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WTN: Beating my head against The Walls

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Jenise

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WTN: Beating my head against The Walls

by Jenise » Sun Oct 28, 2018 6:19 pm

2009 Terre da Vino Barbaresco La Casa in Collina Nebbiolo
From magnum. Screechy acidity, low fruit and still fairly tannic. Andouzed it for 48 hours to coax out better balance, but when that proved unsuccessful I cut it with a fresh, younger new world red to get the crowd-pleaser I needed for a big Italian dinner. Don't think this is going to improve.

2016 Schaad Cellars Pinot Meunier Schaad Hill Vineyard Chehalem Mountains
Juicy, enthusiastic red fruit with good spice and no apparent oak makes an incredibly agreeable $15 red wine here. Like Teutonic's single-variety PM, makes me regret that more like this aren't made.

2012 Domaine Jessiaume Volnay 1er Cru Les Brouillards Pinot Noir
Ebullient nose of red fruit and spice. Very pleasing midpalate, and ripe tannins offer that silky Volnay finish. Not that I've had that many '12's, but this is the most complete '12 I've had so far.

2014 Idiot's Grace Cabernet Franc Idiot's Grace Vineyard Columbia Gorge
July's bottle was so Burgundian--lighter than a typical New World cab franc with more cherry pie and less herbs. This one was much denser, and more herbal. Not bad, just more change than one would expect in three months. Hmmm....

2015 The Walls Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Curiositas Red Mountain
Enjoyed this cabernet a great deal. Excellent fruit and concentration in an admirably old world style with Medoc-like green notes lending complexity to the Obelisco vineyard fruit. The Walls, named after a nearby penitentiary, is an ambitious new winery (bonded in 2014) at the well-above-average level owned by a Microsoft lawyer.

2016 The Walls Vineyards Chardonnay Martin's Gold Yakima Valley
The "Martin" in the name refers to California wine pioneer Martin Ray whose chardonnay clone this is, and indeed it's California-esque in palate weight with a bit of oaky butterscotch on concentrated chardonnay fruit. Plenty of acidity thanks to the early pick, but nonetheless rather heavy for my old world tastes.

2015 The Walls Vineyards Syrah Concrete Mama The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater
A lovely syrah. Good cherry fruit with a modicum of that wonderful Rocks funk and, most importantly, without the sweet/sappy/overripe curse of the hot vintage. Excellent, just not $92 excellent as priced at the venue I tasted this at.

1997 Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Masseto Toscana IGT Merlot
Excellent; at best for what it can be, but softer, sweeter and therefore less commanding than an Ornellaia also present. Which is not at all a fair assessment considering that new releases of this wine are selling for over $700! It was just very late, a lot of wine was flowing and I got a belated small taste.
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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