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WTN: Some New Reds...(long/boring)

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TomHill

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WTN: Some New Reds...(long/boring)

by TomHill » Fri Dec 21, 2012 4:24 pm

We tried tonight (12/12/12) Some New Reds:
1. LaMadone Gamay sur Volcan AC: Cotes du Forez/Loire (Organic grapes; 11.5%) EURL Gilles
Bonnefey 2007
: Med.light color; rather earthy/dusty strong strawberry/Gamay/spicy/cinammon quite
attractive nose some like Bone-Jolly w/ slight brett/smokey character; light bit tannic/hard pretty/
strawberry/Gamay rather earthy/dusty flavor; fairly long hard/tannic pretty/Gamay/strawberry some
earthy/dusty finish; quite an attractive nose but somewhat agressive tannins on the palate; nice enough
Gamay for $8.00 (WoP)
______________
2. RobertGilliard Dole des Monts (12.8%; PinotNoir+Gamay) Valais/Suisse NV: Rather light color; slight
bretty/horsecollar/sewer gas slight volatile some strawberry/Gamay/earthy/dusty bit funky nose; tart
light very bright/strawberry/Gamay/spicy slight earthy/dusty rather attractive flavor w/ light tannins;
med. bright/light/strawberry/Gamay some earthy/dusty racy finish w/ little tannins; a bit funky/unclean
on the nose but quite pretty/attractive on the palate; way/way overpriced. $42.00 (BWM)
______________
3. Chateau Feuillet DOC: Valle d'Aosta Torrette (PetiteRouge or Picciourouzzo + 10% Mayolet; 13%) 2005:
Med.color; light bit earthy/dusty quite Pinotish light toasty/oak rather attractive nose; fairly tart
some earthy/loamy very Pinotish light toasty/oak flavor w/ light tannins; med.long some earthy/dusty/
loamy quite Pinotish finish w/ light tannins; a lighweight pleasant enough wine that speaks of Valle
d'Aosta or Swiss Pinot. $22.00 (WE)
______________
4. InstitutAgricole Regional Cornalin DOC: Vallee d'Aoste (13.5%) 2007: Med.color; very attractive/pretty
strawberry/Gamay-like slight earthy/dusty spicy/candied/peppermint very nice nose; light bright/cherry/
strawberry/Gamay-like slighht earthy/dusty peppermint candy flavor w/ light tannins; med.long bright/
cherry/strawberry/candied/pepperminty light earthy/dusty finish w/ light tannins; this is what Loire Gamay
would be if it could; quite a pretty/drinkable Gamay-like red. $18.00 (vRT)
______________
5. JeanOrliac LeLoup dans la Bergerie VdP du Val de Montferrand Rouge (www.EuropeanCellars.com; 40% Syrah/
30% Grenache/30% Merlot) Herault 2010
: Dark color; some blackberry/grapey bit toasty/oak rather artificial
bananna slight loamy nose; soft strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah-like fairly smooth/polished some toasty/oak
flavor w/ a bit of a tannic bite; very long bit tannic/hard strong blackberry/Syrah-ike some toasty/oak
finish; a rather attractive wine in an international style at a very good price. $13.00 (BWM)
______________
6. Bibich R6 Riserva Croatia/NorthDalmatia (34% Babich/33% Plavina/ 33% Lasin; www.BlueDanubeWine.com) 2009:
Med.light color; slight volatile rather raspberry/plummy/spicy somewhat Zin-like slight funky/earthy/
dishwater nose; fairly tart rather raspberry/plummy/Zin-like/spicy bit minty/menthol slight funky/unclean/
horsecollar rather pleasant flavor; med.long bright/zippy/raspberry/plummy/grapey very Zin-like/spicy finish
w/ light tannins; slightly funky/unclean but a very Zin-like red. $19.00 (VintageBerkeley)
______________
7. MorrisonLane Cinsault WallaWallaVlly (Black Malvoisie; 12.8%) 2009: Med.light color; rather attractive plummy/
black cherry/cherry cola aromatic some toasty/oak light earthy/loamy nose; soft light toasty/oak strong
plummy/black cherry/black cherry cola bit earthy/dusty/loamy attractive flavor; long strong plummy/black
cherry/cola/boysenberry light toasty/smokey/oak finish w/ modest tannins; a rather attractive/interesting
red. $30.00 (vSC)
______________
8. MorrisonLane Counoise WallaWallaVlly (12.9%) 2005: Med.color; very heavy vanilla/dill/Am.oak/pencilly some black
cherry/earthy/minty nose; soft very strong vanilla/dill/Am.oak slight earthy/black cherry/cola/minty flavor
w/ some tannins; med.long bit tannic very strong dill/Am.oak/vanilla/pencilly some black cherry/earthy/
loamy finish; underneath an interesting wine but the oak seems to dominate everything. $30.00 (vSC)
______________
9. MorrisonLane Sangiovese WallaWallaVlly (14.2%; www.MorrisonLane.com) 2005: Med.color; very attractive cherry/
Sangio/spicy rather dusty/root cellar bit earthy some toasty/oak nose; rather tart bright/spicy/cherry/Sangio/
cherry cough syrup some toasty/oak flavor w/ modest tannins; long rather tart earthy/dusty quite spicy/cherry/
Sangio/cherry cough syrup/cherry cola finish w/ modest hard/tannins; bit more lean and angular than the other
MorrisonLanes; speaks strongly of Sangio; quite an attractive rendition of Sangio. $30.00 (vSC)
______________
10. MorrisonLane Nebbiolo ColumbiaVlly (14.3%) 2004: Med.color; lovely floral/violets/Nebb/lilacs light toasty/
oak some spicy/herbal/rosemary/thyme/cinammon slight tarry/pungent rather interesting nose that speaks of
Nebbiolo; rather tart bit tannic/hard somewhat floral/violets/lilacs/Nebb bit herbal/rosemary/thyme/dried herbs
flavor; med.long some herbal/rosemary/dried Italian herbs pleasant/floral/violets/lilacs slight pungent/tarry
fairly hard/tannic finish; some very attractive floral aromatics but classic Nebb tannins and needs some age;
pretty classic Nebb in character but not of Barolo/Barbaresco. $30.00 (vSC)
______________
11. Arnot-Roberts Syrah NorthCoast (12.9%; Nellessen/ClaryRanch/AlderSprings/OldLakeville vnyds) 2011: Med.dark
color; rather strong roasted/Rhonish/peppery/smokey hot dog rather herbal/cranberry/blackberry/Syrah/dusty
some complex nose; very tart/lean some roasted/Rhonish/peppery some herbal/blackberry/cranberry/Syrah/dusty
somewhat hard/tannic flavor; med.long hard/tannic very tart almost schreechy some herbal/blackberry/Syrah/
dusty finish w/ some gritty/chalky tannins; needs some time in btl. $35.00
______________
12. CowanCllrs Syrah MoaveniVnyd/BennettVlly (13.2%; 50 cs) 2010: Very dark color; lighht toasty/charred/oak
strong blackberry/blueberry/Syrah/spicy rather perfumed/floral/violets slight peppery/cold-climate very
attractive/perfumed nose; fairly tart strong blieberry/Syrah/blackberry bit peppery/pungent very spicy bit
tannic/hard slight toasty/oak flavor; very long very spicy strong blueberry/Syrah/blackberry some floral/
violets bit tannic/hard light toasty/oak finish w/ fair tannins; needs some age yet; a bit like SteveEdmunds
Syrahs w/o the earthy component of ElDoradoCnty; quite an interesting Syrah at a more than fair price. $26.00
______________
13. MorrisonLane Syrah WallaWallaVlly (15.6%) 2005: Very dark color; very strong floral/violets/blackberry/Syrah/
boysenberry very perfumed/aromatic/spicy some toasty/oak bit alcoholic/fumey nose; soft intense blackberry/
boysenberry/Syrah rather floral/violets/perfumed bit licorice/Oz-style light toasty/oak flavor w/ modest
tannins; very long intense blackberry/boysenberry/framboise/Syrah light pungent/licorice bit toasty/oak
some floral/violets finish w/ smooth/modest tannins; more floral/high-toned notes than most WashState Syrahs;
quite a lovely Syrah and my favorite of the MorrisonLanes. $30.00 (vSC)
______________
14. Slight of Hand Levitation Syrah ColumbiaVlly (14.8%) 2010: Black color; intense blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/
framboise/spicy some toasty/oak huge fruit slight earthy/WashState plummy quite attractive nose; soft bit tannic
huge fruit/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/plummy slight earthy some toasty/charred/oak flavor; very long huge fruit/
intense blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/earthy/plummy some toasty/charred/oak finish w/ some fine-grained tannins;
can use several yrs yet; big huge fruit but not over-the-top our out of balance. $42.00
______________________________________________________
And the usual bloviations from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. MorrisonLane: Run by Dean & Verdie Morrison, long-time farmers in WallaWalla. A wnry I had never heard of until I
got a request to add them to our NEB (Nebbiolo Enthusiasts & Believers) e-mail list. I asked a friend who travels
up to WashState often to check them out. He visited their (very retro) tasting room in WallaWalla and liked what
he tried and ordered some for us to try. They focus a lot on some fairly unusual varieties (for WashState). Alas,
their WebSite (www.MorrisonLane.com) is a bit lacking in information...like prices and availability.
Overall...I liked their wines. Solid/well-made/interesting wines that reminded me a bit of some of the (late)
McCrea wines. The Syrah was my easy favorite. I also thought the Nebbiolo, of particular interest to me, was as
good as any I've been tasting from Calif. Definitely a wnry I need to keep track of.
______________
2. Arnot-Roberts: This is a wnry that is a darling of all the hip/big-city Somms because they are lower in alcohol
and "wines of balance". This Syrah was clearly less ripe than most Calif Syrahs. Appears to be made w/ a lot
of whole-cluster fermentation. This reminded me a lot of an EricTexier St.Joseph. It is quite an interesting/
atypical Calif Syrah. A "wine of balance"??? I suppose if your definition is a wine that is lower in alcohol,
then I suppose it is. But I certainly wouldn't describe it as "balanced". The acidity was almost screechy on
the palate. The tannins were lean/hard/gritty...almost like a young Nebbiolo. One can only hope that this wine
will come into balance w/ bottle age. I suspect it will be very interesting Syrah somewhere down the road.
Sometimes you just gotta believe. Sometimes...your guesses/instincts are totally wrong, though. We shall see.
______________
3. Cornalin: A variety indigenous to the Valle d'Aosta and now almost extinct there, with only 1 ha in plantings.
More plantings in the Swiss Valais where it's known as HumagneRouge. This btl came to me from RobTebeau.
Tom
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Re: WTN: Some New Reds...(long/boring)

by Florida Jim » Fri Dec 21, 2012 5:39 pm

Tom,
While I don't get the charred note you did, I do get oak smells and flavors in my wine. Curiously, the barrels it was in are 7 year old French oak and were medium toast at inception.
Which confirms my rather unpopular view that oak barrels are not "neutral" until much later in life - my guess is twenty years or thereabouts.
Best, Jim
Jim Cowan
Cowan Cellars
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Re: WTN: Some New Reds...(long/boring)

by Bruce K » Wed Dec 26, 2012 11:28 am

TomHill wrote:1. MorrisonLane: Run by Dean & Verdie Morrison, long-time farmers in WallaWalla. A wnry I had never heard of until I
got a request to add them to our NEB (Nebbiolo Enthusiasts & Believers) e-mail list. I asked a friend who travels
up to WashState often to check them out. He visited their (very retro) tasting room in WallaWalla and liked what
he tried and ordered some for us to try. They focus a lot on some fairly unusual varieties (for WashState). Alas,
their WebSite (http://www.MorrisonLane.com) is a bit lacking in information...like prices and availability.
Overall...I liked their wines. Solid/well-made/interesting wines that reminded me a bit of some of the (late)
McCrea wines. The Syrah was my easy favorite. I also thought the Nebbiolo, of particular interest to me, was as
good as any I've been tasting from Calif. Definitely a wnry I need to keep track of.


One of my favorite wineries to visit when I'm in Walla Walla because of their emphasis on unconventional grapes (that they grow themselves at their own vineyard, which is often not the case in WW) and because Dean is quite a character. I had their 2003 Nebbiolo a few months ago and very much enjoyed it, though as you note it is not a Barolo/Barbaresco clone. I've also enjoyed their Counoise and Carmenere.

TomHill wrote:3. Cornalin: A variety indigenous to the Valle d'Aosta and now almost extinct there, with only 1 ha in plantings.
More plantings in the Swiss Valais where it's known as HumagneRouge. This btl came to me from RobTebeau.
Tom


Just had my first Cornalin ever, a 2010 from Elio Ottin, ordered in a Milan restaurant for 22 Euros. Loved it! A bit more oomph than many Gamays but in the same bright, complex spectrum, and a perfect accompaniment to brasato with sauteed porcinis and polenta.
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Re: WTN: Some New Reds...(long/boring)

by Brian K Miller » Wed Dec 26, 2012 3:05 pm

Florida Jim wrote:Tom,
While I don't get the charred note you did, I do get oak smells and flavors in my wine. Curiously, the barrels it was in are 7 year old French oak and were medium toast at inception.
Which confirms my rather unpopular view that oak barrels are not "neutral" until much later in life - my guess is twenty years or thereabouts.
Best, Jim


Hey Jim...saw your Syrah at Arlequin in SF!

I will give it a try. Hopefully the oak will integrate with a couple of years!
...(Humans) are unique in our capacity to construct realities at utter odds with reality. Dogs dream and dolphins imagine, but only humans are deluded. –Jacob Bacharach

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