We tried last night (2/1/12) Mostly Miraflores Wines:
1. Miraflores PinotGrigio SierraFoothills (13.6%; www.MirafloresWinery.com) 2010: Pale yellow color; pleasant mineral/
earthy some grapefruity/steely/floral bit simple nose; soft slight steely/metallic/earthy rather grapefruity/tangy/
perfumed flavor; med. tangy/grapefruity soft slight mineral/earthy finish; a pleasant/simple PG but just that. $16.00
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2. CedarvilleVnyd {Viognier} ElDorado (EB; 14.4%; www.CedarvilleVineyard.com; 250 cs) 2007: Light gold color; lovely pear/
Viognier/spiced pears lighht earthy lightly perfumed/fragrant light toasty/oak some complex nose; soft/lush lovely pear/
spiced pear/Viognier light earthy very light toasty/oak flavor; soft/lush fairly low-key pear/spiced pear/Viog light
earthy slight toasty/oak some complex finish; a quiet low-key expression of Viog that's evolved quite nicely; sorta
see it as just fading away into the night rather than any big improvements. $19.00
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3. Miraflores Zin ElDorado (14.8%) Placerville 2007: Med.dark color; some earthy/dusty/mushroomy/ElDorado slight alcoholic
low-key spicy/blackberry/Zin slight pencilly/vanilla/oak somewhat perfumed attractive nose; tart bit lean/tannic/hard
somewhat earthy/mushroomy/ElDorado light licorice/blackberry/Zin light pencilly/oak bit alcoholic flavor; med. tart/lean/
tannic/hard somewhat earthy/mushroomy/ElDorado light blackberry/Zin/spicy/perfumed finish; somewhat on the hard/tannic
side and needs some age; strongly speaks of the ElDorado terroir; bit on the alcoholic side and not as much Zin fruit
as I expected; nice Zin. $25.00
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4. Miraflores Barbera SierraFoothills (14.5%) 2009: Med.color; light earthy/mushroomy/ElDorado slight spicy/Italian sausage/
tobaccoy/Barbera light toasty/oak pleasant low-key nose that speaks of Barbera; very tart/racy light spicy/spicy sausage/
cherry/Barbera light tannic/lean slight earthy/mushroomy/ElDorado attractive flavor; med. light spicy/Italian sausage/
cherry/Barbera bit tannic/lean some earthy/mushroomy/ElDorado finish; speaks lightly of ElDorado and rather classic
Barbera profile; pleasant racy Barbera. $23.00
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5. Miraflores Tempranillo Estate/ElDorado (14.5%) 2009: Med.color; strong earthy/dusty/mushroomy/ElDorado rather alcoholic/
fumey light cherry/licorice/herbal/leafy light pencilly/vanilla/oak rather low-key/subtle nose; soft bit tannic some
pencilly/vanilla/oak light cherry/spict/Temp/herbal/leafy bit earthy/mushroomy flavor; med. light earthy/mushroomy/
ElDorado light cherry/spicy/leafy/Temp finish w/ light tannins; lacks the bright cherry character of most CalifTemps;
a pleasant/subtle/gentle kind of wine. $25.00
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6. Miraflores PetiteSirah Estate/ElDorado (14.8%) 2009: Med.dark color; very attractive peppery/spicy/pungent/PS/blackberry
bit alcoholic light pencilly/oak/toasty nose; soft rather strong pencilly/vanilla/oak light peppery/PS/spicy/blackberry
some hot/alcoholic light licorice/pungent some earthy/dusty flavor w/ light tannins; med.long rather buttery/vanilla/
pencilly/oak light peppery/PS/licorice/spicy/pungent slight minty/menthol finish w/ light tannins; good fruit and a
low-key ElDorado character; best of the Miraflores reds thus far; attractive/interesting PS. $24.00
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7. CedarvilleVnyd {PetiteSirah} NaylorVnyd/SierraFoothills (14.5%; 275 cs) 2006: Very dark color; strong pungent/licorice/PS/
blueberry/spicy light toasty/charred/oak somewhat fragrant/complex/perfumed nose; soft rather strong pungent/licorice/
peppery/PS/spicy light toasty/charred/oak slight earthy perfumed/complex flavor w/ light tannins; long soft/lush/smooth/
polished somewhat spicy/blueberry/PS/peppery light toasty/charred/oak light earthy complex finish w/ light/smooth tannins;
still plenty of PS fruit, speaks quietly of ElDorado, and probably as good as it'll get. $24.00
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8. CedarvilleVnyd {PetiteSirah} NaylorVnyd/SierraFoothills (14.7%; 144 cs) 2002: Very dark color w/ little bricking; slight
earthy/dusty some pencilly/toasty/oak bit alcoholic some light/spicy/peppery/licorice/PS fairly complex/gentle nose; soft/
smooth slight bretty/funky light pencilly/toasty/oak light licorice/pungent/spicy/peppery/PS bit earthy/dusty flavor w/
smooth/polished/elegant tannins; long smooth/polished/elegant light peppery/spicy/PS/licorice light pencilly/oak fairly
complex finish w/ lighht tannins; much less PS fruit but has come together well into a smooth/polished/elegant PS
w/ no signs of drying out; another wine that'll probablly just fade away into the sunset like GeneAutrey, quietly
making his exit w/o a lot of noise. $21.00
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9. Miraflores Syrah ElDorado (14.9%) 2005: Very dark color; strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice/pungent bit spicy/
perfumed light toasty/oak slight earthy/ElDorado little alcohol big/lush nose; soft/plush/lush strong blackberry/Syrah/
licorice/boysenberry some spicy/peppery slight DrPepper/RCCola flavor w/ light tannins; very long soft/lush/ripe strong
blackberry/Syrah/licorice light toasty/oak slight earthy/ElDrorado finish w/ light tannins; not the structure or
interest of EdStJ or D&G and more in his Swanson style w/ big fruit. $30.00
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10. Miraflores Syrah ElDorado (14.9%) 2006: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/spicy bit more peppery/
spicy/Rhonish slight DrPepper/RCCola really lovely rich/ripe nose; soft/lush/ripe slight tannic ripe/blackberry/Syrah/
boysenberry big fruit light toasty/oak slight earthy/ElDorado flavor; long strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/licorice
slight RCCola soft finish w/ modest tannins; much in the style of the '05 w/ a bit more tannins. $25.00
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11. Miraflores Syrah ElDorado (14.8%) 2007: Very dark color; bit alcoholic/hot slight funky/strange/medicinal/mineral
some blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice bit earthy/mushroomy/ElDorado more complex/interesting nose; soft/lush bit
hot/alcoholic some blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice/pungent slight funky/medicinal/herbal/Rhonish flavor w/ some
tannins; long somewhat hot/alcoholic some blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice slight Rhonish/funky some earthy/
mushroomy/ElDorado finish w/ modest tannins; a bit of funky strangeness and more ElDorado character and less opulent
fruit than first two. $25.00
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12. Miraflores MethodeAncienne Estate/ElDorado (Syrah; 14.6%; foot-trod; natural yeast ferment) 2009: Dark color; rather
earthy/funky/dusty/mineral/bit Rhonish/ElDorado light blackberry/Syrah slight Rhonish/herbal light toasty/oak rather
interesting nose; tart somewhat hard/tannic rather earthy/mushroomy/ElDorado slight blackberry/Syrah/licorice slight
Rhonish/funky/garrigue flavor; med.long somewhat hard/tannic/structured slight blackberry/Syrah light toasty/oak
some earthy/ElDorado light toasty/oak slight Rhonish/garrigue finish; a rather interesting Syrah w/ good structure
that should age into something quite interesting; reminds me some of EricTexier's SouthernRhone Syrah w/ it's
tannic structure but not his high acidity. $30.00
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13. Miraflores Botricelli (Botrytis) WW Calif (13.5%; Kelseyville/LakeCnty Semillon/SauvBlanc) 2008: Light gold color; strong
botrytis/peachy/apricotty very fragrant ripe/figgy/Semillon very attractive nose; soft/fat/lush some botrytis/peachy/
apricotty some figgy/Semillon/earthy fairly sweet (6%-7%) flavor; long strong botrytis/peachy/apricotty light earthy/
figgy/Semillon rather sweetfinish; quite a lovely sticky more along an Auslese line than a Sauternes. $40.00
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14. Miraflores principe Calif DessertWine (18.0%; Portugese varieties) NV: Dark color; intense fruit/chocolaty/Porty slight
herbal/earthy rather alcoholic/EverClear/fumey/hot nose; very sweet herbal/weedy/chocolaty/Porty quite hot/alcoholic
flavor w/ soft tannins; very long rich/lush/chocolaty/Porty/grapey bit herbal/earthy rather hot/fumey/raw/alcoholic
finish w/ light tannins; pretty strong alcoholic character but much like a young Port; needs a lot of age to come
together and integrate the raw/alcoholic character. $24.00/hlf
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15. Binigrau Dolc Vi de la Terra Mallorca (www.Binigrau.Es; MantoNegro; 14%; #332596) NV: Med.color; rather fumey/herbal/
strange very plastic/artificial/new vinyl some earthy/grapey weird nose; some sweet (3%-5%?) bit alcoholic herbal/vinyl/
strange somewhat earthy/mineral/volcanic flavor w/ light tannins; med.long strange/vinyl/plastic bit herbal/grapey
some hot/alcoholic finish w/ little tannins; a rather peculiar though not totally dislikable wine.
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16. DustedVlly ColumbiaVlly PetiteSirah (15.9%; 200 cs; U/U) 2009: Very dark/near black color; intense blackberry/blueberry/
licorice/jammy/big fruit some vanilla/Am.oak very ripe nose; soft/fat/rich bit porky/soupy slight tannic/hard intense
blackberry/boysenberry/licorice very strong vanilla/Am.oak ripe/porky flavor; long big fruit/blackberry/boysenberry/
licorice strong vanilla/Am.oak finish w/ some hard tannins; not like Calif PS and bit on the soft/soupy side. $30.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Miraflores: Owned by Victor & Cheryl Alvarez. Winemaker is MarcoCapelli. I first met Marco back in his days as
winemaker at Swanson in the NapaVlly. In '92 (or '93), he made their first Syrah and I was blown away by it
when I tried it at the Aspen F&W Festival. Probably the best up-valley (non-Carneros) NapaSyrah I had tried
up to that point (before Lagier-Meredith appeared on the scene). It was made from the same Syrah that went into
SeanThackery's Orion. The Sangiovese was also very/very good, as was a botrytis Semillon.
Some yrs ago, Marc moved up to ElDoradoCnty and bought the old Herbert vnyd, which used to go to the MacCready's/
SierraVista. Given his accomplishments at Swanson, I was certain Marc would makke a big splash up there with his
own label. Instead, he has maintained a quite low profile; serving as winemaker/consultant to a number of wineries.
I gather Miraflores is his main gig.
I had seen some praise from MikeDunne over the yrs for the Miraflores wines. A recent high-praise review for
their MethodeAncienne convinced me I should give their wines a test drive, so I ordered a mixed case. Hence, this
tasting above.
I found the Syrahs to be the most interesting of the Miraflores. The '05 & '06 were very much in the style of
Syrahs Marco did at Swanson. Although not as up-front/appealing, I found the '07 and '09 much more interesting and
speaking more of ElDorado. The '09 is probably the most serious of these Syrahs and probablly the most potential. It
reminded me some of the early JohnMacCready Syrahs.
So...what did I think of the Miraflores wines?? They seem to be good/solid/well-made wines at more than fair prices.
They all, pretty much, spoke of ElDorado, sometimes to the detriment of the fruit. Some of them I'd have liked
a bit less ElDorado and a bit more fruit. The wines were good/yeoman wines but just seemed to lack a certain amount
of pizzazz or the "wow" factor. Given Marco's skills, I have a lot of hope for what the Miraflores will evolve to
with their future efforts.
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2. Cedarville: Owned by SusanMarks & JonathanLachs. I have, of course, followed them from the very start. My group
typically buys 3-4 cases/year on the pre-release basis. Their wines are well-made/solid wines at more than fair
prices and speak of the ElDorado terroir in a low-key manner and show more fruit than most from ElDorado.
I put these in here to round out the tableau and so I could use a catchy title line.
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3. ElDoradoCnty: This is an area that I think deserves more recognition. Their wines, in general, have a distinct
earthy/dusty/mushroomy/bit mineral/granitic signature...the ElDorado terroir...that makes for some very interesting
wines. In the Rhone varietals, the terroir lends a bit of a SouthernRhone character to the wines. I would like to
see more in the way of Italian varieties from ElDorado...like Teroldego/Schiopettino/Refosco/Nebbiolo/LaCrima
del Morro d'Alba/Marzemino/Tazzalenghe/Freisa/Brachetto/MoscatoRosa. I would think the terroir could lend a
character not too different from Val d'Aosta/Valtelline/AltoAdige. Of course, marketing those wines would be
a whole nuther matter.
I've generally liked JohnMacCready's SierraVista wines, especially the Rhones....though recent ones don't seem
to be as inspired as his early ones..maybe a bit hit or miss. For me, the most impressive ElDorado wines have been made
outside the area. The Rhones (and Gamay) made by SteveEdmunds have easily been my favorites; closely followed by
those of Donkey&Goat. And KenMusso's/DueVigne Nebbiolo is really quite good.
Anyway...it's an area that has had some hits & misses...an area that I think has even more potential to make
some impressive/great wines. I'll be there to take data.
Tom