Allan Bree aka califusa had arrived in town the night
before for our annual 
summer’s
debauchery. After negotiating a succession of ersatz four-way
stops, I arrived home to find the aforementioned Left Coast
Correspondent and my beautiful wife, Kim slouched lethargic in
the CRV parked in the driveway, listening to the radio news
station and drinking a 2001 Garretson
Santa Ynez Valley Viognier (Vogelsang Vineyard – Table 62),
slugging on it straight from the bottle. Fortunately, it was
still well chilled and not much was gone, so I grabbed glasses
and poured some all around whilst it was still fresh and free
of floaties.
The wine showed a pale golden color, and exuded a peachy
apricot bouquet with honeysuckle overtones. Flavors more than
echoed, and in the mouth, it had a nice, almost oily density,
with enough acidity to keep it going right along, and not
showing its 14.2 % alcohol content. "Not as light and
floral as these can sometimes be," was Bree’s comment,
and Kim added an impression of "almost unctuous." It
received three enthusiastic thumbs up.
By then, darkness was encroaching, so candles and the Weber
kettle grill were lit, and we set about preparing lamb burgers
and a melange of fresh vegetables from the garden, sautéed in
a wok on the Weber. Bree just raved about those lamb burgers,
as it was clearly apparent why we’ll not be buying ground
beef again anytime in the near future, and his choice of wine
to accompany them was a fine one indeed.
2001 Garretson Central Coast Syrah
"The Craic," 94% Syrah, 6% Viognier, 14% alc.:
The term `Craic' (pronounced `crack’) means good fun and
this dark garnet was certainly that. Medium full bodied, it
didn’t give much in the way of aromatics when first poured,
but showed a nice concentration of red fruit on the palate,
all plums and berries. Bree found it "almost reminiscent
of a Zinfandel, but without the spice, so it shows this
wonderful purity of fruit." It was deftly balanced, with
just the right kiss of oak, and like the Viognier, received
three thumbs up.
We were finished with dinner, but we weren’t finished
with wine, and since one good Syrah seemed to deserve another,
Bree pulled a second bottle from his bag of tricks for our
back deck blackout enjoyment, explaining, "These are the
wines that Mat Garretson paid me to stay away from his
bottling line."
2001
Garretson Paso Robles Syrah "The Luascáin" Rozet
Vineyard, 94% Syrah, 6% Viognier, 14% alc.: Kim
commented that this dark garnet had a cherry stick quality
about it, but it also showed a flavor profile that was more in
the black fruit spectrum than "The Craic," with a
lovely perfume that was much more prominent than the preceding
selection. Medium full bodied, it was also more structured,
with "more of a unique personality," according to
Bree. He also opined that it had "a faint mustiness, not
unlike TCA" (but it was NOT corked), and that it was
"decidedly Mediterranean as it opened." It finished
with notes of tar and the promise of leather, causing califusa
to twitch with anticipation, as we once again gave three
thumbs for another nice wine from Mr. Garretson and Co.
With those wines drained, we went at some distributors
samples I’d brought home to try, all three of them dogsh*t
French wines. The first two shall remain nameless, and were
dumped in short order, but a 2000
Guigal Crozes-Hermitage proved to be acceptable, if
only just. It showed more than a modicum of fruit, but that
was dominated by earthy, rotting vegetal qualities that were
neither charming nor entirely offensive. I was able to down a
glass of the stuff, but I wouldn’t recommend spending over
$4.99 on a bottle. I didn’t hear any comments from Kim or
Bree, one way or the other.
Yet more bottles were opened afterwards, but things got a
little foggy, and no notes were taken. The next day, one
taster would admit to not remembering the ’87
Geyserville, whilst another had no recollection of
the Thackrey Plaeides XI.
Obviously, by the end of the 1st night of the
unfolding drama, there were blackouts of another kind here at
Gang Central…
We woke late the next day, to some kind of hell. The heat
and humidity were through the roof, and we were torpid in our
Speedos and Jockey briefs, dozing on and off throughout the
afternoon. It was nearly 5 PM before I stumbled across the
street, drawn by the sound of the neighbor’s generator,
mooching just enough juice to grind coffee for that day and
the next. Being the good Samaritan that he is, Tony only
charged me five bucks, and we were soon on our way to some
semblance of wakefulness. By 7:30, we were ready for anything,
and since we had some good Costco duck for the grill, it was
obvious that we needed some good Pinot to go with it. I lit a
candle, descended into the cellar and returned with a couple
of likely candidates.
1998 Renteria Napa Pinot Noir
Carneros, $50, 13.3% alc.: Kim brought this smoky
tinged ruby garnet back from a fact finding mission to
Sonapanoma a few years back, and it was high time to find out
what was in the bottle, and what was in the bottle was very
nice indeed. It exuded a lovely, perfumed smoky black cherry
bouquet that followed through enthusiastically on the palate,
with a lot of bright acid and mostly resolved tannins, all
balanced very nicely. There’s a lovely purity of fruit here,
making for a very attractive Pinot Noir, which is exactly what
we were looking for, given the price tag.
1999
Dehlinger Russian River Valley Pinot Noir Goldridge Vineyard,
$38.99, 14.3% alc.: A smoky ruby dark garnet in
color, this showed deeper, darker fruit than the Renteria,
with its smoky black cherry and plum character. It wasn’t
too tannic, had good acidity, and was eminently drinkable, in
the words of Kim, who added, "God, this is pretty!"
Bree, who is no stranger to Dehlinger, said that the Goldridge
bottlings are "the most fruit forward of their
pinots," and one wouldn’t argue that point after a
glass or two of this. Very nice indeed!
The power came back at around 10 PM that evening, as we
were finishing up with the Dehlinger. We drank a little more
wine afterwards, but nothing was recorded, so it’s been lost
in a hazy blur. All I know is that we survived with no losses
beyond several bottles of wine and a fat batch of brain cells.
