Stumbled upon this cellar orphan last night, so ripped that sucker open, expecting a totally shot wine. It was no such thing:
1. BonnyDoon Grenache Clos du Gilroy Calif (TW) SantaCruz 1987: Med.light color w/ considerable bricking; quite pretty strawberry/Grenache/floral/stale Christmas peppermint candy bit smokey/earthy somewhat cedary/pencilly/old red lovely complex nose; rather tart very spicy/strawberry/Grenache/floral/violets/Christmas candy light/smooth/delicate light earthy/smokey complex/delicate/ethereal very pretty flavors w/ light/fully-resolved/graceful tannins; long tart delicate/light/graceful pretty strawberry/Grenache/floral/Christmas candy rather cedary/pencilly/old red bit earthy/dusty/OV quite complex/ethereal finish w/ light/delicate tannins; and absolute surprise and a real taste of history. $7.85 (K)
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. The Clos du Gilroy was Randall's first foray into Grenache. It was always always loaded w/ intense Grenache/strawberry fruit, dark in color, but quite lush/round on the palate. I think they were made back when Randall was on his MOx kick. They oft reminded me of Piemonte Dolcetto w/o the acids & tannins. There was no reason for me to expect them to age. I think at this point in time most oof the fruit came from the old Besson Vnyd in Gilroy. The MaryCarter Grenache was long gone by then.
I had very low expectations for this wine & was totally blindsided by how good it was. It was like a tiny TinkerBell doing pirouettes across the palate, flinging little starbursts of tinkly stars throughout your mouth. Sometimes you win one.
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2. Christmastime was always a bit traumatic in my childhood home. My big/red Christmas stocking, which I always hung on the front door doorknob (no fireplace in this Kansas home), had "Bobby" embroidered across the top. My parents were too cheap to buy me a Christmas stocking w/ my name ("Tommy") on it, so I had to use my older brother's hand-me-down stocking. It wasn't until I was around 12 that my Aunt made me a Christmas stocking w/ my own name on it. Yeah....old enough to know there was no SantyClaus...but I milked that SantaClaus scam well into my teen-age yrs by pretending to believe.
On Christmas morning, there was always a big bannana stuffed in the toe of the stocking and a big orange jammed in the top. Between toe & top was all sorts of candy. And there was always this peppermint ribbon hard candy, that I hated. Finally, come Feb or March, when I started to get desperate for a candy hit, I'd dig down into the depths of my Christmas stocking and retrieve the last of this stale ribbon candy. Wonder it didn't break my teeth.
These childhood emotional traumas can leave deep scars that never heal in your lifetime.
Tom