From my trip report in mid-June for RhoneRangers & NEB#7:
Tuesday (6/13)
Tasting w/ KurtBeitler/Boheme
A few months earlier, KurtBeitler/Bohem had made his latest release. So I wanted to taste thru them before
our group ordered them. We were to meet up in Occidental and go to Freestone to have some of Omar's crepes and
taste the wines there under the redwoods in the Freestone Municipal Park in front of his cheese shop. Unfortunately,
Omar was closed that day, so we wound up just hanging out at the Boheme tasting room. So we tried:
1. Boheme Chard TaylorRidgeVnyd/SonomaCoast (10'th Anniv; Hrvstd: Sept.23-24; Y=3.1 tons/acre; 214 cs; EG; 14.1%;
www.BohemeWines.com) KurtBeitler/Forestville 2014: Med.gold color; some pencilly/toasty/oak ripe melony/Chard
spicy/nutmeg quite fragrant nose; fairly tart very spicy/ripe/melony/Chard slight herbal some toasty/oak/pencilly
bit tangy lovely flavor; very long/lingering very spicy/ripe/melony/Chard/slight lemony some pencilly/toasty/Fr.oak
balanced finish; a bit richer/lusher than the EnglishHill; a lovely balanced spicy Chard. $45.00
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2. Boheme Chard EnglishHillVnyd/SonomaCoast (10'th Anniv; Hrvstd: Sept.22; WenteSlctn; Y=1.74 tons/acre; 192 cs;
EG; 14.3%) 2014: Med.gold color; bit more earthy/herbal spicy less ripe melony/Chard/lemony bit leaner/tighter
pencilly/oak nose; bit tarter/leaner ripe/melony/Chard/lemony rather pencilly/Fr.oak flavor; very long/lingering
ripe melony/Chard/lemony some pencilly/oak finish; much like the TaylorRidge but seems a bit tighter/leaner and
not quite as rich; another lovely Chard. $45.00
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3. Boheme PinotNoir StullerVnyd/SonomaCoast (10'th Anniv; Hrvstd: Sept.10-14; Y=1.53 tons/acre; EG; 13.9%; 263 cs)
2014: Med.dark color; very spicy/cherry/PN/black cherry cola bit bigger/richer light earthy/dusty modest pencilly/
toasty/oak bit more complex quite perfumed nose; lightly tart strong cherry/spicy/PN/black cherry cola bigger/richer
some earthy some pencilly/toasty/oak flavor w/ modest crunchy tannins; very long/lingering some earthy strong cherry/
PN/black cherry cola some pencilly/smokey/oak finish w/ modest tannins; a bit bigger & richer and more earthy than
the other two Pinots. $43.00
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4. Boheme PinotNoir TaylorRidgeVnyd/SonomaCoast (10'th Anniv; Hrvstd: Sept.16; SwanSlctn; Y=1.69 tons/acre; EG;
14.3%; 308 cs) 2014: Med.light color; beautiful black cherry/PN/black cherry cola rather pencilly/toasty/oak very
perfumed nose; lightly tart strong cherry/black cherry/cola some pencilly/oak quite spicy flavor w/ light gentle
tannins; very long strong cherry/black cherry/cola slight earthy light toasty/pencilly/oak slight earthy finish w/
light smooth tannins; a lovely balanced rather Burgundian-style of PN. $55.00
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5. Boheme PinotNoir EnglishHillVnyd/SonomaCoast (10'th Anniv; Hrvstd: Sept.2-6; Y=3.3 tons/acre; Dijon 115/667 +
Vosne-Romanee + Calera clones; EG; 446 cs; 14.1%) 2014: Med.light color; more fragrant brighter spicier cherry/black
cherry/PN some pencilly/toasty/oak bit leaner/tighter bit earthy lovely perfumed nose; bit more tart/tangy bright/
spicy/cherry/PN/black cherry some pencilly/oak flavor w/ light brisk tannins; very long bright/cherry/spicer/PN
some toasty/pencilly/oak finish w/ light brisk tannins; very similar to the TR but a bit more earthy and more spicy.
$49.00
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6. Boheme Zin OldManciniRanch/RRV/SonomaCnty (14.9%; Plntd: 1922; + Carignane/PetiteSirah/AlicanteBouschet;
head pruned/dry farmed; Hrvstd: Oct.22; 360 cs) 2013: Med.dark color; very strong very spicy/peppery/blackberry/
boysenberry/RRV Zin very dusty/OV slight smokey/toasty/oak rather complex aromatic nose; lightly tart very spicy/
peppery/cracked black pepper very strong blackberry/boysenberry/very spicy/Zin modest toasty/smokey/oak quite dusty/OV
complex flavor w/ modest brisk tannins; very long/lingering spicy/peppery/black pepper very strong blackberry/boysenberry/
RRV Zin quite dusty/OV modest toasty/oak complex finish w/ modest spikey tannins; loads of dusty/OV character; a more
sleek/polished Zin than Bedrock or Carlisle; reminds a lot of the early JoeSwan Zins or the early Ravenswoods but w/
less oak; a beautiful example of RRV OV Zin. $43.00
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7. Boheme Syrah OccidentalHills/SonomaCoast (80% QueSyrahVnyd/20% EnglishHillVnyd; 13.3%) 2012: Very dark color; very
strong blackberry/spicy/Syrah rather cracked black pepper/cold-climate light earthy/Rhonish/roasted bit smokey/espresso
light toasty/oak rather complex somewhat Rhonish nose; lightly tart strong blackberry/spicy/Syrah rather Rhonish/roasted/
espresso/bit olive tapenade/cracked pepper light toasty/oak rather savory/graphite/mineray beautiful flavor w/ modest
ripe/round tannins; very long/lingering some cracked black pepper/cold-climate strong blackberry/spicy/Syrah light
toasty/oak finish w/ some ripe/smooth tannins; has really developed into a beautiful rather Rhonish classis cold-climate
savory Syrah. $49.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Kurt takes from primarily three different vnyds. TaylorRidge is owned by VinceRago out on TaylorRidgeRd going out
towards his Dad's QueSyrah vnyd. The StullerVnyd is a little bit to the North of TR and mostly West of Occidental.
The EnglishHillVnyd is much further South of Occidental and looks out over the RussianRiverVlly towards SantaRosa.
Kurt farms all three of these vnyds. All are certifiable cold-climate SonomaCoast vnyds, w/ the EnglishHill perhaps
a bit warmer than the other two.
The differences between the two Chards were pretty subtle, though I slightly preferred the TaylorRidge. Amongst
the three Pinots, again very similar stylistically, I had a very slight preference for the TaylorRidge. All five of
these were very balanced, somewhat Burgundian, smooth/polished very well-made wines. It's difficult to make a choice
between any of these.
The Mancini Zin is a new wine for Kurt. He had an opportunity to buy a bit of Zin off the ManciniRanch and jumped
at it w/ another partner. They never could settle on a label for the wine and so Kurt bought out his partner's share
and bttld it under his Boheme label. He had sent me a shiner over a yr ago and I liked it quite a bit. Now, w/ an
additional yr of btl age, I liked it even more. Loads of peppery RRV Zin character and very structured, it should
easily go out another 10 yrs.
The OccidentalHills Syrah marks the last year Kurt got Syrah from QueSyrah vnyd. It was released almost two yrs
ago and has really developed into a rather Rhonish cold-climate Syrah in the last yr since we've tried it.
Tom