WTN: Two QPR Rhones...

Tried these last night:
1. LaBergerie SainteCroix Viognier Vin de Pays d'Oc (13%; 6 months sur lie) 2005: Pale yellow color; attractive pear/Viognier slight stoney/earthy nose; fairly soft/lush pleasant clean/pear/Viognier light earthy flavor; very short light pear/Viognier finish; a pleasant/attractive/simmple Viognier; good for the price at $5.99
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2. Baileyana GrandFirepeakCuvee EdnaVlly Syrah FirepeakVnyd (14.1%; EG) Christian Roguenant 2003: Very dark/black color; intense chocolaty/blackberry/Syrah rather peppery slight toasty/smokey/oak very interesting/spicy nose; tart bit lean/tannic intense blackberry/Syrah cracked black pepper light toasty/charred/oak slight mocha/espresso flavor; long some tannic/hard intense blackberry/Syrah/chocolaty/espresso light toasty/smokey/oak finish; needs several yrs; like an Alban CentralCoast but w/ structure; a terrific Syrah for $24.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Just wanted to try a few things w/ my pasta. I'd stopped at TraderJoe's last night and was going to try the NapaRiver Chard at $4.99, but spied this Viognier and thought it might be a better "throw-away" wine. It was surprisingly good for a $6 wine. But I was even more impressed by the Baileyana; it had lots of things going on and a real QPR champ.
Tom

[Jenise]

Tom, refresh my memory. Is Baileyana another KJ project?

Not a K-J project. Owned by a family named Niven.
Tom

Tom: Just an FYI, but you might check on the Baileyana winemaker status.

I judged at the last San Diego International Wine Competition, and my panel selected a Baileyana (like you, I was quite impressed by their wines) for consideration for the entire judging panel for sweepstakes wine.

The guy who made the wine was there, and he indicated that was the last wine he made, then he moved on. So Baileyana has a new winemaker. Don't have any idea what that means in terms of how the wines will continue, but wanted you to be aware of the changes.

HH