We tasted the other night (3/7/07) Some California Burgundies:
1. Ramey Chard SonomaCoast (14.2%; http://www.RameyWine.com) Healdsburg 2003: Med.gold color; rather
toasty/smokey/pungent bright melony/Chard bit appley slight earthy nose; tart strong toasty/
smokey/charred/Fr.oak light bright/melony/appley slight bacony flavor; very long/lingering
strong toasty/charred/oak some melony/Chard finish; lots of charred oak but plenty of fruit
underneath; bit lacking a mid-palate; bit pricey at $39.50
___________________
2. Failla Chard KeeferRanch/RussianRvrVlly (14.1%; http://www.FaillaWines.com) 2004: Med.dark gold
color; very fragrant/floral/spicy bright appley/melony/Chard loads of Chard fruit low key
oak/toasty nose; tart crisp/minerally bright/floral/apple blossom/melony/Chard/appley flavor;
very long clean/crisp minerally/chalky bright/floral/spicy/melony slight butterscotchy/oak/
taosty finish; a lovely minerally Chard w/ loads of fruit; fairly priced at $44.00
___________________
3. SonomaCoastVnyds SonomaCoast Chard (14.8%; Peterson/Sullivan/TwinHills vnyds; Clone 95 &
Wente; 450 cs; TA: 0.72; http://www.SonomaCoastVineyards.com) AnthonyAustin 2003: Med.gold color;
rather strong toasty/smokey/charred/oak fairly minerally/melony/Chard slight yeasty very
Burgundian complex nose; soft very rich/lush minerally/smokey/pungent/toasty/Burgundian
bright minerally/appley/Chard flavor; very long minerally/Burgundian/toasty/oak rather
appley/minerally/Chard some complex finish; rather Burgundian in character and a fair
amount of oak but quite a good Chard. $41.00
___________________
4. SonomaCoastVnyds SonomaCoast Chard Petersen&MillStation vnyds (Dijon 95 & Wente clones;
12 months sur lie; 512 cs; TA:0.74, pH: 3.37; 13.42%; http://www.SonomaCoastVineyards.com)
Anthony Austin 2004: Med.gold color; less charred/toasty/Fr.oak more vanilla/spicy/nutmeg/
butterscotchy bit herbal rather minerally/chalky strong melong/floral/perfumed very spicy
complex nose; tart rich very spicy/melony/Chard light nutmeg/butterscotchy very floral/
minerally flavor; very long/lingering tart some vanilla/butterscotchy/oak bright/spicy/
melony/Chard finish; a beautiful very spicy/minerally Chard w/ great structure; may go
for 10 yrs or so; one of my best Calif Chards in some time. $50.00
___________________
5. JosephPhelps fogdog SonomaCoast PinotNoir (13.8%) 2004: Med.dark color; pretty bright/
cherry/PN some spicy light toasty/charred/Fr.oak slight earthy nose; soft some toasty/oak
bright/zippy/cherry/spicy/PN/cherry cough drop flavor; med.long bright cherry/PN/strawberry
slight earthy some toasty/oak finish; a pretty/bright/vibrant SonomaCoast Pinot. $35.00
___________________
6. FreemanVnyd&Wnry SonomaCoast PinotNoir (http://www.FreemanWinery.com; 14.2%) 2004: Med.color;
deep black cherry/spicy/PN/cola slight herbal/dusty slight toasty/smokey/oak interesting
nose; tart/lean pretty/bright/black cherry/PN/cola/DrPepper light toasty/oak slight earthy
very attractive flavor; long bright/black cherry/cola/DrPepper some pencilly/toasty/Fr.oak
slight earthy/dusty/truffle finish w/ modest tannins; needs a yr or two. $41.00
___________________
7. Holdredge PinotNoir MazieRose/RRV (14.5%; http://www.Holdredge.com) 2005: Med.dark color; bright
cherry/PN slight earthy/mushroomy/RRV attractive nose; rather bright/cherry/PN/cherry soda
loads of fruit slight earthy/mushroomy/RRV quite perfumed/aromatic flavor; long bright/cherry/
PN/cherry soda/strawberry slight earthy/mushroomy finish w/ light tannins; loads of bright
cherry/PN fruit. $40.00
___________________
8. Holdredge PinotNoir WrenHopVnyd/RRV (14.2%) 2005: Med.dark color; deeper more earthy slight
herbal/ruhbarb slight minty/menthol less bright cherry more deeper black cherry nose; strong
black cherry/PN/herbal some toasty/oak bit earthy/menthol deeper flavor; long black cherry/PN
slight earthy/herbal/menthol slight tannic light toasty/oak finish; less bright cherry fruit
and more bass/black cherry/plummy character. $38.00
___________________
9. Holdredge PinotNoir RRV (14.4%) 2005: Med.color; lovely earthy/mushroomy/RRV attractive/cherry/
PN/spicy light toasty/oak nose; soft cherry/spicy/PN light earthy/mushroomy/RRV slight funky/
dusty light oak flavor; med.long bright/cherry/spicy/PN light earthy light toasty/oak finish;
a pretty/drinkable Pinot w/ good RRV character. $32.00
___________________
10. Drew PinotNoir WeirVnyd/YorkvilleHighlands (14.8%; 200 cs) 2005: Med.dark color; lovely toasty/
oak very floral/exotic/perfumed spicy/black cherry/PN slight dusty nose; soft ripe/lush strong
black cherry/cherry/PN bit earthy/dusty some toasty/pencilly/oak flavor w/ some tannins; long
rather spicy/black cherry/cherry bit dusty finish; lots of bright cherry fruit. $35.00
___________________
11. Drew PinotNoir McDougallVnyd/SonomaCoast (14.8%; 75 cs) 2005: Very dark/black color; beautiful
black cherry/PN/ripe spicy/DrPepper some pungent/toasty/oak bit complex nose; tart rich/big
very strong black cherry/PN/spicy/DrPepper some toasty/smokey/oak slight dusty some tannic
flavor; very long spicy/DrPepper/black cherry/cola/PN some toasty/pungent/oak finish w/
some tannins; needs 2-5 yrs yet; my favorite of the Drews; big & structured. $50.00
___________________
12. Drew PinotNoir Fog-Eater/AndersonVlly (14.6%; 225 cs) 2005: Dark color; some dusty/earthy/
walnutty/OR-like some black cherry/PN complex nose; tart/deep/rich black cherry/PN some
earthy/walnutty/cherry cough syrup/cola bit tannic flavor; long bit tannic black cherry/cola/PN
bit dusty/earthy/walnutty finish; not as bright/zingy as many AndersonVlly Pinots; needs several
yrs of age. $35.00
___________________
13. Drew PinotNoir Cargasacchi/JalamaVnyd/PotBellyBlock/SantaBarbaraCnty (13.8%; 200 cs;
http://www.DrewWines.com) 2004: Med.light color; rather plummy/licorice some black cherry/PN rather
pencilly/toasty/oak nose; tart bit lean/hard plummy/licorice slight black cherry/PN light
toasty/smokey/cedary/pencilly/oak flavor; med. licorice/plummy slight black cherry/PN light
pencilly/toasty/oak finish; not the power & richness of wines from the regular Cargasacchi
vnyd; a bit strange for PN. $27.50
___________________
14. SantaCruzMtnVnyd SCM PinotNoir (EB; JarvisVnyd; SaH: 32.2Brix; TA: 0.92; pH:3.1; 13 1/2%)
1981: Rather dark color w/ slight bricking at the edges; very strong toasty/charred/burnt/
smokey slight mousy/decayed leaf little fruit nose; rather hard/tannic/astringent no fruit
quite dried out strong charred/burnt/oak flavor; some interesting things in the nose but
a pretty tired/dried-out Pinot devoid of fruit. Blair's mystery wine.
____________________________________________________________________________
And the usual musings from the BloodyPulpit:
1. Failla: I just get more and more impressed by the wines Ehren is producing from Failla these
days. His Sonoma Coast wines are some of the best around. And very fairly priced I feel.
___________________
2. SonomaCoastVnyds: A fairly new operation out towards Freestone run by John Drady w/ Tony
Austin as the winemaker. They are making some very impressive wines. It's great to see
Tony making the kind of wines he's truly capable of. A wnry to watch as their own vnyds
come on-line.
___________________
3. Calif Chards: It's easy to diss Calif Chards, but I'm finding more and more ones that I
really like. Vis a vis French WhiteBurg, there are some real values out there in Calif
Chard. If I hear the "fat/buttery/over-oaked/alcoholic/fruit-bomb Chard" that is used as a
blanket condemenation of Calif Chard one more time, I think I'm gonna barf. There are a lot
of really good/well-made Chards out there that defy that description. Get over it, folks.
___________________
4. fogdog: This is, I believe, Phelps first commercial release of their SonomaCoast Pinot.
They eschewed the Phelps/Freestone label because CraigWilliams doesn't think it's quite
yet up to the potential that that vnyd will ultimately deliver. It is a pretty Pinot,
but not nearly as stunning as some from the SonomaCoast these days.
___________________
5. Freeman: This is a wine Jim Coley at Gomer's in KC suggested I try. He was, of course,
once again, dead on. Quite a nice example of SonomaCoast Pinot. Ed Kurtzman is winemaker.
___________________
6. Holdredge: My first experience w/ John's Pinots. I liked them quite a lot; well-made,
interesting Pinots. Slightly preferred the WrenHop over the Mazie for its deeper/black
cherry character. Eager to try his other wines now.
___________________
7. Drew: I've been a big fan of Jason&Molly's Syrah from down in SantaBarbara from the very
start. I thought the Pinots were solid/four-square efforts but not as impressive as the
Syrahs. About 2 yrs ago, they bought property up on the Mendocino Ridge above the
AndersonVlly. These wines represent Jason's first efforts w/ NorthCoast Pinot fruit.
I was fairly impressed with them. It'll be interesting to see what he does w/ Syrah and
Zin up there.
___________________
8. YorkvilleHighlands: This was the first Pinot I recall tasting from this (relatively) new
growing area in MendoCnty. I thought it was a pretty good Pinot, not quite as bright and
zingy as those from nearby AndersonVlly. I've had Viog and Syrah from there that I liked
quite a lot as well. Despite the fact there's too much Merlot & Cab there, it's an area
to watch I think.
___________________
9. SantaCruzMtn: This wine was a huge bruiser in its day. It's day has come and gone. It was
a big/black/extracted Pinot on release that Blair & I both thought would live forever.
A Syrah-like Pinot back afore there were Syrahs from Calif to make that analogy. I'm pretty
certain, though, if KenBunap had allowed the grapes to ripen sufficiently and it had
fermented out to 15%-16%+ alcohol, the wine would still be alive & well.
___________________
10. UnderripePinots: I find in some Oregon Pinots from less ripe vintages/grapes a distinct
smell of green walnuts. Found it as well in the Drew GogEater. Strange, but I never find it in
RedBurg, AltoAdige, Arbois, Sta.RitaHills or other cold-climate Pinots.
I know green walnuts well. We had 9 trees on our property in KansasCity. I used to sit on
top of our outhouse, pull those green suckers, hard as steel ball bearings, off the overhanging
tree, and pelt Billy & Nanny, the Utter's goats next door, with them. Every once in awhile,
I'd hit one in the side of the ribs w/ a resounding/satisfying "thump". Billy or Nanny would
rise up on their hind legs and let out this loud bellow. Then ol' lady Utter would come running
out the back door, yelling at me.."Tommy..you get down off that outhouse and leave my goats
alone". I'd run like the dickens to escape her wrath. But the smell of those green walnuts,
oily and sticky, would stay on my hands for days, no matter how hard I scrubbed. I remember
that distinct smell well. Great fun that was.
Tom