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WTN: Rollat, Bedrock, Talley, Osoyoos Larose, Mondavi etc

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WTN: Rollat, Bedrock, Talley, Osoyoos Larose, Mondavi etc

by Jenise » Wed Aug 06, 2014 12:37 pm

Recent stuff:

2012 Talley Vineyards Chardonnay Arroyo Grande Valley
Bright yellow, voluptuously concentrated without being tropical. Most prominent characteristic is an earthiness, which I'm aware of isn't a typical descriptor for chardonnay, with good acidity and some tannins. Drinks rather like a red wine. Enjoyed this quite a bit.

2012 Silverado Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc Miller Ranch Napa Valley
A sentimental choice, as Bob and I drank a lot of Silverado SB at a fave restaurant in Orange County while we were dating. Melon-apple, no grass, but crisp and refreshing. Shows best with food.

2008 Lamuri Sicilia IGT Nero d'Avola
Bought two bottles after enjoying an 07 in an Italian restaurant a few years back; hated the first bottle I opened (awkward, starchy black fruit) and promptly forgot about the second. Until last night. Pleasant, just med body, tangy cherry fruit, not terribly complex but nice with a marinara sauce.

2007 Robert Mondavi Winery 'Oakville' Cabernet Sauvignon

Maturing nicely, but showing more earth and rusticity at present in a way that's heavy and plodding. Was better about two years ago--will hold and hope for some levelling out.

2007 Chateau Rollat Cabernet Sauvignon Rollat Walla Walla Valley
Lambert's bottle (recent Costco purch at $45). Drinking superbly now, but here's the problem: this is a 7 year old wine that's already at the peak of full secondary development--a place it should have taken 10-15 years to get to, and the short timeline has robbed it of the profundity of real wine adulthood. So it's fully mature and good but in a way that's somewhat simplistic and naive. Soft and leathery with fully resolved tannins. Drink up!

2012 Bedrock Wine Co. Syrah North Coast
My first Bedrock syrah: yowzir! Effusively aromatic, with black raspberry fruit, licorice and cinnamon graham crackers. Glides down the throat and wine's gone before you know it. Pure joy, drinks beautifully now and will for next five years at least, killer QPR. Must. Find. More.

2008 Stony Hill Chardonnay Napa Valley

Stunning. As Coop said, "If you told me this was white burgundy I'd totally believe you."

2012 Rôtie Cellars Southern White Columbia Valley White Rhone blend
Can't understand the high scores from others based on this bottle. Fleshy, low acid, with some residual sugar which flattered the floral notes but made the wine a bit of a slug on the palate. The California chardonnay that was the other wine in its flight tasted like Chablis by comparison--and that's some trick.

2001 Clos du Marquis St. Julien Red Bordeaux Blend
Not a great bottle--dried out, tired--where other reviewers have had more positive recent experiences. Oh well.

2010 Comte de Lauze Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Robin's bottle, decanted 1 hour. Distinct grenache notes--red fruit, peppery--but it seemed to fade in the glass somewhat. Enjoyable, especially with food, but otherwise on the average side.

2003 Osoyoos Larose Le Grand Vin Okanagan Valley VQA Red Bordeaux Blend
Very strong showing! Med-full bodied with bold black cherry fruit harmonized with tar, cedar, and tobacco notes. Very Paulliac-ish. Yes, there was a bit of a green pepper note as often occurs in PNW wines that I recall from earlier bottles, but it shows now more as mint. Entering it's prime drinking window methinks--drink or hold.

2013 Bedrock Wine Co. Mourvedre Ode to Lulu Old Vine Rosé, Sonoma Valley
Good wine; poor QPR. Fruity, a little too much so, on the palate as one would expect from the color--about a 4 on a 1 to 5 scale of rose wines, but fortunately finishes dry. Cranberry juice in profile with a touch of herb. Pleasant but lacks the sophistication and delineation we just had from a $17 Bandol.

2004 Vinae Mureri Viño de la Tierra de Valle del Jiloca Muret, Grenache blend
Tarry, sweet and liberally oaked. For what it is, right now it's undoubtedly in the best place it's ever been (no previous experience, but based on other CT reviews), middle-aged and where time-related nuances soften the impact of extracted primary fruit, but still, you have to love the style to love this wine. Me, not a fan. My husband, however, just loved it. Help!

2011 Babcock Chardonnay Santa Lucia Highlands
Intense and full-bodied. Borderline tropical but pulls back before getting its feet wet with flavors of apple, quince and pineapple. Pleasurable and marred only by some heat on the finish that made us check the bottle for the alcohol numbers: 14.2%.

2010 Château Moulin d'Ulysse Listrac-Médoc
Was surprised to like this so much. On the one hand it's not a grand wine, just good to very good, but on the other it drinks very correctly for a Haut Medoc--ripe black fruit with some green notes. Keeping expectations in line for an $18 Bordeaux, I'm happy to have a few more bottles.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: WTN: Rollat, Bedrock, Talley, Osoyoos Larose, Mondavi etc

by David M. Bueker » Wed Aug 06, 2014 1:25 pm

A good friend out here recently had the 2013 Ode to Lulu and was similarly unimpressed.
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