Tasted these two dessert wines over the last few days:
1. TobinJames SolarFlair Zin LateHrvst PasoRobles (15.5%) TobinJames/PasoRobles 2001: Rather brown/murky fairly cloudy color; strong LHrvsty very ripe/raisened/pruney fairly alcoholic some complex nose; quite sweet very raisened/pruney/LateHrvsty bit oxidized some complex flavor w/ light tannins; med.long pruney/LateHrvsty/oxidized finish that tracks the flavor; a pretty tired/pruney/raisened/LateHrvsty Zin that is well beyond its peak; not very interesting.
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2. Ch.Doisy Daene AC: Barsac (13%; MeBaC; Yvon Mau & Fils/Brooklyn) P.Dubourien/Barsac 1979: Deep old color; rather ripe/peachy/apricotty figgy/Semillon bit tobaccoy/oak slight earthy/dusty slight musty (not TCA) little botrytis some complex nose; fairly tart/tangy slightly off-dry ripe/peachy/apricotty/figgy/Semillon some earthy little botrytis bit lean/austere not very rich/lush some complex flavor; very long off-dry finish that tracks flavor; pretty typical example of an aged Doisy-Daene. $13.00 (HSL)
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More sikkerbop from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Toby James was the original winemaker for GaryEberly at EstrellaRiver & EberleWnry. He then went off & made his own wines under the Tobin James label. The wines tended to be on the ripe/overripe side but sometimes quite good for the short term. This Late Hrvst is not one that stood the test of time.
His tasting room was always very interesting in that he had a full-size Civil War cannon sitting in the middle of the floor. If Toby was around, you could often convince him to pose for a picture sitting astride the cannon in a hee-haw pose.
2. Never been a big fan of the Doisy-Daene Barsacs. They tend to be not very rich/lush w/ lots of acidity. I took this as a dessert wine to accompany a Panettone. It was a failure. Yet the wine was in quite good condition, but it would have made for a much better wine w/ a savory app.
Tom