Tried these two the other night w/ dinner:
1. Skinner Viognier StoneyCreekVnyd/FairPlay (14.3%) 2006: Light gold color; attractive pear/Viog bit spicy some earthy elegant Viog nose; fairly tart/lean bit tangy/grapefruity rather spicy/pear/Viog somewhat earthy flavor; med.long somewhat earthy light pear/Viog/spicy slightly bitter/tangy finish; an attractive low-key/elegant Viog w/ that earthy/ElDorado terroir. $22.00
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2. Skinner Syrah ElDorado (15.5%; http://www.SkinnerVineyards.com) 2007: Med.dark color; fairly strong blackberry/Syrah slight smokey/SouthernRhone some toasty/toasted coconut/oak fairly spicy/fragrant slight peppery rather earthy interesting nose; fairly tart bit lean/hard/tannic/rough strong blackberry/Syrah light toasty/toasted coconut slight alcoholic rather earthy/ElDorado terroir flavor; med.long strong blackberry/Syrah somewhat hard/tannic light toasty/oak fairly earthy finish; a rather rough/rustic somewhat hard/tannic bit Languedoc-like Syrah that speaks lodly of that ElDorado/earthy terroir; needs 2-5 yrs. $25.00
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. As I was browsing thru the list of wineries at the upcoming RhoneRanger tasting, looking for new kids on the block, I noticed Skinner. Going to their WebSite (http://www.SkinnerVineyards.com ), I noted they were located up in ElDoradoCnty. Since I've been a big fan of those ElDorado wines from EdmundsStJohn, Donkey&Goat, and SierraVista; I decided to order a 6-pak of their wines to try.
They are located just a stone's throw from Jonathan&Susan Lachs there in FairPlay; whose Cedarville wines my group is a big fan of. Jonathan speaks highly of their winemaker, Chris Pittenger, who lives over in SanFrancisco.
I liked both of these wines. They reminded me a bit of the early SierraVista wines. They speak loudly of that earthy ElDorado terroir, yet have plenty of fruit to accompany that. Not quite the polish & finesse of the D&G/EdStJ/Cedarville versions, which I expect will come with time, these are interesting wines worth trying.
Worth checking out at RR in a few weeks. I look forward to trying Chris' other two wines and meeting him there at RR.
Tom