WTN: Fruit fly rejection

[Jenise]

2014 Wind Gap Wines Syrah Nellessen Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Bought a case and have hated every single bottle--tastes like Jolly Rancher watermelon candy which should not have anything to do with syrah as we know it. No wonder Pax had to shut this brand down. Even the pesky fruit flies I'm currently inundated with won't go near it.

Very sad, Jenise. I haven't had a ton of Wind Gap wines, but I've been favorably impressed by those I have had. Regarding fruit flies, we find that red wine vinegar usually makes a pretty good bait for them.

Yes, too bad. I generally enjoyed the Wind Gap wines I had, just base PN and Crown chardonnay. I did taste the 2012 of the Nellesen Syrah on release and though it had great potential.

[David M. Bueker]

The 2013 Nellessen is one of my very favorite Wind Gap/Pax wines. Sadly all gone.

Sometime around 2014/2015 his winemaking style changed quite a bit. I went from loving almost everything he did to hating almost everything he did. Then he re-started Pax, and I dipped my toes back in the water. For a while it was like old times with Wind Gap. Then he got fascinated with carbonic, and I bailed.

[Jenise]

Very sad, Jenise. I haven't had a ton of Wind Gap wines, but I've been favorably impressed by those I have had. Regarding fruit flies, we find that red wine vinegar usually makes a pretty good bait for them.

I was once very impressed with a pinot and Bueker's notes on their wines in general which is why I pounced on a case of this at around $13 when the winery closed down.

Funny thing, I opened a bottle of '09 Cornas on Wednesday night and had just one glass, putting the cork back in the bottle. I'd been making bait traps since discovering the fruit fly explosion (resulting from a purchase of local farmstand apples) the night before. With 30+ people coming for dinner on Thursday, I went into emergency mode and made multiple traps out of leftover dry riesling and chardonnay. The little buggers checked those out, showing an obvious preference for the chardonnay, but what they swarmed was the Cornas bottle. Clearly, they wanted red wine! So I made more traps last night out of this leftover Wind Gap (adding vinegar and a drop of dish detergent, as one should.) This morning? Only one taker.

[David M. Bueker]

Fruit flies hate Jolly Ranchers!

I wonder if those watermelon notes are the product of carbonic maceration?

Your Drosophila have good taste in wine. I'm dealing with a major infestation brought in on a package of limes. I currently have enough fruit flies to start my own genetics lab.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Dunno, Paul! I associate red licorice candy with carb mac. I have no idea what brings about watermelon notes, but I run into it in wines from hot vintages/places so I associate it with overripeness. 2018 Clos Roillette Bojos suffer from it as well.