NoNoNo...Mat is still very much with us. He no longer is doing the marketing for HighWest Distillery, though. Looks to be doing flyboy stuff from FaceBook. Still located in Minneapolis.
This weekend, I cracked open all my (known) remaining Garretson wines, w/ low expectations. Those expectations were fully met:
1. GarretsonWineCo Syrah TheCraic Central Coast (16.4%; 625 cs; SupremeCorq) 2001:Med.dark color w/ some browning; light boysenberry/Syrah/jammy rather fumey/alcoholic slight oxidized/mousey/wet wool burnt oak nose; soft/fat overripe/jammy/boysenberry quite hot/fumey flavor w/ dreadful wet dog fur/oxidized bitter/astringent/dried-out finish; pretty much DoA.
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2. GarretsonWineCo Syrah TheBulladoir HoageVnyd/PasoRobles (14%; 100 cs; SupremeCorq) 2001: Dark color w/ light browning; unattractive mousey/wet Army blanket some oxidized bit smokey/Syrah/blackberry/spicy nose; soft light blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/spicy slight mousey/wet wool/oxidized flavor w/ light dried-out/gritty tannins; still has some overripe fruit but a bit tired & dried out.
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3. GarretsonWineCo Syrah TheBulladoir HoageVnyd/PasoRobles (17.0%; 250 cs; SupremeCorq) 2001: Dark color w/ some browning; some boysenberry/Syrah/licorice very ripe/jammy/overripe some toasty/oak slight oxidized nose; soft/flabby very ripe/overripe/primary/jammy some hot/alcoholic/fumey/burning bit boysenberry/Syrah some toasty/oak off-dry flavor w/ light tannins; not as oxidized but way overripe/pruney.
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4. GarretsonWineCo Syrah TheAisling PasoRobles (16.7%; Am.oak; 500 cs; Neo-Cork) 2002: Med.dark color w/ light browning; dreadful oxidized/mousey/hantavirus/wet wool bit hot/fumey light overripe/jammy/Syrah/plummy nose; soft/fat quite alcoholic/hot/fumey jammy/overripe/Syrah/boysenberry some oxidized flavor w/ light drying tannins; a bit oxidized & an overripe mess of a Syrah.
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5. GarretsonWineCo Syrah RozetVnyd TheLucascain PasoRobles (14%; 200 cs; SupremeCorq) 2001: Dark color w/ some browning; some oxidized/tired some ripe/overripe/boysenberry/Syrah/jammy slight earthy/mousey bit alcoholic some interesting nose; soft/fat slight oxidized/metallic/dried-out bit hot/alcoholic light boysenberry/jammy/Syrah bit earthy/mousey flavor w/ light bit bitey/drying tannins; still some overripe jammy Syrah fruit but rather tired though not too oxidized.
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6. GarretsonWineCo Syrah RozetVnyd The Lucascain (16.5%; 200 cs; NeoCork) 2002: Med.color w/ considerable browning; very ripe/jammy/boysenberry/Syrah rather hot/alcoholic/fumey bit earthy nose; soft/fat quite hot/alcoholic slight overripe/jammy/boysenberry/Syrah bit oxidized/tired flavor w/ light tannins; still has some overripe/jammy Syrah fruit but pretty hot/alcoholic.
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7. GarretsonWineCo Grenache TheSpainneach RozetVnyd/PasoRobles (13.8%; 200 cs; SupremeCorq) 2001: Med.dark some browning color; rather tired/bit oxidized light strawberry/Grenache slight funky/mousey/loamy nose; soft/fat rather tired/oxidized/oldRed rather alcoholic/fumey slight Grenache/strawberry/jammy fruit w/ light tired/astringent tannins; a bit of jammy Grenache fruit remaining but pretty much tired.
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8. GarretsonWineCo Grenache TheSpainneach RozetVnyd/PasoRobles (16.3%; 200 cs; SupremeCorq) 2002: Pale murky/brown color; strange herbal/piney/perfumed talc rather oxidized/tired/mousey nose; quite hot/alcoholic/fumey very oxidized/tired/bit tawny Port flavor w/ little tannins; pretty oxidized & tired & little of interest.
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9. GarretsonWineCo Mourvedre TheGraosta HastingsRanch/PasoRobles (15.9%; 200 cs; SupremeCorq) 2002: Med.light color w/ some browning; dreadful mousey/wet Army blanket/wet wool/earthy/hantavirus slight plummy/licorice/boysenberry rather hot/alcoholic nose; soft/fat unpleasant wet wool/wet Army blanket/mousey some dried out rather oxidised overripe/plummy/boysenberry rather earthy/wet Army blanket/dusty rather hot/alcoholic flavor w/ light tired tannins; showing more oxidation than the others.
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10. GarretsonWineCo Syrah MonAmie BassettiVnyd/SLOCnty (13.8%; 100 cs; SupremeCorq) 2001: Med.light color w/ some browning; dreadful mousey/wet Army blanket/wet dog fur/oxidized little fruit nose; rather tart/lean/hard wet dog fur/oxidized no fruit flavor w/ some tired/astringent/bitter/dried-out tannins; has a bracing/strident acidity but pretty dreadfully oxidized.
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11. GarretsonWineCo TheReliquary RW (70% Syrah/20% Grenache/6% Mourvedr/ 4% Viognier; 16.7%; Neo-Cork) 2002: Dark murkey light browning color; bit earthy/loamy funky/wet wool some oxidized/wet dog fur rather alcoholic/fumey/hot bit spicy/blackberry/Syrah/licorice/peppery some complex/interesting nose; bit soft rather hot/alcoholic earthy/dusty some spicy/blackberry/Syrah bit peppery slight wet wool/oxidized flavor w/ light drying/astringent tannins; still has some (not) overripe peppery/interesting Syrah fruit therein; easily the best of the Garretsons and one that offered up some pleasure.
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. These two vintages were all bottled using either the SupremeCorq (the hard solid plastic artficial cork) or Stu's NeoCork (the soft foam interior w/ a harder teflon outside membrane articicial cork). Both of these corks are known to be prone to leakage and allowing oxidation of the wine) though I've had some EaglePoint wines in which they seem to have held up to FatherTime). From these wines, I cannot deduce which of these two were a better closure.
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2. I have, of course, followed MatGarretson from the very start. He was a wine retailer in Atlanta & fell in love w/ Viognier from Condrieu. On a lark and using his well-known gift of gab, he invited some Condrieu producers and some Calif Viognier producers to gather in Atlanta to taste & talk Viognier. The founding of the ViognierGuild. For Viognier producers only. They held several other get-togethers in Calif in subsequent yrs at various wineries. I pleaded w/ Mat to be allowed to attend as I was already passionate about Viognier. But he totally rejected my pleas. Eventually, the event moved to Paso and was renamed Raisen'Rhones and then Hospices du Rhone, events that I always attended.
This early history of ViognierGuild will be described in detail in PatrickComiskey's Univ of Calif Press book on the Calif Rhone movement, scheduled to be published this Fall. I'll give a shout-out on its availibility.
Mat moved to PasoRobles to become GaryEberle's marketing guy, where I first met him in person. He then went on to marketing of KennyVolk's WildHorse wines. At some point in there, he started GarretsonWineCo.
Over those yrs at HdR, I became very good friends w/ Mat. I regard him as one of my most special of friends in the wine biz and very much cherish our friendship. They don't make them any better than Mat.
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3. I had tried a few of these Garretson over the last 10 yrs and it was obvious that they were heading South at a breakneck pace...probably because of the plastic corks. In later yrs, Mat went to screw-cap closures. I have no remaining btls (that I know of) to see how they are doing. I would expect somewhat better. But Mat's high-alcohol/over-the-top winemaking style was not one that'd give wines that last, though they were always mouth-filling and fun to drink when young. Pretty much any '01-'02 Jaffurs or Ojai Syrahs would still be doing quite well.
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4. TheReliquary was easily the best of this lot of Garretsons. My recollection is that it had some Alban Syrah fruit in it. The top was closed by a dip into hot plastic. Whether that prevented any oxidation...I have no idea.
Tom