Tried thes 4 wines over the weekend w/ Susan:
1. Dashe Riesling McFaddenFarms/PotterVlly/MendoCnty (13.8%; OrganicallyGrownGrapes; www.DasheCellars.com) 2009: Med.light gold color; lovely floral/pineapply/fragrant slight minerally/chalky very spicy slight valve oil nose; very tart totally dry floral/pineapply/carnations light earthy/minerally rather spicy/hair oil/Vitalis flavor; very long pineapply/mango/floral light minerally/earthy very spicy slight valve oil finish; a very beautiful example of what Calif can do w/ Riesling when it tries. Good price at $23.00
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2. Rockblock Reserve by DomaineSerene WallaWallaVlly Syrah (14.5%) 2006 Very dark color; rather strong toasty/oak/pungent some blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/licorice smokey somewhat interesting/attractive nose; soft/lush ripe/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice rather toasty/smokey/oak some tannic flavor; long biit tannic/hard/astringent strong toasty/charred/oak some chocolaty/blackberry/licorice/Syrah finish; needs 2-5 yrs; a good WallaWalla Syrah buut just that; a bit simple and blocky/coarse on the palate; a bit disappointing for $36.00
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3. HeidiSchrock furmint (13%; www.Heidi-Schroeck.com) Rust/Burgenland 2008: Light gold color; quite stoney/minerally/metallic/earthy some Txakolina-like/some Vermentino/some Alsace PinotBlanc rather austere little fruit nose; bit tart some rich stoney/metallic/earthy/minerally slight herbal/toasted marshmallows/butterscotch pudding slight fruit flavor; med.long minerally/metallic/stoney tart fairly lush butterscotch pudding/toasted marshmallow interesting finish; a rather interesting white more like a rich Vermentino than anything. $21.00
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4. Carlisle DryCreekVlly Zin (15.4%; + PS; 325 cs) 1999:
Med.dark color w/ some bricking; very spicy raspberry/blackberry/Zin some pencilly/oak rather fragrant some complex nose; soft fairly smooth slight metallic/tannic fairly spicy strong blackberry/Zin light toasty/pencilly/oak flavor; fairly long blackberry/Zin/spicy some toasty/pencilly/oak smooth/polished slight astringent fairly complex/old Zin finish; no overripe or raisened character and showing a lovely pencilly/old-Zin character.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1.Schrock: Spotted two wines from Schrock last weekend; this furmint and (tonight's Muscat. Not your normal Austrian varieties. Didn't know they had Furmint planted in the Burgenland. Sorta consistent w/ the Calif and Hungarian Furmints I've had, but a bit richer/lusher on the palate. They make a lot of dessert/botrytis wines in the Burgenland and would be interested in seeing what kind of dessert wine the Furmint could make.
Tom