Tried these two new arrivals last night:
1. ColeRanch Riesling R1 MendoCnty (13.4%) RootdownWineCllrs/Geyserville 2019: Med.light gold color; fairly fragrant R/floral/mango/bit pineapple fairly chalky/mineral flinty quite attractive nose; quite tart/tangy/acid almost steely/metallic light floral/R/mango/pineapple rather chalky/mineral/stony quite dry wirey/bracing/taut lovely flavor; very long quite tart/tangy very dry light R/floral/mango rather flinty/mineral laser-sharp finish; quite Germanic in style but a bit simpler than a Mosel Kabinett; a bit less forward fruit than the R2. $34.00
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2. ColeRanch Riesling R2 MendoCnty (13.8%) 2019: Light golden color; bit tight/closed/shy light floral/R/mango/pineapple very light stony/mineral bit more fruity lovely nose; bit less tart/tangy little metallic slightly richer some R/floral/mango light stony/mineral very attractive flavor; very long rather tart/tangy bit richer some floral/R/mango light stony/mineral finish; a bit richer than the R1 but way far away from typical Calif tutti-fruity R in character. $34.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. rootdown is the effort of MikeLucia, formerly of Copain. I met Mike at an event at the Val d'Aosta Idlewild SundaySchool and was quite struck by his passion for his winemaking. The name "rootdown" comes from his interest/focus on the interaction of the vines with the soil, and less on the growing conditions/weather. He sources from only organic vnyds. He doesn't advertise as such, but would be regarded as a "natural" winemaker. But his wines were all perfectly clean w/ no natty character.
Mike recently bought the tiny ColeRanch AVA/vnyd headed up to the AndersonVlly from the UkiahVlly. These two Rieslings, plntd in 1973 so OV Riesling, are the first two wines from his ColeRanch project. Mike has big things in store for ColeRanch, with planned plantings of varieties from the French Alps Savoie Region. This is a project that really excites me. ColeRanch also has Cabernet & Merlot. Meh....but I'm interested, nonetheless, in seeing what Mike does with those two varietals.
I liked both of these R quite a bit. They are more restrained than most (good) Calif R. But they speak strongly of R and have a nice minerality you don't often find in Calif R. Both of these have a taut/brisk/bracing acidity to them and I expect them to put on weight and improve over the next few yrs. And go out beyond that.
From Mike's WebSite:
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R1: From the original plantings in 1973 and harvested first, this is our “laser-beam” Riesling. Kabinett style if you will but very much on the dry side. Pre-press we foot tread the grapes to give a bit more texture while native fermentation happens in neutral barrels. Zero additions were made to this wine until the end where 10ppm of So2 was added.
Bottling Date: July 28, 2020
Cases produced: 75
Harvest date: October 4th 2019
TA 7.2: g/L
pH: 3.11
L-malic: 1.06 g/L
Glucose + Fructose: 2.9 g/L
Alc: 12.9%
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R2:From the original Cole Ranch Riesling plantings in 1973, this wine was harvested 12 days later and saw no foot treading but went straight to press. Kabinett in style, dry, but was fermented in larger 500L barrels so the texture comes from the ferment and not the skin. A broader wine than the earlier harvested Riesling, yet just as fresh. Zero additions were made to this wine, until the end where 10ppm of So2 was added.
Bottling Date: July 28, 2020
Cases Produced: 100
Harvested: October 16th 2019
TA: 7.0 g/L
pH: 3.09
L-malic: 0.96 g/L
Glucose + Fructose: 2.2 g/L
Alc: 13.3%
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2. I'm finding a lot of Calif R that I'm liking these days. Of course, the German and Wachau R remain the gold standard. But many Calif versions are quite good and showing a minerality than the usual tutti-fruity Calif R. The Bedrocks (from ColeRanch and Wirz vnyds) are quite good. It seems that R from ColeRanch, Guiness McFadden's PotterVlly, Kick-On Ranch in SantaBarbara, and the DavidBruce Estate vnyds are particularly good grape sources. And I'm finding R from the Piemonte and Sudtirol can be quite good. Alsace....meh!!
Tom