I do not know what changes have gone on here, but my regard for this producer has dropped quite a bit. In fact, I no longer have any desire to drink Iron Horse’s wines except to experiment and compare to other sparklers. When visiting the winery, I was rather surprised to see Iron Horse serve fresh disgorged bottles in their tasting area. Fresh disgorged sparklers often do not show well and I would say that they would be a turn off to 99% of the people who stop by Iron Horse to taste. Only the true geeks would be able to taste the wine in this context and see through this (and they would have to ask about the disgorging, which can be an adventure in itself). I was shocked that most of the tasters I saw seemed to be enjoying wine that I found bland and boring with some bottle rest time and absolutely not good when freshly disgorged. But…. what do I know? I have learned that I am certainly not their target customer.

On a positive note, many of Iron Horse’s wines show very interesting characteristics as they age, but they often seem to fight with each other and detract from the sum rather than have a beneficial team effect. Also, many times one horrible flavor ruins all the good ones. The Late Disgorged wines are also interesting, as I have found them all to show well when released, but to quickly fall apart (as many late disgorged wines do) with one exception. The 89 Brut LD in magnum is still drinking well. I don’t know if this the exception to the rule or if it is the magnum effect or a little of both. Whatever, I have always enjoyed this wine and it is still kicking today.

I will note that many of my Iron Horse scores are low. This is because many of the early 90s wines are now over the hill and I stopped enjoying their wines right around the 1996 vintage. This resulted in wines that I like now being too old and wines now in their prime that just are not any good. As I mentioned earlier, I find no reason to drink Iron Horse and would not recommend any of their sparkling wines. Well cellared wines from 1995 and before may still be very good, but I wouldn’t purchase any as it would really be hit or miss with the odds on a miss in my opinion. There is too much better juice out there and much of it is less expensive.

Some quick facts/thoughts/opinions:

• Iron Horse does not do any malolactic and does some barrel fermenting on the Blanc de Blancs and Vrais Amis cuvees. I did not taste any of the Vrais Amis at this time (nor did I taste the Good Luck Cuvee or any other one-off or library releases). The Vrais Amis is normally the same blend as the Vintage Brut, but with a dosage of only Chardonnay and some barrel aging.

• The Rosé is normally 65-75% Pinot Noir with the rest Chardonnay and is now made via the saignee method (before 1996 it was made via red wine addition). The change to saignee seemed to change the wine. I won’t say it made it better, but it changed it.

• The Brut and Russian Cuvees are anywhere from 50-75% Pinot Noir with the rest Chardonnay. The Russian Cuvee is the same wine as the Classic Vintage Brut, only with a higher dosage (though it still normally falls into the Brut range at 14-15 g/L).

• Iron Horse likes to call their Wedding Cuvee their “Blanc de Noirs” even though it usually has over 10% Chardonnay in it (the rest of it is Pinot Noir). I do not know if there are any regulations on this, but it bothers me.

• I used to like to age these for up to 10-12 years past their vintage date. Now, for best results, I think all of their cuvees (except the LDs which I feel usually show best when opened within a year after release) should be kept for a year after a fresh purchase/disgorgement and then drunk over the next year.

• To me, Iron Horse is the new Schramsberg. They used to be pretty good relative to the competition (mostly because they got in the game early), but rested on their name and one time high regard. Now many of the others are passing them by and they aren't in the top tier or even the second tier of California sparkling wine producers IMO.

• I think Iron Horse is making nice still wine Rosés and their late harvest Viognier was pretty good too. I would buy those before I bought their sparklers.

Tasting Notes:

As with all my other California notes, these wines were tasted between September 12 and October 15 of 2006. They came from the following sources: purchased at the winery, supplied by the winery, tasted at the winery, new releases purchased from a store, and older vintages from my cellar. Some of the wines were tried multiple times and almost all were evaluated over a minimum of a 1 hour period. Glassware was not consistent. With any older bottle, bottle variation can run high. When a bottle was clearly flawed and there was no backup, I have noted it. I have had many of these wines (and others not included below) before and that has helped in shaping a perspective for when a wine is dying and was not flawed.

1991 Brut
A sharp acidic and oxidative nose. Creamy acid, spoiled cherries, paint thinner, and vinegar on the palate. I will add that the cork for this bottle had the biggest mushroom I have ever seen on a wine disgorged a decade ago. This was still kicking strong early in 2004, but has really fallen apart in the last couple years.  D but this is over the hill.  Find this wine

1992 Brut
Has a very light and delicate nose that shows bottle age mushroom aromas, melons, and honeysuckle. The palate is delicate like the nose and led by orange dominated citrus and dough mixed with a bit of baked bread. This goes down nice and easy. I would drink this now as it is not improving and not likely to hold.  B  Find this wine

1993 Brut
Syrupy peaches, toast, and citrus are all fighting to make up the nose. They are all good isolated on their own, but do not make up a good team. The palate is made up of meaty peaches, very dry toast, and citrus notes. This is rolling downhill so I would drink up now.  Low B-  Find this wine

1994 Brut
Similar to the 1993 with a little bit more kick to it. The aromas show lots of syrupy peaches mixed with a citrus spiked yeasty toast that I quite liked. The palate is not quite up to the nose, with drying citrus and toast mingling with some peach and pear. This appears to be starting its downward descent, but is still a decent drink and a very nice glass to smell.  High B-  Find this wine

1995 Brut
The highlight of the Iron Horse bunch and the last vintage of the Brut where I thought Iron Horse was at the top of their game. Still full of great acidity, loads of lemon, orange, fluffy peaches, yellow pears, and zesty dough that is going both toasty and biscuity. Does have a little bit too much fluffiness for my taste, but this is a well made California-meets-Champagne sparkler that is showing very well right now.  Solid B+  Find this wine

1996 Brut
A bit boring and bland, with aromas of toast and citrus mixing with a fake bubble gum peach scent. The palate is an improvement on the nose, but this is lacking all around. Drying toast, drying citrus, drying peaches, and some pear show that this is dying out. The 1996 vintage is where I have noticed that many of the Iron Horse cuvees began to taste bland and watered down when compared to previous vintages tasted young, old, and in between.  C  Find this wine

1997 Brut
Lots of fluffy bright citrus, pear, and peach make up the nose, but the palate is very light and subdued as toasty citrus mix with some earthy peaches. Not bad, but nothing to write home about.  C+  Find this wine

1998 Brut
Tastes just like the 97, but with a creamy biscuit note that mutes some of the earthiness and lets the fluffy peaches shine through. Good citrus acidity carries this through and is able to fight off some bitter notes. This isn’t great, but it is well balanced. My fear is that in a couple years, the bitter earthy notes will take over and the fruit will dry out. Drink now while you can.  B-  Find this wine

1999 Brut
A fluffy, sweet, creamy 7-Up led nose leads into flavors of fluffy peaches and pears. It shows too many amylic notes for me and has a bitter earthiness that I associate with Pinot Meunier, even though no Pinot Meunier is in this wine. After a while, paint thinner notes appear and this really leaves a scratchy note on the finish.  C-  Find this wine

2000 Brut
Well, this definitely follows the signature of Iron Horse – fluffy pears, some fluffy peach, a hint of earth, not too much sweetness, citrus and dough in the mix. But, it is all so darn boring. It isn’t bad, but get some personality. If I want a solid wine with average boring characteristics, I will spend $10 and buy an Aussie sparkler.  C+  Find this wine

2001 Brut
Bright pears with a fresh citrus acidity lead the nose into the typical fluffy flavors of pears and just mixed dough. I would give this a year to open up a bit, but it isn’t a bad wine, just not anything that moves me.  B-  Find this wine

1994 Blanc de Blancs
A little bit too harsh and bitter, as this shows too much acid and sharp pear for my liking. There is a good deal of drying toast that is too dry to me and wraps the whole wine up in a drying bitter mix that is quite disturbing. I do not like this.  D  Find this wine

1995 Blanc de Blancs
A nose of racy wild toast and paint thinner leads into flavors of wild yeast, toast, and citrus that at first brings to mind a cross of Pol Roger Winston Churchill and Salon, but then a dry, bitter citrus element evolves and eventually turpentine notes sneak in. This shows some flashes of greatness, but really falls apart. I think this should have been dosed a little higher (it only had 7 g/L of residual sugar) along with being disgorged and drunk a few years earlier. This is something that could have been good, but is not.  Low C- because for all the bad it shows, it does show some very good characteristics as well.  Find this wine

1998 Blanc de Blancs
Very light citrus and pears highlight a closed nose. The flavors are a strange mix, as clean citrus and floral dough fight with just-starting-to-rot apple aromas. I don’t think this is off, just too freshly disgorged.  C+ with a shot at a B- in a year.   Find this wine

1998 Wedding Cuvee
Creamy apples and nuts with some light fluffy peaches and pears. A bit bland as the dough notes seem to be a bit empty. Nothing offensive, but nothing moving. A shrug-your-shoulders-and-move-on kind of wine.  C+  Find this wine

2000 Wedding Cuvee
A very strange nose of amylic aromas, black pepper, citrus, and creamy nuts. The flavors of the wine are just as odd as a spicy dryness weaves in and out of fluffy peaches, yellow apples, and light dough & citrus flavors. Not a horrible wine; it is quite interesting actually, but interesting does not make it good.  C+  Find this wine

2003 Wedding Cuvee
What a beautiful floral nose this wine has. However, the wine itself needs a year to settle down, as it is quite tart and apple filled, with a thin creamy finish that has yet to come out.  C+ with B- potential in a year.  Find this wine

2000 Russian Cuvee
A bland, boring, and dull wine. It defines inoffensive and average. Creamy apples with the skins and watery sweet citrus make up the profile. I don’t want another glass.  C  Find this wine

2001 Russian Cuvee
Very similar to the 2001 Brut (as it should be), only with more sweetness and dumbed down fruit flavors. Subdued fluffy pears and slightly sweet dough highlight the wine. The citrus element is really cancelled out by the higher dosage. I don’t know why you would buy this instead of the Vintage Brut. It isn’t so sweet as to attract the sweet tooth crowd and it is less expressive flavor wise. It is the poor, untalented younger sibling. Iron Horse should try this with a Demi-Sec dosage. I can’t imagine that being any worse and it might attract new customers.  Low C+  Find this wine

1993 Brut Rosé
A light strawberry and oxidized biscuit nose lead into a palate that tastes of dry toast topped with a spread made up of red berries, peaches, and bananas. Along with this you get a glass of watery orange juice starting to go bad. Interesting, but I didn’t really enjoy this as it has gone over in my opinion.  Low C-  Find this wine

1994 Brut Rosé
Subdued aromas of oxidation, citrus, toast, green apple and melon lead into flavors of mature red tinged citrus and touches of peach and strawberry-banana (what is with these banana/amylic notes in the rose?). Over time this gains notes of honey and the toast and oxidation fade a bit. Seems to be past its peak, but still drinking well on its way downhill. Would be better with more red berry flavors and less banana.  B-  Find this wine

1996 Brut Rosé
Lots of citrus and cream, but this seems rather bland with only some light cherry dough notes appearing on the nose. On the palate, it takes on a rough and creamy strawberry aspect that I can only compare to unsweetened strawberry yogurt with lots of tough cherry skins mixed into it. Only a touch of sweetness and still shows good acidity, but the flavors don’t quite seem to mesh. A tad boring and a bit too disjointed. The change to saignee seems to have gotten rid of the bananas and added in more red notes, but this is still boring and bland.  C  Find this wine

1997 Brut Rosé
Cherry red in color and led by light creamy cherry and strawberry aromas. Once in the mouth this shows a dryness led by strawberry juice and grape skin flavors. Some cinnamon and biscuit also develop, but I wish this showed more personality. It goes well with food, but just seems to be missing something.  High B-  Find this wine

1998 Brut Rosé
Every vintage of this wine seems to be a different color. Fun to look at, but it is the taste that counts. This wine takes on a brilliant, bright, copper red tone and has nice aromas of cherry skins and rich cream. The taste, however, is rather bland with washed out cherry cream and dough notes. Where, oh where is the personality?  C+  Find this wine

1989 Late Disgorged Brut (from Magnum – disgorged 1998-9)
Citrus dominates the nose with some honey and bread in the back. This is fading a bit, but still smells quite good. This has a smooth mouthfeel and a medium thickness showing very well integrated citrus and bread notes. Easy to drink, but seems to be thinning out vs. a couple years ago. I would drink up now and avoid any 750s as they are likely past their prime.  Low B+  Find this wine

1990 Late Disgorged Blanc de Blancs (disgorged 1999)
What an interesting nose. This shows lots of creamy nuts, peaches, and sour, horrid citrus. The palate shows bitter toast and drying citrus. Maybe this had it at one time, but it doesn’t now.  D- but it is over the hill.  Find this wine

1991 Late Disgorged Brut (disgorged 1999)
A nose that I can only describe as, “I ordered a hot biscuit with sweet honey cream and the waitress brought this to me, but added a side of sauerkraut that I didn’t ask for.” The palate is no better. It has a smooth buttery mouthfeel and flavors of buttery biscuits spiked with an unattractive drying astringent finish that leaves acidic notes lingering until I can wash my mouth out.  D+, but past its prime; this was very good in 2000.  Find this wine
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Brad Baker

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