Darren Delmore came to town ystrday for SFW&CF, so we got together at ArroyoVino w/ George & Emma to try some wines:
1. TablasCreekVnyd TablasBlanc PasoRobles WW (EB; 13.5%; Marsanne/Viognier/Roussanne) Winemakers: Francois Perrin/Jean-Pierre Perrin/RobertHaas 1997: Med.gold slightly cloudy color; slight nutty/toasted hazelnuts/oldRhone slight toasty/oak/smokey rather complex quiet nose w/ no signs of oxidation; tart light nutty/toasted hazelnuts/bit honeyed/honey comb slightly astringent/bitter very complex flavor; med.long light nutty/toasted hazelnuts slight smokey/oak bit bitter/astringent quite complex finish; a rather quiet/understated white in the twilight of its days; no signs of oxidation whatsoever but just sorta fading into the sunset.
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2. TablasCreekVnyd TablasRouge PasoRobles RW (EB; 14.3%; Mourv/Grenache/Syrah/Counoise) 1997: Dark color w/ no bricking; some smokey/toasty bit plummy/Mourv some earthy/CdP-like/SRhonish complex lovely nose; bit tart Mourv/plummy earthy/CdP-like/Rhonish slight mushroomy/gamey complex flavor w/ bit dried-out/light/rough tannins; very long rather earthy/CdP-like/Rhonish slight toasty/oak some plummy/Rhonish complex finish w/ light drying/rough tannins; not a dramatic Rhone red and clearly in the twilight of its yrs, but still very interesting and very much alive; reminds me more of an older Guigal CdR than an old Beaucastel; a rather quiet/understated old Rhone w/ little fruit left.
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3. TablasCreekVnyd TerretNoir PasoRobles (EB; 12.2%; www.TablasCreek.com) 2013: Very pale/light rose bit browning color; rather earthy/dusty/smokey/gamey/sauvage/mushroomy some cherry/Trousseau-like fairly perfumey very interesting/attractive nose; quite tart/lean rather earthy/dusty/mushroomy biit tannic/rough fairly cherry flavor w/ light hard/rough tannins; fairly long rather earthy/dusty/mushroomy light cherry/perfumed finish w/ light/rough tannins; a dead-ringer for a Jura Trousseau and very un-TCV-like wine; a wine that'll appeal to hip Somms and JonBonne.
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4. DarkHollow Syrah BassiRanch/SLOCnty (14.5%) HombreSinNombre/Cambria 2012: Dark color; some blackberry/Syrah/peppery/cold-climate/spicy some earthy/StJoseph-like/roasted/Rhonish bit rustic rather perfumed nose; very tart quite cold-climate/peppery/spicy/earthy some blackberry/Syrah light toasty very interesting flavor w/ modest hard/rough tannins; very long earthy/dusty/Rhonish/roasted some blackberry/peppery/cold-climate Syrah finish w/ some hard tannins; needs 3-8 yrs of age; very definitely a cold-climate Syrah.
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5. TablasCreekVnyd Vin de Paille PasoRobles (EB; 40% GrenacheBlanc/23% Viognier/20% Roussanne/17% Marsanne; 12.2%; SaH: 34 Brix; RS: 17.4%) 2006: Deep gold/burnished bronze color; intense grapey/passito-like/orangey/honeyed slight earthy/honey-comb quitte complex nose; fairly tart/tangy slightly sweet earthy/honey-comb/grapey/orangey very passito-like complex flavor; very long/lingering slightly sweet grapey/honey-comb/orangey/passito-like very complex finish w/ no oxidative character at all; surprisingly not as sweet as 17.4% would suggest.
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A the usual BloodyPulpit:
1. A very sad day today. YogiBerra died ystrday. He & MickeyMantle were two of my heroes when I was in grade school/JrHi. A really goofy guy w/ some great bon mots. "You can observe a lot by watching" was one I took to heart. And his athletic skills were nothing to snivel at. The world is a bit smaller place today.
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2. These two TablasCreek '97's were the first commercial release from TCV. They staked out there territory for blended Calif Rhone wines. They weren't the first Calif GSM blends, but they were the first to lift GSM's to the level of greatness in Calif. I remember tasting these when they were first released and thinking "BFD". They were just nice drinking but not very dramatic statements for Calif Rhones. When I retasted them 4-5 yrs later.."holy $hit"...these are really getting good. So it was fun to taste them in the twilight of their lives. Wish Jason could have been here to join us.
The focus at TCV was always on CdP-style Rhone blends, rather than mono-varietals...a la Ch.Beaucastel. These wines went on to become called Esprit de Beaucastel in tribute to the parent wnry in CdP. I always though it was a bit of a marketing thing to take advantage of the Beaucastel connection. However, in the last few yrs, they've changed the name to Esprit de Tablas, which I think is a bit more honest and less marketing thing.
I think TCV is really hitting their stride these days. Some of the best Rhone wines being made in Calif. And pretty atypical of the very ripe fruit bombs that I associate w/ Paso. The wines all have impeccable balance and, because of this, age very well. As the vnyd ages, the wines are only going to be getting better. One of my favorites.
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3. TablasCreek: I have, of course, followed TCV "from the very start"...as they say. They originally brought in all the CdP varieties (legally) that they took from Ch.Beaucastel. Once they were released from quarantine, TCV main focus was on propagating those varieties to plant in their vnyd up on WillowCreekRd. The nursery work was the big thing. Eventually, once they had their vnyds in the ground, they got out of the nursery business and now NovaVines is the primary source of the TablasCreek clones of Rhone varietals.
Before their wnry was built, the wines were made at AdelaidaCllrs down the road aways. This was before NielCollins came on-board as their winemaker. As their vnyd was being brought into production, they made some wines from purchased grapes under another label (that I've forgotten....but it still is in my label collection). The wines were pretty...underwhelming.
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4. TerretNoir: One of the allowable CdP varieties whose acreage is waning. This is the most recent arrival into the TCV stable of Rhone varieties. Tiny amount made in this first vintage and not commercially available and LosAlamos was only able to obtain 17 cs of this wine. It's a very interesting wine and not like any other TCV wine. Not sure how this variety will work its way into the TCV portfolio.
Trousseau (Noir) makes some very interesting wines in the Jura that are on the lightish/rustic/earthy side. There are some skin-contact TrousseauGris (formerly Gray Riesling) that are made in Calif that this wine reminded me a lot of...but w/o the hard/tannic bite that those show. This wine reminded me mostly of Trousseau or Poulsard from the Jura, particularly those of JacquesPuffney. It also resembled some of the Trousseau from Arnot-Roberts and WindGap and Forlorn-Hope.
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5. DarkHollow: This is the wine that Darren makes for himself. The BassiRanch is just to the West of the EdnaVlly AVA, owned by MikeSinor, between SanLuisObispo and AvilaBeach, not far from the Pacific. Definitely cold-climate Syrah. It reminded me some of the EdmundsStJohn BassettiVnyd Syrah but w/o the deep/ripe fruit those show. Actually, because of the acidity & tannins, it resembles a lot the EricTexier StJoseph more than anything.
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6. Vin de Paille: This is a true Rhone Vin de Paille, dried in the TCV greenhouse on true straw mats. Most folks make passitos drying the grapes on plastic trays...so use of straw mats is so....quaint. I would like to see TCV make this wine w/ Muscat grapes. This was quite an interesting wine and reminded me more of Friuli Picolit more than anything.
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7. ArroyoVino: This is a small wine shop & restaurant out on the NW side of SantaFe. Easily the best wine shop in SantaFe nowadays. I hadn't eaten there in over a yr...since Mark left as chef. Sean's cooking is every bit as creative and good as it's ever been at AV. I need to go back for dinner more often...the food last night was terrific. And the company was nothing to snivel at. A great evening.
Tom