WTN: Two For Dinner..(short/boring)

Tried last night w/ my Italian Sausage:
1. CL Wines Syrah SonomaCoast (14.5%; www.CLWines.com) DavidLattin/KendraCraven/StHelena 2006: Very dark/near black color; beautiful smokey/roasted/espresso/Rhonish/pungent some cracked black pepper/blackberry/Syrah complex very Rhonish nose; rather tart somewhat hard/tannic strong espresso/roasted/black pepper/smokey very Rhonish some peppery/blackberry/Syrah flavor; very long Rhonish/roasted/espresso/pungent some blackberry/Syrah/peppery somewhat hard/tannic fairly acid finish; loads of beautiful Rhonish character but seems to be drying out on the palate a bit. $16.00 (K&L)
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2. Ramsay Abouriou/EarlyBurgundy (13%) 1995: Med.dark some murky/brown color; somewhat herbal/earthy light toasty/pencilly/oak some leafy/wet forest/Kansas leaf pile/loamy bit peppery/anise/licorice slight older Pinot rather complex nose; soft/flat slight dried out/tannic rather herbal/leafy/anise light toasty/pencilly/oak some root beer/RCCola quite interesting/complex flavor; long slight volatile some root beer/RCCola bit herbal/dried leaf/licorice/anise bit dried out/tannic complex finish; getting a bit shakey/long-of-tooth but still a real pleasure to drink and rather quite interesting/complex.
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A wee BP:
1. CLWines: A joint operation of KendraCraven and DavidLattin. He used to be winemaker at Acacia, now for KuletoEstate. The WebSite appears to be dead & gone, so I don't know if they continue to make wines or not. Their Pinots come from the Armagh vnyd in the PetalumaGap area, a vnyd I'm not familiar with. I discovered thiis wine hiding on the K&L list and bought a case of it for my group I was so blown away by it. Alas, my last btl.
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2. Abouriou: This is a variety mostly found in the SW of France, particularly the AOC Cotes du Marmandais, an AC I've never seen before. It has a low reputation in Calif. KentRasmussen did an amazing job here of turning a sow's ear into a silk purse. Not sure where he got the grapes from in Calif.
Tom

2. Abouriou: This is a variety mostly found in the SW of France, particularly the AOC Cotes du Marmandais, an AC I've never seen before. It has a low reputation in Calif. KentRasmussen did an amazing job here of turning a sow's ear into a silk purse. Not sure where he got the grapes from in Calif.

Martinelli has an old Abouriou vineyard. This is where Luddite Cellars (and maybe others) have got their grapes from.

Mark Lipton

Martinelli has an old Abouriou vineyard. This is where Luddite Cellars (and maybe others) have got their grapes from.
Mark Lipton

Thanks, Mark. Wasn't aware there were any other Abouriou's made in Calif. It's probably not a variety I'd search out, but would buy if
I saw one on the shelf. There used to be a fair amount planted in Calif for blending into Calif Burgundy. I suspect that Kent found a small
planting there in the NapaVlly and couldn't resist the temptation to give it a shot. He likes playing w/ obscure stuff.
Tom

2. Abouriou: This is a variety mostly found in the SW of France, particularly the AOC Cotes du Marmandais, an AC I've never seen before. It has a low reputation in Calif. KentRasmussen did an amazing job here of turning a sow's ear into a silk purse. Not sure where he got the grapes from in Calif.
Tom

Hi Tom -

Thank you for the interesting notes. Although I have never seen a California Abouriou/Early Burgundy, I did try the 2008 Elian da Ros Cotes du Marmandais Abouriou last year, and it was very nice. Not sure if these wines are available over your way (the MA distributor is OZ Wine Company).

Hi Tom -
Thank you for the interesting notes. Although I have never seen a California Abouriou/Early Burgundy, I did try the 2008 Elian da Ros Cotes du Marmandais Abouriou last year, and it was very nice. Not sure if these wines are available over your way (the MA distributor is OZ Wine Company).

Thanks for the feedback on that wine, Andrew. That was the one that came up on my Google search and sounded like one I
should try...but have not seen it on the shelf here in NM or out in Calif.
Tom