We've enjoyed this wine a number of times over the last few months, and even if it will improve with cellaring, I doubt that the case we bought last week will last the summer (we had another bottle tonight). Kim has proclaimed it her “White Wine of the Year (so far…)," and I'm right there with her.
2005 Edmunds St. John Shell and Bone Paso Robles White Wine, 14.2% alc., $21: Made with Viognier and Roussanne grown in the hills west of Paso Robles, this medium straw-pale gold offers flavors and aromas of yellow apple, pear and melon that are neither over- or under-ripe; a subtle undertone of minerality adds a nice touch to the overall effect. Good cut, length and presence to this, and if it’s not overly complex, I quite like what’s here, and a few years in the cellar should pay dividends. A fine match for Kim’s salmon patties and a spinach salad. Viognier sourced from the Rozet Vineyard, and the Roussanne from the Tablas Creek Vineyard; both vineyards on vertical shoot-positioned trellis. Whole-cluster pressed, and fermented in 22 year-old French Puncheons, with spontaneous malolactic fermentation in wood. Most of the Roussanne and all of the Viognier was transferred to stainless steel in April '06, and bottled at the end of August.
-from A Bunch o' Whites (and One Pinky)
Reporting from Day-twah,
geo t.
