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WTN: Stuff from the last week

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WTN: Stuff from the last week

by Jenise » Tue Jun 12, 2018 5:34 pm

2016 Spy Valley Pinot Noir Rosé Marlborough
Agree with Xavier's observations but with almost another year of bottle age the depth and complexity he notes have magnified in all the best ways. Yet another example of good things coming from letting roses sit out a year.

2015 Mission Hill Pinot Noir Terroir Collection No.43 Reflection Point Okanagan Valley, B.C.
Interesting wine: very peppery and tasty but more gamayish to me than pinot noir. Liked it no less for that, just sayin'. Would drink sooner than later, don't think it has the stuffing for age.

2015 Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc Wild Marlborough
Drank a '17 regular then this '15 Wild. Obvious results ensued: fruity youngster vs. bottle age and ramped-up herbaceousness and votes for 'best' divided along party lines. Put me down for Wild.

2011 Force Majeure Collaboration Series I Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Red Mountain Red Bordeaux Blend
Tight. Tannins seem to be in charge at the moment. There's some heat too--14.8% in a cool and difficult vintage like 2011? How the heck did that happen? Let other bottles rest or give a long decant.

2006 Long Shadows Wineries Merlot Pedestal Columbia Valley
From magnum. Not at all a fruit bomb--this was a classic style WA vintage and it shows in this wine. Balanced boysenberry fruit with some interesting secondary nuances from bottle age. NICE.

2009 Dakota Creek Cabernet Franc Rattlesnake Hills
Drinking superbly right now. Sweet fruit as befits the vintage but peppery, minty and minus the heat that made so many other 09's avoidable.

2012 Betz Family Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille Columbia Valley
Drinking well. However, softer than I expected from a Betz Famille: whether that's the 2012 vintage or a change of direction in Betz wines, not sure.

2013 Doubleback Syrah Stolen Horse Columbia Valley
'Doubleback' is the winery owned by football player Drew Bledsoe. Excellent syrah, superb balance and elegant which seem to be typical of his brand, subtly achieved without oak planks or velvet robes. An anti-funk style (I love funk and that's coming through in a lot of WA syrahs--but many don't).
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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Re: WTN: Stuff from the last week

by Bob Parsons Alberta » Tue Jun 12, 2018 7:15 pm

That Cab Franc sounds like one I would enjoy.
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Re: WTN: Stuff from the last week

by Patchen Markell » Tue Jun 12, 2018 9:40 pm

Did you get this Greywacke Wild in the US Or was this from Sue?
cheers, Patchen
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Re: WTN: Stuff from the last week

by David M. Bueker » Wed Jun 13, 2018 11:22 am

Had a Doubleback Cabernet last week. It was served blind. Meh.
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Re: WTN: Stuff from the last week

by Jenise » Wed Jun 13, 2018 1:20 pm

David M. Bueker wrote:Had a Doubleback Cabernet last week. It was served blind. Meh.


Context is everything, of course. I had a mere taste of the cab a few months back at the same tasting I had the Bevan at--but where I got to sit and contemplate the Bevan, the Doubleback was just a swig from a roaming bottle and compared to most of the roaming bottle tastes, the Doubleback was among the best.

That said, I'm also keenly aware that in almost any tasting where California and Washington wines are both present, I will likely favor the California wine. Love black cherry and tobacco more than I do blackberry and coffee. Which is all a roundabout way of saying that it would be hard for any WA wine to show well in the company of the caliber of wines that show up at your tasting group.
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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Re: WTN: Stuff from the last week

by David M. Bueker » Thu Jun 14, 2018 8:26 am

Grabbed my notes from the tasting, and the 2012 Doubleback finished 8th out of 11 wines, besting only the abysmal 2015 Kirkland Oakville Cab, a boring 2010 Frank Family Napa Cab and a regular 2005 Mondavi Napa Cab that I actually liked, but the group panned, mostly for not being "big enough."
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Re: WTN: Stuff from the last week

by Jenise » Thu Jun 14, 2018 3:00 pm

An important difference: the Doubleback Cab I tasted was 2013, not 2012. My note: "Notes just say: WOW. What I recall is black cherry and cigar box, silky tannins, smooth mouthfeel. Quite classy, and closer to CA than WA in style."

In general I dislike the '12 vintage. I mostly avoided it, and the few I have had from producers I otherwise have liked have recently disappointed. In general they're big soft wines, little tannin or acid. The '13's have a lot more structure.
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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Re: WTN: Stuff from the last week

by David M. Bueker » Thu Jun 14, 2018 4:02 pm

Useful info, as I do not follow WA vintages.
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Re: WTN: Stuff from the last week

by David M. Bueker » Thu Jun 14, 2018 4:05 pm

Thinking about WA wines, I took a look at my small stash of Betz in CellarTracker. Other than one new outlier, where one person did not care for the wine, every bottle I have shows a 91 - 92 range in the system. Every Cab, Syrah, blend, etc. Every wine.
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Re: WTN: Stuff from the last week

by Jenise » Thu Jun 14, 2018 4:43 pm

Not really surprised, Betz is perhaps more consistent than most. But I had a '12 Betz Cuvee Frangin last night. New to me and tasty but not a long-termer. Too, I've recently been disappointed in '12's from Canvasback, Matthews Claret, Andrew Will and several others.

A local friend who's a distributor (and not a WA wine fan) and I had a conversation in late '13 wherein he said that '12 was going to be one of the great vintages. I disagreed and sided with '13. A few weeks back a '12 with no backbone crossed both our paths and he said "well, there you go, that's '12" and I reminded him of our old conversation. "Yup, I was mistaken." So it's not just me.
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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Re: WTN: Stuff from the last week

by Jason Hagen » Tue Jun 26, 2018 11:52 am

Thanks for the note.

Great to hear about the Doubleback. My step father gave me a bottle of the 2013 and it is on deck right now.

Jason

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