Tried last night w/ my percatelli w/ Buratta:
1. FrancisCoppola DiamondCollection/MagentaLabel Calif AlicanteBouschet (13.5%; www.FFCPresents.com) 2007: Very dar/black color; rather earthy/dusty/old vines boysenberry/chocolaty slight pencilly/oak rather rustic/coarse interesting nose; soft/fat rather tannic/hard/gritty rustic/earthy/dusty/old vines slight boysenberry/chocolaty slight pencilly/oak flavor; somewhat hard/tannic/rustic earthy/dusty light boysenberry/licorice some pencilly/oak finish; definitely that coarse/rough/rustic Alicante character w/o a lot of fruit but a rather interesting red. $17.00
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2. Jalama ElCapitan SBC RW (15.1%; www.JalamaVineyard.com; 47% Syrah/30% Mourvedre/23% Cabernet; LaPresa, ParadiseRd,Camp 4 vnyds) 2006: Very dark color; strong toasty/pencilly/cedary/Fr.oak some blackberry/black cherry/Syrah bit spicy/peppery interesting nose; very tart/acid some peppery/roasted rather charred/burnt/oak/toasty slight blackberry/black cherry/plummy rather hard/tannic/austere flavor; long strong charred/burnt/roasted/Fr.oak some blackberry/plummy hard/tannic/austere finish; a pretty hard/tannic/austere red w/o a lot of fruit; lacks lushness; big structure and may develop into something interesting w/ age. $30.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Coppola: I generally do not try the low-end (well..actually...high end, either) Coppola wines, but the AlicanteBouschet caught my attention. What the heck. It definitely spoke of Alicante but I thought they did a good job of taming that coarse/rustic character of the grape.
Tom