We tasted last night (3/28/18) More New Calif Wines:
1. Bedrock SauvBlanc UboldiVnyd/SonomaVlly/SonomaCnty (14.1%) Sonoma 2017: Light gold color; lovely melony/
SB/slight herbal light smokey/pencilly/oak light earthy complex beautiful nose; fairly tart lemony/melony/
SB/bit herbal light smokey/oak lovely ripe SB flavor; very long/lingering ripe/lemony/melony/SB/slight
floral light smokey/oak finish; a beautiful expression of Calif SB; lots of ripe/melony SB character but
a nice brisk acidity; reminds a lot of good Styrian SB. $22.00
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2. Bedrock Chard Chuy/MoonMtnDist/SonomaCnty (14.5%; Plntd: 1974; SaH: 22.5 Brix) 2016: Light gold color;
light butterscotchy/toasty/Fr.oak/tobaccoycaramel ripe melony/Chard/spicy/nutmeg lovely nose; bit soft
rich/ripe/lush very melony/Chard some tobaccoy/toasty/oak light tangy/metallic lovely flavor; very long/
lingering ripe/melony/Chard some toasty/tobaccoy/oak finish; a beautiful rich/lush balanced some oaked
Chard; would like a bit more acidity. $35.00
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3. TablasCreek Vermentino Estate/AdelaidaDist/PasoRobles (13.0%; Rolle; 1430 cs) 2017: Light gold color;
very bright floral/Vermen/spicy bit carnations quite fragrant lovely nose; somewhat tart very floral/Verm
spicy/carnations light earthy bright/clean/Vermen flavor; very long/lingering very floral/carnations/Vermen/
spicy finish; a very bright/lithe rendition of Vermen some like the Ryme Hers/some like those from Liguria
but more weight; very well priced at $21.60 (VIN)/$27.00
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4. TablasCreek Roussanne Estate/AdelaidaDist/PasoRobles (12.7%; 900 cs) 2016: Med.dark gold color; very ripe
floral/honeysuckle/Rouss bit quiet/low-key light pencilly/oak nose; bit soft ripe/floral/honeysuckle/Rouss
light pencilly/oak bit quiet flavor; very long rich/ripe floral/honeysuckle/Rouss/carnations light pencilly/oak
finish; lots of ripe Rouss character but not the structure & aromatics of the '15; seems a little beat down
right now. $28.00 (VIN)/$35.00
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5. Matthiasson NapaVlly WW (12.9%; 50% SauvBlanc/25% RibollaGialla/20% Semillon/5% Friulano; pH: 3.29;
TA: 0.635; 1270 cs) Napa 2015: Med.light gold color; light SB bit white pepper/RG light phenolic/resiny bit earthy
quite interesting/complex nose; rather tart some SB/herbal/grassy very light phenolic/skin-contact/resiny slight
white pepper/RG fairly rich bit chalky/mineral lovely flavor; very long some herbal/SN light white pepper/RG
light skin-contact/phenolic/resiny slight chalky/earthy finish; a lovely complex white much like a very good
Friuli SB like Lageder. $40.00
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6. Ryme RibollaGialla VareVnyd/NapaVlly (13.6%; www.RymeCellars.com) 2015: Med.dark gold/burnished bronze color;
very fragrant/perfumed some phenolic/resiny/skin-contact rather honeyed/appley/orangey light white pepper/RG/
very spicy quite complex fragrant nose; fairly tart bit tannic rather phenolic/resiny/skin-contact/cidery fairly
rich/lush/honeyed/orangey some white pepper/RG bit apple cider complex flavor; very long/lingering strong
phenolic/resiny rich/honeyed/orangey/appley light RG/white pepper complex finish; noticible skin-contact
character but balanced w/ honeyed/RG/pepper character; not as hard/austere on the palate as some skin-contact
whites. reminds some of a Simcic or Kabaj RG but w/ less phenolic character & richer on the palate; this is
how JoskoGravner would make RG in Geyserville if he could; a very interesting/exotic RG that needs age. $42.00
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7. Solminer PinotNoir duVaritaVnyd/SantaBarbaraCnty (92 cs; 13.5%) 2015: Med.light garnet color; quite pretty cherry/
PN/spicy/appley delicate light pencilly/oak rather attractive nose; fairly tart bit lean bright pretty/cherry/PN/
spicy bit earthy light pencilly/oak flavor w/ light delicate/smooth tannins; very long somewhat tart/lean bright/
cherry/spicy/cherry pie slight earthy bit pencilly/oak finish w/ light tannins; a very pretty rather delicate/
lithe/diaphonous expression of PN. $48.00
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8. Matthiasson PinotMeunier YountMillVnyd/NapaVlly (11.1%) 2015: Med.light garnet color; bit earthy/dusty/mushroomy
some black cherry/PM/earthy/cherry light toasty/oak/pencilly attractive nose; fairly tart bit lean/hard some
earthy/mushroomy some black cherry/cherry/earthy/PM bit complex flavor w/ light gentle tannins; very long rather
tart/bit lean/tight some black cherry/PM/cherry/earthy light toasty/oak bit earthy/mushroomy finish w/ light
tannins; shows some of the earthy/mushroomy side of this variety; a rather pleasant PM. $40.00
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9. Ryme PinotNoir LasBrisasVnyd/Carneros/SonomaCnty (13.1%; www.RymeCellars.com) 2016: Light garnet color; light
earthy/dusty very attractive cherry/PN/black cherry light pencilly/oak rather classic Carneros/earthy/PN nose;
fairly tart bright/cherry/black cherry/PN balanced/smooth some earthy/mushroomy/dusty bit pepper light pencilly/
oak flavor w/ light gentle tannins; very long rather elegant/balance some cherry/black cherry/PN/earthy/mushroomy
light pencilly/oak rather tart finish w/ light smooth tannins; a very attractive gentle/balanced PN that shows
the earthy/mushroomy side of Carneros PN; reminds some of those early CarnerosCreek PN's. $35.00
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10. TablasCreek Cotes de Tablas Estate/AdelaidaDist/PasoRobles (13.5%; 55% Grenache/25% Syrah/
13% Mourvedre/7% counoise; 2050 cs) 2016: Med.color; lovely fragrant/perfumed very strawberry/Grenache/spicy/
plummy bit chalky/earthy lovely nose; lightly tart quite strawberry/Grenache/spicy bit earthy/chalky bright/pretty
flavor w/ light gentle tannins; very long bright/strawberry/Grenache slightly tart slight chalky finish w/
light tannins; a very pretty light-weight expression of Grenache; also seems a bit beat down and will probably
be even better in several months w/ rest. $28.00 (VIN)/$35.00
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11. TablasCreek Tannat Estate/AdelaidaDist/PasoRobles (14.5%; 700 cs) 2015: Dark color; strong plummy/black cherry/
blackberrybit rustic/earthy light oak fairly fragrant nose; lightly tart some blackberry/black cherry/plummy
some earthy/licorice/rustic slight oak flavor w/ modest ripe tannins; very long/lingering strong plummy/black
cherry/blackberry slight earthy/rustic finish w/ light ripe tannins; seems a rather mild-manner expression of
Tannat and not as big/extracted as previous versions. $32.00 (VIN)/$40.00
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12. TablasCreek Panoplie Estate/AdelaidaDist/PasoRobles (14.5%; 71% Mourvedre/24% Grenache/5% Syrah;
800 cs) 2015: Dark color; very strong plummy/Mourv bit strawberry/Grenache some earthy/chalky/graphite/pungent
slight pencilly/oak bit sauvage/garrigue/herbal fairly complex nose; some tart very rich/lush tangy strong plummy/
Mourv/strawberry/licorice some tannic/rough light pencilly/oak structured/balanced rather complex flavor w/ some
ripe/smooth tannins; very long/lingering structured bit tart fairly rich/lush strong plummy/Mourv slight strawberry/
Grenache light pencilly/oak fairly complex finish w/ some smooth/round tannins; should be an outstanding red
w/ age. $76.00 (VIN)/$95.00
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More snotmuzz from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. SauvBlanc: I believe this wine uses (partly) the Franz Stockinger oak barrels from Waidhofen. This Austrian
barrel maker is regarded by many as making the Rolls-Royce of oak barrels.
(oenotech-bordeaux.fr/tonnellerie-stockinger-bis2/)
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2. TCV Roussanne: I was a bit disappointed in this '16 Rouss after the stellar '15 Rouss. This seemed a bit on the
quiet/beat down side compared to the wounderfully aromatic '15. We tasted it about 5 days after it hit my doorstep,
which may have been the reason. Travel shock?? Haven't a clue. Didn't seem to hurt the Vermen. But will try again
in a few months & see where it is. TCV is consistently one of the best Roussannes made in Calif.
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3. Ryme RG: This is an outstanding rendition of Calif RG for Megan & Ryan. I think it was done in some new amphorae
or concrete that they now have. In 2010, he did a skin-contact RG (and Aglianico Rose) in special clay amphora
they had made for them by a friend. Tasted last Fall, it was terrific. Though pretty pricey at $90/btl. Ryan thinks
this is his best RG yet and I suspect he's right. It will be interesting to see how it stands up at RibollaFest
this Summer.
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4. TCV Cotes de Tablas: This wine is the April special at TCV for $24.50/btl. Combined w/ their April $10 flat rate
shipping deal, you can make out like a bandit on this wine. It's dishonest to buy this wine <$25 that's this
good. But when you're buying at a great deal..ethics gets tossed under the bus. We're buying.
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5. Pinots: These were a group of rather lighter style of Pinots. All three quite pretty. I preferred the Solminer,
the lightest of the three because it sort of piroutted across the palate in an ethereal/diaphonous way.
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6. Panoplie: This wine is a bit mistifying to me. It is their high-end red Rhone blend. It's almost twice the $$ of
the Esprit de Tablas. Hence, I don't routinely buy it and age it. I only try it because it shows up in my VINSider
shipment. It is not particularly a big/extracted red. It seems a bit more evolved/complex than the EdT when we
try it, but I don't have any experience on how it ages. I do w/ the EdT. It is often a bit on the simpler side at
release, but it invariably ages into something pretty special. Someday when I visit TCV, I'd like to try a
young/old pairing of EdT w/ Panapolie and see if it really evolves into something special as the price would
suggest.
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7. Another terrific release from TCV. Great wines made w/o the excesses you can often find in Paso Rhones.
Tom