WTN: Some Edmunds St John Wines
Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:49 pm
Over the years I've tasted some ESJ wines courtesy of others that I've really enjoyed. There has been quite a bit of chatter about ESJ on the net recently, so figured I'd check and see if there was any distributuion here in Indiana and I was disappointed to learn that there was none. A quick chat with the owners of the shop where I schlepp wines a few days a week and a few phone calls to Steve gets us a nice assortment of samples to taste through. For the most part these wines are well made, offer exceptional value and definitely avoid the spoofulated/industrialized stuff that seems to dominate the market these days. These wines stress finese over power.
Here are my notes/impressions of the wines and I'm enthusiastically looking foward to sharing many of these with our customers fairly soon.
2005 Shell & Bone White
A Viognier and Rousanne blend that packs some power. The Viognier is very evident on the floral nose . Good mouthcoating viscosity that delivers a bit of nuttiness towards the end which I assume is the Rousanne component. Lingering finish. A winner.
2005 Pinot Grigio
Not much to hold my interst here. probably just palate preference on my part as the wine had no discerable flaws. Guess you can't win them all.
2002 "The Shadow"
Apparently this is an amalgamation of Steve's various 2002 Syrahs. Medium bodied and plummy fruit in a nice way. Some tannins and complexity suggest this one might benefit from another year in the bottle although it is drinking very well right now. Should price out someplace under $12 which will make this an easy sell.
2005 Pinc Froid Rose
Very interesting rose. Nice depth and complexity. The nose is all about spices..clove, pomegranate and a dash of cinnamon. Plenty of red fruit flavors to round out the profile. A delight to drink
2003 Shell & Bone Paso Robles (Red)
A blend of the usual CdP varietals. Comes across as a bit ripe on the nose and entry. Ends with a bit of spice, but just came across a bit simple.
2001 Los Robles Viejos, Rozet Vineyard, Paso RoblesAnother CdP blend with Moevedre, Grenache, Syrah and Counoise. Lavender, meat/game, pepper/spice. My favorite wine of the day.
2001 Syrah, Wylie-Fenaughty, El Dorado County
This wine was more extracted than the previous wines, but never approaching being over-the-top. Black fruit profile with tannins and acids to balance everything out. Really blossomed with a couple of hours of air and I suspect given just a bit more time to breathe, it may have become my choice as wine of the day. Very good now, but probably even better with a bit of cellar time.
My only question to the wine buyer was: "How quickly can we get this stuff in the store?"
Disclosure: In case you haven't guessed by now, I sell wine to people and would love to have ESJ in our portfolio
Original post edited to correct vintage on the Shell & Bone Red
Here are my notes/impressions of the wines and I'm enthusiastically looking foward to sharing many of these with our customers fairly soon.
2005 Shell & Bone White
A Viognier and Rousanne blend that packs some power. The Viognier is very evident on the floral nose . Good mouthcoating viscosity that delivers a bit of nuttiness towards the end which I assume is the Rousanne component. Lingering finish. A winner.
2005 Pinot Grigio
Not much to hold my interst here. probably just palate preference on my part as the wine had no discerable flaws. Guess you can't win them all.
2002 "The Shadow"
Apparently this is an amalgamation of Steve's various 2002 Syrahs. Medium bodied and plummy fruit in a nice way. Some tannins and complexity suggest this one might benefit from another year in the bottle although it is drinking very well right now. Should price out someplace under $12 which will make this an easy sell.
2005 Pinc Froid Rose
Very interesting rose. Nice depth and complexity. The nose is all about spices..clove, pomegranate and a dash of cinnamon. Plenty of red fruit flavors to round out the profile. A delight to drink
2003 Shell & Bone Paso Robles (Red)
A blend of the usual CdP varietals. Comes across as a bit ripe on the nose and entry. Ends with a bit of spice, but just came across a bit simple.
2001 Los Robles Viejos, Rozet Vineyard, Paso RoblesAnother CdP blend with Moevedre, Grenache, Syrah and Counoise. Lavender, meat/game, pepper/spice. My favorite wine of the day.
2001 Syrah, Wylie-Fenaughty, El Dorado County
This wine was more extracted than the previous wines, but never approaching being over-the-top. Black fruit profile with tannins and acids to balance everything out. Really blossomed with a couple of hours of air and I suspect given just a bit more time to breathe, it may have become my choice as wine of the day. Very good now, but probably even better with a bit of cellar time.
My only question to the wine buyer was: "How quickly can we get this stuff in the store?"
Disclosure: In case you haven't guessed by now, I sell wine to people and would love to have ESJ in our portfolio
Original post edited to correct vintage on the Shell & Bone Red