I've been a follower of KurtBeitler's RanchoBodega & La Boheme wines ever since AlRago/QueSyrahVnyd
introduced us and Kurt was making the QueSyrah Syrah after Failla-Jordan parted company w/ Al. The '12 vintage
was the last that Kurt got Al's grapes and the vnyd is now farmmed by Arnot-Roberts and they take Al's Syrah
grapes. Originally (being a member of the Wagner family), Kurt made his wines over in the CaymusWnry in
Rutherford. He now makes his wine in the old WindGap apple-shed wnry in Forestville. In the 2011 vintage, Kurt
was not happy the way all his wines from that vintage turned out, so he bulked out the entire production,
a move few producers would have the guts to do.
He has just released his 2012 wines and wanted me to try them out. So we met up at the tasting room in
Occidental noonish and then headed down to the Freestone Creperie for lunch w/ plans to taste them there
on the deck. However, we spied some picnic tables in this tall grove of redwoods nearby and adjourned there
to taste. Turns out this was the Freestone City Park, totally unmaintained, rickity old picnic benches, and
the ideal place to taste his wines. Probably violating some Freestone Village ordinance for drinking in
public as well. So we tasted thru:
1. Boheme Chard TaylorRidgeVnyd/SonomaCoast (13.7%) 2012: Med.yellow color; lovely melony/ripe light pencilly/oak
quite fragrant Chard nose; lightly tart lush/rich/textured light pencilly/oak ripe/melony/lemony very
balanced flavor; very long fairly rich/balanced lemony/melony/ripe finish; a lovely balanced Chard that's
very good drinking. $39.00
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2. Boheme PinotNoir TaylorRidgeVnyd/SonomaCoast 2012: Light color; very fragrant bright cherry/PN/black cherry
light toasty/pencilly/oak very pretty Pinot nose; slightly tart bright/cherry/PN/cherry cola slight pencilly/
oak flavor w/ light/gentle tannins; very long bright cherry/PN finish w/ light tannins; a balanced/elegant
PN and the lightest of the three. $49.00
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3. Boheme PinotNoir EnglishHillVnyd/SonomaCoast 2012: Med.light color; fragrant/perfumed bright/cherry/PN/
cherry cola light pencilly/oak slight earthy/spicy very attractive nose; bit tarter/leaner bright/cherry/PN/
black cherry cola light pencilly/oak flavoor w/ light/slightly bitey tannins; much like the TaylorRidge w/
a bit of earthiness and a bit pinched on the palate and needs some time in bottle. $45.00
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4. Boheme Pinot Noir StullerVnyd/Sonoma Coast 2012: Med. bit darker color; bit richer/lusher very strong cherry/
black cherry/black cherry cola/PN some pencilly/toasty oak very fragrant nose; slightly tart bit bigger/
richer bright/cherry/more black cherry/PN/black cherry cola bit more earthy/dusty light toasty/oak flavor
w/ some broad/ripe tannins; the biggest of the three Pinots and needing more age. $45.00
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5. Boheme Syrah OccidentalHills/SonomaCoast (80% QueSyrahVnyd/20% EnglishHillVnyd-WholeCluster; 288 cs; 13.3%)
2012: Dark color; beautiful blackberry/Syrah quite cracked black pepper/cold-climate somewhat Rhonish/whole-
cluster very spicy light toasty/oak beautiful nose; bit tart slightly herbal/thyme rich/bold Syrah/blackberry/
spicy/blueberry slight earthy quite spicy/peppery/cold-climate light toasty/oak flavor w/ ample/round/ripe
tannins; very long/lingering strong/blackberry/Syrah/very spicy black pepper/whole-cluster light toasty/oak
light earthy/Rhonish finish w/ ample soft tannins; a beautiful farewell to QueSyrah Syrah at very very
good price. $45.00
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6. SeaBright Zin ManciniVnyd/RRV 2013: Med.color; rather pretty bright/raspberry/Zin/blackberry bit spicy fairly
dusty/OV bit tight/closed nose; somewhat tart raspberry/blackberry/Zin/dusty lightly spicy flavor w/ some
hard/rough tannins; seems more like a DCV Zin than RRV; at this point seems pretty tight & closed down;
reminds me a bit of the old Swan Zins in style.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. TaylorRidge: This is up on TaylorRidgeRd, just down a bit from Kurt's home. Kurt, a viticulturist, was
responsible for planting the original Caymus TaylorRidge PinotNoir vnyd, that now goes into the BelleGlos
label. It's very unusual in that it's trellised up on a Trentino pergola system...rather rare in Calif.
TaylorRidgeVnyd is owned by VinceRago, AlRago's son. The QueSyrahVnyyd is located at the very end of
TaylorRidgeRd, with a narrow view of the Pacific on a clear day.
The EnglishHillVnyd is another vnyd that Kurt farms some 10 miles or so the the SE of Freestone, looking
out over the vlly to the East towards SantaRosa.
Kurt is starting up another label w/ a friend of his, Andy. The Mancini Zin is going to be their first
release. Mancini was a RRV vnyd that was once used by JoeSwan (and not related to the ManciniFamilyVnyds
in the NapaVlly). Kurt had the opportunity to but 5-6 tons of this Zin in '13, so he & Andy went together
to make Kurt's first Zin. The Seabright name is a tentative one and they have not yet made a final decision.
Also under this label of Kurt & Andy will be a Comptche PN (Comptche is a remote outpost North of the
UkiahVlly in the AlderSprings neighborhood), a VivioVnyd Syrah, and a GreenwoodRidge Riesling. The Zin had
just been bttld and seemed quite shut down & closed, so hard to tell how this will evolve, but I'm
confident it will be a good one.
I've always liked the Boheme wines ever since the first QueSyrah Syrah. They remind me a bit of the Peay
wines in style, though a bit more rich & lush. Obviously, the focus is on cold-climate vnyds. The Syrahs
have aged very/very well. The EnglishHill Syrah is just now coming into production, so it will be interesting
to see how that vnyd developes as a Syrah source. I was quite impressed with Kurt's '12's and think they
very sensibly priced, given their quality. WebSite is: (BohemeWines.com)
Tom