TN: West Coast US Wines

Notes from a tasting of West Coast American wines.

2014 Tablas Creek Esprit Blanc de Tablas – this blend of 74% Roussanne, 20% Grenache Blanc and 6% Picpoul was a mid straw colour, and had a nose of vanilla, interesting fruits and some hints of anise, along with sweet fruit elements that developed with air. Good length.

1985 Far Niente Cabernet Sauvignon Estate – my wine. Corked! Damn! This was a gift from Gil Nickel when we were both competing decades ago in vintage car racing - he showed up with cases and cases and gave a bottle to each entrant. Loved the rococo label, hated that it was corky.

1995 Beringer Pinot Noir Stanly Ranch – still has a fair depth of colour and a pleasant nose of dark fruit along with slight merde elements. Interesting wine in fine shape.

2011 Calera Pinot Noir Jensen Vineyard – lighter red colour, some pronounced tomato notes in the nose, and some mint. Tasty, and with good length.

2011 Cayuse Syrah Bionic Frog - aside from the rather odd comic book label this was a very serious wine. Lots of Rhonish hints here – rich fruit, some bacon, some slight funkiness and, with a bit of time black pepper. Excellent!

2004 Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards Right Bank – lovely nose of briary fruit, and some raspberry hints, good fruit levels on palate and a little cocoa in the finish.

2004 Turley Zinfandel Hayne Vineyard – fruit cocktail in the nose of this dark wine, along with mint and licorice. Well balanced and smooth. Really tasty!

1992 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve – my back up bottle (I always stand a back-up in the cellar in case of need). Middling dark still, herbal nose with dark cherry underneath, very good length and very tasty. Soft tannins. Probably at peak.

1978 Inglenook Vineyards Petite Sirah – faded but presentable – this had been rejected as sub-par when opened much earlier but we went back to taste again and found it wasn’t as gone as we’d thought.

2002 Ridge Lytton Springs – this one is mostly Zin. Medium colour, a well structured wine with raspberry and some nice herbal elements. Good weight and length, drinks well.

1985 Renaissance Riesling Estate Bottled Select Late Harvest – this has picked up some nutty figgy notes with age. Decent but time to drink up.

1977 Warres Port – I had opened this earlier in the week at a dinner but there was some left so I served it. Still singing 3 days later.

Picture https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/do ... =89181&t=1

[David M. Bueker]

I love the Beringer PR. I really should buy more of it/seek out older bottles at auction.

Bill had better notes than I crafted, but here are some of my impressions. I was expecting many Napa Valley cabs, but we ended up with a much wider range than I thought.

The 2014 Tablas Creek Esprit Blanc de Tablas was a great starter. Aged, round, ripe tropical fruit and a slightly waxy texture but with enough acidity to keep it from being cloying. Interesting wine probably near peak now (B+/A-).

The 1995 Beringer Stanly Park Pinot Noir was a real head scratcher for me and others around the table. It was the most cab-like pinot I have ever tried. Lots of tannins, and I wonder if the fruit is dissipating on this wine. A bold, brawny, masculine pinot that should be drank now (B).

Next was a 20112 Calera Jensen Pinot Noir, a real blast from the past. I haven't seen a Calera for years in BC. It had a lovely nose - Jenise said tomato leaf and I got that - and a medium bodied palate that exploded with cherry fruit at the back of the palate. A big pinot again, but I thought it was drinking very well now (A-).

The 2011 Cayuse Bionic Frog was Jenise's wonderful bottle. It won two awards - best wine of the day and most hideous label perhaps of all time? There was a lovely nose and medium to full bodied palate that my notes say included "iron, peppercorn and concentrated cherry funk". Not as funky/savory as many 'Rocks' region wines, but enough to give a hint of where it was from (but this would be a great ringer in a Northern Rhone tasting). Both elegant and powerful, not the easiest mix to create. Lots of time left on this wine, but drinking very well now (A).

My 2004 Anderson Conn Valley Right Bank had to follow the Cayuse. Nice nose, with some green notes. Very Bordeaux-like on the medium bodied palate, with the Cab Franc really dominating, and providing more green notes along with some red fruits. I think this is at peak or close to it. A little more richness and body would have been nice (B+/A-).

A 2006 Black Hills Note Bene came next, a British Columbia wine. A light but nice nose of redfruits. Darker fruits on the medium bodied palate, still some tannins to give it structure. Nice to see how this wine is evolving (B+).

The 2004 Turley Hayne Vineyard Zinfandel provided a mix of sweet red and black fruit on the medium to full bodied palate that was nicely balanced for a Turley zin. I haven't had a Turley for quite some time, so it was nice to try this wine (B+/A-).

A 1992 Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet had black fruits with slight green notes. medium bodied, mouth coating, great balance say my notes. Nice wine (A-).

The 2002 Ridge Lytton Springs was drinking well as one of the finishing wines. I didn't write notes on this, but remember a lovely aged zin blend that was medium bodied, had no overt oak notes, and a mix of black and red fruits on the smooth, velvety palate (A-).

[David M. Bueker]

The Beringer Stanley Ranch Pinot being bold and brawny means it hasn’t changed since it was released over 20 years ago!

[Jenise]

The Beringer Stanley Ranch Pinot being bold and brawny means it hasn’t changed since it was released over 20 years ago!

A previous bottle was more tertiary and delicate; this one surprised me. This bottle could have easily survived another 20 years of cellaring. Unlike the Inglenook, which it replaced. Bill was being too kind.

[Jenise]

Bill and John, some thoughts:

2014 Tablas Creek Esprit Blanc de Tablas – I agree with John's "tropical". Also, was initially convinced that it was chardonnay--it had that kind of body and tropicality especially for its age (which showed).

1995 Beringer Pinot Noir Stanly Ranch – my wine, and I loved it. As said below to David, this was much more youthful than a previous bottle--secondary, not tertiary--and bolder. It could last another 20 years.

2011 Calera Pinot Noir Jensen Vineyard – loved this. Tomato leaf, tomato skin, thyme--very central California but lighter than is typical for Mt. Harlan which produces pretty dark pinots generally.

2011 Cayuse Syrah Bionic Frog - my wine, and I threw this in at this point simply because of the vintage--both were atypically cool for their regions. This wine epitomizes Baron's penchant for elegance and purity. The Rocks funk is there but oh so mildly, and ditto the peppery green olive and bacon. Washington's cultiest wine and I wondered if I'd let that influence my impressions, but based on the reactions of others the merit's inarguable.

2004 Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards Right Bank – Wonderfully aromatic and youthful nose, cab franc-dominant with big tannins. I agree with John that this is in peak territory.

Bill--you missed this one, Mark's wine:

2006 Black Hills 'Nota Bene', British Columbia
Sweet marshmallow nose comes out of left field, an obvious outlier, purple-dark young looking, dusty-minty, grippy tannins, brooding. Osoyoos Larose was a good first guess. Ida never in a million years guessed Nota Bene, as this shows zero secondary development and my last '06 was fully there. Where has this been kept, in a freezer?

2004 Turley Zinfandel Hayne Vineyard – Sweet and obviously older with black licorice, plummy fruit, and lower acidity than those that came before. Quite interesting. I'm not a Turley fan, but I liked.

1992 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve – Great nose. Herbaceous cabernet notes, dark cherry, tobacco and strangely we disagree about the tannins. You say soft, but I wrote down "massive". And I'm not someone who dislikes tannins.

1978 Inglenook Vineyards Petite Sirah – I didn't think it presentable, obviously. Even in the later retaste. The awful, necrotic nose never left, though it got better on the palate. Still, I wrote down "rotting flesh".

2002 Ridge Lytton Springs – John, this was a beauty. Bright and everything you would wish for from a 20 year old, pre-Climate Change LS.

1985 Renaissance Riesling Estate Bottled Select Late Harvest – This was fun!! A post of Tom Hill's had me looking into this winery's shady cult past just a few weeks ago. Never thought I'd get to taste one of the wines. As you say, Bill, decent but time to drink up.

1977 Warres Port – this was gorgeous. I love '77 vintage ports more than any others.

Bill and John, some thoughts:
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Bill--you missed this one, Mark's wine:

Intentionally - it wasn't in theme. If you want a vertical some time I still have 2006, 06, 07, 08, 09 and 20212.