Tripping down memory lane last night, I served:
1. Sangre de Cristo NewMexico TW SeyvalBlanc Ratafia (Arriba & Cachanias vnyds) P&B by Sangre de Cristo Wines near Sapello/NM 1987:
Dark brown/murky/cloudy color like dilute swamp water; strong alcoholic/spirity/Cognac-like quite grapey slight caramel/creme brulee complex nose; quite sweet grapey/juicy alcoholic/spirity/Cognac-like some creme brulee/Kraft caramel/candied apple complex flavor; very long bit pencilly/oak/Cognac-like/spirity quite sweet grapey/juicy/creme brulee complex finish; still pretty primary and needs another 40-60 yrs. $nc
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Susan & I were invited to dinner last night by long-time friends Bruce&Sue Noel. They took my very first wine class I offered in LosAlamos in Jan/1973 so, obviously, owe everything they know about wine to me.
Also in attendance was Shirley Wachoki Jones and husband Jerry. So I thought this would be the ideal audience for this wine; which I advertised as an apertif wine, served blind. Brucie immediately identified it as an Angelica, the Calif version of Ratafia made from Mission grapes. Amazingly, Shirley identified it as one of Richard's (her ex-husband) wines, but declined to comment so as not to appear the know-it-all.
Ratafia is a relatively obscure genre of wine made by taking freshly crushed juice and immediately hitting it w/ alcohol to the 18%-20% level, extinguishing all hopes of any fermentation taking place. By Federal law, it must be allowed to ferment out to 0.5% alcohol before fortification. Why?? Haven't a clue.
Probably the most common example of Ratafia is Calif Angelica, a wine that is now almost extinct, save for Deborah Hall's/GypsyCanyon version from the StaRitaHills. At one time, EastSideWnry in Lodi had very large stocks of very old Angelica. The Quady Elyesium and Essensia are another example of Ratafia. Pineau des Charentes is yet another.
The ability of Calif Angelica to age forever is legendary. If had some examples (under Joe Heitz's label/EastsideWnry; SanMartinWnry MonteAntico, and a few others) that dated back to the middle 1800's. They were as young as the original TN's I penned in the late 1800's and posted to the InterNet way back then (thanks to AlGore's great grandfather's Beta version of the Net); just more ethereally complex than originally tasted. I've had a Pineau des Charentes that was purchased in France in the late '70's that was amazingly good. So I have little doubt that this Sangre de Cristo would go out another 40-60 yrs and probably beyond. I'll be sure to post my TN when I think it's peaked.
This was made by a long-ago friend over in Sapello, RichardJones. He and Shirley published the SouthWest Review of Wines for a number of yrs back in the mid-'70's. Richard eventually segued into winemaking and went commercial w/ his Sangre de Cristo label. It lasted only a few yrs. But he made some rather interesting wines....some less than successful as well. This was a Ratafia thet Richard made from BruceNoel's SeyvalBlanc grapes. Probably about the highest level that Seyval could ever aspire. It, of course, had no discernably varietal character. The label is obviously illegal. You can't label an 18%-20% wine as TableWine.
Shirley related that Richard fortified some of his Ratafias w/ EverClear, some w/ actual Cognac. This btl was undoubtedly one of that latter genre. I was quite impressed at how good the wine had sttod the test of time. Alas, my last btl.
Anyway, a wonderful trip down memory lane over good food, great wines, and the most wonderful of company. Don't get no better.
Tom