We tried at John's tasting ystrday the new inagural release of:
1. BlackSmuggler LaBombaGrande NewMexico RTW (14%; Cab/Merlot/PetiteVerdot/PS; 21 cs; LmtdEdition) TonyFox/Bosque 2015: Very dark/near black color; rather vanilla/Am.oak/coffee strong blackcurranty/Cab/boysenberry/plummy some earthy/loamy rather rich/lush nose; bit soft strong blackcurranty/Cab/plummy/boysenberry/bit jammy/ripe light spicy/cinammon some earthy/loamy slight tannic/metallic/tangy flavor w/ modest hard/rough tannins; long strong ripe/blackcurranty/Cab/plummy light Am.oak/coffee some earthy/loamy finish w/ modest rough/hard tannins; needs several yrs yet; a bit on the soft/soupy side but packed w/ Cab flavor.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. LaBombaGrande: This is a legendary wine in LosAlamos. In 1993, on the 50'th anniversary celebration of the founding of LosAlamosScientificLaboratory, JohnBalagna/BalagnaCllrs, created a blended red for the reunion participants that he labeled LaBombaGrande. It had a rustic artist's rendering of the Trinity cloud (first scientific test of a nuclear weapon), the gadjet that was tested at Alamagordo July 16, 1945:
TrinityCloud )
Yield was estimated at 20 kT.
Label pic: ( Label )
Story: ( Balagna )
Honoring such a shameful piece of American history, of course, sent all the anti-nuke crowd in SantaFe into a frothing-at-the-mouth frenzy. The creation of Bomba even made a piece in the Sunday Parade magazine, further inflaming their fury down in SantaFe. All of which was viewed up in LosAlamos w/ much amusement.
The wine turned out to be John's biggest selling wine. Several btls even showed up at Arzamas-16, the Soviet weapons design centre: ( Arzamas-16 ) And it was rumored that a few btls were gifted to our enemies at LawrenceLivermoreNationalLaboratory.
The original Bomba as blended by John from Deming grapes of Paolo d'Andrea. It was a rough/rustic red made mostly from Zinfandel & Barbera.
TonyFox, a winemaker here in LosAlamos, thought it would be a good idea to revive LaBombaGrande, a label that had been off the market since John's returement some 10 yrs ago. He purchased the rights to the name from John and created this blend, which we shared w/ John and some friends ystrday afternoon. He created the 21 cs mostly from a blend that he & TonyBlack put together at BlackSmugglerWnry in Belen. It is a worth successor to John's original LaBombaGrande.
Tom