We tried tonight (4/4/12) Some New Calif Wines:
1. TablasCreekVnyd Cotes de Tablas Blanc PasoRobles (54% Viog/30% GrenacheBlanc/8% Marsanne/8% Roussanne;
13.5%) 2010: Light gold color; very attractive stoney/mineral/bit Rhonish lemony/melony/pineapply light oak slight
butterscotch nose; fairly tart/mineral/stoney/Rhonish some pineapple/lemon lovely flavor; very long mineral/stoney/
Rhonish spicy/melon/lemon/pineapple finish w/ a very long/lingering honeyed aftertaste; quite a lovely/solid
Rhonish like wine at a very attractive price. $21.60 (VIN)
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2. TablasCreekVnyd GrenacheBlanc PasoRobles (14.2%) 2010: Light yellow color; quite fragrant/floral/honeysuckle/honeyed
slight valve oil/Riesling very perfumed nose; slight mineral/stoney very fragrant/floral/honeyed tart flavor; fairly
tart floral/honeyed/honeysuckle very fragrant long finish; not the structure of previous GB's but quite a pretty wine
for the short term at a very good price. $21.60 (VIN)
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3. TablasCreekVnyd Antithesis Chard PasoRobles (la vineuse clone; 13.5%) 2010: Light gold color; slight pencilly/oak
quite perfumed/aromatic strong melony/lemony/Chard light toasty/oak quite perfumed/aromatic nose; soft ripe melony/Chard/
lemony light pencilly/oak bit simple aromatic flavor; med.long very perfumed/aromatic strong melony/lemony/Chard soft
finish; a purity of Chard you don't often get out of Paso w/ lovely aromatics; almost like a Chard made by a
Viognier producer. $28.00 (VIN)
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4. TablasCreekVnyd Cotes de Tablas PasoRobles (46% Grenache/39% Syrah/10% Mourvedre/5% Counoise; 14.5%) 2010: Med.color;
rather strong perfumed/Grenache/strawberry slight herbal/spicy slight earthy quite fragrant nose; fairly tart some
spicy/Grenache/strawberry light earthy/metallic slightly sour flavor; med.long spicy/Grenache/strawberry finish w/
light tannins; an altogether pleasant drinkable/balanced RhoneRed that I suspect will improve over the next few yrs.
$24.00 (VIN)
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5. TablasCreekVnyd Grenache PasoRobles (14.5%) 2009: Med.color; pleasant strawberry/Grenache slight earthy/spicy rather
fragrant nose; bit soft attractive strawberry/Grenache slight earthy/spicy/rosemary balanced flavor w/ light tannins;
med.long pleasant bright/strawberry/Grenache/spicy/thyme/rosemary light earthy/chalky finish w/ light tannins;
a pretty balanced/light/attractive/bit simple/nice drinking Grenache that I suspect will put on weight and become
much more interesting w/ a few yrs of age. $32.00 (VIN)
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6. TablasCreekVnyd Esprit de Beaucastel Panoplie PasoRobles (65% Mourvedre/26% Grenache/9% Syrah; 14.5%) 2009: Med.dark
color; light pencilly/oak rather plummy/Mourv bit sauvage/fragrant/perfumed/cinammon very attractive/aromatic nose;
fairly tart strong plummy/Mourv/earthy/blackberry bit spicy/cinammon light pencilly/oak polished/balanced/elegant
flavor w/ smooth/graceful tannins; long plummy/Mourv/blackberry/spicy light pencilly/oak slight earthy/sauvage quite
perfumed finish w/ modest tannins; a well-made/polished/seamless/plummy/Mourv; not a profound wine now but another I
think will put on weight and be verry attractive/interesting w/ 5-10 yrs of age. $76.00 (VIN)
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7. Ridge Zin PasoRobles BenitoDusiRanch/PasoRoblles/SLOCnty (14.4%; Bttld: Dec 2011; Drk: 8/16-8/18: EB)
2010: Med.dark color; strong blackberry/boysenberry/PasoZin/licorice quite perfumed/cinammon/aromatic strong vanilla/
bourbon/Am.oak slight chocolaty/licorice lovely nose; fairly tart strong blackberry/black cherry/boysenberry/Paso
jammy/Zin slight raspberry/perfumed strong bourbon/vanilla/Am.oak flavor w/ light/soft/plush tannins; long strong
blackberry/black cherry/chocolaty/licorice/Paso jammy strong Am.oak/bourbon/vanilla finish w/ soft tannins; one of the
best Ridge Paso Zins in yrs; very well priced at $27.00 (Z-List)
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8. Ridge Zin EastBench DryCreekVlly/SonomaCnty (12 yr old 100% Zin; 15.1%; Bttld: Jan'12; Drk:
1/11-1/16-1/17: JO) 2010: Med.dark color; very strong raspberry/blackberry/Zin rather exotic/herbal/cranberry bit
underripe rather spicy slight earthy/dusty very unusual nose; very tart/acid almost screechy lean/cranberry/raspberry
light pencilly/oak some earthy/dusty flavor; med.long tart/lean bright raspberry/blackberry/strawberry/cranberry
light pencilly/oak finish; probably the most DryCreekVlly Zin I've ever had from Ridge; a rather strange Zin for Ridge
but the acidity suggests it'll age well. $25.00 (Z-List)
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9. Ridge Calif Zin JimsomareRanch/SCM (100% Zin; 14.3%; 13 brls; Bttld: 5/10; Drk: 3/10-3/17: EB) 2008: Dark color; very
strong very spicy/blackberry/Zin/spicy very perfumed/aromatic light vanilla/oak slight earthy/SCM bit alcoholic nose;
fairly tart bit alcoholic very spicy/bright/blackberry/Zin light dusty/earthy/SCM Zin light vanilla/oak very pretty
flavor w/ light tannins; very long bright/blackberry/Zin/spicy light earthy/SCM some vanilla/oak finish w/ modest
tannins; not so much a keeper as the '07 and the alcohol stick out a bit. $32.00 (ATP)
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10. Ridge Zin JimsomareRanch/SantaCruzMtns (100% Zin; 15.7%; 12 brls; Bttld: 3/11; Drk: 12/10-12/20-12/25: EB)
2009: Dark color; much riper more intense blackberry/boysenberry/Zin/very spicy more earthy/dusty/SCM Zin slight
vanilla/oak quite lovely/perfumed nose; softer/lusher much richer/bigger ripe/blackberry/Zin/boysenberry/licorice/
very spicy light vanilla/Am.oak slight pungent/tarry somewhat tannic/hard/primary lovely/perfumed flavor; very long/
lingering ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Zin/very spicy light earthy/SCM Zin/dusty light vanilla/Am.oak somewhat hard/
tannic finish; badly needs more age; clearly riper, but doesn't show the alcohol at all; wonderful Jimsomare, maybe
best in many yrs. $29.00 (Z-List)
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11. Ridge Geyserville SonomaCnty (64% Zin/20% Carignane/12% PS/2% AlicanteBouschet/2% Mataro; 14.3%;
Bttld: Feb 2012; Drk: 1/12-1/22: EB) 2010: Dark color; beautiful blackberry/raspberry very fragrant/perfumed some
dusty/old vines light vanilla/toasty/oak lovely complex nose; rather tart very perfumed/fragrant strong blackberry/
raspberry/very spicy/Zin light dusty/earthy/old vines balanced/structured some toasty/vanilla/oak lovely flavor w/
well-integrated/modest tannins; very long/lingering strong blackberry/raspberry/Zin/spicy quite perfumed slight dusty/
old vines some vanilla/toasty/oak finish w/ seamless/polished tannins; another lovely Geyserville w/ wonderful
aromatics to it. $33.00 (Z-List)
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12. ForlornHope PetiteSirah LesDeuxMatieux Mr.T'sVnyd/SuisunVlly (14.7%; www.ForlornHopeWines.com; 97 cs) 2007: Black
color; very strong blackberry/boysenberry/PS bit peppery/licorice/pungent quite aromatic nose; soft rather tannic/
hard intense boysenberry/blackberry/PS light peppery/earthy/licorice some toasty/charred/oak big/powerful flavor;
very long rather hard/tannic soft intense blackberry/boysenberry/PS/peppery/licorice slight pungent/tarry/road tar
some toasty/oak big/extracted finish; badly needs age; a powerful/structured PS but wonderful aromatics; needs 5-10
yrs of age; very attractive price. $30.00
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And the usual stuff from the BloodyPulpit:
1. Another strong release from Ridge. The Paso was their best Paso Zin that I can recall in a long time. Generally,
BeniDusi's Zin is the first Zin that Ridge harvests each year. But in '10, it was actually their last. The wine
shows a classic Paso jammy blaclberry character; but it has a brightness and acidity on the palate that almost gives
it a DryCreekVlly character.
The EastBench is generally my least favorite of the Ridge regular Zins. It's often just a pretty raspberry Zin
w/o much depth or character; just that. The '10 version is a strange duck for an EastBench. Despite 15%+ alcohol,
it has a strident acidity to it that suggests much lower. I didn't dislike the wine, it was just not the usual
quotidian EastBench. I think it might age into something pretty interesting. Who knows?
The Geyserville is another successful Geyserville. Impeccable/seamless/polished/balanced. This '10 has amazing
aromatics to it and seems more brighter/Zin-spicy like and less oak than recent ones. The balance should take it
The '07 Jimsomare Zin was an exceptional Jimsomare. One of the best Ridge Zins of late that I can recall. This
'08 didn't quite seem to measure up to that. It seemed a bit lighter, less interesting, and the alcohol a bit more
obvious. A pretty Zin, but just that. Sold in 2-paks w/ the Jimsomare Chard. The '09 Jimsomare was back on track,
maybe even the best one of late. Clearly a bit riper, it didn't show any alcoholic heat and seemed very structured
and needing age and an incredible spiciness to it. Terrific Zin.
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2. ForlornHope: This is an effort by MattRorick who likes to focus lesser known grape varieties..."forlorn hope". He's
doing some very interesting things w/ some weird stuff. This PS iis not really a "forlorn hope", but it's one of the
best ones around in Calif. The grapes come from the TenbrinkVnyd in SolanoCnty, near SuisanCity, where Matt makes
his wines. There's a fair amount of grapes grown in SolanoCnty, but I sense many of them makes their way west into
the NapaVlly. You don't see a lot of wines around sporting the SolanoCnty or SuisunVlly label. The few that I've
had over the yrs have not impressed me. They seemed rather on the soft/soupy side. The '06 version blew me away...
I described it as resembling the Ridge YorkCreek '71 in its youth....high praise, indeed. This just-released '07
version didn't seem quite of that stature, but is, nonetheless, a mightly impressive PS. It certainly raises the
bar for SolanoCnty wines.
Tom