Susan & I tried over the weekend:
1. AlbanVnyds Roussanne AlbanEstateVnyd/EdnaVlly (14.8%) 2002: Dark gold/burnished bronze color; slight Mosel valve oil/petrol rather toasty/charred/burnt/oak some honeyed/oxidized/toasted hazelnuts/old Rhone fairly rather complex nose; quite tart strong charred/tobaccoy/toasty/oak bit chalky/minerally some oxidized/toasted haxelnuts slight floral/honeysuckle/Roussanne/honeyed slight valve oil complex flavor; very long tart charred/burnt/tobaccoy/oak honeyed rather oxidized/toasted hazelnuts slight honeyed/floral/honeysuckle finish; seems a bit old afore its time; lots of burnt oak character and rather oxidized in a good sort of way. $50.00
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2. BedrockWineCo OldVine SonomaVlly Zin (15.0%; 9 brls+2 puncheons; Planted mostly in 1919 from 6 vnyds; www.BedrockWineCo.com) 2009: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/licorice/Zin/plummy some spicy/herbal/rosemary/meaty/earthy light pencilly/oak lovely nose; soft strong spicy/blackberry/Zin/plummy/licorice light rosemary/meaty/herbal/tarry light oak/pencilly slight tannic flavor; long soft bit tannic/bitey strong plummy/licorice/blackberry/Zin slight pencilly/oak finish; seems a bit tight/nervous and really needs a yr or two to show its stuff; very interesting rendition of SonomaVlly Zin that doesn't show its ripeness or alcohol at all; some like the OldHill Zin of yore but w/o the oak; quite an interesting Zin that needs some age. $21.50
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3. Weingut Muller-Catoir Haardter Burgesgarten Spatlese Riesling (10.5%; QmP; A.P.Nr 51740790902) 2001: Med.dark gold color; very strong pineapple/ripe/Mosel valve oil/petrol slight smokey some botrytis/peachy/apricotty complex nose; off-dry tart intense pineapple/ripe/peachy/apricotty/botrytis Mosel valve oil/petrol beautiful/complex flavor; very long/lingering apricotty/peachy/botrytis very lush/ripe slighyt Mosel valve oil/petrol complex finish; a stunning Riesling that will go another 10 yrs; lots of very ripe/pineapple character and good petrol/valve oil/complex character; terrific wine. $37.50
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4. Chester'sAnvil PinotNoir SonomaCoast (14.7%) 2009: Med.dark color; very strong black cherry/Pinot/cold-climate/spicy some toasty/oak beautiful nose; tart big/black cherry/Pinot/black cherry cola light earthy/spicy light toasty/oak muscular/structured flavor w/ some tannins; very long/lingering strong/black cherry/Pinot/cola light earthy light toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins; needs at least a yr or two to show much and should go out 8-10 yrs; a bit like the Failla Pinots and some like StaRitaHills Pinots; big/muscular but lots of Pinot character and definitely not a Pinot made like a Syrah. A keeper. $38.00
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5. SilvanoGarcia Dulce Monastrell DdO: Jumilla Edicion Limitada (15%) 2006: Very dark/black color; some alcoholic/late harvesty/overripe very intense grapey/boysenberry/fruity bit Porto-like/licorice/pungent intense chocolaty some complex nose; very sweet some alcoholic/hot intense chocolaty/boysenberry/blackberry liquer/plum liquor some complex flavor; very long/lingering quite sweet intense chocolaty/blackberry liquor/boysenberry some hot/alcoholic some complex finish; huge fruit/blackberry liquor wine that may have some tannins under all that fruit; terrific dessert that probably CaroleMeredith's brownies would be the ideal match; much like a Banyuls but not the alcohol of those.
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Alban: Struggled a lot w/ this wine and couldn't decide if I really liked it or not. Lots of oxidized character, lots of charred oak; but lots of things to like in it. Finally decided it was a good intellectual experience, but not so much a great sensual experience. With the right foods, this might really be a pleasure.
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2. Chester'sAnvil: This is a cooperative effort made by SteveLagier/CaroleMeredith and Aaron&Claire Pott. Their first was the '07 Zinfandel from ChesterBrandlin's Ranch (an '09 version is in the pipeline, but no '08), which was one of the best NapaVlly Zins I've had in yrs. I was pretty sure this Pinot would be pretty good and ordered it, sight/unseen. I was not to be disappointed. It easily met expectations and then some. Its best is yet to come.
Tom