We tasted last night some LateHrvst Viogniers and Ports:
8. OjaiVnyd Calif Viognier (6 brls; RollRanchvnyd; 9.0%) 2007: Med.gold color; intense grapey/peachy/Viog
slight volatile/mustard rather exotic nose; quite sweet bit soft very grapey/peachy/Viog/intense fruity
bit simple flavor; very long very sweet intense grapey/fruity/peach syrup/Viog finish; huge peach syrup/Viog
character but a bit simple on palate. $25.00/hlf
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9. OjaiVnyd Calif Viognier (6 brls; RollRanchvnyd; 10.0%) 2005: Dark gold color; very intense grapey/canned peach
syrup/Viog/fruit cocktail/apricot juice slight botrytis some caramel/creme brulee bit complex/exotic nose;
soft quite sweet intense/grapey/peachy/peach syrup/fruit cocktail slight caramel/botrytis exotic flavor; very
long/lingering very sweet soft intense canned peach syrup/Viog/fruit cocktail slight botrytis bit creme brulee
finish; showing a bit of development; very interesting/exotic dessert wine. $21.00/hlf
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10. Novy Oley Dessert Wine (12%; Viognier) 2006: Light gold color; some volatile/EA slight herbal/fresh mown hay
quite intense/grapey/fruit cocktail/intense fruit little Viog nose; very soft/fat quite sweet intense/grapey/
fruity/canned fruit cocktail/canned pear syrup flavor; med.short soft/fat intense/grapey/fruity/fruit cocktail/
canned pear syrup very sweet finish; needs more acidity; bit on the simple side and like drinking the syrup
from canned pears.
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11. Esoterica by KentRasmussen Viognier LateHrvst NorthCoast (SaH: 47 g/l; RS: 35 g/L; 9.5%) 2006: Very dark gold
slight browning color; very intense raisened/overripe grapey/canned peach syrup some Viog/peachy slight earthy
very Passito-like fairly complex nose; soft very sweet/syrupy intense peach syrup/passito some earthy/herbal
some caramel/creme brulee flavor; very long/lingering very sweet intense peach syrup/grapey slight herbal/earthy
very passito-like finish that goes on & on; beautiful/exotic very intense dessert wine at a great price. $22.00/hlf
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12. Esoterica by KentRasmussen Vermelho Forte Calif DW (65% TintaMadeire/35% Touriga) 2008: Med.color; intense
alcoholic/licorice Ruby Porto/grapey/old port pungent nose; rather sweet old Ruby Port fairly alcoholic quite
old Port flavor; very long rather alcoholic old Ruby port/grapey finish w/ some tannins; more in a Ruby Port style
than a Vintage Port; seems old for an '08. $25.00/500ml
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13. CreeksideCllrs Moscato Arancio American OrangeMuscat Port (18%) Evergreen/CO NV: Dark golden/murky brown/
burnished bronze color; somewhat oxidized quite alcoholic very stewed fruit rather earthy/dusty somewhat
interesting nose; near dry quite hot/alcoholic stewed fruit/earthy/hay mow soft/fat/underacid flavor; short
very alcoholic/hot near dry very stewed fruit/earthy/herbal/hay mow rather oxidized finish; no Muscat
character at all; somewhat interesting nose but unattractive/oxidized on the palate.
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. The two Ojai Viogniers are supposedly freezer ice wines. In the past, I've found them rather on the simple
side; just grapey & sweet. They didn't seem to age into anything special. These two were much more interesting
and seemed to show a bit of complexity. Might have even been a bit of botrytis in the '05. Quite good dessert
wines at a very good price.
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2. Esoterica Viognier: The Esoterica label is one KentRasmussen uses for his small lots of wines made from purchased
fruit. The sugar figures are wrong....should be per 100ml, or %. I liked this wine quite a lot. Very/very intense;
very/very sweet. I thought it a dead-ringer for a Passito di Pantelleria, but w/o the Muscat/floral character those
wines show. Most Italian passito wines are made as straw-wines, grapes laid out on mats in the sun to dry. This
was not a Vin de Paille, but simply one in which the grapes were left to raisen on the vine. Not sure how these
passito wines will age, but see no reason why it wouldn't. But no telling were it'll go. This is a genre of wine
they should be exploring more & more in Calif. The TablasCreek versions are also quite stunning.
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3. Esoterica Forte: Since, apparently, the TTB has prohibited the usage of Port on a label except for the grandfathered
ones, Kent labeled this Forte to indicate fortified. The Vermelho is Portugese for "red". He's made a number of Ports
over the yrs that I thought were pretty good Vintage-style Ports. This one didn't seem quite as intensely grapey/
Vintage port in style. Interesting rendition of Port.
Tom