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By George Heritier The Library/Hospice Barrel Tasting Preview was held on Friday afternoon, after the day’s seminars and lunch. Several participating wineries poured wines and vintages previous to 1996, but even more importantly, prospective bidders were able to sample wines to be featured in the Hospice Barrel Auction the following day. Held in the Fairground's spacious Building C, the tasting was a walk around affair, and lived up to its advance billing for casual atmosphere and lack of crowded conditions. It was a good time, and Madame and I simply followed our eyes, ears and noses to whichever table caught our fancy, with no particular plan in mind, knowing we’d never be able to taste everything. Here are my notes on what we sampled. califusa's tasting notes (and more photos) are here
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1995
d’Arenberg Mourvedre “The Twenty Eight Road”:
A little burnt rubber over raspberries, medium body, tannins pretty well
resolved; pleasant, that’s all. 1994
d’Arenberg “d’Arry’s Original”:
Dark garnet with some brick, nice sweet fruit with a little bit of funk
on the nose. Sweet berry with leathery nuances and fully resolved
tannins; nice wine. 1994
d’Arenberg Ironstone Pressings:
85 % Grenache, 1999
Alban Seymore’s Vineyard Grenache, HDR Selection:
Beautiful sweet toasty oak/blackberry/plum fruit flavors and aromas, a
bit of a tart tang to it, from its youth no doubt; excellent
concentration. Denise commented “Look at the legs!”
1996
Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Syrah:
Nice sweet plum flavors without any real complexity; fair depth.
Not bad, but nothing special. 1999
Jaffers Stolpman Vineyard “Estrella Clone” Syrah:
Dark garnet, toasty oak black raspberry/plum nose; flavors echo very
nicely. 1998
Justin MG Blend Syrah/Mourvedre:
Dark garnet, sweet oak raspberry/plum flavors and aromas; very nice
concentration on the palate. 1999
Justin MG Blend Syrah/Mourvedre:
A little lighter, a little greener on the nose; bottled barrel sample.
A little rhubarb on the nose adds interest. 1995
Joseph Phelps Vin du Mistral “Le Mistral”:
Complex nose with sweet oak/black raspberry/plum/rhubarb/hints of coffee
and game; flavors echo very nicely. “The Rhône -iest one of the
bunch so far.” 1993
Chateau de Sainte Cosme Gigondas Cuvee Valbelle:
Surprisingly sweet plum nose, with hints of leather game and herb in the
background; flavors generally echo on a somewhat light frame with mostly
resolved tannins. 1995
Chateau du Trignon Gigondas:
Dark garnet with a bit of a funky quality; could be a little more
concentrated and intense. Smooth, with tannins mostly resolved;
prunes and rubber; not particularly long finish. Not that
interesting to me. 1995
Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz:
Dark garnet with that Brasso/coffee thing going on in the nose; sweet
oak/sweet plum. Could maybe use a little more weight on the
mid-palate, but all in all, pretty nice. 1993
Qupé Los Olivos Cuvee:
A lot of burnt rubber on the nose and palate detracts from some nice
fruit. 1994
Qupé
Syrah “Bien Nacido Hillside Estate”:
Big expressive nose of black raspberry/plum with some nice briar/bramble
“garrigue;” lots of the latter on the palate as well. Terrific
stuff! 1995
Ridge Pagani Mataro ATP:
A pleasurable re-acquaintance with an old friend that sadly, we have no
more of. Big Draper perfume with rich over the top
raspberry/blackberry/black raspberry flavors and aromas; rich and
intense, with tannins fully resolved. Denise really liked this
wine too. The epitome of Mr. Ridge; yum! 1992
Ridge Whitten Ranch Carignane ATP:
Dark garnet, nary a hint of brick; a little funk on the nose, with some
nice deep plummy stuff and coffee nuances underneath. Sweet plum
and berry fruit on the palate; nice wine, but it might better have been
tasted before the Pagani, rather than after. 1996
Jasper Hill George’s Paddock Shiraz:
Inky dark garnet, sweet blackberry/plum nose with hints of garrigue;
nice fruit with good concentration and intensity. 1970
Lindemanns Hunter Valley Shiraz Bin 4110:
Rusty garnet, cedar leather and prune nose; still pretty good sweet
fruit here. It tends to fade fairly quickly, but it’s a 30 year
old Shiraz, after all. 1994
Bonny Doon Cigare Volant:
Plum/black raspberry and garrigue, with good depth of fruit; might be
overshadowed by some of the “big boys” in the crowd, but
nevertheless, this is a tasty wine. Supposed to approximate a
Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and it does it pretty well; the garrigue adds a
nice touch. 1995
Bonny Doon Syrah Bien Nacido Vineyard:
Dark plum/dark berry and again, a nice little touch of garrigue, but
doesn’t have the depth of the Cigare Volant. Not bad, but… 1991
Four for One Syrah:
From Villaird, Cuilleron, Gangloff and Galliard, blended especially for
the 2000 HdR Auction. Beautiful coffee and toast on the nose;
breakfast anyone? If the flavors aren’t quite as impressive as
the aromas, this should still make a nice one of a kind addition to the
cellar(s) of the purchaser(s). 1995
St. Hallett Old Block Shiraz Barossa:
Dark garnet with a nice cinnamon/cola/coffee chocolate over the
plum/blackberry fruit; still a little hard on the palate and needs some
time yet to soften up. 1999
Cline “Big Break Cuvee”
(66%) Grenache, (15%) Syrah, (12%)Mourvedre, (6%) Cinsault and (1%)
Alicante Bouchet: Expressive black raspberry/plum/hint of rhubarb/garrigue;
Kim got some menthol/eucalyptus, and indeed, part of the vineyard is
adjacent to a grove of eucalyptus trees. Very nice. 1999 Turley Roussanne “Alban Vineyard,” Hospice du Rhone Exclusive: Pale to medium gold; tasted like overripe apple and pear that didn’t get overripe enough. If it’s gonna be over the top, it should be over the top, but it’s not; it’s kind o’ weird. It doesn’t quite follow through enough on the mid-palate and finish for me. This barrel was auctioned the next day for $14,000. califusa's
tasting notes or move on the the Auction |
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