Tulocay 2001 Zinfandel (Amador County) Jeez, this is good. Full-throated black fruit, all wild vines and tangled pulp, without being over the top or tricked-up in any way. Theres tannin and acidity in the background, both lesser components but providing sufficient support for all else. Evidence suggests this will continue to age and develop for some time, with the current hints of black pepper fanning out into a wider mlange of spices and soil characteristics. (5/09)
Edmunds St. John 1999 Rocks and Gravel (California) Im not enraptured by the way this has developed, in that the bubblegumness of grenache is not only on full display, but dominant. Theres appealing herbed hearth and a few slabs of meat in the background, but they struggle to push past the strawberry gobsmacker (not that this is a gobby wine). Moreover, alcohol is prodding at the boundaries. Did I hold this too long? Maybe, because I think I liked it more a few years ago, and the grenache/alcohol tandem doesnt bode enormously well for the future. (5/09)
Poverty Lane Farnum Hill 2007 Kingston Black Cider Reserve (New Hampshire) The aromatic character of ciders doesnt, at least to my palate, vary as much as the palette of wine grapes, though there are definitely subtle shadings depending on the variety; the general trend is sour-sweet apple, and the range is more concerned with matters of dilution vs. concentration. Here, those shadings are more like outright hues, which is one of the reasons I find this cider so appealing. Theres a tactility to the fruit thats more like biting into the apple itself than drinking its fermented essence, and the nature of that fruit carries a certain steely minerality. Very impressive. Maybe not the best cider Ive ever tasted, but certainly one of the best from the U.S. (5/09)
Tablas Creek 2006 Ctes de Tablas Red (Paso Robles) While I wouldnt say this wine swaggers, it walks with more polished confidence with each vintage. I presume maturing vines and maturing technique are to be credited, but whatever the reason, I feel as confident serving this wine to any gathering of New and/or Old World palates as any other California wine. (5/09)
Porter Creek 2001 Chardonnay Georges Hill (Russian River Valley) Showing the baked nuts, light toast, and faded fruit of a fully mature wine, this faded a lot faster than Id have guessed from its youthful vibrancy. Oh, well. (5/09)
Tablas Creek 2005 Ros (Paso Robles) Dead. (5/09)
Tablas Creek 2005 Ros (Paso Robles) Old orange, bronzed and with a background static of something vaguely metallic, like canned orange soda thats been left just a bit too long. If one can get past that, the spice thats developed is actually quite pleasurable, though the lack of intense, primary fruit leaves the wines alcohol always on the high side for a ros, though its among the majority of the genre in that sense more present than one wants. Theres really not much to learn here, other than that this wine was much better in its youthand as with almost all ross, that was already a given. (5/09)
Terre Rouge 2001 Syrah Les Ctes de lOuest (California) Sometimes, I wonder if this wine will ever show signs of maturity (it has mellowed a bit, but otherwisenot so much). Other times, I remind myself that this is the entry-level syrah, and I probably shouldnt be looking for major development. And after all, consistency is a virtue: year after year, one knows what one is going to get from this bottle, which seems to appear and reappear as if the remaining bottles are mating, or cloning, or perhaps budding. The aromas? Blacknblue fruit, some purple, some dark earth, some light tar, some faint rosemary, the faintest hint of soft pinepretty much the same as its been since release. I suppose I need to really bury one of these under something heavy should I truly wish to find out what, if anything, will happen. (5/09)
Edmunds St. John 1999 Rocks and Gravel (California) Im not enraptured by the way this has developed, in that the bubblegumness of grenache is not only on full display, but dominant. Theres appealing herbed hearth and a few slabs of meat in the background, but they struggle to push past the strawberry gobsmacker (not that this is a gobby wine). Moreover, alcohol is prodding at the boundaries. Did I hold this too long? Maybe, because I think I liked it more a few years ago, and the grenache/alcohol tandem doesnt bode enormously well for the future. (5/09)
Poverty Lane Farnum Hill 2007 Kingston Black Cider Reserve (New Hampshire) The aromatic character of ciders doesnt, at least to my palate, vary as much as the palette of wine grapes, though there are definitely subtle shadings depending on the variety; the general trend is sour-sweet apple, and the range is more concerned with matters of dilution vs. concentration. Here, those shadings are more like outright hues, which is one of the reasons I find this cider so appealing. Theres a tactility to the fruit thats more like biting into the apple itself than drinking its fermented essence, and the nature of that fruit carries a certain steely minerality. Very impressive. Maybe not the best cider Ive ever tasted, but certainly one of the best from the U.S. (5/09)
Tablas Creek 2006 Ctes de Tablas Red (Paso Robles) While I wouldnt say this wine swaggers, it walks with more polished confidence with each vintage. I presume maturing vines and maturing technique are to be credited, but whatever the reason, I feel as confident serving this wine to any gathering of New and/or Old World palates as any other California wine. (5/09)
Porter Creek 2001 Chardonnay Georges Hill (Russian River Valley) Showing the baked nuts, light toast, and faded fruit of a fully mature wine, this faded a lot faster than Id have guessed from its youthful vibrancy. Oh, well. (5/09)
Tablas Creek 2005 Ros (Paso Robles) Dead. (5/09)
Tablas Creek 2005 Ros (Paso Robles) Old orange, bronzed and with a background static of something vaguely metallic, like canned orange soda thats been left just a bit too long. If one can get past that, the spice thats developed is actually quite pleasurable, though the lack of intense, primary fruit leaves the wines alcohol always on the high side for a ros, though its among the majority of the genre in that sense more present than one wants. Theres really not much to learn here, other than that this wine was much better in its youthand as with almost all ross, that was already a given. (5/09)
Terre Rouge 2001 Syrah Les Ctes de lOuest (California) Sometimes, I wonder if this wine will ever show signs of maturity (it has mellowed a bit, but otherwisenot so much). Other times, I remind myself that this is the entry-level syrah, and I probably shouldnt be looking for major development. And after all, consistency is a virtue: year after year, one knows what one is going to get from this bottle, which seems to appear and reappear as if the remaining bottles are mating, or cloning, or perhaps budding. The aromas? Blacknblue fruit, some purple, some dark earth, some light tar, some faint rosemary, the faintest hint of soft pinepretty much the same as its been since release. I suppose I need to really bury one of these under something heavy should I truly wish to find out what, if anything, will happen. (5/09)
