On the Thurs that Susan flew in for RR'13, we immediately headed North to spend a bit of time up on MtVeeder w/ Steve/Carole at Lagier-Meredith. Susan had never been there before and was most impressed by the views, not to mention the quite friendly cats. We tried a few things on the deck and then headed down to Napa for dinner at The Thomas at Fagiani's, a wonderful place for a meal. Among the wines we tasted were:
1. Dom.Jean Vullien StJean de la Porte Mondeuse AC: Vin de Savoie (MeBalP; 12.5%; JeffWellburnSlctns) Freterive 2009: Dark color; strong plummy/black cherry/blackberry/Mondeuse some earthy/dusty but rough/rustiv rather fragrant nose w/ lots of bass notes; some tart rather earthy/dusty strong/lush plummy/black cherry/blackberry/Mondeuse flavor w/ some modest tannins; needs several yrs yet; pretty classic Savoie Mondeuse at a great price. $13.00 (WEx)
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2. Lagier-Meredith Tribidrag MtVeeder/NapaVlly RW (15.1%) 2011: Very dark color; very strong spicy/blackberry/Zin very spicy/peppery light toasty/oak beautiful Mtn Zin nose; some tart rather tannic strong blackberry/Zin/boysenberry very spicy/peppery light earthy/dusty light oak very structured flavor w/ some tannins; very long blackberry/Zin very spicy/peppery some earthy/dusty/Mtn Zin light oak finish w/ fair tannins; very well-made and quite structured for the long haul; loads of spicy/peppery/Mtn Zin character; no signs of overripe or alcoholic heat whatsoever; a stunning Zin and well worth the $40.00
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3. Cuilleron LesSerines AC: StJoseph (12.5%) Chavanay 1998: Med.dark color w/ some bricking; rather classic/low-key Rhonish/roasted/smokey/pungent slight blackberry/Syrah some complex nose; fairly tart some lean/hard/dried-out lovely Rhonish/roasted/coffee/smokey/pungent very light blackberry/Syrah some toasty/oak flavor; lots of classic Rhonish character but seems to be on a downhill trajectory.
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4. Lagier-Meredith Syrah MtVeeder/NapaVlly 1998: Very dark color w/ very little bricking; very strong blackberry/Syrah/framboise quite spicy light toasty/oak nose w/ some developing complexity; very strong blackberry/Syrah/spicy/framboise light toasty/oak very spicy classic Mtn-Syrah flavor w/ some tannins; starting to show some complexity but plenty of very spicy primary Syrah fruit and will probably go another 10 yrs; a classic L-M Syrah in all its glory.
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5. JosephPhelpsVnyds Delice du Semillon (13.0%; RS: 10.1%; 15% SauvBlanc) 1986: Very dark golden/bronze some browning color; intense botrytis/peachy/apricotty some buttercscotchy/caramel/creme brulee light toasty/oak rather complex old-Sauternes nose; quite sweet bit tart rich/lush peachy/apricotty/botrytis strong creme brulee/caramel/butterscotchy light toasty/butterscotchy/oak fairly complex flavor; pretty classic old Sauternes w/o the earthy character; beautiful dessert wine that will go another 10 yrs or more. $9.00/hlf
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. One of the things that I learned during our conversation out on the deck was that ChesterBrandlin had died a month earlier. He was the owner of the legendary BrandlinVnyd down the hill from L-M. The bulk of it was sold to Cuvaison some 10-15 yrs earlier and the Zin grapes now mostly go to PeterFranus, w/ a lot of Cabernet being planted and the Mourvedre being pulled. Chester kept a small plot of old Zin and the home to keep himself occupied. He was, of course, the owner of the famed Chester's Anvil that now resides in Steve/Carole's basement, right next to Steve's German girlfriend (an old Porsche). I'd brought along a surplus W33 in hopes that Steve & I could do some anvil launching...but Steve was worried that it's 4.3 kT might do some environmental damage atop MtVeeder and get him in trouble w/ the NapaCnty authorities, so he nixed the idea. I regret that I never had the opportunity to meet Chester. The future of his old Zin vnyd is now up in the air, I gather.
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2. Tribidrag: This is, of course, the ancient name for Zinfandel, for which Carole was a prime person in its association w/ Croatia and Crljenak Kaštelanski (and Italian Primitivo). There was a leaf in an old herbarium in Croatia that looked like Crljenak Kaštelanski. The initial test of this dried leaf failed to identify a variety. As the DNA techniques were refined to work w/ long-dead samples, the Tribidrag was found to be, indeed, Crljenak Kaštelanski. Tribidrag is now the recognized (by JancisRobinson) as the historical name for Zinfandel.
They planted a small plot of Zin on the L-M vnyd in 2007 and was able to make their first btlg of it in 2011. Steve/Carole put Tribidrag on the label in prominent letters, fully expecting it to be bounced by the Feds as Tribidrag is not a recognized (by them) varietal name. A quick Google by the Feds on Tribidrag and the jig would have been up. But they (apparently) thought it to be a fanciful name and approved the label w/ flying colors.
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3. The Thomas charges no corkage for wines older than the 2003 vintage. So we were pretty successful in gaming the system that night. I brought the Phelps in hopes of having it w/ their wood-fired chocolate brownies; reputedly the 2'nd best brownies made in the entire NapaVlly. Alas, they were not on the dessert menu that night.
Tom
It was the combination of the recent email regarding its release, and your note which nudged me. I don't think I will ever be accused of being a sheep.
I just ordered a mixed case. Let us know what you think about Precious Bane, David.