Tried these two new wines Fri night for dinner:
1. Failla Chard SonomaCoast (14.2%) 2009: Med.light gold color; light melony/rather appley/Chard slight Mosel valve oil/floral some minerally/chalky/flinty almost Chablis-like light tobaccoy/oak lovely/low-key nose; quite tart rich/lush some flinty/chalky/minerally light melony/floral/appley/valve oil textured very structured flavor; very long minerally/chalky/flinty light appley/melony/Chard light tobaccoy/oak finish; not a lot of opulent fruit and lots of interesting things in here; not a dramatic Chard that gets in your face, but should be a great one down the road. $38.50
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2. Ridge Calif 50% Syrah/Grenache LyttonEstate/DryCreekVlly (14.8%; 44 brls; Drk: 8/08-8/14-8/16: EB) 2006: Very dark color; strong Draper perfume/toasty/smoky/oak some light/blackberry/blueberry/slight Syrah bit Grenache/strawberry very spicy some earthy/dusty not very varietal/Syrah nose; tart some lean/austere/hard/tannic fairly earthy/dusty strong toasty/smoky/oak/DraperPerfume light Syrah/blackberry low fruit flavor; med.long rather hard/tannic/austere very smoky/oak/pungent/tobaccoy rather hard/tannic/austere light blackberry/blueberry/Syrah quite structured finish; not a particularly likeable wine, speaks more of Ridge than varietal Syrah, but another I expect to be really great w/ some age. $28.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Failla: This Chard is like a lot of young fencers I see. They're a little rough & inexperienced, but this guy's going to go places w/ his epee. And I'll tell them that..especially if they've just lost to some old guy, using his old-age & treachery thing, who was a bit more wily than them. This is not a dramatic statement of Chard, but it has a lot of acidity, plus a lot of richness and texture, that you just sorta know it's gonna be great down the road w/ a bit of experience & age. I'll revisit this wine in about ten yrs.
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2. Ridge: Pretty typical of the Ridge ATP Syrahs and Grenaches. Rather tightly wound, not a lot of fruit, speaks more of Ridge winemaking, and only whispers lightly of Grenache and Syrah. Not a lot of DryCreek terroir here. Just like this whiney/bratty little sister you have that you just can't stand. And then turns out to be a beautiful young lady that you'd walk to the end of the earth to protect.
I've followed the Ridge Syrahs & Grenaches from the very start. I was very excited to find out in the early '90's that they had Syrah on LyttonWest and would be making a Ridge Syrah. Much of the Grenache comes from old vines on LyttonEast. When DonnReisen was scheduled to come to the SantaFe W&C Fiesta, I browbeat him into bringing a pre-release sample of that first one (the '96??). When I first tasted it at the DaveJonesMemorialPotluck, he could tell from my crestfallen face that I didn't care for it. He gave me this knowing/fatherly reassurance...this will be a good Syrah w/ some age. He was, of course, totally right.
The Ridge Syrahs (and Grenaches and blends) have long frustrated me. They speak more of Ridge winemaking and not a lot of varietal character nor DryCreek terroir. But they have this amazing way of aging into pretty interesting old Ridge reds. Still not strongly Syrah, but definitely great old Ridge Red. I would love to see what AdamLee or MikeOfficer would do w/ a ton of this LyttonWest Syrah. But, for now, I just accept these wines as Ridge's singular expression of Syrah from LyttonWest. What can you do??
Tom