WTN: Idlewild Carignan

[David M. Bueker]

2013 Idlewild Carignan Testa Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino County (2/3/2015)
Followed over 2 nights, and I wish I had bought so much more of this. The first sip last night just hit me like a thunderbolt. The depth of flavor was beyond what I could have ever expected. Black fruit, iron, warm herbs, loamy earth, name your aroma/flavor association, and it was likely there. The balance was exactly right on night one and night two. Stylistically it reminded me of a young ESJ Syrah, which is about as high praise as I could heap upon a wine.

2013 Idlewild Carignan Testa Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino County (2/3/2015)
Followed over 2 nights, and I wish I had bought so much more of this. The first sip last night just hit me like a thunderbolt. The depth of flavor was beyond what I could have ever expected. Black fruit, iron, warm herbs, loamy earth, name your aroma/flavor association, and it was likely there. The balance was exactly right on night one and night two. Stylistically it reminded me of a young ESJ Syrah, which is about as high praise as I could heap upon a wine.

Ahhhhh....yes....the classic Bueker EdmundsStJohn lament...now applied to Idlewild.

I'm not sure I'd compare it to an EdStJ Syrah.....but I thought it was an absolutely lovely expression of Carignan.
And I rank Carignan right up there w/ CabSauv as a source of wretched wines. Sam's rendition avoids the hard tannins thos wines can show, yet retains the pretty cherry fruit that a Carignan can show on rare occasions. It avoids the rough/rustic/coarse side that Carignan often shows. It (and the Harrington) renew my faith in Calif Carignane...sorta. Gotta kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince, though.
Tom

I'm coming around to the likelihood that the famous "rustic" side of Carignan had less to do with the grape variety, and more to do with the custom of not lavishing on it the same respect and attention one might more readily lavish on more high-ticket grapes. No doubt the same vines that produced Sam's wine have also produced some real crap in previous years (say, in the '60s) because Carignan can be productive, "filler" wine in a cheap blend. Especially if one is accustomed to thinking of it in that way.
Paying attention counts for a lot, farming carefully, making good picking decisions, being meticulous about handling the fruit. No doubt, as well, the age of the vines helps, and they're grown in a spot where they seem to be happy. Sam is doing a great job!

Can I throw out a heretical idea that "rusticity" per se need not be a "flaw"? Give me a rustic wine over a technically perfect 95 pointer selling for $95...or manufactured fruit juice fixed with oak chips and a spinning cone?

But Steve is correct as well! Careful farming and winemaking for the win!

I was interpreting Tom's use of rustic as being at least moderately pejorative. They call Cornas rustic, too, and I nearly always find it thrilling.

[David M. Bueker]

I'm not sure I'd compare it to an EdStJ Syrah.....but I thought it was an absolutely lovely expression of Carignan.

The comparison was not for specific flavors or aromas, but for a level of purity and depth. There's a short list of wines that give me that jolt of excitement when I first taste them. Steve's Syrahs do that. This wine did that. Jamie Kutch's 2012 Sonoma Coast Pinot did that for me on Saturday. Dönnhoff does that!

I'm not sure I'd compare it to an EdStJ Syrah.....but I thought it was an absolutely lovely expression of Carignan.

The comparison was not for specific flavors or aromas, but for a level of purity and depth. There's a short list of wines that give me that jolt of excitement when I first taste them. Steve's Syrahs do that. This wine did that. Jamie Kutch's 2012 Sonoma Coast Pinot did that for me on Saturday. Dönnhoff does that!

Well....that seems fair enough & makes sense, David. I understand what you mean.
Tom

Tom, I noticed your comment in another thread about Schoonmaker's book, from which I also learned a few things. But if you look at Schoonmaker's comments on Mataro (aka Mourvedre) he gives it very short shrift; I think his remarks reflect what I was getting at about Carignan. Nobody disses Mourvedre so much anymore.

I'm coming around to the likelihood that the famous "rustic" side of Carignan had less to do with the grape variety, and more to do with the custom of not lavishing on it the same respect and attention one might more readily lavish on more high-ticket grapes.

100% agree

My wine education way back dismissed carignan as only suitable for cheapo plonk for workmen....

But I have recenty enjoyed some super carignans