Bob Parsons Alberta. wrote:Do you wanna post some notes?
With pleasure. I really enjoyed the wines last night. Incredible stuff from a young winemaker.
2003 Vogelzgang Vineyard Viognier - Nose of honeysuckle and vanilla oak. Crisp, bright acidity and a creamy texture with floral notes and butterscotch on the palate. I liked this, but if it weren't for the acid, the oak would have ruined it for me.
2001 Lake Marie Vineyard Pinot Noir What a nose. Barnyardy aromas, plum, dark red fruits on the nose. Very spicey and earthy.
2002 Santa Barbara County Pinor Noir This is actually the Julia's Vineyard Pinot, but Benjamin Silver declassified it, as he had two vintages going on the market around the same time. It's going for about $35 Cdn, about half the regular price. Only 400 cases were made and 200 went to Alberta!
Much more fruit-forward than the Lake Marie. Ripe, plummy nose. There's a smokiness on the palate that Ben attributes to the grape, not the barrel. Muscular heft. It's a big pinot, but was an easy favourite of the night. I loved it, too.
2001 Sangiovese This must have been substituting for the Nebbiolo, which I was really looking forward to. Still, not bad for a California Sangio, with 5 per cent Cab Sauv. Black cherry and spice on the nose and palate, with a slight vanilla oakiness.
2002 Syrah-Mourvedre Santa Barbara County Along with the Santa Barbara Pinot, the most popular wine of the night. The Mourvedre vines are cloned from the Perrin family's Tablas Creek vineyard, which was orginally sourced from CdP.
This would stand up to any decent Rhone wine. Earthy, spicey and ripe blackberry with the gaminess of Mourvedre.
2001 Casa Blanca Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon This took some time to open up and flaunt its stuff, but once it did it was all good. Blackberry, plum, vanilla, chocolate, cloves, spices. The tannins were well balanced with the fruit - this is not a big oaky Californian Cab.
2001 I Tre Figli (The Three Sons) A blend of 50% Sangiovese, 45% Cab Sauv and 5% Cab Franc. "Rustic" is how one person described it, and I fully agree. The most tannic of the night's wines, it's got the stuffing to age at least a few years. There's a lot going on, with spices, dark berry fruits, chocolate and leather.
The Santa Barbara Pinot and Syrah-Mourvedre were the consensus wines of the nights, with the I Tre Figli and the Cab Sauv also receiving a few nods each.
Ben is clearly passionate about his wines, which he produces in very limited amounts (only 160 cases of the I Tre Figli). It was nice to hear a winemaker using words like "finesse" and actually demonstrate it in his wines.
