A not too thrilling quartet w/ dinner this weekend:
1. Copain Viognier "TousEnsemble" MendocinoCnty (13.7%) 2007: Pale yellow color; fresh apple/pear slight earthy/minerally clean/crisp understated nose; tart minerally/stoney clean/apple/pear/Viog low-key flavor; med. tart/clean/crisp/minerally light pear/apple/Viog finish; rather low-key somewhat pinched/eviscerated rendition of Viognier; serve at a bit warmer temperature. $23.25
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2. Copain PinotNoir "TousEnsemble" AndersonVlly (13.5%) 2007: Med.color; some toasty/smokey/Fr.oak bit Burgundian some earthy/black cherry/Pinot nose; tart earthy/Burgundian rather toasty/Fr.oak very light cherry/Pinot flavor; med. earthy/Burgundian light chery some toasty/oak finish w/ little tannin; lacks the usual bright fruit of AndesonVlly Pinot; pleasant Burgundian style Calif Pinot. Pricey at $31.25
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3. Eberle PasoRobles Zin (50% SteinbeckVnyd/50% Wine-Bush Vnyd; 14.9%; http://www.EberleWinery.com) 2006: Med.dark color; pretty raspberry/Zin slight jammy strong Am.oak nose; soft earthy/raspberry/Zin pretty/elegant rather Am.oaked bit hard/tannic flavor; med.long bit tannic earthy/raspberry/Zin strong Am.oak finish; some pretty raspberry character W/ bit of earthiness; OK but just that at $24.95
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4. Eberle PasoRobles Syrah SteinbeckVnyd (14.9%) 2006: Med.dark color; fairly strong blackberry/Syrah light licorice/boysenberry light pencilly/oak nose; tart bit lean/hard strong licorice/blackberry/Syrah somewhat hard/tannic/astringent flavor; short hard/tannic/astringent some licorice/pungent/blackberry/Syrah finish; needs age but ??; attractive Syrah nose but hard & astringent on the palate. $19.95
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Copain: I was excited to find the Copains are now being brought into NewMexico, so I bought all the ones they had. I was pretty underwhelmed by the "TousEnsemble" wines. They seemed pretty tight & pinched on the palate and didn't offer me very much. Perfectly good w/ food, I suppose, but they left me unthrilled, not nearly as good as previous Copains I've had. Still have the ThomposenSyrah to try.
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2. Eberle: After a 10 yr hiatus, GaryEberle's wines have returned to NewMexico. I have, of course, followed Gary from the very start, from his EstrellaRiver days. At his innaugral tasting at LaCasaSena Thurs, we got to tried his '93 NormanVnyd Barbera and '93 FralichVnyd Syrah. Though the nose was pretty strong on brett, they were really lovely & drinkable on the palate. These two '06 Eberle's showed no signs of brett but seemed pretty tough & hard on the palate. Probably will show much better w/ age I would guess.
Tom