TomHill off in a corner taking notes.  This was the only time we actually witnessed someone with "THEIR OWN BOTTLE" taken from a tasting table.  Notice the urinal -- er, we mean, red spittoon in his left hand.

Susan Marks and Jonathon Lachs of Cedarville Vineyards

Steven Novy 

Justin (L) and Matt of Linne Calodo

1998 Guigal Condrieu: Pretty honeysuckle/peach/melon nose; flavors echo with a honey-like quality on a fairly low acid frame.  Nice balance, nice wine, but I’m not sure it’s worth $35 or more.

Kim Bernard, geo t. and Stephen Bozeman

1997 Yves and Mathilde Gangloff Cote-Rotie: Lovely complex floral nose of gamy black olive/plum with a hint of garrigue; flavors echo beautifully.  Remarkably approachable already, but a wonderful future lies ahead for this. 

1999 Garretson Wine Company Viognier Fralich Vineyard “The Spunog Cnoc”: Mat says this is a little over the top for him, but it’s really good with its effusive honeysuckle/peach nose, echoing in the intense fruit flavors.  Thick, viscous and delicious. 

1998 Ridge Lytton Estate Syrah ATP: Dark garnet with the obligatory Draper perfume, featuring plum/raspberry/blackberry/blueberry and plum/dark berry flavors that are going to be something once the significant tannins tone down a bit. 

1998 Alban Reva Syrah: Dark garnet with big plum/olive/garrigue flavors and aromas and a bit of a green streak that is likely a youthful trait which will recede as it ages.  

1998 Alban Grenache: Dark garnet with plum/dark berry/rhubarb flavors and aromas; very nice.  

1998 Cedarville Vineyards El Dorado County Syrah Sierra Foothills: We were especially interested in not only trying this wine but also meeting the co-owners/winemakers, Susan Marks and Jonathan Lachs.  califusa had some very nice things to say about this wine in his Rhone Ranger 2000 feature, and Jonathan is a frequent contributor on the West Coast Wine Network forums.  Pretty blackberry/plum/raspberry/blueberry nose; full-bodied flavors echo brilliantly.  The sweet oak here isn’t at all overdone; a very nice Syrah. 

1998 Cedarville Vineyards El Dorado County Zinfandel Sierra Foothills: No, this ruby dark garnet isn’t a Rhone varietal, but Susan and Jonathan had some stashed in case anyone was interested in trying it, which Madame and I were only too willing to do.  Beautiful effusive floral nose, with raspberry/black raspberry and a hint of violet; sweet fruit flavors echo with a hint of cinnamon.  
Teresa Overberg really liked this as well.  Very nice! 

1998 Novy Sonoma County Syrah: Big olive/plum on the nose and palate from this deep dark garnet; nice notes of garrigue/underbrush as well and a nice finish.  Very good first effort! 

1999 Novy Sonoma County Syrah (Barrel Sample): Full of fruit; bright dark berry/plum flavors and aromas that I found very appealing.   

1997 Jim Barry The Armagh Clare Valley Shiraz: Mark Overberg rightly noted quite a bit of American new oak on the nose of this inky dark garnet, but it’s in proportion and not overdone.  Big jammy raspberry/plum fruit; yum!

1998 d’Arenberg The Dead Arm: Another dark garnet with big American oak on the nose, along with vanilla/sea air/raspberry/plum that follows through on the palate with some added olive.  Another big mutha with lots of promise. 

1998 Jasper Hill Shiraz: All toast and licorice on the nose, wow!  Plenty of sweet plum/blackberry fruit on the palate, but none of the toast and licorice.  This was a favorite of quite a few people.  

1998 Linne Calodo Willow Red: Smoky ruby garnet Grenache based wine; a little light in color and body, but not in intensity of fruit.  Good raspberry/strawberry flavors; nice wine! 

1998 Linne Calodo James Berry Vineyard: This dark garnet seems more in the red than dark fruit spectrum with more berry than plum, no pun intended.  Pretty and well made. 

1997 Domaine du Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape Reservee: Lighter in color and body than one usually gets from this excellent producer, but there’s good intensity of characteristic Chateauneuf plum/prune/Provencal herb/garrigue flavors and aromas.  Kim calls it “pepper water.”  Drink this now while waiting for earlier vintages to mature.  My only problem with it is the $30 price tag that it carries in Day-twah. 

1999 David Bruce Santa Cruz Mtns. Estate Syrah (Barrel Sample): Inky garnet with smoke/plum/olives flavors and aromas; not a blockbuster, but very pleasant. Maybe it could have a little more intensity. 

1998 David Bruce Santa Cruz Mtns. Estate Syrah: Very similar to the ’99 barrel sample, with a year in the bottle. 

1998 David Bruce Central Coast Petite Sirah: Smoke and plum; a little watery on the palate for me.  

1999 Yves Cuilleron Late Harvest Condrieu: This wine is awesome and blew lots of people away with its honey/peaches/honeysuckle character; fantastic stuff!

1998 Yves Cuilleron Sotanum: Another inky garnet with a smoke/plum/olive flavors and aromas; very dry and very nice.  Never did find out exactly what this was; Cuilleron doesn’t speak much English and just kind of looked at me and smiled when I told him what a pleasure it was to finally taste his wines. 

1998 Yves Cuilleron St. Joseph: Inky garnet with big beautiful smoky plum/black raspberry nose with a hint of olive that becomes accentuated on the palate. 

1997 Paul Jaboulet Aine Cote Rotie “Les Jamelles”: Smoky dark garnet with lots of garrigue/bramble/briar on the nose that dominates the plum/black olive; flavors echo with a little more plum and blackberry.  A very promising future for this one.

1997 Paul Jaboulet Aine Cornas Domaine St. Pierre: Dark garnet with an almost overripe strawberry/raspberry/plum nose; a bit lighter than I’d expect from a Cornas, but very interesting. 

1998 Francois Villard Gigondas: Dark garnet with a rather pretty nose of plum/prune/berry that carry over onto the palate with notes of chocolate and more red than black fruit; very nice.

1998 Francois Villard Condrieu: Not as thick or honeyed as some we tried, and not much honeysuckle, but a pretty white wine nevertheless. 

califusa has tasting notes too! or on to the Farewell Barbeque

            © Gang of Pour