WTN: Some New Wines...(long/boring)

We tried last night (8/8/12) Some New Wines:
1. Donkey&Goat Chard Lily'sCuvee AndersonVlly SparklingWine (U; 12.5%) 2011: Med.gold color; rather
yeasty/leesy/toasty/pungent bit earthy/herbal/appley/Chard slight melony quite interesting nose;
very dry/austere earthy/appley/Chard somewhat leesy/yeasty/cheesy flavor w/ only a slight
effervescence; med.long leesy/cheesy/yeasty some earthy/appley/herbal/Chard quite dry/austere
slightly bitter finish; a very dry/austere unusual sparkler. $nc (T&JB)
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2. Movia Puro Rose Natural Dry Sparkling Wine (EB; 12.5%; 100% PinotNoir) AlexKristancic/Dobrovo/
Slovenia 2004: Lovely orange/pink/peach somewhat cloudy color; slight yeasty rather fragrant
tropical fruit/bubble gum complex/unusual nose; rather phenolic/bitter fairly spritzy watermelon/
cranberry somewhat leesy/cheesy/yeasty delicate pretty flavor; long some phenolic/bitter quite
juicy/watermelon/cranberry/bubble gum/tropical fruit leesy/yeasty finish; quite a pretty/delicate
and very interesting sparkler. $47.00 (Gom/MT)
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3. Ferraton LesMandouls AC: Condrieu (13.5%; www.IAWines.com) 2009: Light gold color; very attractive
strong peach/pear/Viog rather minerally/smokey classic Condrieu nose; fairly tart rich/lush ripe
peach/pear/Viog glycerined structured rather mineral quite complex classic Condrieu flavor; very
long/lingering ripe peach/pear/Viog rich/glycerined fairly mineral/smokey rich/powerful
beautiful complex finish; a rich/powerful classic Condrieu; one of the best I've had in a number
of yrs; very fair price at $48.00 (Gom/MT)
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4. FamillePeillot Mondeuse AC: Bugey (MeBalP; 12%) Montagnieu 2010: Med.color; strong earthy/mineral/
graphite strong blueberry/blackberry/smokey classic SavoieMondeuse nose; quite tart/lean rather
tannic earthy/mineral strong blackberry/blueberry/Mondeuse austere flavor; very long rather hard/
tannic strong blueberry/Mondeuse/smokey finish; needs age; some slight high-toned Mondeuse fruit
but fairle classic earthy/rustic Savoie Mondeuse. $28.00 (Gom/MT)
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5. Nalle CuisineCinque DryCreekVlly/SonomaCnty (13.2%; 85% co-frmtd Syrah/Mourv/Durif,
10% Zin, 5% Semillon; KitchenSink FoodWine; 115 cs; www.NalleWinery.com) 2005: Med.dark color;
rather strong toasty/vanilla/oak some bretty fairly blackberry/blueberry/spicy/Syrah classic
Nalle nose; fairly tart rather lean/tannic blackberry/Zin-like slight bretty strong toasty/oak
flavor; long rather hard/tannic strong toasty/vanilla/oak some blackberry/raspberry/Zin-like
finish; speaks strongly of Nalle Zin than Syrah; unusually hard/tannic for a Nalle; interesting
wine but a bit pricey. $45.00
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6. Odonata PetiteSirah MachadoCreekVnyd/SantaClaraCnty (14.5%) 2009: Very dark/black color;
beautiful/fragrant blueberry/blackberry/boysenberry/licorice/PS light toasty/oak slight herbal/
earthy nose w/ lovely aromatics almost like a SCM Zin; fairly tart beautiful lush/blackberry/
blueberry/spicy/PS/licorice slight alcoholic some spicy/peppery some toasty/oak flavor w/ modest
tannins; very long aromatic/perfumed lush blackberry/blueberry/PS/licorice/spicy some toasty/oak
slightly tannic finish; terrific aromatics not usually found in a PS; reminds me some of the
DavidBruce Estate PS's of yore. Very fairly priced at $28.00 (CB)
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7. Odonata Syrah ZayanteVnyd/SantaCruzMtns (14.5%; www.OdonataWines.com) SantaCruz 2009: Very dark color;
very strong blueberry/blackberry/Syrah light earthy/peppery/Rhonish/pungent/licorice lovely aromatic
nose; strong fairly tannic blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah rather peppery/pungent some toasty/oak quite
spicy slight earthy/roasted/Rhonish flavor; rather long spicy/peppery blackberry/blueberry/Syrah light
toasty/oak slight licorice/pungent/roasted finsh w/ ample tannins; needs 2-6 yrs; much like the BigBasin
Syrahs but a bit less Rhonish and more aromatics; wonderful Syrah at a great price. $28.00 (CB)
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8. LesPiliers Syrah AOC: Costieres de Nimes (14%) M./R. Gassier/Caissargues 2007: Very dark/black color;
very strong roasted/espresso/pungent/smoky rather blackberry/Syrah slight bretty/unclean rather Northern
Rhone lovely nose; rather bretty/unclean some roasted/espresso/NR bit tart strong blackberry/Syrah flavor
w/ some tannins; ned.long some roasted/NR/espresso/pungent fairly bretty/unclean fairly strong blackberry/
Syrah finish w/ some rough/coarse tannins; very attractive NorthernRhone character but a bit too unclean/
bretty on the palate for my taste; attractively priced at $14.60 (Gom/MT)
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9. Power to the People Syrah SantaBarbaraCnty (Kosher; 40% Syrah ThompsonVnyd/ 50% Syrah
co-frmtd w/ 2% Viognier/McGinleyVnyd; 15%; www.ShirahWine.com) ShirahWineCo/AguaDulce
2009: Very dark/black color; slight herbal/spicy/peppery intense blackberry/Syrah/blueberrry light toasty/
oak some cool-climate/peppery/spicy lovely aromatic nose; soft rather structured/tannic intense blackberry/Syrah/
boysenberry some cool-climate/peppery light toasty/oak quite aromatic flavor; very long/lingering intense Syrah/
blackberry/boysenberry/spicy some peppery/spicy light toasty/charred/oak finish w/ ample tannins; needs 4-10
yrs of age; a very/very good classic SBC Syrah w/ classic Thompson peppery. $nc (GabrielWeiss)/$60.00
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10. Darby PetiteSirah StonetreeVnyd/WahlukeSlope (15.6%; www.DarbyWinery.com) 2010: Very dark/black color; intense
blackberry/blueberry/boysenberry/Syrah some toasty/charred/Am.oak/vanilla some peppery/cold-climate quite
attractive nose; intense blackberry/boysenberry/ripe/Syrah-like light earthy/peppery/cold-climate fairly strong
toasty/charred/vanilla/oak slightly soft/soupy flavor w/ soft tannins; long intense blackberry/blueberry/Syrah-
like strong toasty/charred/vanilla/oak soft/earthy finish w/ strong/soft tannins; needs some 2-8 yrs; has that
classic WashState/earthy character w/ an intensity of fruit rare for PS; fairly priced at $35.00 (vSC)
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And the usual BloodyPulpit:
1. Both of these wines were non-disgorged. Which means you had to do the degorging yourself...
not an easy task unless you've experienced. Both were loaded w/ a ton of very fine sediment.
I stood the D&G upside down as Tracey recommended, but it was starting to leak around the crown
cap; so I stood it upright and didn't disgorge. It may have lost a bit of CO2 because of the
slight leak. There was a big wad of brown sediment stuck on the neck and inside of the crown
cap w/ the texture of duck liver pate or nuggets I used to find in my daughter's diapers. It
tasted a bit leesy/yeasty/grapey.
The Puro was also stood upright and not disgorged. It had a champagne-like cork locked on
w/ a narrow metal strap. When I pried the strap off, the cork hit the ceiling and sprayed wine
all over the sink & wall, losing about 1/3'rd the btl's contents. Since both were only poured for
5 people, most of the sediment stayed behind in the D&G. Not so for the Puro and the pours were
pretty cloudy.
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2. Odonata: This is Denis Hoey, from Sacramento. Makes his wine over in SantaCruz. I'd never heard of
them before and stumbled across these two when I was in DarrellCorti's back in June. I was mightly
impressed with both of them. A new wnry I'll have to keep my eye upon.
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3. PttP Syrah: This is a wine made by Shimon & Gabriel Weiss up at AguaDulceWnry in the SierraPelonaVlly,
midway between SantaClarita & Lancaster in northern LACnty. Not heard of this wnry before (AguaDolce).
Gabriel had noticed on WLDG that I tasted some ("insane amount" was his term) SantaBarbaraCnty Syrahs
and sent me a btl of this unreleased '09 Syrah to try. It is made to Kosher standards. The grapes come
from first-rate vnyds in SBC.
The wine reminded me a bit of the early SQN Syrahs w/ toned-down oak; a bit of the Jaffurs Syrahs
w/ more tannins and structure. The label is a rather strange label w/ a kind of velvet-like surface and
a bit hard to read. This is clearly a high-end Syrah and priced accordingly and not out of line on the
price, given its quality.
Tom

Hi Tom -

Thank you for the notes again. I've had a few cloudy sparkling/frizzante wines with very fine sediment, and have never bothered trying to disgorge them. From your post, it sounds like it requires a lot of practice.

Hi Tom -

Thank you for the notes again. I've had a few cloudy sparkling/frizzante wines with very fine sediment, and have never bothered trying to disgorge them. From your post, it sounds like it requires a lot of practice.

GeorgeVare makes some Sparkling Ribolla that is not disgorged. He holds it upside down (w/ the sediment against the cap), pops the
crown cap & turns it upright in one continuous/graceful motion. Loses only about a half cup of wine. Obviously, it's not something
you do in your living room or at table.
Tom

You've never heard of Agua Dulce Winery (that is the correct spelling) located in Agua Dulce, CA? I'm the winemaker there, as of Aug 2010. 75 acres of vineyard on a 90 acre property, Sierra Pelona Valley AVA (which, although not limited to this vineyard, was applied for largely for this vineyard, by far the largest in the AVA. The high desert (2800 ft) can grow some superior fruit, including surprisingly good Merlot (as well as quite good Cab and Syrah), but unfortunately, part of the vineyard is planted to unsuitable varieties. It's hot, hot, hot, at least we had a heat wave this year, and we're half way through crush, but 2010 and 2011 were quite cool.

Gabe and Shimon do the cellar work here. Unlike me, they've never tasted nonkosher wine, so they had no idea how their wine stacked up to those in the general market. I'm sure they're very pleased that you found the wine solid and distinctive, and fairly priced in the high end.

You've never heard of Agua Dulce Winery (that is the correct spelling) located in Agua Dulce, CA? I'm the winemaker there, as of Aug 2010. 75 acres of vineyard on a 90 acre property, Sierra Pelona Valley AVA (which, although not limited to this vineyard, was applied for largely for this vineyard, by far the largest in the AVA. The high desert (2800 ft) can grow some superior fruit, including surprisingly good Merlot (as well as quite good Cab and Syrah), but unfortunately, part of the vineyard is planted to unsuitable varieties. It's hot, hot, hot, at least we had a heat wave this year, and we're half way through crush, but 2010 and 2011 were quite cool.
Gabe and Shimon do the cellar work here. Unlike me, they've never tasted nonkosher wine, so they had no idea how their wine stacked up to those in the general market. I'm sure they're very pleased that you found the wine solid and distinctive, and fairly priced in the high end.

Thanks for chiming in, Craig. Yup.....never heard of AguaDulce until Gabriel mentioned it to me in his PM. Now I have vague recollections that he might
have mentioned you in one of his PM's.
Haven't heard back from Gabriel yet, but I'm certain, too, that he appreciated my comments. I had low expectations for the wine and it far exceeded them.
At the high-end Syrah market, I think it can hold up to most of them.
I sorta suspected that SierraPelona was fairly hot. I assume you have irrigation water. You are right...high desert can grow superior wines.
Gruet does it quite well down in TorC, NM.
Tom

Hi Tom -

Thank you for the notes again. I've had a few cloudy sparkling/frizzante wines with very fine sediment, and have never bothered trying to disgorge them. From your post, it sounds like it requires a lot of practice.

GeorgeVare makes some Sparkling Ribolla that is not disgorged. He holds it upside down (w/ the sediment against the cap), pops the
crown cap & turns it upright in one continuous/graceful motion. Loses only about a half cup of wine. Obviously, it's not something
you do in your living room or at table.
Tom

Interesting. Obviously this was much harder to do with the Champagne cork on the Movia.

We have marginal water for irrigation, but are optimistic that we can identify more for optimal irrigation. Another problem is early budbreak and early freezes, the resulting damage having decimated the vineyard in the past. I have changed cultural practices to minimize frost damage, but I don't think the threat can entirely be eliminated. Unfortunately, we lack the quantities of stored water necessary for overhead sprinklers for frost protection.

I should also mention in passing that due to the ease of kosher production with the cellar staff entirely made up of observant Jews, Agua Dulce is trending towards entirely kosher production, even though the winery has a following (through the tasting room and wine club) that is not kosher oriented. This is largely so we will be able to drink the production of our own hands. Although I taste, but don't drink, nonkosher wines, Gab and Shimon will do neither, as they lack rabbinic permission for tasting. Such concession would have been unheard of except this is one of 3 wineries owned by my boss, who has personal reasons for wishing at least some of his production to be kosher in fact, even if not marketed targeting the kosher consumer.

It is truly an exciting time for ADW, with a growing wine club, an active tasting room, and unique marketing opportunities introduced by the marketing flexibility afforded it through high quality kosher product.