Thought I'd celebrate my BD ystrday (for those of you keeping track: #48...in HexaDecimal...looks a whole lot better) with two old...errr...longtime friends:
1. CowanCllrs RibollaGialla RRV (11.7%; www.CowanCellars.com) SantaRosa 2012: Light golden/burnished bronze color; light cider/phenolic bit peppery/earthy/spicy/RG/grapefruity/orangey quite fragrant nose; rather tart fairly tannic/phenolic light peppery/spicy/RG/orangey/cidery/apple somewhat perfumed flavor; very long some tannic/phenolic light peppery/RG/earthy/appley/orangey/grapefruity finish a good balance between skin-contact/phenolic & peppery/RG fruit; reminds me a lot of a SandiSkerk RG; definitely a food wine w/ lots of savory character.
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2. Carlisle TwoAcres RRV/SonomaCnty RW (14.8%; Planted in 1910; Mourv/PS/Syrah/Carignane/AlicanteBouschet/Peloursin; 250 cs) 2012: Very dark color; very strong plummy/Mourv/licorice/black cherry cola/RCCola quite dusty/OV light toasty/smokey/oak rather spicy complex beautiful nose; slightly tart strong plummy/Mourv/RCCola/boysenberry/black cherry/peppery quite dusty/OV light smokey/oak very structured complex flavor w/ some ripe/firm tannins; very long/lingering strong plummy/licorice/Mourv/black cherry/boysenberry/peppery light smokey/oak very dusty/OV finish w/ some ripe/hard tannins; a lovely expression of an old-vine vnyd; has a long life ahead of it; one of the better young Twackers I can recall.
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. RG: This was initially served at a fairly cool room temperature (Susan keeps the thermostat way down) and the wine was quite phenolic and rather tannic on the palate. As the temperature in the room rose (I turned up the thermostat) and the wine heated up slightly, the phenolic character was really tamped down and the fragrant RG fruit came to the forefront. Playing the role of a scold: Don't serve this wine at a too-cold temperature. It's a beautiful/perfumed RG that I think might go out 10 yrs or longer.
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2. Twackers: This is the very old vnyd that Mike spotted, not being attended to, and offered to farm it in exchange for the crop. Not sure who the owner is. I need to do a Twackers retrospective sometime.
I realized when my Carlisle shipment arrived 2 weeks ago that I overbought for myself on the release. After tasting 3 of them, I've been impressed with them. No buyers remorse here.
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3. Thanks to Mike & Jim for sharing my BD (only #48 I should point out!!) with me.
Tom
