah/floral rather
tannic/rugged finish; lovely aromatics and nice Rhonish character; should age into something pretty
special; my favorite of the WindGaps. $48.00
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6. WindGap Syrah Castelli-Knight Ranch/RRV (14.9%; #1726 of 345 cs) 2007: Very dark color; very strong
smokey/pungent/blackberry/spicy/Syrah some roasted/espresso/peppery some Rhonish/complex nose; softer/
lusher strong blackberry/Syrah/spicy some smokey/pungent/roasted bit toasty/oak some tannic flavor; very
long smokey/pungent strong blackberry/spicy/Syrah slight pepper/espresso some tannic finish; needs age;
bit more softer/lusher & more RRV Syrah fruit and less peppery/cold-climate character; beautiful/
interesting Syrah. $48.00
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9. Pax Syrah SonomaHillsides/RRV (14.4%; www.PaxWines.com) 2006: Very dark color; strong bretty/unclean/
fecal bit volatile/alcoholic some spicy/blackberry/Syrah rather complex nose; soft rather bretty/fecal/
unclean/SouthernRhone/barnyardy strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry some toasty/oak flavor; long rather
bretty/unclean/fecal/barnyardy some boysenberry/Syrah finish w/ some tannins; can still use some age;
big & extracted but a bit too bretty for my tastes. Pricey at $50.00
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10. Carlisle TwoAcres RW RRV (13.7%; 99 yr old vines; 84% Mourvedre/6% PS/5% Carignane/3% AB/
2% Syrah; U/U; 295 cs) 2007: Med.dark color; lovely strong/plummy/Mourv rather dusty/old vines some toasty/
oak spicy/licorice rather complex/old-vine nose; soft rich/lush quite spicy/plummy/raspberry/Mourv fairly
dusty/old vines light toasty/oak flavor; very long dusty/old vines quite spicy/plummy/Mourv slight earthy/
mushroomy light toasty/oak finish w/ modest tannins; doesn't seem quite a rough & tannic as previous
Twackers; a lovely plummy Twackers that speaks strongly of Mourv; more balanced and lush than previous
ones; should easily go out 10 yrs. $37.75
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11. BedrockWineCo Syrah OldLakevilleVnyd/SonomaCoast (Sangiacomo family; +1% Viognier; 33%
Whole Clusters; 15.5%) 2007: Very dark color; slight menthol/eucalyptus ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah
very slight roasted/peppery bit alcoholic/ripe nose; soft very rich/lush boysenberry/Syrah/blackberry
slight peppery very light toasty/oak slight ripe/alcoholic flavor; soft rich/lush very ripe/boysenberry/
blackberry/Syrah finish w/ modest tannins; needs a couple of yrs; not a lot of PetalumaGap/peppery
character but plenty of lush Syrah fruit; nicely done & interesting Syrah. $35.00
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12. BedrockWineCo Syrah KickRanch/SonomaCnty (15.3%; Clones: 174 & 470; +5% Viognier;
www.BedrockWineCo.com) 2007: Very dark/black color; rich/ripe lush blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry bit
alcoholic slight pencilly/oak nose; soft very ripe/lush strong boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/big fruit
light pencilly/oak flavor w/ soft/round tannins; long soft very ripe/lush/boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah
slight spicy/pencilly/oak finish w/ light tannins; seems a bit bigger/riper than the SonomaCoast;
very nicely ripe Syrah w/ loads of fruit. $35.00
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And the usual stuff from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. WindGap: This is PaxMahle's new winemaking effort, located in Sebastapol. I've followed Pax from the
very start, when he thrust upon me one of his ho-made wines at a HdR Winemaker get-togethers kick-off
events. When he started PaxWnry, his wines were very big/extracted, yet displayed a good Rhonish
character to them. The wines were pretty pricey and I didn't follow them that closely for that reason.
But when I'd taste them at HdR or RR, I always liked them.
Since Pax moved to WindGap, he's determined to rein in the style of his wines somewhat. Probably won't
play well in Monktown and Pax will find himself out in the woodshed w/ SteveEdmunds & BobLindquist. Not
so bad company I'd say.
These three wines are good examples of that new direction. I liked them very much for that reason.
They're not dramatic statements w/ gobs of hedonistic fruit, but I suspect they'll turn into really
interesting wines with age. A wnry to watch IMHO.
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2. StageLeftCllrs: This is a lower Berkeley operation that I'd heard some good things about from friends,
so signed up to give them a try. Owned by MelindaDoty. Winemaker is RichWilliams. They have access to some
pretty good vnyds, so obviously have got good grapes to work with. I liked the wines pretty well; thought
two of them on the pricey side, one more than fairly priced. The PS was my easy favorite; a unique
expression of the variety. Well made and interesting wines; I'll buy again.
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3. Bedrock: This is a relatively new wnry in ValleyOfTheMoon/SonomaVlly. Run by Morgan Twain-Peterson, son of
Ravenswood's JoelPeterson. All the Bedrocks I have thus far I've liked quite a bit. They've a very old
mixed-black vnyd that gives exceptional grapes. Their Heirloom reds have most impressed me. Their
MonteRosso Semillon is one of the greatest Semillons made in Calif.
These are the first Bedrock Syrahs I've tried. They are good/solid/well-made Syrahs packed w/
characteristic Syrah fruit. Sorta like a Syrah made by a Zin producer. Definitely a wnry to keep your
eye upon.
Tom

WindGap 51%Grenache/33%Mourvedre/16%Syrah JamesBerryVnyd/PasoRobles (14.9%; #673) PaxMahle 2007

WindGap Syrah GriffinsLair/PetalumaGap/SonomaCoast (14.6%; #2188 of 365 cs) 2007[

b]WindGap Syrah Castelli-Knight Ranch/RRV (14.9%; #1726 of 345 cs) 2007[/b]

Pax Syrah SonomaHillsides/RRV (14.4%; http://www.PaxWines.com) 2006

WindGap: This is PaxMahle's new winemaking effort,.... When he started PaxWnry, his wines were very big/extracted, yet displayed a good Rhonish character to them.... Since Pax moved to WindGap, he's determined to rein in the style of his wines somewhat....These three wines are good examples of that new direction. I liked them very much for that reason. They're not dramatic statements w/ gobs of hedonistic fruit, but I suspect they'll turn into really
interesting wines with age. A wnry to watch IMHO.

Its funny and I am not really sure what my point is here but I have read in a number of places how Pax wants to pick lower brix fruit and get away from the big fruit style. I think it was the current wine maker magazine where he is quoted as saying he want to pick at 22 brix. You say he's heading in that direction yet look at the reported alcohol for the WindGap wines. They are all above 14.5%. We just had this discussion about how 22 brix does not normally get you to 14.5% alcohol.

Its funny and I am not really sure what my point is here but I have read in a number of places how Pax wants to pick lower brix fruit and get away from the big fruit style. I think it was the current wine maker magazine where he is quoted as saying he want to pick at 22 brix. You say he's heading in that direction yet look at the reported alcohol for the WindGap wines. They are all above 14.5%. We just had this discussion about how 22 brix does not normally get you to 14.5% alcohol.

Well, Brian....I think he's probably headed in that direction, but may not be where he wants to be vis a vis alc% yet. Just a guess.
Certainly, these wines are more structured and more restrained/elegant than his early yrs at Pax I would say.
He's evolving I think.
Tom

Oh I believe you and I have not had the chance to taste any of the WindGap wines myself. Living on the East Coast does have some disadvantageous.

As I said not sure where I was going with the thought. Could be that the talk of picking at lower brix is not yet being shown in the finished product. Or it could be that alcohol content and style don't always coorelate. I have had wines north of 14.5% that were not highly extracted fruit bombs. Its also perfectly reasonable that the 2006/2007 wines where the stylistic change that encouraged him to look at picking at even lower levels and the future wines will show those numbers.

Who really knows what I was saying.