My Stirm order arrived Fri, so tried last night:
1. stirm Riesling Kick-OnVnyd/SantaBarbaraCnty (13.1%; www.StirmWine.com) RyanStirm/Watsonville 2019: Light gold color; fairly strong floral/R/mango/pineapple rather chalky/mineral/perfumed talc quite fragrant lovely nose; quite tart/tangy/bit metallic fairly strong R/floral/mango/slight pineapple strong mineral/chalky/perfumed talc very dry slightly austere quite savory/bit saline lovely R flavor; very long/lingering fairly strong R/floral/mango/pineapple some mineral/chalky/perfumed talc savory/saline lovely finish; reminds some of the Trimback R but not quite as perfumed; lots of savory character but belies the 13.1% alcohol and avoids the lean/eviscerated character of some R; quite a lovely expression of Calif R at a very fair price. $28.00
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2. stirm Riesling PeterMartinRayVnyd/SantaCruzMtns (13.1%) 2019: Med.light gold color; lightly perfumed floral/R/mango quite mineral/chalky/flinty/perfumed talc bit metallic slight petrol some complex lovely R nose; fairly tart/tangy/bit metallic rather mineral/perfumed talc/chalky/flinty somewhat richer quite dry/savory but not pinched/austere strong floral/R/mango/bit pineapple bit petrol/Mosel valve oil lovely R flavor; very long/lingering strong floral/R/mango/bit pineapple/peach blossom fairly mineral/perfumed talc quite savory some complex finish; much more savory/mineral character; reminds a lot of the old StonyHill R, a bit of the old FreemarkAbbey R w/o the oak; a lot of the old MonteBelloRidge R w/o all the oak; suspect this will put on weight & develop into a terrific Calif R w/ 3-8 yrs of age; a bit pricey, probably because of the cost/pedigree of the MartinRay grapes. $55.00
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3. stirm Syrah Miers-KuensterVnyd/SonomaVlly (13%) Watsonville 2019: Dark color; strong spicy/blackberry/Syrah slight whole-cluster/Rhonish slight peppery/earthy quite attractive nose; quite tart/tangy/bit grapefruity fairly spicy/blackberry/Syrah/bit peppery light earthy rather lean/hard/austere bit w-c/Rhonish flavor w/ ample hard tannins; long quite tart/tangy/bit metallic rather austere/hard/tannic bit w-c/Rhonish strong blackberry/spicy/peppery finish w/ ample hard/grippy tannins; reminds a lot of the Arnot-Roberts single vnyd Syrahs; lots of attractive varietal Syrah character but rather hard/unforgiving/austere on the palate; needs some 3-6 yrs of age. $28.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. RyanStirm hailed from ContraCosta and attended CalPoly/SLO. He's been around the block a time or two: SaucelitoCnyn/Tyler/Lieu-Dit/MargaretRiver/Wachau/ThomasFogarty. He started his own wnry in the PajaroVlly in Aromas, near Watsonville. I believe it was the old RiverRunWnry property. He is particularly passionate about Riesling...primarily because of its high terpene content. As Ryan says: "it's our mission to pioneer the new age of California Riesling". That might strike some as a bit grandiose of a statement but he's getting some real help from a number of other producers. Like Bedrock and Cody&Emily Rasmussen at DesireLine/ColeRanch. I'm finding a lot of the recent Calif R that I'm really liking. They avoid the tutti-fruity part of the R spectrum, the Zind-Humbrechy excesses, and are pretty much totally dry. The Bedrocks from WirzVnyd and ColeRanch are terrific. I predict many of them will put on weight & evolve into quite complex R. Not Mosel nor AltoAdige nor Alsace nor Wachau; but distinctly Calif in their own way. And, of course, we are told by all the "wine experts" that R displays terroir more than any other grape!!
I liked both of these R quite a lot. I think Ryan is on the right track in what he's seeking to do. Maybe not the pioneer he's hoping to be, but right up there on the front lines, anyway. Stirm is a name to watch.
Tom
