WTN: 3 From The Weekend (EdStJ/Nalle)...(short/boring)

Tried these this weekend:
1. EdmundsStJohn HeartOfGold ElDoradoCnty WTW (54% GrenacheBlanc, 46% Vermentino/Rolle; 13.8%) 2007: Light yellow/gold color w/ a slight orange/grey cast; strong fragrant/perfumed/perfumed talc some earthy rather minerally/appley lovely nose; very tart/acid minerally/appley strong earthy/ElDorado some perfumed/floral flavor; med.long strong earthy/minerally steely/metallic appley/floral/perfumed finish; great racy acidity and good minerality; more like Italian Vermention than anything; no "low-brow Cotes Du Rhone" this wine; great value at $22.00
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2. EdmundsStJohn BoneJolly GamayNoir Rose WittersVnyd/ElDoradoCnty (13.7%) 2007: Med.ruby/red/pink color dark for a rose; strong strawberry/perfumed some earthy/ElDoradoCnty/terroir nose; tart some earthy bright/strawberry/Gamay flavor; med.long bright strawberry/Gamay slight earthy finish; lots of fresh fruit w/ a touch of earthiness; great drinking at $18.00
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3. Nalle PinotNoir HopkinsRanch/RRV (13.6%) 2006: Med.light color; attractive bright/cherry/spicy bit earthy/peppery light pencilly/oak slight mushroomy/sauvage/smokey nose; tart bright/vibrant/cherry/Pinot/very spicy light pencilly/toasty/oak slightly tannic flavor; long tart bright/cherry/Pinot very spicy light earthy/peppery light toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; some like the Radio-Coteau w/o the oak, or some like FredScherrer's Pinots; very nicely done Pinot but a bit pricey at $42.00
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. EdStJ: This is Steve's first shot at Grenache Blanc and Rolle. A great first effort I must say from a new vnyd up in ElDoradoCnty. GrenacheBlancs (least the ones I've had) tend to be pretty soft & underacid so's I was expecting a rather soft & porky wine. But it had a nice bracing acidity to it that made it very good drinking with food. The rose is just a simply great drinking rose...not worth contemplating ot taking a TN, just something to drink by the bucketfulls. The ElDorado terroir gives it a slight earthyness that adds to the interest, rather than making it just another tooty-frooty rose.
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2. ElDoradoCnty: A region that just never seems to get the recognition that it truly deserves. The wines seem to have a slightly earthy/mushroomy character that I find really adds to the interest of the wines. Steve's wines from ElDorado are as good as any made anyplace in Calif. And there are plenty of other wineries up thare that are making first-class wines. Maybe what ElDorado needs is for some Gadzillionaire to come in there, build a huge mansion and showcase winery, and announce to the world that he is making world-class wines in the SierraFoothills and charging $150/btl. The rest will be history....the Napaization of ElDorado will have occurred,
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3. Nalle: I've been a bit of a slacker in keeping up w/ DougNalle's wines of late, even though I've followed them from the very start. His wines are a textbook example of balance and restrant; some that's become a bit of a rarity in the Zin-world over the yrs. I've always described Doug's Zin as being rather Pinotish in character. This is the 2'nd of his Pinots I've had and much better than his first one, I think. In yrs past, he's also made some Rieslings and GWTs from AndersonVlly fruit, dry and lean, that were wonderful, especially w/ a bit of age. Alas, he's dropped those wines. He made a visit to NM yrs ago & stayed the night w/ us, absolutely charming the sox of my grade-school age daughter. Now well of drinking age, the Nalle Zins have a soft spot in her heart.
Tom

Tom,
Two of my favorite domestic winemakers. I've never had a Nalle Pinot and that is a shortcomng I must correct very soon.
Thanks for the notes and nudge.
Wm.

His wines are a textbook example of balance and restrant; some that's become a bit of a rarity in the Zin-world over the yrs.

I had my first Nalle Zin recently. I believe it was the 2004 but don't hold me to that. While I enjoyed it, I still felt it a bit overripe. Maybe its just my taste in Zin where if they have to choose I prefer the more green/briar flavors over the jammy and raisins. Toward the end of the bottle that we enjoyed over 2 hours or so, I felt that the taste of raisins had become dominant to the point of being all I could taste. Guess this is why I rarely buy zin anymore.

I had my first Nalle Zin recently. I believe it was the 2004 but don't hold me to that. While I enjoyed it, I still felt it a bit overripe. Maybe its just my taste in Zin where if they have to choose I prefer the more green/briar flavors over the jammy and raisins. Toward the end of the bottle that we enjoyed over 2 hours or so, I felt that the taste of raisins had become dominant to the point of being all I could taste. Guess this is why I rarely buy zin anymore.

Brian,
Don't recall that I had the 2004 Zin. Also had (no notes) the just released 2006, at 13.7%. It didn't show any overripe/raisened or pruney
character to me. Seemed fairly hard & structured & in need of a few yrs of age.
Tom

Brian,
Don't recall that I had the 2004 Zin. Also had (no notes) the just released 2006, at 13.7%. It didn't show any overripe/raisened or pruney
character to me. Seemed fairly hard & structured & in need of a few yrs of age.
Tom

Tom, I have written here about Nalle zins, and have often praised them in the Sunday afternoon and Wednesday evening chat sessions. Nalle is one of my two favorite zinfandels and they are quite opposite in style and power. Nalle is IMO a graceful feminine type (Scarlet) of wine where me second favorite, Ridge, is quite the opposite (Rhett), and somehow I find a way to love them both. So which I drink depends on what I drink them with. As always Tom, I have enjoyed reading your report.

Brian,
Don't recall that I had the 2004 Zin. Also had (no notes) the just released 2006, at 13.7%. It didn't show any overripe/raisened or pruney
character to me. Seemed fairly hard & structured & in need of a few yrs of age.
Tom

Tom, I have written here about Nalle zins, and have often praised them in the Sunday afternoon and Wednesday evening chat sessions. Nalle is one of my two favorite zinfandels and they are quite opposite in style and power. Nalle is IMO a graceful feminine type (Scarlet) of wine where me second favorite, Ridge, is quite the opposite (Rhett), and somehow I find a way to love them both. So which I drink depends on what I drink them with. As always Tom, I have enjoyed reading your report.

Heck, who knows. That one bottle on that one night gave me that impression. Could be I was expecting something different. When it comes to Zinfandel, my benchmark is set with early 1990's Ridge, Ravenswood, and Green and Red.

2004 was quite hot-that may also explain your experience. A lot of Cabernets are coming out very soft and raisined.

(I like Green&Red, too )

Nice evocative notes as always.
I was also struck by how much the Heart of Gold was like a high-quality Italian white.
Charles