We tried last week (10/13/2010) Some New Wines:
1. Machherndl GrunerVeltliner Steinwand/Wachau (13.5%) 2007: Med.gold color; very fragrant/grapefruity/
citrusy/floral/R-like slight peppery/GV lovely nose; tart spicy/peppery bit tangy/grapefruity/floral/
spicy lovely flavor; very long some peppery very floral/R-like/citrusy finish; a lovely/slightly peppery
GV at a great price. $16.00
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2. Zocker GrunerVeltliner ParagonVnyd/EdnaVlly (EG; www.ZockerWinery.com; 13.3%) 2009: Light gold color;
very low-key slight dishwater/floral light earthy rather innocuous nose; tart light grapefruity/citrusy
somewhat dull/innocuous flavor; med.short tart/citric/metallic dull/innocuous bit floral finish; a
pleasant if simple R-like white w/ no GV character I can pickup. $19.00
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3. Chehalem GrunerrVeltliner WindRidgeVnyds/RibbonRidge/OR (13.0%; RS: 0.2%;
www.ChehalemWine.com) 2009: Med.yellow some cloudy color; some earthy/floral/PG-like pleasant nose
w/ little GV character; soft fairly rich light floral/earthy/metallic flavor; med.short soft light
fruity/earthy/floral finish; pleasant enough but little GV character. $19.00
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4. Chien GrunerVeltliner SantaBarbaraCnty (13.8%; 322 cs) 2009: Med.yellow bit cloudy color; very
attractive/aromatic some peppery/mustard seed very spicy/floral slight sauerkraut very interesting/
attractive nose; tart slight pickle juice/mustard seed some peppery/pineapply/floral/spicy attractive
flavor; long somewhat pineapply/floral/spicy/peppery/GV slight mustard seed very attractive finish;
a very interesting/attractive somewhat peppery rendition of GV. $24.00
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5. FranzHillVnyd Zin NapaVlly big & little vnyds (10 brls; ; planted in 1870's;
< 1/2 ton/acre; www.FranzHillVineyard.com; 14.5%; 285 cs) David&Cathy Marsten 2006: Med.color;
some buttery/vanilla/Am.oak rather spicy/raspberry/Zin bit simple rather pleasant nose; soft rather
buttery/Am.oak/vanilla/tobaccoy bit dusty/earthy some complex raspberry/Zin slight tannic flavor; long
bit tannic/hard rather buttery/vanilla/Am.oak/tobaccoy some raspberry/Zin slight earthy/dusty
finish; a fairly attractive straightforward Zin but a bit pricey for what it is. $34.35
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6. Ridge Calif Zin YorkCreek NapaVlly (79% Zin/21% PS; 14.9%; Bttld: 2/10; Drk: 11/09-
11/16-11/17: JO) 2008: Med.dark color; very attractive/spicy some dusty raspberry/Zin/spicy slight
alcoholic lighht smokey/oak rather attractive nose; tart rather tannic/hard/structured some vanilla/
smokey/oak some raspberry/spicy/Zin slight earthy/dusty flavor; med.long rather tannic/hard some vanilla/
smokey/oak strong raspberry/spicy/Zin slight peppery finish; rather hard & structured and badly needs age;
one of the best YorkCreek Zins in some time. $30.00
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7. Ridge Calif LyttonSprings (74% Zin/21% PS/5% Carignane; DryCreekVlly; 14.4%; Bttld: 3/10;
Drk: 11/09-11/19: JO) 2008: Dark color; beautiful very spicy/raspberry/blackberry/Zin light toasty/oaky/
smokey/Draper perfume/vanilla rather complex nose; rather tart very/very spicy/blackberry/boysenberry/
Zin light smokey/pungent/toasty/oak/tobaccoy rather structured/hard/tannic beautiful flavor; very long/
lingering very/very spicy/blackberry/Zin light pungent/toasty/oak rather tannic/structured some complex
finish; loads of very spicy character; structured and needs age; terrific Lytton. $35.00
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8. Ridge Calif Zin PaganiRanch/SonomaVlly (85% Zin/10% AlicanteBouschet/3% PS/ 2% Carignane;
15.0%; Bttld: 5/10; Drk: 3/10-3/17-3/18: EB) 2008: Very dark color;slight herbal/alcoholic ripe/
blackberry/boysenberry/Zin/licorice/pungent some smokey/pungent/charred/oak rather complex nose; some
softer rather tannic/hard very ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Zin intense slight alcoholic some pungent/
smokey/toasty/charred/oak flavor; very long somewhat tannic very strong/blackberry/boysenberry/Zin/
licorice somwhat tobaccoy/smokey/toasty/oak finish; bit on the ripe side but not overripe; needs
some age. $35.00
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9. Manzano Luigi d'Alessandro DOC: Cortono Syrah (13.5%; www.TenimentidAlessandro.IT) 2008: Med.dark
color; pleasant Syrah/blueberry some earthy/dusty slight black cherry/earthy bit simple nose;
lean/tannic/tart slight blackberry/Syrah rather rough/rustic some buttery/vanilla/oak lean/Sangio-like
flavor; med. tart/lean/tannic/hard some cherry/Sangio-like bit blueberry/Syrah finish; needs age but
why bother; more like Tusbam Sangio than Syrah. Not worth the $14.00
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10. FrancisTannahill Syrah Mason Dixon/OR (13.9%; 3% Viognier; 80% Sam'sVlly/19% Sundown/
1% DeuxVert vnyds; 240 cs; www.FrancisTannahill.com) 2006: Dark color; rather peppery/cold-climate strong
blackberry/Syrah/spicy bit earthy/licorice/wet concrete/mineral rather interesting nose; very tart some
peppery/cold-climate rather restrained/blackberry/blueberry/Syrah/black cherry fairly tannic/hard flavor;
long rather tannic/hard/structured quite tart/lean some blueberry/black cherry/Syrah light cold-climate/
/peppery finish; tastes more like an AltoAdige Syrah than anything; needs age. $27.00
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11. FrommWnry LaStrada Syrah Reserve Marlborough/NZ (13.0%; www.FrommWineries.com) 2004: Dark color; very
strong cracked black pepper/cold-climate some blackberry/peppery/Syrah/spicy rather complex/interesting
nose; tart very peppery/cold-climate some blackberry/Syrah/spicy lightly tannic bit lean/hard/tight
flavor; long strong cracked blacl pepper/cold-climate some blackberry/spicy/Syrah bit tannic/hard
finish; lacks lushness of Calif Syrah, lots of cold-climate/peppery character and more on the lean/
elegant side of Syrah; this is how they'd make Syrah in the Savoie if they could; needs several yrs;
lovely/interesting Syrah at a great price. $15.00
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12. GunnEstate Syrah OhitiVlly/HawkesBay/NZ (13.5%; www.GunnEstate.co.NZ) 2007: Med.color; some cold-
climate/black pepper some minerally/ozone/pungent light blackberry/Syrah very interesting/unusual
nose; some pungent/blackberry/Syrah bit ozone/minerally bit peppery/cold-climate some tannic flavor;
med.short bit pungent/ozone/licorice slight peppery/cold-climate light blackberry/Syrah finish w/ modest
tannins; less cold-climate character but rather interesting/minerally Syrah. $17.00
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A the usual balderdash from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. GV: GrunerVeltliner is one of my favorite whites. It appears that the US has a way to go to
catch up w/ Austria. These two new GV's were pretty underwhelming. Not yet tried the vonStrasser,
supposedly the first Calif one, and not likely to try it at $44/btl. The Chein, made by Don & Lindsay
Schroeder, is easily the best I've had from Calif. It's actually quite nice. This is probably the
sixth btl of it I've tried. It seems to be changing all over the place w/ each btl. Each time I
find something different in it. But it's always an attractive/lovely wine. Can hardly wait to try
MikeOfficer's rendition of this grape.
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2. Zin: It's always a hard time to exercise any restraint when the new Ridge Zin releases arrive in
the Fall and Spring. This Fall release was no exception.
Another stellar release of Zins from Ridge. Generally, the YorkCreek is my least favorite of the
Ridge Zins of their National release. This '08 YC was along that vein, but much more structured and
built for age than any I can recall. A bit simple compared to the LS & Pagani, but I think age
will rectify that. My favorite is usually the Pagani and this '08 was no exception. It tends to have
a lot more interesting things in it than the other Ridge Zins. And the LS is a perennial favorite
and this '08 release is another outstanding one. All in all, Ridge has done an outstanding job w/
their '08 Zins, as they did w/ their '07 ones.
I tasted the '10 Pagani from tank w/ Eric last week. Yield is waaaay down for Pagani this year.
And a ripe Pagani it is. So it may be a bit difficult to obtain. May be a LateHarvest or a LatePick
designate. But it's a stunner.
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3. Syrah: Not had yet an Italian Syrah that did much for me other than a few from the AltoAdige. Just
don't get Tuscan Syrah at all.
This was the 2'nd producer of WillametteVlly Syrah I've tried; the other being Cristom. The Cristom
shows much more cold-climate/peppery character & more blackberry fruit than this Tannahill. But I
thing this Tannahill has the structure & potential to develop into something pretty interesting.
The NZ Syrahs were two that were totally unknown to me that I recently got from K&L. The Fromm was
easily the best of these four Syrahs. But the Gunn was rather interesting. Both at very good prices.
NZ is making some very interesting/world-class Syrahs these days.
Tom