A few recent tasting notes.

[Seattle LawDawg]

Been meaning to post some of these for awhile...finally got a slow day at work.

 

Starting with the most recent: Last Friday evening....

 

Ate in the cellar room here and went through the following:

 

1.) 2006 Owen Roe Dubrul Riesling: I didn’t have any but from year to year, its pretty good for a Riesling. Typically good crisp apple and melon. Relatively dry..just a bit of sweetness. I've been drinking the 07s quite often lately....or I was before the NW temps dropped back down into the 50s for highs.

 

2.) 2006 PALI Shea. In 2006, Dick Shea grew so many grapes that he sent some to Brian Loring (Loring Wine Co) in California. Loring is also part owner and the winemaker for PALI so they bottled a Shea as well. It was interesting to see the what a California pinot maker would do with Oregon grapes. Turns out he shoved a lot of them into the bottle. Acid and quite a bit of alcohol had to blow off a bit when the bottle opened, but it mellowed out into a very fruity Pinot but we were able to pull out the terroir that Oregon pinots are more known for.

 

3.) Hightower Merlot. In the last few years, I’ve had 1 Merlot that I really enjoyed and it was the Tapteil out of Washington. Hightower gets its grapes from Tapteil and is located right next door. This was pretty decent…not as good as Tapteil, but ok. I think my issue with it was that it was a bit lighter. Could have used a little more tannin.

 

4.) 2005 Kosta Browne Rosellas: This was hot. 15.8% alcohol and a pH of 3.7…holy moly and you got every bit of it. Pretty wound up but I got some cinnamon, licorice, and light strawberry. Mellowed out over time but probably needed another 12-18 hours in the decanter to really come around.

 

5.) 2005 Sheridan Cab Franc: This is one of the few cab francs that I enjoy seemingly every year and the 05 was a stellar year. Nice, light, plenty of fruit.

 

6.) 1998 Quilceda Creek Cab: what a waste of a great wine. By the time we got to this, we were too hammered to think straight. I think everyone agreed that this was the wine of the night although, I’m not sure how dependable we were at that point.

 

7.) 1991 Cayuse En Cerise (or something like that) Syrah. I don’t remember getting saffron from too many wines but I did from this. Of course, I may have been hallucinating too. Very good syrah though.

 

8.) 2003 Kongsgaard Hudson Syrah. This was a $150 bottle of syrah that spent a good 3 hours in the decanter. Parker and Tanzer both gave it 94s. All of us pulled different fruit out…I think there was some blueberry, but everyone agreed: Venison Blood. I’ll admit that Syrah is a varietal that sometimes needs the perfect food accompaniment but if this really is good, we definitely didn’t have the right food. Even at the end of the night when I would have expected to like just about anything…still didn’t like it. We stayed consistent too. We didn't like it all the way until it was gone.

[Seattle LawDawg]

Below is a collection of notes from our May trip to Walla Walla, WA. Leonetti is open to mailing list members one weekend a year and all the other wineries know that there will be a lot of oenophiles (and some plain drunks...I like to think I start as one but end up as the other) in the area that weekend so they all put out the red carpets. I've put these notes together from my own recollections as well as the tasting notes of a couple friends. A lot of these are pretty basic, but I think we hit about 20 wineries in two days.

 

Woodward Canyon: I’m done with them. I think their Estate Red was the highlight and it wasn’t all that bright.

 

Friend's notes: The Estate Red and Old Vine Cabernet were intriguing, but maybe at half of the price. To me, they’ve priced themselves out of any market, and their wine lineup is confusing and redundant.

 

L’Ecole: The Chenin Blanc once again is a great summer sipper, while the WWV Cab and Syrah are down slightly. The Apogee was the highlight of the place. (I didn't even taste anything here. I've been done with them for years).

 

Longshadows: Aweome!, top to bottom. The riesling was a nice start, if you are into that sort of thing, but the real story were the reds downstairs – Chester-Kidder, Saggi, Pirouette, Pedestal, Feather, and Sequel. Of the 6, my favorites were the Chester-Kidder (red blend), Sequel (syrah), and Feather (cab sauv). Was impressed and amazed at the depth of the wines.

 

Reininger: Done with them too. I didn’t care for anything from the Reininger label. There were a couple decent QPR wines from the Helix label but we found better throughout the day.

 

Spring Valley….I know, I know: but the 05 Uriah, Frederick, and Derby Cab were outstanding. They poured the 06 Uriah as well and I didn’t like at all. Not sure if it was just too young or if it was the addition of Malbec in the 06 vintage, but it didn’t come together at all.

 

Va Piano: I thought the Va Piano wines were all pretty solid, but nothing amazing (although the paninis were good). The Bruno’s Blend III at $18 was a solid QPR and if someone put the Cab or Syrah in front of me, I wouldn’t pour it down the drain.

 

Chateau Rollat: Ok, outside Leonetti, this was the highlight - maybe tied with Longshadow (although slightly scarred by running into a former co-worker who talked….a lot). I left with 2 bottles of each of the 3 wines. I thought the Eduard and Rollat were both great: Big, bold, grabbed me in the back of the throat and tossed me around a bit, and the Sophie was enjoyable for the blend. I didn’t try any of the Trust wines...others were not impressed. Why bother when you could get 2nds of the Chat Rollat wines? Wine Consultant for Chateau Rollat has been the winemaker and Chateau D.Yquem and Latour...not a bad resume.

 

Leonetti: Obviously sucked. Seriously....their wines are amazing year after year and 05 will be one of the best Walla Walla vintages ever, but these wines need some time before they're ready.

 

Abeja: Viognier was ok, not as good in prior years, and was surprised that it was still available to buy (normally sold out well before the release weekend). The Beekeeper’s was top notch again for a ~$20 bottle. Liked the Cab too. Still sittin’ on a few mags of their ’03 Cab. Picked up about a case of the Beekeeper’s for myself.

 

SYZYGY: I’ve worn my bright orange thong every day if that’s any indication. Here’s a perfect example of QPR wines that were better than Helix. I thought the blend and Cab and the syrah were good enough to throw in the car. Tempranillo blend was ok, but not something I would make the flagship wine.

 

Waters: Nothing stood out as spectacular but I thought they were all pretty good. I did like syrah blend. More Notes: Waters: Surprising. Viognier was good, the Rose of Syrah/Viognier was amazing. His syrahs were on par with the Gramercy. His Bordeaux blends were good, but pricey, and the 21 grams ($125) was ridiculous.

 

Sleight of Hand: Magician (Gewurtraminer) was intriguing – nice cheap summer sipper with a nice change-of-pace floral and fruit filled nose and palate. Spellbinder was very good QPR. The Non-Vintage was better than the 05.

 

Stephenson Cellars: Not sure if they were really open or not by the time we got there, but we kinda pushed our way in. For ~$30, both the syrah and cab were pretty good juice although the syrah is going to need some time to calm down a bit. A lot of flavors all over the place, but not all that much balance. It had potential though.

 

K Vintners: Style over substance.

 

Walla Walla Vintners: Crowded. I guess no tasting fee will do that. CabFranc was meh. Sagemoor Cab was good though. Don’t remember much else other than they usually have really good brownies but went the betty crocker route this year.

 

aMaurice: Good stuff. I think this winery will take off in the next few years.

 

Fort Walla Walla: Not bad, unremarkable, and the handle-bar mustache on the winemaker, along with the western motif, made me think I was drinking wine on a stagecoach while crossing the plains.

 

Basel: Some good stuff, I gave the salmon mousse my AOTW (appetizer of the weekend) award, the list of wines was long and difficult to keep track of. The Inspired (Merlot/Cab Franc blend – a la SVV’s Uriah) was soft and approachable, along with the Merriment. The syrah was bland. Of the whites, the Forget-me-not blend was good, but the Sauv. Blanc didn’t do it for me.

 

Northstar: As always, great Merlot. This year they had single varietals that are sold only at the winery – the Cab Sauv and Cab Franc were pedestrian, but the Syrah and Petit Verdot were quite good. I ended up with 3 of the Petit Verdot for myself. Chocolate torte and the cheese spread was well worth the free admission.

 

Gramercy: Great Tempranillo. The syrah was ok, but didn’t differentiate itself too much from the multitudes of others in the region.

 

Saviah: Laurelle (Super Tuscan: Sangio/Cab) was awesome, and his Big Sky Cuvee and Une Vallee continue to be very good. His Star Meadow white blend (sauv blanc/semillon) was floral and tasty. The syrah’s were ok, but nothing to get excited about.

[detlef]

Northstar: As always, great Merlot. This year they had single varietals that are sold only at the winery – the Cab Sauv and Cab Franc were pedestrian, but the Syrah and Petit Verdot were quite good. I ended up with 3 of the Petit Verdot for myself. Chocolate torte and the cheese spread was well worth the free admission.

Just out of curiosity, how much is the Merlot out there? I've always liked it as well, but when I used to sell wholesale it was some damned pricey juice (like $30 wholesale). Now I'm buying from the same company and got some in at $19 per. Curious if they've slashed it at the winery as well.

[Seattle LawDawg]

Just out of curiosity, how much is the Merlot out there? I've always liked it as well, but when I used to sell wholesale it was some damned pricey juice (like $30 wholesale). Now I'm buying from the same company and got some in at $19 per. Curious if they've slashed it at the winery as well.

 

I thought it was around $40 at the winery but I could be mistaken.

[detlef]

I thought it was around $40 at the winery but I could be mistaken.

Wow, I'm not used to NC prices being all that good.

[Seattle LawDawg]

Many of the wineries in the Willamette Valley are open every weekend. Some, however, are only open a few weekends every year: Usually Memorial Day weekend and Thanksgiving weekend. This year, some of those had events the weekend before Memorial Day weekend for mailing list members, friends of the wineries, etc. It was tough, but when the cause calls for consecutive weekends in the valley, you just have to go. (I pretend that there's some similar cause most of the year).

 

I was most interested to sample some of the 07 Pinots from the barrels since the harvest was late and wet with sugar levels increasing drastically throughout 24 hour periods. The weekend before Memorial Day, we hit the following (some of this I touched on in another thread, but here are more details):

 

Shea: As far as I'm concerned this is typically the creme of the crop in Oregon. I hope there are better in 07. All of their wines were very light on fruit, which isn't unusual for Oregon. Traditionally, great Oregon Pinot is built more on a delicate balance of earth and fruit, usually leaning slightly to the side of terroir. The 07 wines that we tasted at Shea seemed to be light on everything except water. We started by drinking the 07 Chardonnay which is already in the bottle and there was quite a bit of oak followed by enough crisp fruit. Seemed a little bitter in the finish, however. From there, we went to the 07 Shea Estate which is the cuvee' from this producer. Normally, it is a solid $35-40 bottle of wine. I guess I could have used it to rinse my glass. I've never enjoyed the East Hills single vineyard and this year was no different. After that, we were left with a couple wines that perform year in and year out: The Block 23 and the Homer. Both had a little more structure, but at this point in the barrel, I'd expect some flavors to really stand out which would soften with more time and balance out with the rest of the bottle. I just didn't get it from these wines. Both seemed ok to drink right now. I'm afraid their prime drinking window will be spent in the barrel. Unfortunately, the blocks containing the Wadenswil clones, which usually results in some great wine, was pulled and has to be replanted due to phylloxera. A number of Oregon wineries are facing this problem right now so we may see a shortage of some of the normal single vineyards. From what I've heard, Beaux Freres may have been hit worse.

 

Penner Ash: Here we got to drink the 07s next to the 06s. We got in line again for the 06s. Actually, Penner Ash had the highlight for the 07s we tasted. The Dussin Vineyard which I believe is their youngest vineyard had quite a bit of potential. The vineyard is high and fairly small so I'm not sure if they just got it picked earlier or if being high helped with water runoff or what, but I'll keep my eye on this one. In 06, I would have placed the wine from that vineyard somewhere in the middle of their 5-6 Pinots. The others were similar to the Shea wines: Seemingly watered down and void of any real character.

 

Bergstrom: Nothing here to write home about. Josh has gone back and forth between some very fruit forward wines to some very soft balanced wines closer to an old-world style burgundy. He might have something to work with to get to some of those very delicate Pinots but I won't be holding my breath.

 

Memorial Day Weekend: The harvest reports claimed that the southern valley wasn't hit by the rains like the northern end so we headed south to see if we could get into any of those wines. There were certainly a few bright spots, but there weren't too many tasting from the barrel. Some of the highlights were a bit unexpected though.

 

Bethel Heights: Highlight here were the QPR whites. Started with a nice Pinot Gris. Good floral nose followed by some nice crisp fruit (apple), dry enough to go with more dishes than some Pinot Gris, and with just enough acidity to call for it to be served quite cold. It'll be a good summer wine. Their chardonnay was also drinking quite well. If I remember correctly, the wine started in neutral oak so it got just enough without allowing the oak to overpower. Again, nice crisp fruit with just a little bit of tobacco. Decent medium length finish.

 

Cristom: meh. Not sure what it was since I've had quite a few of their current releases previously, but their wines just didn't do it for me while we were at the winery. They are producing a syrah from Oregon grapes, which is somewhat unusual (many of the Oregon producers who release a syrah get their grapes from WA). It was drinkable.

 

St. Innocent: St. Innocent produces my favorite QPR Oregon Pinot: The Villages Cuvee'. They weren't pouring it. But they were pouring a number of other Pinots. I thought the highlight was the Justice, which I had again last Friday night when I was sober and was still impressed. Nice bold fruit. A little bigger than many of their other offerings. Nice dark cherry and Raspberry layered with wet soil and leather with a long long finish.

 

Lemelson: I was hoping that Lemelson would do some barrel samplings as they have in past years, but they didn't. Not sure if thats an indication of things to come or not. I already knew that I enjoyed the 06 wines but was happy to stand around and drink them again. The two cuvees (Thea's and Jerome) were nice, fruit forward, pinots. There was some difference of opinion, but I thought the highlight was the Stermer Vineyard, mostly because it was pretty big. Kinda jumped out of the glass. Probably not in its prime yet (although I had another bottle Tuesday night), but this will settle down a bit. Others thought the Meyers vineyard was the standout and it was certainly decent, but for wines this young, I'm usually looking for some characteristics that would show some potential for aging.