We tried tonight (7/2/14) Some SantaBarbara Wines:
1. Toccata PinotGrigio LosAlamosVnyd/SBC (14.5%; www.ToccataWines.com) 2011: Pale gold color; pleasant/light
fruity/grapey slight spicy/earthy slight musty/TCA nose; tart appley/melony/grapey bit earthy slight musty/
TCA flavor; sort of a vapid PG probably beaten down by the TCA. $16.00
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2. Toccata Ramato LosAlamosVnyd/SBC (100% PinotGrigio; skin-contact for several hrs;13.5%) 2011: Pale salmon/
copper slight orangey color; rather perfumed/fragrant light phenolic/cidery/orangey bit honeyed/smokey
savory complex nose; fairly tart slight tannic/bitter rather orangey/smokey/savory light phenolic/cidery
flavor w/ light tannic bite; med.long tart/tangy light phenolic/savory/smokey/orangey/honeyed finish w/ slight
tannic bite; quite an attractive/tangy/savory Ramato. $17.00
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3. Jaffurs Roussanne StolpmanVnyd/SBC (12.6%) 2012: Med.gold color; beautiful honeysuckle/honeyed very floral light
toasty/oak/smokey/butterscotch complex classic Rouss nose; fairly tart balanced/structured honeysuckle/honeyed/
floral light toasty/smokey/oak some nutmeg/spicy lovely flavor; very long/lingering rich/lush honeysuckle/
honeyed/floral/carnations somewhat tart/balanced light smokey/butterscotch/oak finish; not as rich/ripe as previous
Rouss and a bit more balanced; a lovely Roussanne at a good price. $27.00
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4. Ojai Red (1/3'rd each Syrah/PinotNoir/Sangiovese; 299 cs; 5683B11 20121103 1:19) NV: Med.dark color; some
toasty/oak bit earthy/cherry/Sangio some blackberry/Syrah bit peppery/spicy slightly rustic nose; fairly tart
rather cherry/black cherry/Sangio rather toasty/charred/oak slight blackberry/Syrah flavor w/ some hard tannins;
med.long rather charred/oak earthy/black cherry/Sangio slight spicy/blackberry/Syrah finish w/ hard tannins;
a rather rough/rustic red right now and badly needs 2-5 yrs of age; great value at $13.60
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5. Solminer Rubellite Syrah deLandaVnyd/SYV (144 cs; 13.4%) 2013: Med.light color; quite pretty perfumed Syrah/
blackberry/raspberry some floral/violets quite spicy very attractive nose; fairly tart/lean some blackberry/
raspberry/Syrah quite pretty/fragrant/floral bit tight/lean flavor w/ light tannins; long somewhat floral/violets
blackberry/raspberry/Syrah/bright quite pretty/perfumed some tight/lean finish w/ light/bitey tannins; almost
more like a DryCreekVlly Zin than a SantaBarbara Syrah; definitely a light Syrah but quite pretty & fragrant.
$26.00
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6. Solminer FullMoon Syrah deLandaVnyd/SantaYnezVlly/Estate (13%; www.Solminer.com) Lompoc 2012: Med.light color;
slight smokey/toasty stronger blackberry/Syrah/peppery/spicy some floral/aromatic/violets quite perfumed nose;
rather tart/lean/tight some blackberry/Syrah/peppery slight smokey/pencilly rather perfumed/floral/violets flavor
w/ light hard/spikey tannins; very long some blackberry/Syrah/peppery/very spicy rather floral/violets/lilacs
finish w/ light/angular tannins; needs some age to sofen the tannins a bit; a lightweight Syrah but w/ lots
of spicy/floral perfume to it; this is how the would make Langhe Syrah in the Piemonte if they could. $34.00
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7. Mistress PinotNoir LaEncantadaVnyd/StaRitaHills (110 cs; 14.9%) DaveYates/Mistress Winemaker 2010: Med.color;
light toasty/oak attractive black cherry/PN slight herbal/earthy attractive nose; fairly tart quite bright/pretty/
cherry/PN/black cherry light toasty/charred/oak flavor w/ light/gentle tannins; long light toasty/oak spicy/
black cherry/bright slight earthy finish w/ light/smooth tannins; fairly drinkable; a bright/pretty/cherry/PN
buut just that. $nc (DY)
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8. Mistress PinotNoir SantaMariaVlly (68% SolomonHillsVnyd/32% BienNacidoVnyd; 13.3%; 140 cs) 2011: Med.light color;
rather earthy/dusty/slight herbal light black cherry/PN very light toasty/oak nose; rather earthy/dusty/herbal
light black cherry/PN very light oak flavor w/ light tannins; med.long rather earthy/dusty/herbal/chile some
bright/cherry/black cherry/PN light oak finish w/ light tannins; not the brightness of the '10; pleasant enough
Pinot but just that; bit pricey at $37.00
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9. Toccata PinotNero LosAlamosVnyd/SBC (14.5%) 2009: Med.light color; some cherry/PN/spicy light toasty/oak some
earthy/dusty pleasant nose; bit tart light cherry/PN light earthy/dusty/rustic bit alcoholic light toasty/oak
flavor w/ light/bitey tannins; med. some cherry/PN/earthy/dusty light toasty/oak finish w/ light/hard tannins;
some resemblence to an AltoAdige PinotNero; a pleasant/light/rustic Pinot but just that; bit pricey at $25.00
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10. Ojai PinotNoir BienNacidoVnyd/SantaMariaVlly (14.0%) 2008: Med.color w/ slight bricking; rather pungent/ozone/
smokey rather toasty/oak/charred/smokey strong BN/black cherry/plummy/framboise slight iced tea-like very
fragrant/perfumed nose; lightly tart some black cherry/BN/PN/earthy/plummy rather toasty/charred/oak fairly big/
extracted some complex/perfumed flavor w/ some smooth tannins; very long/lingering bright/black cherry/plummy/
BN Pinot some toasty/charred/oak light earthy/dusty rather perfumed some complex finish w/ light tannins; a pretty
classic BN Pinot pretty near its peak; quite a lovely Pinot. $34.00
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11. Jaffurs Syrah UpSlope SBC (14.5%) 2011: Very dark/black color; very strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry strong
toasty/oak/smokey/charred some complex nose; some hot/alcoholic slightly tart rather toasty/smokey/oak big/
extracted/blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/very spicy structured flavor w/ rather hard/firm tannins; very long/
lingering intense/extracted/blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/ripe/very spicy some toasty/oak bit complex finish w/
strong/firm/hard tannins; needs much age & should be a great/classic Jaffurs Syrah. $nc (CJ/DY/chipped btl)/$70.00
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12. AlbanVnyds Patrina Syrah AlbanEstate/EdnaVlly (14.5%) 2010: Very dark/black color; very intense boysenberry/
blackberry/Syrah/framboise bit chocolaty/pungent/licorice/very ripe intense toasty/charred/burnt some complex
nose; somewhat tart very tannic/hard/extracted quite toasty/charred/burnt/oak/smokey rather primary/reduced
very intense boysenberry/framboise/blackberry/chocolaty bit alcoholic flavor w/ hard/massive tannins; very long/
lingering strong toasty/charred/burnt/oak intense boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/framboise/chocolaty/licorice/
bit peppery slight alcoholic finish w/ huge/structured tannins; a pretty classical extracted Alban Syrah.
$50.00 (BB)
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And more blatherings from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Toccata: This is the label Lucas&Lewellen use for their Italian varietals program. The Romato is the
Friulian name for a rose (usually PinotGrigio) made w/ skin contact. I was rather surprised at the amount
of phenolic character the wine had picked up thru only a few hrs of skin contact.
My experience is that the Toccata wines are pleasant/well-made/often interesting at a good price, but just
that.
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2. Mistress: This is DaveYates, GM at Jaffurs, effort w/ PinotNoir. I was expecting a bit bigger rendition of Pinot
along the Jaffurs style. I much preferred the SRH vintage. I'm not convinced that the SolomonHills vnyd is
a great Pinot site and didn't get a lot of the BienNacido black cherry/plummy character in the '11.
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3. UpSlope: This is the Jaffurs high-end Syrah blend. They select the best few barrels, across all the vynd-
designate Syrahs, and blend it together, give it additional barrel age to meld. It is usually, to my mind,
the biggest and longest lived of all the Jaffurs Syrahs. Though I prefer the individuality (that terroir thing?)
of the vnyd-designate Syrahs.
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4. Solminer vs. Alban: This was the first young Alban Syrah I've had in a number of yrs, since I was dumped from
the mailing list and since the demise of HdR. The Patrina is John's basic Syrah now. It used to include purchased
fruit from PasoRobles, but is now (I gather) entirely Estate fruit. It reminded me a lot of the basic Reva Syrah
I used to drink. My people were wowwed by its intensity & extract. As was I.
Solminer is the effort of David & Anna deLaski in LosOlivos, where the deLanda vnyd is located. I was first
attracted to their wines because the are making (very good) GrunerVeltliner. When it comes to Syrah, they definitely
march to the beat of a different drummer, compared to their SBC brethern. The Rubellite Syrah is their Syrah
Lite; the FullMoon is intended to be a more serious Syrah, is my understanding.
One of the things of find/like in some CoteRoties (certainly not the LaLas w/ all the oak) is a kinda
ethereal/floral/violets aroma, not unlike what you find in most Piemonte Nebbiolos. I find I seldom get that
character from Calif Syrahs (maybe a bit in the Peay and the TreViti Syrahs). When I first tasted GaryEberle's
Syrah about 1977, it had this lovely strawberry/floral perfume to it that made me realize that, yes, Syrah did
have some potential in Calif. This is a fragrance I still sometimes get in EstrellaClone Syrahs in Calif.
These two Solminer Syrahs showed much of that same floral/violets character that I love in Syrah.
It was interesting to taste the Solminers in the same group as the UpSlope/Patrina. The later pair were
much preferred by my group. You shake your head in wonder at their power & extract and you somehow just know
they will be great Syrahs down the road. And then, sometimes, you just want to grab something that tastes good
w/ your meal, and you would reach for a Solminer. Sometimes you want to discuss the the Impact of the HiggsBosun
on WesternCivilization w/ RichardFeynman....sometimes you just want to discuss the Latest Mascara Shades w/
LindsayLohan...over a glass of Solminer!!!
Tom