Joe brought this wine to our Carlisle tasting to share last night:
1. LosLucerosWnry BacoNoir ArribaVnyd/RioArribaCnty/NM (TW) Burce&Sue Noel/Alcalde 2004: Very dark color w/ some browning; very strong piney/pine resin/Christmas tree somewhat earthy/loamy/BN bit hybridy/plastic vinyl trash can rustic bit volatile some complex nose; rather hot/volatile piney/PineSol/Christmas tree quite rustic/earthy/loamy rather off-dry rather grapey/BN/hybridy flavor w/ light tannins; very long rather piney/pine resin/Christmas tree rather off-dry coarse/rustic fairly grapey/BN/earthy/loamy finish w/ light soft/coarse tannins; not a great or profound wine, but this wine should have been totally dead & gone; it was not; no signs of oxidation or being tired; a rather interesting eccentric somewhat oafish BN that is still very much alive; not that enjoyable as a wine but sort of a monument to Bruce's very competent winemaking; Susan probably helped pick these grapes so that was probably an important contributing factor.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. BruceNoel was a long-time wine friend. He was the first person to sign up for my wine apprectiation class when I launched it after coming to LosAlamos...so I take full credit for teaching Bruce everything he knew about wine. He started his wnry down on the LosLuceros Estate (site of NM's first Capitol) & had his vnyd nearby along the banks of the RioGrande. He was a fanatic about cleanliness in his winemaking and his wines reflected that...they were not at all amateurish nor unclean. This wine, in its youth, was one of the best expressions of BacoNoir I can recall. Baco tends to make a rather coarse/earthy/crude wine. His Baco had a certain elegance that defied its plebian origins. I was expecting this wine to be totally shot, but it was not.
Bruce also made some amazing wines from the Siegfried grape as well. As well as Riesling.
Bruce was one of the founding members of the NM Vine & Wine Society and deserves some credit for where the NM wine industry is now, a fact that hardly anyone is aware of.
Tom