An interesting taste

I went a-wining yesterday. I met my nephew David and his fiancee who live in Folsom, and we visited a number of Dry Creek Valley and Russian River Valley tasting rooms.

One of our stops was David Coffaro, where I picked up my 2 2/3 cases of futures. (I ended up bringing back just over 5 cases! )
David is making Sauvignon Blanc for the first time in several years. He purchased the grapes from the Alexander Valley, as he had pulled out his own plantings. The SB had just come out of the fermenter and was being put into barrels yesterday morning, and another couple were asking about it. Well, David being David, he asked Matt, his assistant, to draw a sample out of the barrel, and warning us that this was anything but a finished product, let us have a taste.
The wine was frothy in the glass the sample had been poured into, and a bright gold color, with considerable specks that looked almost like stars. Yeast, of course.
We each got a small taste, about 1/2 oz or so. Plenty to swish and get a feel for it. The aroma was heady, yeasty, sharp. The mouthfeel was thick with the yeast, but (somewhat to my surprise) I was able to sort out the yeast stuff from the underlying wine. I think the wine will have a smooth, light mouth feel in the end. In the taste, the yeast was right there on top, with plenty of citrus and a noticeable tang of alcohol. There was definitely a grassy component, too.
I added 4 bottles of SB to my futures order for 2009.

David is also maturing what he's calling "The Ultimate Cuvee", a mix of Block 4 (old vines field blend, Petite Sirah and Escuro (a blend of mostly Portuguese varieties). I tried a barrel sample of that (it'll be bottled next spring), and it rated my highest compliment: "That's good wine!"
The cuvee is currently listed as 44% Petite Sirah, 26% Zin, 8% Lagrein, 7% Tannat, 5% Carignan, 5% Peloursin, 5% Syrah.
As a barrel sample several months before bottling, it hasn't really come together yet, and you get a jumble of fruit flavors over a backing of bright but not harsh tannin. I've done some barrel tastes over the years but I'm by no means an expert. I do think this will be a really good wine, and it should have some durability. The 30% of "other" will give it quite a medley of flavors as you pass it over the tongue and down the hatch.
It'll be fun in any case!

More impressions later, if I remember.

John

Sounds interesting John, esp. the red blend.
I've tasted fermenting Sauv Blanc - and when you get past the cloudiness and get past the yeast - the varietal fruit epression is always quite strong. This is one pungent grape variety!
If you ever get the opportunity, try it as juice before the fermentation begins. Some of it tastes so good you wonder why there isn't a market in the juice - but that would defeat the purpose of making wine, I guess.