Susan & I tried these Fri night w/ dinner:
1. EdmundsStJohn Heart of Gold EldoradoCnty WTW (52% Vermentino/48% GrenacheBlanc; 13.5%) 2012: Light gold color; rather stony/mineral/chalky bit anise/fennel some spicy/peppery light floral/honeyed quite interesting nose; rather tart/lean/mineral/stony/chalky light fennel/floral/peppery some earthy/ElDorado flavor; med.long tart/lean/quite mineral/stony light floral/honeysuckle finish; seems leaner & more mineral & less lush than previos HoG; a really intriguing/interesting white at a great price. $21.50
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2. BedrockWineCo Syrah NorthCoast (33%-50% whole cluster; 14 brls; 14.5%) 2012: Med.dark color; rather earthy/dusty some blackberry/Syrah/peppery some Rhonish/peppery/roasted/coffee quite interesting nose; rather tart/lean/hard/rough light blackberry/Syrah/peppery/RCCola some Rhonish/roasted/coffee bit earthy/dusty/wet pavement w/ some hard/astringent tannins; med.long somewhat Rhonish/roasted/coffee earthy rather hard/lean/tart/rough finish w/ some hard/astringent tannins; not a lot of lush Calif Syrah fruit and strong Rhonish character from the whole-cluster; needs several yrs to soften the tannins; a very good Syrah at a great price. $19.50
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. HoG: I have, of course, followed Steve's HoG from the very start. In the past, they seemed to speak more of lush GrenacheBlanc character. This '12 seems more restrained and mineral than previous ones. I can see myself sipping this wine overlooking the Mediterranean in Liguria and smirking at the locals over what a delish Vermentino I'm drinking. Might even share some w/ them.
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2. BedRock: Followed Morgan's work from the very start. This wine sorta surprised me. I was expecting a Syrah much like his previous ones, but maybe a bit reigned in. The whole-cluster gave it a distinct Rhonish character and it had more structure/tannins than I expected for that price point. It had sort of a rough/rustic character that reminded me some of Languedoc Syrah or even a LouisBarrol CdR Syrah. It will be interesting to see how this wine evolves.
Tom