WTN: Losers

[Jenise]

It was not a good week.

Early in the week I opened this:

2022 Norris Estate Pinot Noir Coury Clone Ribbon Ridge From vines planted in 2007 and a clone that might be Pommard but which came home to Oregon from Alsace in Mr. Coury's suitcase--or something like that--this is sour and hard where fruit and cool climate structure should be. This is neither Alsatian or even Alpine--an origin I appreciate--it lacks everything I've ever loved about pinot noir from anywhere. I begrudgingly finished a glass the first night, and things went downhill from there. Unacceptable.

So I dumped it and went in search of something else to enjoy a glass of with last night's steak and shitake mushroom main course:

2021 Idlewild Flora & Fauna Red Mendocino County Red Blend
Hated this on release and still hate it now. It was initially hard and excessively grapey. Now it's hard and excessively industrial--does not taste like red wine as I know it, more like some kind of run-off from the Lego factory. Fed it to the camellias.

So then I tried:

2001 Rosemount Estate Syrah Balmoral McLaren Vale
I loved the Balmorals of the early 90's--I had vintages 92-96 and opened my last 94 a year ago. They were laden with an exotic blueberry spice thing which I had not encountered elsewhere and immediately loved, and the wines aged beautifully. That's why I pounced on a quartet of '01's when I saw them at auction about ten years ago. This is the first one I opened. But alas, this vintage is not blueberry spice, it's the overly sweet/weird and malted/sour lactic flavor typical of McClaren Vale syrahs that seemingly I alone of everyone on the planet seem to notice--and despise. More for the camellias!

At which point I poured myself a glass of a great little white from Lugana.

[David M. Bueker]

That 2021 Idlewild was such a disappointment. Sam had a good thing going with that wine and then he started tinkering with the blend, and it fell apart. 2020 was OK, not great, and 2021 a total disaster. I corresponded with Thomas D. about it, but that went nowhere (he now has his own bizarre natural wine label, so flawed wines don’t register). I dropped off the list because of both the wine and the total disregard for my concerns (most of my bottles were more than a little fizzy - the ones that were not were hard as nails).

[Jenise]

This F&F was my first, and so bad! And in my case, particularly awful because I had written them with a request for other things in that first case, which they ignored and sent me this crap anyway. Whether deliberate on their part or not, I immediately quit.

Too bad. I liked the only F&F I ever had, but it was a rose.
So it was some kind of mixed mystery case?

[Jenise]

Not exactly. I knew what was planned for the shipment and I asked for other wines instead, as they invited customers to do. Specifically I didn't want the F&Fs, but arneis and cortese instead. But they messed up and sent the case as originally planned anyway and offered no remedy when I let them know.