Tried last night w/ my pizza:
1. LineShack Roussanne SanAntonioVlly (14%; www.LineShackWine.com) The BallentineFamily 2007: Med.gold color; attractive floral/Roussanne/vanilla pudding/honeysuckle light minty slight herbal nose; soft/fat/glycerined very light floral/honeysuckle/candied/herbal flavor; very short soft slight honeysuckle almost no finish; a rather attractive nose but delivers almost nothing on the palate. $16.00
____________________
2. Adelaida Version PasoRobles (58% Roussanne/42% GrenacheBlanc; 420 cs; www.Adelaida.com; 13.5%) 2007 Med.dark gold color; lovely floral/honeysuckle/Roussanne/spicy quite perfumed/aromatic light tobaccoy/oak nose; slightly tart fairly rich/lush light earthy/minerally strong/lush/floral/honeysuckle/Roussanne/spicy almost honeyed/grilled pineapple flavor; rather long tart floral/honeysuckle/Roussanne/spicy slight earthy/chalky finish; quite a nice Roussanne at a very fair price. $20.00
____________________
3. RockStar Rouge Calif RW (14.6%; 49% Syrah/37% Tempranillo/21% Cinsault; www.RockWallWines.com) V&B by RockwallWines/Alameda 2007: Very dark color; strong ripe/boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/jammy/spicy/licorice/black cherry cola/DrPepper juicy perfumed nose; soft strong/ripe/boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/chocolaty/licorice bit Oz Shiraz-like slight earthy/Lodi very juicy flavor; med.long bit tannic/harsh ripe/jammy/boysenberry/Syrah/chocolaty/licorice Oz-like finish; really good drinking at a great price. $10.00
___________________________________________
A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. LineShack: My first experience w/ this wnry. No relation to Ballentine wnry in the NapaVlly is my impression. The SanAntonioVlly AVA is a very large AVA in Southern Monterey Cnty, across Hwy 101 from the SanLucas AVA. A huge stretch of vnyds running several miles as you head into PasoRobles. Have only had a handful of wines from this AVA thus far and have not been particularly impressed thus far.
_____________________
2. Rockwall: This is KentRosenblum's new wnry, set in a huge hangar on the Alameda NAS. The Rockwall name comes from the rock wall off the west edege of the NAS erected to protect the coastline from erosion. Kent's daughter, Shauna, is the winemaker at Rockwall, though Kent certainly has his finger in the pie.
This RockStar was undoubtedly purchased wine. Maybe from Lodi, though it doesn't speak all that strongly of Lodi red. Maybe some Paso juice as well. But good juice at a great price.
Tom
