WTN: Finca Sandoval and other oddities

[Jenise]

2014 Ca' del Baio Langhe Chardonnay Luna d'agosto Langhe DOC
Super minerally with bracing acidity. Lemon, lemon peel and herb. Definitely a food wine. Great value at around $10.

2015 Château de la Clapière Côtes de Provence Rosé Rosé Blend
Tend to regard those Domaine Ott-y genie-shaped bottles with major distrust because I sense they're trying to win female buys with packaging, but this wine won me over. Dry but floral and a little dusty with an underlying flavor of cantaloupe.

2011 Querciabella Maremma Toscana Mongrana SuperTuscan Blend
Enticing nose with a good sense of place--very European, could be either Italian or a lighter St. Emilion. Balanced, charming red fruit with a little raisin. Good value at $20ish.

2012 Secret Squirrel Cabernet Sauvignon Walla Walla Valley
A new value-priced project from an A-list Washington producer, Corliss. Good cabernets for $25 aren't too thick up here, so this balanced, correct version with good body is a nice addition to the marketplace.

2012 Waitsburg Cellars Three Columbia Valley Red Blend
This is WA wine critic Paul Gregutt's own label. The friend who poured this for me doesn't know whether or not Paul's actually MAKING-making the wine now or if he's still just the palate that's selecting spot-market juice for their wines. Merlot, Malbec and Mourvedre blend. Lighter bodied and pleasant, but lacks personality.

2005 Finca Sandoval Manchuela Syrah Blend, Syrah
Dense, black in the glass. Has the powerful fruit needed for future evoluation along with the considerable tannins, but it drinks well after an hour of decanting to calm down and remove quite a lot of sediment. Not my style--massively concentrated with a lot of oak and very international--blind, one would have difficulty identifying it as Syrah or Spanish. Will give my remaining bottle another five years' rest.

Secret Squirrel?

[Jenise]

Secret Squirrel?

God knows why. The back label speaks to you in the first person and hints that it's that wine at the party that you want to hide and not share because it's so good. "That's why I'm your secret squirrel." Or words to that effect.

And even stranger: no relation, but there's also an Australian wine called Secret Squirrel.

Ah. That's what I vaguely recalled. A bad Hanna Barbara cartoon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Squirrel

Hey Finca Sandoval is the winery that Victor de La Serna owns and runs. Victor goes way back with the wine boards and is one the nicest people I've had the pleasure of meeting. I remember when SF Joe lived in SF and we went with Victor and some other geeks to a north african style restaurant in Marin. It's a long time ago, Robin should remember him.

[Jenise]

Yes Lou, I realize, and that's why I bought this wine when I did though this was before he rather scathingly dressed me down for being negative about a Spanish wine suffering the bubble gum blues of carbonic maceration. Ah well, can't please everyone.

Ah. That's what I vaguely recalled. A bad Hanna Barbara cartoon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Squirrel

Compared to Squiddly Diddly, Secret Squirrel was a masterwork.

Nothing, and I repeat nothing, beats the glories of INVADER ZIM.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi2bAUZdhZs

Hey Finca Sandoval is the winery that Victor de La Serna owns and runs. Victor goes way back with the wine boards and is one the nicest people I've had the pleasure of meeting. I remember when SF Joe lived in SF and we went with Victor and some other geeks to a north african style restaurant in Marin. It's a long time ago, Robin should remember him.

Victor was never shy about his opinions on wine but it never went personal. I know I was on the receiving end of barbs a few times that he directed at me. I was thinking about him last night when the Warriors set the record for number of wins in a season. Victor learned to love the game when he was attending Columbia in NYC.

have not seen any posts by Victor on that other board in quite a while, I have enjoyed several vintages of Finca Sandoval tho no experience re the 2005, and don't recall them needing this kind of extended aging.

Gotta love Secret Squirrel..wonder where I can find some? great name..Would love to put a bottle of it in front of some of my wine geek friends just to see the looks on their faces

[Jenise]

Gotta love Secret Squirrel..wonder where I can find some? great name..Would love to put a bottle of it in front of some of my wine geek friends just to see the looks on their faces

I think it's a pretty new release. '12 is the first vintage (there's also a red rhone blend)--I'd never seen it before a local retailer poured it for me. It has a great label, if you can stomach animal labels. The upper half is white, and the lower half has the magnified face of a gray-black squirrel wearing an oversized red mask. No printing of any kind--it's on the back label. It's parent winery, Corliss, is a classy outfit. Their signature cab sells for around $85 a bottle, and it's better than most in it's class.