DaveYates brought Lary&I a btl to try:
1. Jaffurs GrenacheBlanc Botrytis SantaBarbaraCnty (15.8%) 2008: Deep burnished gold color; fairly strong botrytis/apricotty/peachy/ rather floral/fragrant/pear/GrenacheBlanc quite spicy/nutmeg very perfumed nose; rather tart some botrytis/peachy/apricotty/fruit cocktail/spicy some floral/GB/pear slightly sweet (3%-4%? RS) smooth/balanced/bright lovely flavor; long/lingering spicy/pear/peach/floral/GB slight herbal some botrytis/peachy/apricotty tart slightly sweet perfumed/floral finish; about an Auslese sweetness level w/ great acidity and lovely/low-key botrytis; needs some time yet and should go out 10-15 yrs; beautiful new wine from Jaffurs.
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. I've long asserted that (heavy...BA/TBA level) botrytis destroys the varietal character of a wine. I've had Navarro GWT & WR BA/TBA side-by-side and danged if I could tell which was the GWT & which the WR, though the wines were somewhat different. But I'm unable to identify a BA/TBA GWT as the lychee/hair oil GWT that I know & love in the dry/non-botrytis versions. But such an assertion is met w/ much derision from others. Guess I'm just a doofus when it comes to tasting botrytis wines.
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2. This is a new wine by Jaffurs. Maybe never to be seen again. It's not yet been released and I'm not sure they quite know what to do with it. They've made late hrvst Syrah in the past, but never (to my knowledge) a late hrvst white.
In 2008, the GrenacheBlanc came in from ThompsonVnyd w/ some botrytis present. In order not to distort their regular/dry GB, they laboriously plucked off the individual botrytis berries from each bunch. Alas, the earwig guy was not there to help them out...he's cheap labor. And doesn't charge for the ugly Hawaiian shirt decoration. It took them about 2 days of sorting to accumulate a bin-ful, which they fermented into this one barrel of wine....40 cs of hlf btls.
I was quite impressed by this wine. I thought the botrytis character, though definitely there, did not obliterate the GB varietal character of this wine. A nice balance between the two. Given the (?) RS and the alcohol level, I would guess the must weight to be about 30 Brix or so, just below the TBA level but into the BA level. The 15.8% alc was not at all obvious. Keep your eyes out for this limited release from Jaffurs.
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3. The first two (ThompsonVnyd) GrenacheBlancs from Jaffurs were the '08 and the '09. Dave thinks the '08, w/ a bit of botrytis present, made for a more rich/bigger GB. I, au contraire, preferred the '09 for its more restrained/brighter/zippier (less Oz-like??) character and thought it one of the best Calif GB's I've had.
Tom