Tasting Notes From July 2004

Domaine Vacheron
2002 Sancerre
Steely grapefruit and lime zest. Bracing. Good. $20

Chateau St. Martin de la Garrigue
2001 Coteaux de Languedoc
Bronzinelle
Sweet-tart blackberry juice and fruit on the nose. Medium-full bodied, more like tangy raspberry fruit on the palate. Not a bad value. $12

Carlisle
2001 Zinfandel
Carlisle Vineyard, Russian River Valley
Zesty, peppery nose - a bit high-toned with clove, maple, and cinnamon. High-toned attack with suggestions of orange citrus. Lots of red berry fruit. Nice. $30

Nigl
2002 Gruner Veltliner
Kremstal
Vibrant, but not huge acidity. Balanced with light sweetness and vague pear and lemon fruit. Creamy lush texture after the attack. Minerals. Pretty good - much better than I recall the last bottle tasting. $17

Fisher
1997 Merlot
RCF, Napa Valley
Large-scaled Merlot. Still seems slightly backward, but it is tasty. Rather tannic smelling on the nose with cedar and bitter cocoa notes. Full-bodied. The fruit seems lost underneath somewhere. This is my last bottle of this, and I can't imagine where it might go from here. $35

Garretson
2003 Viognier
Rozet Vineyard, Paso Robles
Glue-like on the nose, fading into an aroma of rotting, ripe apricots. Full-bodied and more redeeming on the palate with sweet peachy-stone fruit flavors. The nose sucks $18

Fontodi
1997 Chianti Classico
A decent Chianti Classico with typical dry earth, sour cherries, and leather notes. $30

Carlisle
2000 Syrah
Dry Creek Valley
Gorgeous nose of spearmint, eucalyptus, vanilla, sweet blackberry fruit, and a hint of ham. Lush, concentrated sweet black fruit on the palate. Delicious. Best showing for one of Mike's Syrahs for me ever. Stylistically, I think this one may be a bit of an anomaly though, as it seems more Aussie in influence than most of the other Syrahs of his I have tasted. $36

Pride Mountain
2003 Viognier
Sonoma County
As a starting point, I was a bit perturbed by the amount of oak this wine was showing. The nose was mostly dominated by cereal and toasty oak aromas, with restrained, rather crisp smelling apricots underneath. The palate was medium-bodied with good balance and more light apricot flavors. Late oak again. Others at the table enjoyed this more than I. Has Pride been increasing the amount of oak the Viognier sees over the past few vintages? I don't recall the wine being this way in the past. $40

Turley
2002 Zinfandel
Juvenile, California
Not exactly rambunctious, but a very good Zinfandel. Sweet clove and red fruit. Touches of higher-toned orange citrus at times. Decent. $24

Pommery
1996 Champagne
Grand Cru
Rich sweet lemon curd flavor. Large scaled all around in a rather low-acid vein for Champagne. Like this. Anything goes at Café Italia

Jones Family Cellars
NV Chardonnay
Texas
Blind White 1 - Lush smelling. Fruit cocktail. Chenin or Rhone perhaps? Fairly surprised at the providence on this. Apparently made by a home winemaker that is a customer of Zach Pearson's. Anything Goes at Café itALIA

Blackstone Farms
2001 Chardonnay
Michigan
Blind White 2 - Bit funky, nutty on the nose. Overall consensus was this was corked. Anything Goes at Café Italia

Casalferro
1997 Toscana
IGT, Barone Ricasoli
Blind Red 1 - Bordeaux-like nose. Pencil lead, old wood. A bit tannic smelling. Fairly youthful in appearance. Medium-bodied with a touch of _mocha. Decent. Anything Goes at Café Italia

Chateau Haut-Bergey
2000 Pessac-Leognan
Blind Red 2 - Deeply colored with a sightly grapey nose. A bit funky with coffee and _mocha nuances. Plush, a bit monolithic, a bit hollow. Not much structure or intensity. After my first lesson, I was guessing Italian Merlot - may be a Cotarella wine. Nope. Anything Goes at Café Italia

Hug Cellars
2002 Syrah
Bassetti Vineyard, San Luis Obispo
Blind Red 3 - Oh yeah! On the nose. Spicy peppery nose with rich blackberry seeds and fruit. Hints of lime zest and higher toned qualities. Medium-bright acidity. Nice. A couple others found this a bit too sweet. 14.8% alcohol. $35 Anything Goes at Café Italia

Masi
1999 Campofiorin
Valpolicella Ripasso
Blind Red 4 - Looks like it might have a touch of age on it. Smells old world - Italian. A little funky on the nose. Strange on the palate. Large, flabby currant and strawberry red fruit. Slightly hard finish. Rather seamless texture otherwise. Stumped. Anything Goes at Café Italia

Leoville Barton
1989 Saint Julien
Blind Red 5 - Bordeaux nose, clearly. Old wood, tannin, pencil lead. Licorice. Medium-bodied red fruit. Pleasant. A bit soft, but nice. Chocolate. Good. Anything Goes at Café Italia

Turley
2001 Zinfandel
Mead Ranch, Atlas Peak
Blind Red 6a - Subdued nose. Rich sweet palate with late clove. Rather sweet with some residual sugar, but pleasing. I was surprised to find this so soft when it was unveiled. Anything Goes at Café Italia

CaMarcanda
2001 Magari
Toscana, IGT
Blind Red 6b - Again, a bit Bordeaux-like on the nose. Roasted rocks, tannin. Could be Italian. Tough to tell what beyond that. I don't remember if I liked this wine much. Anything Goes at Café Italia

C.G. Di Arie
2001 Zinfandel
Shenandoah Valley
Sappy, high-toned quality. Mesquite. Decent little Zinfandel. Anything Goes at Café Italia

Hidden Valley
1998 Pinotage
Stellenbosch
No notes…? Anything Goes at Café Italia

Forth
2002 Rose of Syrah
Dry Creek Valley
Brown salmon color (like smoked Salmon). Did the guy sell me a bottle of last years vintage at the Local's tasting room? I'm, sure I bought the 2003. Somewhat neutral roses, metallic strawberries. Okay. $15

Garretson
2001 Syrah
Mon Amie, Bassetti Vineyard, San Luis Obispo
Peppery nose with cooler climate fruit implied. Black fruit, meat. The attack is sweet with fruit. Moderate acidity. Pretty darn tasty sitting in a hotel in Sherman, TX.

Schweiger
2003 Sauvignon Blanc
Uboldi Vineyard, Sonoma County
Strong grassy aromas, with vibrant lemon-lime flavors. Occasionally, over-the-top in acidity. Sour oranges. Pleasant. $19

Mitolo
2002 Shiraz
McLaren Vale, G.A.M.
Aromas of sweet meat, vanilla, creamy blackberry fruit. Slightly more acidic than the nose suggested. Maple. Linear on the palate, partly in thanks to the acidity me thinks. Some excess wood mid-palate. Good, though not worth $50. This is just slightly more complex and refined than other, not to be named, Australian Shiraz. $50

Domaine de Saint Antoine
2003 Rose
Costieres de Nimes
Lovely little Rose. Aromas of strawberries. Lightly sweet watermelon and strawberry fruit. Good fruit, persistence, and richness. $8

Pride Mountain
1997 Merlot
Napa Valley
Taking on a more mature nose of sweet porty character. A bit of tobacco, mint, and mocha. Similar palate. Slightly flat tasting with some lingering tannin. A big wine calming down. Good, though I don’t like it as much as when it was younger. $32

Loring Wine Company
2002 Pinot Noir
Brosseau Vineyard, Chalone AVA
Medium-deep color. Light black and plum fruit with a touch of metallic Pinot Noir funk. Medium-bodied, but in the end it comes across as fleet footed. Pleasant. $40

Titus
2001 Cabernet Franc
Napa Valley
New oak aromas along with cedar and violets. Slightly weedy quality that is rather true to the variety. Bitter chocolate. Medium-full bodied with a fair amount of structure and fruit that veers toward red currant initially. With time if softened some and the fruit seemed more black. Pleasant. $25

Shepherd's Ridge
2002 Sauvignon Blanc
Marlborough, New Zealand
Peppery nose with lemon and lime aromas. Zesty grapefruit flavors. Zingy acidity. Not bad. Will appeal to acid freaks. Could do with a bit more stuffing and concentration. $10

Les Hauts de Montmiral
1998 Gigondas
Blind Red 1 - Deeply colored. Aromas of bark, hard earth, strawberry, tar and iodine. Slightly hard edged with otherwise lush and juicy fruit. A bit tight and "blocky" late. We'll see if this opens some. I heard guesses of Spain, but I thought this could be a high-end Cotes du Rhone or other Southern Rhone region.

D'Arenberg
2002 Grenache
The Derelict Vineyard, McLaren Vale
Blind Red 2 - Deeply colored with a slight funkiness on the nose. Meaty undertone of licorice and animal. Blackberry, tree bark, and tannin. Rich. Has a sweet and sour quality at times that I don't like and the wine finishes slightly hot with a bit of reduction or rubberiness. Later this seemed a little better put together. Not bad. D'Arenberg seems to do a good job making interesting wines.

Yangarra Estate
2002 Grenache
Old Vines, McLaren Vale
Blind Red 3 - Deeply colored with sweet blackberry juice. Juicy, unstructured smelling. Luch and bit more red fruit flavored on the palate. A bit simple. Subtle aromas of swimming pool water. Pleasant, if a bit one-dimensional. Hopefully not expensive, in which case it's QPR. This is apparently a higher end version of the Yangarra Park Kendall Jackson label. 15.8% alcohol.

Carlisle
2002 Three Birds
Sonoma County
Blind Red 4 - Big nose of clove and pepper. Slightly Zinfandel-like nose. Tons of pepper. Concentrated peppery red and black fruit with a fair amount of alcohol, but that doesn't really detract from the wine. Mouth pleasing. I heard someone say tropical fruit, and there might be something to that. The power of suggestion. Meaty late. Very nice. Hedonistic. 15.7% alcohol. Mostly Grenache with Mourvedre and Syrah. $19

Las Rocas de San Alejandro
2002 Garnacha
Catalyud
Blind Red 5 - Deep color. Restrained, somewhat tight smelling nose. Lavishly concentrated, but slightly austere with a slight mineral edge. French? Surprising. $12

Eric Texier
2000 Cotes du Rhone Villages
St. Gervais
Blind Red 6 - Touch fading at the rim. Vinous smelling. Tired? Touch of liqueur. Flat and boring. We debated whether this wine will survive and improve for another day. I am of the opinion that it will not.

Jacob's Creek
2003 Grenache Shiraz
South Australia
Blind Red 7 - Fragrant, somewhat floral nose. Definitely has that powdery, peppery, blowsy strawberry Grenache smell to it. Rich, sweet attack of red liqueur, raspberry and strawberry. Doesn't stand up to my pasta and generally is not the what I'm looking for in Grenache. I thought this was a Cotes du Rhone for its lack of stuffing. 51% Grenache, 49% Shiraz.

Clarendon Hills
2002 Grenache
Kangarilla Vineyard, Clarendon
Blind Red 8 - Big and slightly sweet smelling. Likely Aussie or California from the nose. Blackberry liqueur, touch of reduction. Rich, sweet concentrated palate with hints of bark. Black fruit. Decent. Will retaste the leftovers tonight. And retasting this wine last night, I like it a great deal. Packed with black fruit flavors. Very tasty. $40

Mas de Avelyans
2001 Syrah
Vin de Pays du Gard
Deeply colored with just a hint of translucence. Aromas of toasted wood, dark fruit, hints of vanilla and black fruit syrup. Loaded with nice blackberry fruit. I would call it concentrated, but it doesn't really stand up to the Clarendon Hills Grenache I tasted beside it. Solid mid-palate with a few hard edges still to resolve. Perhaps a little one-dimensional in the mouth, but wow! What QPR this is. Wish I had bought more, because I have not enjoyed the 2002 and 2003 vintages as much. $12

Foppiano
2001 Petite Sirah
Paso Robles
A big, chewey wine. Like a thick mouthful of boysenberries. Rustic, moderately tannic, but in a thick and chewey, not astringent way. Bread dough. Not bad. Needs meat. $13

Richard Perry
2000 Syrah
Napa Valley
The back label indicates this is from Terraced Hillside vineyard. I believe Perry gets most of their fruit from the Coombsville area. 325 Cases. An interesting nose - definite suggestions of Syrah with a meaty, peppery note, along with a boysenberry, vanilla quality and smoke, cigar, and new rubber. Medium-full bodied with evidence of new oak on the attack in a crème brulee type way. Plush, though not much going on in the mid-palate. $25

Cheers!
James

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© 2004, James Vineyard