Former wine group members, James & Lynn Lamb, were down from Longmont for SFW&CF tasting & we had them over Sun afternoon for apps & wine. We cracked:
1. Ryme Vermentino Hers LasBrisasVnyd/Carneros/SonomaCnty (12.8%) 2022: Another great showing by the Hers '22 w/ loads of fragrant Vermen fruit & lots of richness & texture. One of Calif's consistently best Vermentinos.
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2. Weininger Riesling ViennaHills (14.0%) 2019: A lovely/classic Austrian R from the ViennaHills and one of the best R buys currently available.
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3. Carlisle Zin Montafi Ranch/RRV (15.3%) 2009: Dark color w/ light bricking; strong blackberry/Zin/spicy some RRV/peppery strong toasty/oak slight cedary/pencilly fairly complex nose; lightly tart fairly rich/textured strong blackberry/Zin/spicy rather classic RRV/peppery some toasty/oak rather complex flavor w/ modest smooth tannins; very long/lingering finish mirrors flavor; not showing much signs of its age w/ a bit of a decline in intensity but little sigs of drying out; probably as good as it will ever be. James contribution to the afternoon.
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4. CowanCllrs Syrah BennettVlly/SonomaCnty (13.0%) SantaRosa 2015: Dark color w/ some bricking; strong spicy/blackberry/Syrah fairly cold-climate/black pepper slight pencilly/oak some Rhonish/smokey rather complex lovely nose; lightly tart fairly smooth/lush/balanced strong c-c/peppery/blackberry/Syrah/spicy some Rhonish/smokey/espresso complex flavor w/ light smooth tannins; very long/lingering finish that mimics flavor; an absolutely lovely Rhonish/c-c Syrah that's probably near its peak.
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5. Clos Mourres ATable! Syrah VdF (12.5%) Vaucluse 2021:Med.dark color; fairly strong blackberry/Syrah/spicy bit rustic nose; fairly tart strong blackberry/peppery/Syrah slight oak flavor w/ modest chewey tannins; a Southern Rhone Syrah that seems more NorthernRhone than CdP; advertised as a Vin de Soif but much more serious than that.
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6. CabanaWnry CabSauv Lodi/Calif (14.5%; www.CabanaWines.com) Lodi 2020: Dark color; strong blackcurranty/Cab rather Lodi/earthy/mushroomy light toasty/oak rather simple nose; very soft fairly strong Cab/blackcurranty/plummy classic Lodi/earthy/loamy/mushroomy soft/soupy/simple flavor w/ light mushy tannins; a rather soft/soupy/simple Lodi Cab that's boring as hell. $25.00 (vJL)
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More frickleblitz from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Cabana: This was brought to us by James. It was quite a trip down memory lane for me. This is an "urban winery" in Lodi owned/operated by....wait for it....Robert Smerling. He also produces high-end wines under his Risk label, including a $200 Risk Cabernet.
The Cabana Website is loaded w/ half-truths & outright lies. Smerling touts his 30 yrs of winemaking experience, dating from the founding of Renwood Wnry in 1993.
The truth: Scott Harvey became general manager/winemaker at Santino Wnry in the late '80's for Nancy Santino after her husband, Matt, died. They were originally wine retailers over in SanJose & got bitten by the wine bug & founded Santino up in Plymouth/Amador in the early '80's. When Matt died, she brought in Scott to make the wines, who lived across the street w/ Terri Harvey, who now owns what is regarded as the oldest continuous/documented vnyd in Calif. Originally known as the John Downing vnyd. Then later renamed the GrandPere Vnyd. Scott made inexpensive wines for a number of yrs under the Santino label. He wanted a higher-end label for his higher-end wines, so created the Renwood label in 1993. We bought lots of his Renwood wines at very special prices for my group.
Some 4-5 yrs later, in need of a cash infusion to run Renwood, Scott brought in Robert Smerling, a stock-broker/investor in Boston, who wanted to get in the glamorous wine biz, as a majority partner. He & Scott had a falling out & Smerling fired Scott & took over Renwood. Which he promptly ran into the ground until it was purchased by some South American investors & later they sold to Rombauer.
On the Cabana WebSite, he touts his founding of Renwood in 1993 as his 30 yrs of winemaking experience. A total/bald-faced lie. He also claims on his WebSite that "which I founded and named after my wife Rene" Another bald-faced lie. Smerling was nowhere around when Scott founded Renwood, which came from the large population of wrens up there and depicts a wren on the label. Smerling also trademarked the name GrandPere Vnyd and continued to make a GrandPere Zin...from grapes that did not come from the Original GrandPere Vnyd.
So....now you know the rest of the story. Smerling is probably one of the most ethically-challenged people in the Calif wine biz. But thanks to James for bringing a Smerling wine and giving me a good laugh.
Tom