WTN: 1998 Sean Thackrey Orion & 2006 Copain Les Copains

1998 Sean H. Thackrey Orion Old Vines Rossi Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena (1/9/2009)
This wine is in a groove. Smells delicious. Pure red fruits with a bit of pepper. I loved this middle weight wine. Searing pure fruit. Immediate hedonistic pleasure on the front followed by a great combination of earth and acid. The tannin and acid seem to create a perfect texture. Seems to be holding up just fine but it is real nice now. Reminds me of a great clean CdP. Will probably pop one more before the year is out, just to see if I am crazy. (95 pts.)

2006 Copain Les Copains James Berry Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (1/9/2009)
So I have all this recently delivered Copain at the office and it is one of my employees B-Day, so I decide we had better pop something at mid-day. I grab the Les Copains. Oh man, this has an awesome nose. Kind of like raspberry syrup. Medium bodied and a little bit of heat. Lots of raspberries here. Hedonistic with out being heavy handed. Lots of fruit without bringing sweetness. I had this open for 3 days and by the third day the wine had become very smooth and the heat was gone but in terms of texture, I found it slightly drab. To be honest I am not sure what to put this in terms of age-ability but I will pop and pour 1 bottle this year and let my last bottle sleep for 4-6 years. (90 pts.)

[David M. Bueker]

Searing and hedonistic? That's going to make a lot of frinds 'round these parts.

Orion is actaully one of my big, bad, bruiser wine blind spots. It goes against everything I generally like, but I still love to drink it.

[Jenise]

Searing and hedonistic? That's going to make a lot of frinds 'round these parts.

Aw come one, there's good hedonistic and bad hedonistic, isn't there? Like that Maiden (Harlan) I took to Bill's lunch last week: even if it isn't what I want to drink every day, I could not help but admire and revel in what that wine was. Especially when, like Jason's wine, it was hedonism without sweetness (which in fact might be the determining factor for good hedonism.)

Orion is actaully one of my big, bad, bruiser wine blind spots. It goes against everything I generally like, but I still love to drink it.

Have you had the 98? I didn't think it was a bruiser especially in terms of other Petite Sirahs we are seeing around now. It was an excellent food wine.

J

Aw come one, there's good hedonistic and bad hedonistic, isn't there? Like that Maiden (Harlan) I took to Bill's lunch last week: even if it isn't what I want to drink every day, I could not help but admire and revel in what that wine was. Especially when, like Jason's wine, it was hedonism without sweetness (which in fact might be the determining factor for good hedonism.)

Agreed. We need to bring hedonistic back! We can come up with some pejorative term for the current common use of wine hedonism

J

"Spoofulated" will do, no?

[David M. Bueker]

I have not had the '98 in a while, but I think I might have the '96 on Thursday.

Oh, and it wasn't so much 'hedonistic' that got me, but rather the combination of searing and hedonistic. Sounds like some Aussie molotov cocktail wine.

Oh, and it wasn't so much 'hedonistic' that got me, but rather the combination of searing and hedonistic. Sounds like some Aussie molotov cocktail wine.

Right ..."searing" is probably a bad choice of words as I reflect on it. In the moment it is what came to mind because of the way it shot through ... but I realize it has other meaning and connotation. I can say that this wine did not remind me of anything like an Aussie cocktail. And I didn't find it fatiguing in any way. My wife and I finished the bottle (shared a small glass with the server) and we were left wanting more. In 2008 we had so many wines where we struggled with the last glass. I am committed getting back to better times in 2009 ... although I am drinking a Switchback Ridge right now

Jason