We tasted last week (5/30/07) Some Grenache/Mourvedre/Blends:
1. SierraVista ElDorado Grenache (EB; 13.5%) 2005: Med.color; slight earthy/dusty/ElDorado
terroir bit Rhonish light strawberry/Grenache; some earthy/dusty/Rhonisg slight metallic
light Grenache/strawberry flavor; med.long Rhonish/earthy/dusty light strawberry/Grenache
finish w/ no tannins; a pleasant little CdR-level Grenache. $19.25
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2. Novy JudgeFamilyVnyd/BennettVlly Grenache (14.5%) 2004: Med.color; light toasty/oak strong
blackberry/strawberry/Grenache candied pretty nose; tart light bright/candied/strawberry/
Grenache pretty simple flavor; med.short pretty candied/strawberry/soda pop finish w/
little tannins; a pretty little Grenache but just that. $21.00
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3. VIE "L'Imaginaire" Grenache SonomaCnty (14.7%; AltaMesa/WhiteHawk Grenache + ThompsonVnyd/
Syrah + AltaMesa/Mourvedre) 2005: Med.dark color; rather spicy deep/Grenache/strawberry
slight peppery interesting/attractive nose; tart bright/strawberry/Grenache/spicy slight
earthy/peppery flavor; slight bitter/tannic light earthy bright/strawberry/Grenache
slight peppery/spicy finish w/ some tannins; needs a yr or two; lots of pretty/bright
strawberry/Grenache fruit; bit pricey at $39.00
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4. Kenneth-Crawford Grenache LarnerVnyd/SantaYnezVlly (15.5%) 2004: Med.dark color; deep very
spicy/peppery boysenberry/jammy/strawberry Oz-like light toasty/oak bit alcoholic/
overripe nose; tart bit tannic/hard very ripe/boysenberry/strawberry/jammy bit hot/alcoholic
Oz-like/jammy flavor; very long jammy/ripe/boysenberry/strawberry/Grenache slight toasty/
oak bit alcoholic finish; needs several yrs; rather Oz-like w/o the oak. $35.00
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5. Jaffurs SantaBarbaraCnty Grenache (14.8%) 2005: Dark color; slight earthy/funky strong
blackberry/strawberry/Grenache light oak/pungent very pretty nose; tart light tannic
bright/fruity/strawberry/Grenache slight Nehi soda pop flavor; bit tannic bright/
strawberry/Grenache slight earthy light oak/toasty finish; needs several yrs; a rather
pretty Grenache. $27.00
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6. K-Vintners TheBoy WallaWallaVlly (68% Grenache, 18% Syrah, 14% Mourvedre; 14.1%;
http://www.K-Syrah.com) 2004: Dark color; rather roasted/smoky/Rhonish slight cabbagey some toasty/
oak/peppery slight Grenache/strawberry interesting nose; some Rhonish/funky/roasted some
toasty/oak/smokey bit peppery tart slight cabbagey flavor; long smokey/pungent/Rhonish/
roasted light toasty/oak slight funky/cabbagey finish w/ sligght tannins; needs several
yrs; lots of WashState terroir and not much fruit; quite an interesting/Rhonish red.
$36.00
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7. OjaiVnyd Grenache PurismaMtnVnyd/SBCnty (14.5%) 2003: Dark color; beautiful boysenberry/
blackberry/framboise slight meaty essence of Grenache slight herbal/leafy nose; soft intense
framboise/boysenberry/blackberry essence of framboise slight toasty/oak flavor; very long
blackberry/boysenberry essence of framboise slight toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins;
big extracted almost Alban-like Grenache; terrific wine. $37.00
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8. OjaiVnyd Grenache ThompsonVnyd/SBC (14.5%) 2004: Very dark color; very spicy/peppery bit
meaty some toasty/oak more Syrah-like/blackberry nose; tart spicy/meaty some blackberry
some toasty/oak rather tannic flavor; long tannic spicy/meaty some blackberry/strawberry
light toasty/oak finish; speaks less of Grenach and more of Thompson terroir; terrific/
interesting Grenache. $37.00
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9. Core 163 SantaBarbaraCnty RW CuyamaVlly (28% Syrah, 60% Grenache, 12% Mourvedre; 620 cs;
.5-3 tons/acre; 14.9%) 2004: Dark color; strong plummy/blackberry/black cherry/boysenberry
loads of fruit nose; soft very lush plummy/blackberry/boysenberry very ripe slight toasty/
oak rather Oz-like flavor; long slight toasty/oak ripe/plummy/boysenberry huge fruit finish
w/ light tannins; big/huge fruit wine in an Oz style; very good price. $24.00
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10. Core hard core SantaBarbaraCnty (32% Mourvedre, 43% Grenache, 25% CabSauv; 285 cs;
14.9%) 2004: Very dark color; slight herbal/Cab/leafy some plummy/blackberry interesting
nose; tart rather herbal/Cab/leafy light plummy/blackberry bit simple flavor; med.long some
herbal/Cab finish w/ some tannins; interesting off-beat red that seems dominated by the
Cab. $29.00
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11. Core elevation sensation alta mesa vnyd/CuyamaVlly/SantaBarbaraCnty (44% Mourvedre,
54% Grenache, 2% Syrah; 160 cs; 15.2%; http://www.CoreWine.com) 2004: Very dark color; ripe/lovely
very plummy/black cherry/blackberry bit earthy/dusty interesting light/toasty/oak nose;
soft plummy/boysenberry/black cherry some cola/DrPepper light dusty/earthy light toasty/oak
flavor; long very plummy/blackberry/cola/DrPepper finish w/ some tannins; needs several
yrs. $36.00
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12. SierraVista ElDorado Mourvedre (EB; 13.7%) 2004: Dark color; very strong mushroomy/plummy/
ContraCosta-like slight earthy/dusty nose; tart earthy/dusty/ElDorado terroir light
plummy fruit flavor; med. light plummy rather dusty/earthy finish w/ light tannins;
mostly about ElDorado terroir and not much fruit; pleasant red. $19.00
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13. EricTexier VielliesVignes Chateauneuf du Pape (13.5%) 2000: Med.color; rather roasted/
smokey/pungent/NortherRhone slight brettty/funky complex nose; strong bretty/horsecollar
Grenache/strawberry rather toasty/roasted some pungent/oak some peppery/NR complex flavor;
long pungent/smokey/oak rather roasted/NR some strawberry/Grenache some bretty/horsecollar
finish; unusual CdP w/ a lot of NorthernRhone/roasted character; should still go for
several more yrs. Larry's mystery.
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14. Garretson Grenache RozetVnyd/TempletonGap/PasoRobles (15.2%; 200 cs) 2003: Dark color;
loads of strawberry/Grenache/fruity very attractive/pretty nose; soft fairly bright/
strawberry/Grenache big fruit bit simple flavor; med.long bright/strawberry/Grenache finish
w/ light tannins; a rather pretty Grenache that's ready to drink.
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More BloodyPulpit stuff:
1. By and large; this collection of Grenaches didn't much float my boat. Except for the Ojais.
When it comes to Grenache, John Alban clearly rules.
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2. CoreWines: I have liked Dave Corey's wines quite a bit in the past. These three wines were
no exception. Good/tasty red wines at fair prices. If there was any criticism of them, it
would be that they were a bit unfocused. The differences between them were not that
striking. But I think Dave is making some of the best Mourvedre-based wines out there.
I love his CandyCore LateHrvst Grenache. And at HdR, I had my first Core white, an '05
GrenacheBlanc/Marsanne/Roussanne blend that I was favorably impressed with.
TomHill
