Our shipment from BillEaston's recent sale came in last week & we tasted thru them on Monday:
1. Easton SauvBlanc MonarchMineVnyd/SierraFoothills (14.1%) Plymouth 2018: Light gold color; very attractive melony/SB/slight herbal no oak
quite attractive if a bit mild-mannered nose; slightly tart/tangy/bit metallic light melony/SB/herbal slightly earthy rather simple/pleasant flavor; med.long
ripe/melony/SB/bit herbal quite pleasant finish; a quite pleasant rather mild-mannered/low-key SB at a good price. $18.00
________________________
2. Easton Zin ShenandoahVlly (15.1%; EB; old BaldinelliVnyd) 2010: Dark color; quite attractive blackberry/briary/SV Zin some dusty/OV light vanilla/Am.oak
pretty classic SV Zin nose; bit soft slight alcoholic/fumey strong blackberry/briary/SV Zin some Am.oak slightly drying out flavor w/ light drying tannins; very long very strong
blackberry/briary/very spicy/SV Zin light Am.oak some dusty/OV bit complex finish w/ modest drying tannins; a pretty classic SV Zin w/ plenty of fruit, fully mature but showing
a bit of drying out; ready to drink up afore it loses more fruit. $26.00
________________________
3. Easton Barbera CooperRanch/ShenandoahVlly (14.5%) 2012: Very dark color; some vanilla/Am.oak quite spicy/Barbera/dried Italian herbs bit dusty/OV
quite attractive nose; fairly tart/tangy classic Barbera/spicy/dried Italian herbs slight vanilla/oak slightly drying flavor w/ somewhat hard tannins; very long very strong
Barbera/pizza spices/very spicy light vanilla/oak bit dusty/OV bit complex finish w/ bit hard/chewey tannins; a pretty classic expression of Barbera that is starting
to dry out a bit on the palate but still quite good; a rather rugged wine. $21.00
________________________
4. Easton CabSauv Shenandoah (15.0%; EB; old BaldinelliVnyd) 2012: Very dark color; some blackcurranty/Cab rather SV/briary strong Am.oak/vanilla bit
dusty/OV bit complex lovely fragrant nose; fairly tart/tangy some blackcurranty/Cab/slight herbal strong briary/SV/blackberry some vanilla/oak bit dusty/OV some
complex flavor w/ ample hard tannins; very long strong briary/SV/blackberry some blackcurranty/Cab/bit herbal/spicy structured some complex finish w/ some hard/chewey
tannins; speaks strongly of SV/briary character w/ the clasic Calif blackcurranty Cab lurking in the background; a rugged Cabernet that needs more age. $28.00
________________________
5. Dom. TerreRouge Syrah SentinelOakVnyd/PyramidBlock/ShenandoahVlly (14.5%; Plntd: 1983) 2010: Very dark cfolor; strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry some
briary/SV light Am.oak/vanilla bit simpler nose; lightly tart very strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/ripe some SV/briary fairly structured light vanilla/oak bit complex flavor
w/ some hard/angular tannins; very long/lingering very strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry some vanilla/oak fairly SV/briary/spicy rather structured finish w/ some hard/
angular tannins; a bit simpler & less interesting than the DTRRanch but a very good/bit rugged Syrah that still can use some more age. $26.00
________________________
6. Dom. TerreRouge Syrah DTR Ranch/Fiddletown (14.5%) 2010: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/Syrah/very spicy/ripe some c-c/black pepper some
toasty/oak some complex rather perfumed nose; rather tart/tangy very strong blackberry/Syrah/very spicy/ripe/boysenberry light toasty/oak fairly structured bit
complex slight black pepper/c-c flavor w/ some hard tannins; very long/lingering very strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/very spicy bit toasty/oak rather
structured some complex finish w/ modest chewey tannins; still in need of more age to soften the tannins. $26.00
________________________________________________________
And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Every Fall, BillEaston has a big sale of his library wines, pretty heavily discounted. These 6 are some my group ordered from that sale.
Bill & Jane Easton purchased the old Baldinelli property & started their wnry there in 1986. EdBaldinelli was an engineer for Kaiser Engineering there
in the EastBay area. The home he built & designed in the Oakland Hills was based on FrankLloyd Wright designs and attracted a lot of attention. Not know
if it still exists or not. KayBaldinelli worked at UC/Berkeley and eventually headed the Employee Benefits operation. They bought property up in the ShenandoahVlly
and planted their vnyd in 1972, mostly to Cabernet & Zinfandel, head-pruned & unirrigated. They established their wnry in 1979 with JohnMiller as their winemaker.
The wines, made in the shadow of CaryGott at Montevina, were good/solid expressions of ShenandoahVlly reds. The Easton wnry is located just up DicksenRd in the
middle of the old Baldinelli vnyds. On the corner of DicksenRd is VinoNoceto, specializing in Sangiovese planted just across the hwy & on a corner of the
old Baldinelli property, I believe. I liked the old Baldinelli wines quite a lot & thought they were rather traditional/solid ShenandoahVlly wines. Several times, in the
early '80's, Kay, in her role as UC representative, visited LosAlamos & she & Ed did several tastings for our group. She died in 2017, living up there in the SV with
their son Michael. Ed died some yrs before that.
____________________________
2. The Barbera came from Dick Cooper's vnyd there in the ShenandoahVlly. Although he was not the first to grow Barbera there, he is widely praised for bringing
fame to Barbera there. He recently died. He was an Icon in the ShenandoahVlly.
____________________________
3. Cabernet: I've always found that ShenandoahVlly Cabernet carries a strong imprint of briary/SV character and not a lot of the blackcurranty/herbal/Cab character
that you find in most Calif Cabs. I think Bill's Cab is one of the bestt Cabs made in the SV, very structured, and a great track record for aging.
____________________________
4. Syrah: Bill, one of the originals in the RhoneRanger movement, consistently makes the best Syrahs in the SV. He makes a high-end Syrah called Ascent that's
on the pricey side but is as good as any Syrah being made in Calif. Of these two Syrahs, I much preferred the DTR Ranch because it was more interesting and
showed a bit of c-c/black pepper character. This is the Dom.TerreRouge Ranch where Bill&Jane live on the East edge of Fiddletown. It is significantly cooler there
in Fiddletown than in the nearby ShenandoahVlly. Both of these Syrahs are steals at this sale price.
Tom