1. TheOjaiVnyd Viognier RollRanch/Calif (9.0%; 6 brls made) 2007: Deep golden/bronze/some browning almost redish color; very intense peachy/apricotty/grapey rather passito slight earthy bit herbal quite complex nose; quite sweet very tart/tangy/bit acidic some botrytis/apricotty/peachy quite grapey/passito/late htvst some earthy fairly complex flavor; very long/lingering intense grapey/passito/peachy/apricotty/slight botrytis bit earthy quite complex finish; not the degree of botrytis of the '05; a beautiful complex botrytis/passito dessert wine.
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2. TheOjaiVnyd Viognier RollRanch/Calif (11%; 6 brls made) 2003: Med.gold/bronze/burnished bronze color; interesting smoked/roasted green chiles/pungent/herbal/thyme very strong passito/grapey light botrytis/apricotty bit pencilly/oak/cedar bit herbal fairly complex nose; quite sweet bit soft very strong grapey/botrytis quite exotic roasted green chile/smokey/pungent/herbal very light botrytis/apricotty/peachy bit complex flavor; very long slight oxidative/nutty strong passito/grapey slight peachy/botrytis slight pungent/roasted green chiles quite sweet bit soft finish; very attractive fully mature passito w/ no Viog character whatsoever; not quite as intense & botrytis as the '07.
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And from my TN's of last Thurs:
Tom wrote:1. TheOjaiVnyd Viognier RollRanch/Calif (6 brls made; 10%) 2005: Dark brown/bronze/almost red color; beautiful complex some botrytis/apricotty/peachy some cedary/pencilly/oaky very complex nose; quite sweet strong botrytis/peachy/apricotty very tart bit cedary/pencilly very complex flavor; very long/lingering strong botrytis/peachy/apricotty bit cedary/pencilly quite sweet rather tart/tangy very complex finish; a beautiful complex dessert wine that'll go on for another 10 yrs, though little Viog character; terrific wine.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Ojai: I was pretty much blindsided by how good this wine was. Adam's RollRanch dessert Viogniers are often made as freezer ice wines, which tend to remain very sweet but seldom show much evolution or complexity. I don't recall this wine in its youth showing much, if any, botrytis character. But it is definitely there now. A stunning dessert wine, despite the brown color, w/ no signs of oxidation.
All three of these wines were quite similiar. Again, I still don't recall any botrytis in them when young and thought they were freezer ice wines. If that was correct, then I have to recalibrate my thought that freezer ice wines don't evolve much w/ age. I'll check w/ Adam/Fabien on exactly whet these dessert wines were.
Of these three, the '05 was my slight favorite. But the '03 showed slight hints of fresh green chiles being roasted over the fire, a beautiful smell that permeates SantaFe come the Fall, that's very distinctive.
Tom