WTN: New Calif/WashState Rhones...(long/boring)

We tasted earlier this month (11/1/06) some Calif & WashState Rhones:

1. Rulo Combine WallaWallaVlly WW (82% SauvBlanc; 18% Viognier; 14.0%)) 2005: Light gold color;
fairly fragrant/SB some perfumey/floral/V nose; tart rather citric/grapefruity some herbal/
grassy/SB bit rich/round slight floral flavor; med.long rather citric/grapefruity finish;
a nice SB w/ a slight floral character. $18.00
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2. Canon De Sol ColumbiaVlly Viognier (13.8%) 2005: Med.gold slight amber color; very overripe/
rotted apple no Viog somewhat volatile nose; very soft/fat/underacid very overripe/rotted
apples some hot/volatile dry flavor; long very overripe/rotted apple finish; very overripe
character and no Viog varietal; tasted of rotted grapes. $22.00
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3. CougarCrestWnry Vivace WashState (13.3%; http://www.CougarCrestWinery.com; 70% Viognier,
30% Chard) 2005: Light gold color; slight melony/hair oil/appley/Chard some floral/perfumed/
V very light oak attractive nose; tart/lean bit metallic rather appley/Chard bit earthy slight
pear/floral/V flavor; med.long soft/fat rather appley/Chard slight floral finish; a bit of
Viog in the nose but mostly Chard on the palate. $24.00
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4. Reininger Helix Aspersa ColumbiaVlly (60% Viognier, 40% Chard; http://www.ReiningerWinery.com;
Oasis & Willard vnyds; 14.3%) 2005: Med.light gold color; rather toasty/graham crackers/caramel/
butterscotch/oak attractive strong pear/V nose; soft/fat/very ripe some caramel/butterscotch/oak
light pear/V/floral flavor; med.long soft/fat rather Viog/pear slight appley strong caramel/oak
finish; a pretty nice Viog but pretty heavy on the oak. $21.00
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5. CougarCrestWnry Viognier WallaWallaVlly (EG; 13.5%) 2005: Med.yellow color; attractive floral/
pear/V/spicy slight earthy very light oak nose; tart light/elegant spicy/pear/V ripe/lush flavor;
short soft/fat pleasant floral/V/pear slight earthy finish; a bright/lively elegant/light Viog.
$24.00
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6. Vixen SantaYnezVlly V Cuvee WW (14.1%; 40% GrenacheBlanc, 40% Roussanne, 20% Viognier;
56 cs) 2005: Med.light gold color; some toasty/pencilly/oak rather perfumed/aromatic/floral
peach/V slight volatile some overripe nose; soft/fat grapey/floral/very ripe/honeysuckle flavor;
soft/fat very ripe some pencilly/toasty/oak ripe/floral/honeysuckle finish; lots of ripe/
overripe character and a noticible oak; bit lacking in structure. $32.00
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7. Vixen SantaYnezVlly Viognier CherokeeRanch (14.5%; 45 cs; http://www.VixenWines.com) Jennifer
Gehrs 2005: Light gold color; light toasty/oak attractive floral/pear/V fragrant nose; soft/fat
very ripe floral/peach/pear/V light toasty/oak flavor; med.long soft/fat floral/peachy/V some
toasty/oak ripe finish; a slobbery/StBernard sort of Viognier but likable. $29.00
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8. Darioush NapaVlly Viognier (14.9%; http://www.Darioush.com) 2005: Med.gold color; very fragrant/floral/
perfumed/spicy/peach/V very light toasty/oak nose; soft very rich/lush pear/peach/floral/V light
pencily/oak spicy bit porky intense V flavor; long very spicy/pear/V light pencilly finish; an
attractive ripe/lush rather Roussanne in style Viognier; pretty pricey at $55.00
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9. Sine Qua Non The Rejuvenators Calif WW (56% Roussanne, 25% Viognier, 20% Chard; AlbanVnyd;
15.2%) 2004: Med.gold color; rather strong toasty/oak little fruit fairly strong TCA/corked
nose; strong toasty/oak pretty corked/TCA flavor; not much here but oak and TCA, so sad.
$81.50
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10. Oasis SantaBarbaraCnty Syrah (13.9%; http://www.OasisSantaBarbaraWine.com) Dan Gehrs 2004: Very dark
color; lush rich/ripe blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah some roasted/toasty/oak licorice/spicy lovely
nose; soft rather hard/tannic/harsh some roasted/pungent rather blackberry/strawberry/Syrah light
toasty/oak flavor; long ripe/lush hard/tannic ripe/blackberry/Syrah/jammy/boysenberry finish;
great some Rhonish nose but hard on the palate; needs some yrs but ?? $18.00
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11. Vixen SantaYnezVlly Syrah Harmony (14.1%; Satchwell/Pace/HarmonFamily vnyds; 46 cs) 2004: Med.
dark color; rather herbal/Cab-like green olive/blackberry/Syrah rather toasty/oak/charred
interesting nose; tart rather herbal/Cab-like/green olive some blackberry/licorice/Syrah rather
lean/hard flavor; long fairly tannic/hard herbal/Cab some Syrah/blackberry bit toasty finish;
interesting/unusual rendition of Syrah; needs 2-5 yrs; bit pricey at $45.00
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12. DanielGehrs SantaYnezVlly Shiraz (13.9%; HappyCanyon area; http://www.DGWines.com) 2001: Very dark color;
very ripe blackberry/Syrah/licorice/jammy rathertoasty/charred/oak lush very Oz-like nose; soft/
fat/ripe/jammy very vanilla/oaked bit hard/tannic some blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah flavor; med.
long hard/tannic vanilla/oak bit lean rather blackberry/licorice/Syrah Oz-like finish; needs
several yrs; very interesting nose but rather hard/tannic on the palate. $34.00
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13. DanielGehrs Ozymandias RW SantaBarbaraCnty (14.1%; 50% Syrah/Cabernet) 2004: Dark color; very
attractive/herbal/Cab quite Bdx-like some toasty/oak very interesting nose; rich/ripe very herbal/
Cab rather charred/toasty/oak very Bdx-like flavor; very long hard/tannic Cab/herbal finish w/
ample tannins; needs much age; not a lot of Syrah character but one of the best Bdx-like Cabs I've
had from SantaBarbara. $36.00
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14. Viader HowellMtn/NapaVlly Syrah (14.0%) 2002: Black color; strong toasty/oak very strong
blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry some roasted/charred/pungent very spicy complex nose; rather hard/
tannic toasty/Fr.oak/charred strong blackberry/Syrah roasted/coffee/mocha flavor; long toasty/
charred/Fr.oak rather strong blackberry/Syrah some pungent/walnutty/coffee/mocha fairly tannic
finish; needs 2-6 yrs of age; a big pungent strapping NapaVlly Syrah. $37.00/hlf
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And the usual blatherings from the BloodyPulpit:
1. This was one of the largest collections of WashState whites I've had, mostly of the Rhone
persuasion. Can't say I was overwhelmed by them. They seem to display much the same WashState
terroir that I find in their Syrahs. I think the Harlequin Viognier is far better than these
Viogniers and the McCrea whites rather more interesting.
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2. Vixen: These wines are made by Jennifer Gehrs, daughter of long-time friend Dan Gehrs. The name
comes (we are told on her WebSite) from the Aesop's Fable tale of the Fox and the Grapes, her
favorite bedtime story. I thought the wines were rather good but a bit on the pricey side
vis-a-vis the competition out there.
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3. Gehrs: I've known Dan Gehrs from the very start, when he was first making wine at Congress
Springs in the SantaCruz mtns. He made some wonderful Zin, PinotNoir, and Cab Franc up there.
He eventually moved South to become winemaker at ZacaMesa, where the wines took a big leap in
quality. Since leaving ZacaMesa some yrs ago, he's been consulting for various SantaBarbara
wineries and making a bit of wine on his own. It's been a number of yrs since I tried his wines
and so ordered a selection after reading some good reports online on the Oasis. It's always nice
to go back and visit an old...errrr...long-time friend.
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4. Viader Syrah: We had tried this wine a month ago, but the hlf btl was badly corked. So got two
more hlf btls. I had really wanted to dislike this wine; confident it would be just another
overpriced Napa Syrah that tasted like it was made by a Cabernet producer. Alas, I did not.
I liked the wine quite a bit. It had good French/Syrah character a bit like a Graillot, though
the smokey/roasted character was a bit ersatz/oaky. Still, it was too pricey for me, when you
can get a Lagier-Meredith at almost half the price.
Tom

I tasted two of these wines when visiting Walla Walla three months ago.

Rulo Combine WallaWallaVlly WW (82% SauvBlanc; 18% Viognier; 14.0%)) 2005: Light gold color; fairly fragrant/SB some perfumey/floral/V nose; tart rather citric/grapefruity some herbal/ grassy/SB bit rich/round slight floral flavor; med.long rather citric/grapefruity finish; a nice SB w/ a slight floral character. $18.00

I loved this wine, because it allowed the characteristics of two white grapes I particularly enjoy to beautifully complement each other. It was $15 at the winery.

Reininger Helix Aspersa ColumbiaVlly (60% Viognier, 40% Chard; http://www.ReiningerWinery.com; Oasis & Willard vnyds; 14.3%) 2005: Med.light gold color; rather toasty/graham crackers/caramel/butterscotch/oak attractive strong pear/V nose; soft/fat/very ripe some caramel/butterscotch/oak light pear/V/floral flavor; med.long soft/fat rather Viog/pear slight appley strong caramel/oak finish; a pretty nice Viog but pretty heavy on the oak. $21.00

I hated this wine, because there is simply no good justification for ruining a potentially good Viognier by adding Chardonnay to it. It was $18 at the winery.

-- Clark

Clark,
Nothing wrong w/ that kind of blend, actually. The Reininger was not a particularly good example.
But there have been some pretty good ones. SineQuaNon as done some interesting ones. The best is probably BobLindquist/Qupe BienNacido Cuvee; quite a nice wine for an attractive price.
But, you're right, that Rulo blend has a synergism that makes it quite a nice wine.
Tom

Reininger Helix Aspersa ColumbiaVlly (60% Viognier, 40% Chard; http://www.ReiningerWinery.com; Oasis & Willard vnyds; 14.3%) 2005: Med.light gold color; rather toasty/graham crackers/caramel/butterscotch/oak attractive strong pear/V nose; soft/fat/very ripe some caramel/butterscotch/oak light pear/V/floral flavor; med.long soft/fat rather Viog/pear slight appley strong caramel/oak finish; a pretty nice Viog but pretty heavy on the oak. $21.00

I hated this wine, because there is simply no good justification for ruining a potentially good Viognier by adding Chardonnay to it. It was $18 at the winery.

-- Clark

I've had a love/hate relationship with the Aspersa as well. First time I tasted it (within weeks after the first bottling,) I didn't care for it at all. When I retasted a few months later though, I thought it was a fine quaffer. That was a good year ago now though, so it's quite possible you're reporting on something different than I tasted.

The Helix Red Blend "Pomatia" is a different thing altogether. It's been consistently one of my favorite red blends in the state. It has great aromatic complexity, notably with a sea-salt component, that makes it easy to match with food.

Dave

[Jenise]

Ooh! Going to have to find me a bottle of that Rulo. Thanks Tom and Clark.

The Helix Red Blend "Pomatia" is a different thing altogether. It's been consistently one of my favorite red blends in the state. It has great aromatic complexity, notably with a sea-salt component, that makes it easy to match with food.

Dave

I agree. I also tasted the Pomatia and found it to be an interesting red blend: four different grapes, 50% is Cabernet Sauvignon.

-- Clark

Tom, why do you always put long/boring in your subject lines? That has not been my experience reading them.

Back in the olden days, just after AlGore had invented the InterNet, and BulletinBoards , such as Robin's here, were starting to become popular; back when line speeds for downloading were not blindingly fast as they are now; it was the convention to follow the subject line of your post with "long" as a courtesy/warning to readers that the post might have a long download time. JPGs/photos?? Forget about it...jpg's hadn't been invented yet.
So.....when I post a lengthy set of tasting notes like these, force of habit has me append "long" after the title. And..you have to admit...my tasting notes can sometimes be rather tedious and boring to read.
So....(long/boring) has sorta been my convention when posting long tasting notes on these BBs. Hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
Tom

Ah! It's just a holdover. I still append "long" to e-mail posts to discussion lists when appropriate, but I've never used "boring." I don't think your TN are tedious or boring, btw.

For those of us who have been online a long, long time.... remember Lynx?