Napa-free Varietal Jamboree

O

Oswaldo Costa

Oswaldo Costa
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With local Brazilian wine buddies, on the eve of our move to Portu-Gal.

2005 Littorai Charles Heintz Vineyard Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 14.2%
Ripe apricot aroma. Fruity, with good acidity, though finishes a bit short. At once elegant in bearing and decadent in leaning. Vaguely allusive of orange wines, oddly. Doesn’t show the alcohol and sports no oak. Attractively cliché-free.
2006 Ceritas Porter-Bass Vineyard Russian River Valley Chardonnay 13.7%
Oaky caramel aroma. A bit too luscious and somewhat acid deficient, with a mildly bitter finish. Least impressive of the five.
2007 Rhys Alpine Vineyard Chardonnay 13.8%
Citrus and oak aroma. Fruit is very mineral, electric even. Most people’s wotf, but a bit too much wood for me, especially as it warms. A fellow inmate intimates that it resembles Coche, and Coche is gauche.
2007 Mount Eden Estate Chardonnay Reserve 13.8%
Closed. Tasty, with good minerality. Imposing structure. Bitter finish. After a few days in the fridge the oak and sweetness turn to caramel.
2013 Arnot-Roberts Santa Cruz Mountains Trout Gulch Vineyard Chardonnay 12.5%
Closed, with only a hint of subtle perfume. Lovely mouth, very mineral, with electric acidity. My wotf. After a few days in the fridge, the sweetness exhibits a smidgen of candy.

2010 Arnot-Roberts Luchsinger Vineyard Trousseau 12.6%
Much darker than the others. Lovely carbonic aromas. CO2 fizz. Serious structure, almost harsh. Nose > mouth. The twain comes beautifully together after a few days in the fridge.
2012 Sandlands Sonoma Coast Bohan Vineyard Trousseau 13.2%
Lovely carbonic aroma; more enticing, even, than the preceding. Mouth is dark, serious and fetching. My wotf thanks to the seamless nose/mouth continuum. Still lovely after all those days (in the fridge).
2012 Arnot-Roberts Bartolomei Vineyard Trousseau (no % info)
Muted carbonic aroma. CO2 fizz. Lightly whispering loveliness. Still bantam a few days later.
2013 Arnot-Roberts North Coast Trousseau 12.1%
Darker carbonic aroma, very reminiscent of Gof4 Morgon. Light body, relatively short finish, but very quaffable. Grows teeth in the fridge, becomes quite excellent.
2014 Arnot-Roberts North Coast Trousseau (cortesia Clecius)
Almost indistinguishable from the preceding. But, alas, here the fridge did it no favors, bringing out the candy in the sweet.

2011 Mount Eden Santa Cruz Mountains Estate Pinot Noir 13.5%
Only bottle decanted because seemed much reduced on opening. Balanced, with good body, but the aromas remained on the burnt rubber side.
2012 Rhys Family Farm Pinot Noir San Mateo County 13.1%
Raspberry jam aroma, very perfumey. Good body and balanced, but a bit candied.
2012 Arnot-Roberts Peter Martin Ray Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains 12.5%
Smells carbonic, with raspberry jam aromas similar to the preceding. Good body and balance, very nice.
2013 Lioco Santa Cruz Mountains Saveria Vineyard Pinot Noir 12.3%
Smells carbonic. My third bottle of this, all quite lovely.
2013 Littorai Sonoma Coast Platt Vineyard Pinot Noir 13.4%
More raspberry jam. Quite structured, with good body and balance. Perhaps a bit too much wood, but it’s still so excusably young. Light lactic note detracts.
 
i understand the difference between "variety" and "varietal" but why can't one say "we had a varietal jamboree last night"? as in, "we drank a ton of varietal wines last night"

now i am completely confused...."censored"??
 
originally posted by Bill Lundstrom:
i understand the difference between "variety" and "[CENSORED]" but why can't one say "we had a [CENSORED] jamboree last night"? as in, "we drank a ton of [CENSORED] wines last night"

now i am completely confused...."censored"??
Click to expand...

I'm with Bill here: every wine was a [CENSORED] wine, no blends.
 
Would you say a Burgundian jamboree or a Burgundy jamboree? I understand Cole's construction, but it is equally possible that Oswaldo meant wines made from different varieties. Best to disambiguate.
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
Would you say a Burgundian jamboree or a Burgundy jamboree? I understand Cole's construction, but it is equally possible that Oswaldo meant wines made from different varieties. Best to disambiguate.
Click to expand...

except that all the wines listed are made from one grape variety. ( i think)
 
originally posted by Bill Lundstrom:
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
Would you say a Burgundian jamboree or a Burgundy jamboree? I understand Cole's construction, but it is equally possible that Oswaldo meant wines made from different varieties. Best to disambiguate.
Click to expand...

except that all the wines listed are made from one grape variety. ( i think)
Click to expand...

Wines made from different varieties, not wines made from multiple varieties. If any of the wines are the latter, then Cole's reading becomes inadmissible.
 
If you take it, as I do, and as does Cole, that this is an example of a noun modifying a noun, as in office chair, then no, neither varietal nor variety would be plural. A jamboree of different varieties would be a variety jamboree just as a jamboree of zombies would be, as in an old Harry Belafonte song, a zombie jamboree.
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
originally posted by Bill Lundstrom:
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
Would you say a Burgundian jamboree or a Burgundy jamboree? I understand Cole's construction, but it is equally possible that Oswaldo meant wines made from different varieties. Best to disambiguate.
Click to expand...

except that all the wines listed are made from one grape variety. ( i think)
Click to expand...

Wines made from different varieties, not wines made from multiple varieties. If any of the wines are the latter, then Cole's reading becomes inadmissible.
Click to expand...

That's what i meant. Oswaldo, as i see it, was drinking a bunch of single variety wines. why can't that be described as a "varietal jamboree"? or is "a jamboree of varietals" more appropriate?
 
originally posted by Bill Lundstrom:
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
originally posted by Bill Lundstrom:
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
Would you say a Burgundian jamboree or a Burgundy jamboree? I understand Cole's construction, but it is equally possible that Oswaldo meant wines made from different varieties. Best to disambiguate.
Click to expand...

except that all the wines listed are made from one grape variety. ( i think)
Click to expand...

Wines made from different varieties, not wines made from multiple varieties. If any of the wines are the latter, then Cole's reading becomes inadmissible.
Click to expand...

That's what i meant. Oswaldo, as i see it, was drinking a bunch of single variety wines. why can't that be described as a "[CENSORED] jamboree"? or is "a jamboree of [CENSORED]s" more appropriate?
Click to expand...

This merely gets us back to my response to Cole and then to Jeff. Your reading, which is Cole's, is possible but ambiguous. Wines made from different varieties is semantically very nearly the same as different varietals (if one disallows any possible connatative distinctions: although Rayas is 100 percent Grenache, is it really a varietal?), but it is not grammatically identical.
 
okay. here's what i am asking. if the word varietal is being used correctly why would not a "Varietal Jamboree" be the correct description of drinking a lot of varietal wines? (and i am not trying to argue or troll or be a dick, i just really want to know)
 
Here on this wine board, a thread with a well-organized synopsis of some interesting wines has been subverted (hijacked?!?). (And it is immaterial that the usage _could_ have been intended correctly.)

Many of us are very interested in grammar and its proper usage. Should this board perhaps be referred to as Grammar Disorder?!? (Just amusing musing!)

. . . . . Pete
 
originally posted by Peter Creasey:

Here on this wine board, a thread with a well-organized synopsis of some interesting wines has been subverted (hijacked?!?). (And it is immaterial that the usage _could_ have been intended correctly.)

Many of us are very interested in grammar and its proper usage. Should this board perhaps be referred to as Grammar Disorder?!? (Just amusing musing!)

. . . . . Pete
Click to expand...

And where else will you hear bantam not used in relation to a chicken?
 
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