Took Stacey & David's Colomba bytoday & we tried this TBA from her Dad's cellar with it:
1, Felton-Empire WhiteRiesling Late Harvest TepesquetVnyd/SantaBarbaraCnty (7 1/2%; RS: 15%; SaH: 32%; Drk: '82-'84) Felton-Empire Vnyds/Felton 1979: Very dark brown/near black/PX color; very intense botrytis/apricotty/peachy/peach marmalade slight earthy/dusty quite complex very fragrant nose; slightly off-dry lightly tart very rich/lush/mouthfilling intense botrytis/peachy/apricotty slight earthy very complex intense flavor w/ trace of bitterness in the aftertaste; very long/lingering off-dry finish that mimics flavor; dominated by the botrytis but no signs of oxidation whatsoever; a beautiful example of an old TBA. $8.00/hlf (HW&S)
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More fistacough from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. The early story of Felton-Empire Winery is told here:
Early Felton Empire Wnry
The property, on Felton-Empire Road, was the the original Chaffee Hall vnyd, planted in 1941, was a pretty legendary Cabernet vnyd. After he died, the vnyd pretty much lay dormant. Concannon was involved after his death but didn't much for the vnyd. In 1976, partners Jim Beauregard & John Pollard bought the property and resumed making wine. They hired Leo McCloskey (founder of Enologix) as their winemaker, who had done much of the seminal work on M-L fermentations at Ridge. In 1979, they bought their first grapes from Tepesquet Vnyd (Louis Lucas) and made two of the very early TBA's from GWT & Riesling grapes. They made a couple more yrs after that as well. They made Cab from the Hallcrest Vnyd which was a pretty rugged SCM Cab. I recall they also made a few Chards & dry Rieslings as well. It was at F-E that I first met Bill Gibbs, their marketing guy, who went on to do marketing for FrankMahoney's CarnerosCreekWnry. Bill is still active in the wine biz somewhere, PasoRobles I believe. Bill & I go waaaaay back.
I think there were some financial issues and the property was sold to John Schaumaker in 1987 and reopened under the original Hallcrest Wnry name. Their WebSite doesn't acknowledge the interim existence of Felton-Empire and implies a direct lineage back to Chaffee Hall. I've not tried their wines at all.
The original price was a ridiculously low $8/hlf. In the mid-'80's, the CO distributor, bacause of poor sales, cleared it out and wee bought it from Gary Hall at Heritage W&S at something like $4/hlf. Stupid silly price. I still have a few hlf btls of the R & GWT in my collection. They will outlive me, even though I'm still pretty much a Spring Chicken. Note that this wine was drunk some 40 yrs after its recommended drinking window.
Thanks to Stacey & David for sharing this wine with me today. It went beautifully w/ the CortiBros Loisen Limone Colomba, though the tasting was badly marred by Stacey not knowing the properway to cut a Colomba.
Tom