O the joy!

I had a little free time today, so I popped over to Joseph Swan - about 20 minutes - and tasted what they had open.
There's a new Marsanne-Roussanne 2009 that is really delicious. I'm going to have to buy a few when I've cleared out the doesn't-fit-in-the-cellar part of my cellar. <sigh>
They also had '05 Mourvedre open and some '01 Lone Redwood Zin. They're both drinking beautifully; I've been drinking up my '01 Lone Redwood, I think it's at about its peak.
It's really an amazing experience to just decide to go check out a winery one day, rather than have to make plans for a whole day or two.
I love it!!

John (now in Santa Rosa)

[Jenise]

And for everyone else's information, you're the man formerly known as "John - Santa Clara".

How fun for you to be so close. Good news about the wines, too. Rod has a way with Mouvedre, doesn't he?

I had a Joseph Swan Mourvedre in the lineup for the church fundraiser last Saturday. It was one of three wines from Joseph Swan that I had shipped to North Carolina following my tasting there in October. I took six of the wines to the church Friday night and put them in the refrigerator so I would have less to transport on Saturday and also because of space considerations in my own refrigerator. There was a meeting going on at the church Friday evening and afterwards one of the church ladies tried to rearrange the refrigerator to make space for leftover cake. She dislodged the bottle of Mourvedre and it ended up broken on the kitchen floor. I substituted a Joseph Swan Syrah.

O the grief, indeed! At times like that I wish for a clean broom and dustpan, thinking to sweep everything, especially the spilled wine, up, then filter it back into a bottle.
Then sanity returns.

John, formerly of Santa Clara, now of Santa Rosa - and loving every minute!

I haven't had Rod's Mourvedre, but I am a big fan of what he does with Syrah and Pinot Noir (I've had mixed reactions to his Zins, but they're always interesting). I'll have to look out for some.

Congrats on the move to Santa Rosa, John.

Mark Lipton

I think I found out about "terroir" with Rod's Zins. Each Zin is different from the last. And none of them (IIRC) is Dry Creek Valley. Stellwagen, which was very old vines on Sonoma Mountain, is no more, to my personal regret. (I think Rod said they replanted with Chardonnay.) The rest of the Zins are Russian River Valley, more or less and stretching a bit here and there, and I can't think of a one of them that is the "modern" Zin.
Zeigler Vineyard and Mancini Ranch, for instance, are literally right across the road from each other and just around the corner from Rod's property, but they're really distinct. I think Rod's skill is in expressing that terroir - his blends such as Cuvee de Trois or Cote du Rosa aren't nearly as thrilling, though they are fine wines and I really like them.
One of these days I'll open a Great Oak Vineyard PN. Even Rod says they're challenging.

John