We tried tonight (6/8/11) the MahoneyVnyd Wines:
1. MahoneyVnyds Albarino LasBrisasVnyd/Carneros (13.5%) 2009: Light gold color; lovely floral/Albarino quite strong/
minerally/steely classic Albarino nose; quite stoney/minerally/steely tart fairly rich classic Albarino/floral/
perfumed flavor; med.long steely/stoney/mineral lovely floral/Albarino finish; very varietally correct Albarino
but not as lean/austere and more lush than most Spanish versions; quite a pretty wine at a nice price. $18.00
_____________________
2. MahoneyVnyds Vermentino LasBrisasVnyd/Carneros (13.9%; www.MahoneyVineyards.com)
2010: Light gold color; strong spicy/Vermentino/floral/carnations light earthy/mineral nose; med.strong spicy/floral/
carnations light earthy/mineral lovely flavor; long spicy/floral/Vermentino/carnations light earthy/mineral finish;
a light weight but very pretty wine; much like the TablasCreek but lighter and not as lush; a very pretty
Vermentino at a great price. $13.00
_____________________
3. MahoneyVnyds Riesling LasBrisasVnyd/Carneros (12.7%) 2008: Light gold color; lovely spicy/floral/pineapply/R
slight mineral/chalky attractive R nose; fairly tart dry spicy/floral/pineapply/R slight earthy/chalky light
flavor; med.short light floral/pineapply/R slight petrol/mineral finish; a pleasant straight-forward R at a very
fair price; may develop some over the next few yrs. $18.00
_____________________
4. MahoneyVnyds PinotNoir Carneros (13.8%) 2008: Med.light color; pleasant cherry/PN slight earthy/Carneros light
toasty/oak slight perfumed nose; tart spicy/cherry/PN slight pungent/toasty/oak bit earthy attractive Pinot flavor;
med. light earthy/dusty bright/cherry/PN/black cherry light toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; an attractive very
drinkable Carneros-characteristic Pinot at a great price. $22.00
_____________________
5. MahoneyVnyds PinotNoir HaireVnyd/Carneros (14.5%) 2009: Med.color; stronger/richer light earthy strong black
cherry/PN/cherry slight ruhbarb/ripe light toasty/oak nose; tart fairly rich earthy/spicy/black cherry/Carneros PN
light toasty/oak slight ripe/ruhbarb flavor; long black cherry/PN/earthy/cherry slight ruhbarb/ripe light toasty/oak
finish w/ modest tannins; needs several yrs; reminds me some of the early Acacia Pinots but w/ more perfume &
fragrance; seems a bit riper than the other Pinots; quite a nice Pinot at a nice price. $28.00
_____________________
6. MahoneyVnyds PinotNoir MahoneyRanch/Carneros (13.7%) 2007: Med.dark color; bigger/richer very strong black cherry/PN/
frambois/very spicy bit smokey/toasty/oak very fragrant/perfumed classic earthy/Carneros Pinot nose; tart/rich very
spicy/black cherry/PN/cherry/framboise light smokey/toasty/oak somewhat Burgundian/pungent flavor w/ some tannins;
very long very spicy/black cherry/frambois/PN very perfumed light smokey/toasty/oak bit Burgundian finish w/ modest
tannins; my favorite of these Pinots because of the fragrance & perfume and the pungent/Burgundian character; much like
the old CarnerosCreek Pinots I used to know & love. Very fairly priced at $32.00
_____________________
7. MahoneyVnyds PinotNoir LasBrisasVnyd/Carneros (14.5%) 2008: Med.dark color; rather stronger/smokey/toasty/oak/pungent
some perfumed/black cherry/PN bit lighter/less perfumed nose; tart bit lean/hard pretty cherry/bright/PN/black cherry
light smokey/toasty/oak some tannic flavor; med.long some tart/lean less perfumed strong black cherry/PN/cherry
light toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins; bit leaner/harder than the '07 and not the perfume; needs more age. $32.00
_____________________
8. MahoneyVnyds PinotNoir LasBrisasVnyd/Carneros (14.5%) 2007: Dark color; strong very fragrant/perfumed spicy/black
cherry/PN/licorice some toasty/oak/pungent bit complex nose; tart bit tannic strong spicy/black cherry/PN/licorice
some toasty/oak slight Burgundian/pungent flavor; long very spicy/perfumed/black cherry/PN/licorice some toasty/oak
finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; not quite the perfume & high toned character of the MahoneyRanch but a
pretty classic Carneros Pinot at a very good price. $32.00
_____________________
9. MahoneyVnyds Tempranillo LasBrisasVnyd/Carneros (13.7%) 2007: Dark color; bright/vibrant cherry/black cherry/Temp
light vanilla/oak light earthy really lovely nose; tart bright cherry/Temp/black cherry/spicy light vanilla/oak
very spicy flavor; long bright very spicy/cherry/Temp/black cherry slight earthy/dusty bit vanilla/oak finish w/ light
tannins; needs several yrs; a very pretty/attractive Calif rendition of modern Spanish Temp at a very good price.
$20.00
_____________________
10. MahoneyVnyds Montepulciano LasBrisasVnyd/Carneros (13.7%) 2007: Very dark/black color; strong earthy/licorice/
DrPepper/RCCola light pungent/smokey/oak quite interesting nose; fairly tart strong licorice/DrPepper/RCCola bit
earthy/clunky fairly rich/lush flavor w/ light tannins; long strong licorice/pungent/DrPepper/RCCola light toasty/
pungent/oak bit earthy/dusty finish w/ light tannins; not the perfume or aromatics of a Pinot and shows a bit
of the coarse/clunky character you'd expect from Montepulciano but quite an unusual/interesting red. $20.00
_____________________
11. MahoneyVnyds Misto di Carneros LasBrisasVnyd/Carneros (13.0%; Nebbiolo/Sangiovese/
Montepulciano) 2006: Med.light slight bricking color; rather earthy/dusty some rose petal/licorice/perfumed slight
tar/pungent/smokey rather Gattinara-like/Nebb nose; tart/tannic rose petal/fragrant/tarry/licorice rather earthy/
dusty quite fragrant/perfumed lovely Nebb flavor; long very fragrant/rose petal/tarry/pungent/licorice fairly
hard/tannic somewhat earthy/dusty finish; shows that classic Nebb perfume w/ the hard/tannic bite on the palate;
much like a good Gattinara; quite a good Nebb for a great price. $13.00
_____________________
12. MahoneyVnyds Syrah Carneros (14.3%) 2007: Very dark color; strong toasty/oak slight peppery/cold-climate rather
blackberry/Syrah slight earthy pleasant nose; tart strong blackberry/Syrah slight earthy/green olive/pappery
attractive flavor w/ light tannins; long tart bit tannic green olive/blackberry/Syrah light toasty/oak finish;
an attractive/pleasant Syrah at a very fair price but not the interest of a LasMadres or Hudson Carneros Syrah.
$18.00
_____________________
13. CarnerosCreekWnry NapaVlly (CarnerosDist) PinotNoir (13.0%) 1979: Med.light color w/ slight bricking; rather
cedary/pencilly/charred/oak light spicy/cherry/old red light pungent/licorice rather complex nose; tart strong
pencilly/cedary/charred/oak light/elegant cherri/licorice/pungent old Pinot smooth/elegant/silky complex old
red flavor; very long smooth/velvety/elegant light cherry/licorice some toasty/charred/oak/pungent rather complex/
old red finish; lost most of its fruit and the oak dominates but smooth/velvety/complex on the palate and a
genuine pleasure to drink. $16.25
_____________________
14. CarnerosCreekWnry CabernetSauvignon Turnbull/Fay (13.0%) 1978: Med.dark color w/ little bricking; fairly strong
cedary/pencilly/oak some old Zin slight bretty/horsecollar fairly complex nose; soft bit unclean/bretty slight
tannic/dried out rather cedary/pencilly/old Cab complex flavor; very long/lingering bit bretty/unclean bit tannic/
dried out slight herbal/old red/cedary/pencilly complex finish; starting to become dried out & a bit tired buut
still interesting to drink. $8.89
_____________________
15. Tagaris ColumbiaVlly Syrah (13.5%; Arete & Alice vnyds) 2007: Dark color; some charred/toasty/smokey/oak rather
spicy/black cherry/herbal some vanilla/oak attractive nose; fairly tart bit tangy/mineral/herbal light earthy/
smokey some vanilla/charred/toasty/oak light spicy/black cherry/Syrah flavor; med. vanilla/smokey/oak some spicy/
black cherry/herbal tangy/mineral finish w/ light tannins; rather unusual WashState Syrah but interesting and pleasant.
____________________________________________________________________________________
And the usual stuff from the BloodyPulpit:
1. The old CarnerosCreek wines were mystery wines compliments of BlairSwartz.
_____________________
2. CarnerosCreek: I've followed FrankMahoney from the very start at CarnerosCreekWnry, the '72 Gamay. His Zins in the
'73-'78 era, from ErnieEsola's and ChetEschen's vnyds up in Amador were legends in their time. He made some really
lovely Chards and Cabernets (Turnbull/Fay/Steltzner/Esola/Truchard vnyds) over those early yrs, but never seemed to
get much recognition for them. But it was his PinotNoirs that was Frank's passion; they were probably the first great
Calif Pinots to come from the Carneros. Along w/ the UCDavis folk's support, he planted a lot of different Pinot
clones on his Estate and did the first definitive study of their character. This was well before the Dijon clones
came to this country from France.
I was vaguely aware that Frank's interests had expanded beyond Pinot. A few weeks ago, we had his '77 Truchard
Cabernet and I was quite impressed. I went to his WebSite (www.MahoneyVineyards.com) and was astounded by the
breadth of varieties he was pursuing. Mostly at his LasBrisas vnyd. So I ordered a mixed case to see exactly
what Frank was doing these days. These wines are those I ordered.
Of the whites; I particularly liked the Albarino and the Vermentino. Both very varietally correct. Not particularly
big or extracted, they were, I thought, very pretty wines that offer up very good drinking.
Of the reds, Frank was always the master w/ Pinot. And from these five samples, it's clear he's not lost his touch.
Very good/solid characteristic Carneros Pinots. I would guess that the Haire probably contains some of the Dijon
clones in it. I slight preferred the MahoneyRanch '07 to the LasBrisas '07 because of its more interesting/slightly
Burgundian character. Both of the '07's had a great perfume to them.
Of the other reds, I very much liked the Temp, the Montepulciano, and the Misto. The Syrah was pleasant enough,
but not the interest I'd have expected from cool-climate Syrah. The Tempranillo reminded me a lot of many of the
Spanish modern-style Temps; bright/cherry/refreshing/good drinking. And I particularly liked the Montepulciano.
Don't know of anyone else working w/ this grape in Calif. Frank's rational for planting this in the Carneros is a
puzzle to me, as it's a late-ripening grape & I'd think he'd have trouble ripening it. Frank's rendition is far
better than any from the Abruzzo that I can recall. Competent winemaking probably has something to do with it.
And the Nebbiolo was a good/solid rendition of that variety; capturing that elusive fragrance that makes Nebb such
a great grape.
All of the wines I thought were very fairly priced, some rather underpriced. I don't think they are really
profound wines that are going to be getting huge scores outta Monktown; but they all offer up very good/interesting
drinking at a very good price. I plan to keep a closer eye on what Frank is doing.
Tom