The February installment of our Monthy BAWE tasting took place yesterday, Sunday the 9th, in honor of the final day of celebration of Chinese New year . Our theme this month was twofold, Viognier followed by Zinfandel – presumably one flight of each, though we should have known better. Can you say “out of control?” With 16 people present we wound up with a whopping 26 wines served in five flights! Food at these events is always excellent, but yesterday (BAM!) kicked it up a notch, with such delicacies as marinated Abalone, shaved lamb in an exotic Mongolian spice, seared scallops, fine cheeses, and exquisite desserts – to name just a few.

Spirited conversation and debate along with the big lineup resulted in an unintentional brevity in my notes this time, so hopefully others will chime in with their impressions as well.

Flight #1, Viognier

2001 Canorgue Vin de Pays de Vaucluse (Group votes: 1st place: 0, 2nd place: 0)
Stoney, minerally nose of earth and toast. Very odd, not so good.

2000 Arrowood Russian River Valley, Saralees Vineyard (Group votes: 1st place: 1, 2nd place: 3)
Very purfumed, the most aromatic of the lineup, sweet apricot notes, thick and viscous, creamy, Very nice.

2000 Failla-Jordan Alban Vineyard (Group votes: 1st place: 0, 2nd place: 2)
My contribution, instantly recognizable as the Failla, I love this wine. Intense mineral notes, exotic and sharply focused. Tremendous wine. The comments around the room were really interesting on this one – some felt it was way over-the-top with oak, others loved it, some I believe actively disliked, but as I fully expected it was fairly controversial. My #2 wine of the flight.

2000 Jade Mountain (Group votes: 1st place: 2, 2nd place: 6)
Nose is fairly muted and a little musty, showing sweet ripe fruit on the palate. Not a stunner, but certainly a decent wine.

1999 Acacia (Group votes: 1st place: 1, 2nd place: 0)
Stinky nose showing odd petrol notes, a bit thin on the palate, this got me wondering if the wine had some age on it? Turned out to be a 1999, so I guess maybe so.

[B]2001 Pride (Group votes: 1st place: 10, 2nd place: 3)
Very floral nose with terrific earthy notes, terrific balance, ripe exotic fruits, jasmine, and some spice on the long finish. Outstanding wine, my #1 of the flight!

Flight #2, More Viognier

2000 Truchard Roussanne (Group votes: 1st place: 0, 2nd place: 0)
Ha! I actually pegged this blind as a Roussanne (to my own surprise!). My notes: Nose is not typical of a viognier, wet stone notes, earthy, a tad ‘flat’, Roussanne?

2001 Crauford Sauvignon Blanc (Group votes: 1st place: 2, 2nd place: 4)
Yep, a ringer – and easily identifiable as such, picked this out easily as being a Sauvignon Blanc (but a darn good one!). Grass and grapefruit notes, tart and refreshing, very nice.

2001 Vino Con Brio (Group votes: 1st place: 7, 2nd place: 5)
Excellent nose of sweet fruit and minerals, terrific richness with outstanding apricot notes shining through and leading to a smooth, long finish. Outstanding wine, my #2 of the flight.

2000 Cailloux Chateauneuf du Papes blanc (Group votes: 1st place: 0, 2nd place: 0)
I was pretty proud of myself again – my notes, while very brief, pegged this one also: Ringer? Not 100% Viognier, blend?

2001 Pride (Group votes: 1st place: 8, 2nd place: 6)
Yep, again – two people brought this wine. My notes tasting it the 2nd time around: Very nice nose, perfumed, excellent richness and balance, wonderful. My #1 of the flight.

Flight #3, On to the Zinfandels

1999 Rosenblum Sausel Vineyard Maggies Reserve (Group votes: 1st place: 2, 2nd place: 2)
Excellent dark purple color, shows vanilla, cassis, tremendous extraction, a huge wine. The only drawback: the tannins are a bit coarse and astringent. My #2 wine of the flight.

2000 BV Signet Collection (Group votes: 1st place: 6, 2nd place: 4)
Really ripe nose that’s a touch raisiny, good focus, showing dark berries and smoke, lots of oak.

2000 Burrell School (Group votes: 1st place: 1, 2nd place: 0)
Lighter body than all the rest, good balance, with spicy notes (Chinese five spice), but an odd antiseptic, chemical thing going on that really put me off.

2000 Storybrook Mnt. Napa, Mayacamus Estate (Group votes: 1st place: 0, 2nd place: 1)
Muted nose, lacks fruit, very dull, disappointing.

2000 Saxon Brown Casa Santinamaria (Group votes: 1st place: 5, 2nd place: 6)
At first the nose was reminiscent of a Chiles Valley Zin, with that crushed pinecone smell, but that actually faded in the glass to reveal wonderfully balanced ripe fruit, sharp acidity, and a firm tannic backbone. My #1 wine of the flight,

Flight #4, More Zinfandels

2000 Turley Duarte (Group votes: 1st place: 9, 2nd place: 6)
Big ripe nose, displaying great aromatics of raspberries and other ripe berries. Great focus, sharp acidity, and a clean finish. My #2 of the flight.

1999 Watts Old Vines (Lodi) (Group votes: 1st place: 1, 2nd place: 0)
Plastic-y nose, some herb notes, not much else going on.

1999 Pietre Santa (Group votes: 1st place: 0, 2nd place: 2)
Unripe nose showing strongly of Jalapeno peppers, dry wood tannins, not very good.

2001 Nyers Toffenelli (Group votes: 1st place: 0, 2nd place: 0
Good zin, but unexciting. Quite tannic, seems very closed.

2000 Biali Monte Rosso (Group votes: 1st place: 7, 2nd place: 6)
Huge ripe nose, smooth tannins, displays ripe rich fruit, some smoke notes, in a big dense jammy framework. Substantial but well integrated tannins, great zin. My #1 of the flight.

Flight #5, and even MORE Zinfandels

1999 Matzin (Group votes: 1st place: 0, 2nd place: 2)
Nose is spicy, which follows through on the palate. A little hot, and showing a lot of oak. (it should be noted that in fact, the Matzin sees only neutral oak – it’s apparently the nature of the tannins of these grapes that result in a distinctly woody character).

2001 Joel Gott (Amador) (Group votes: 1st place: 5, 2nd place: 2)
Huge jammy nose, very ripe fruits, very tannin, powerful full throttle zin, very nice. My #1 of the flight.

1999 Terra Del Oro (Group votes: 1st place: 0, 2nd place: 1)
Nose of pine, on the palate this smacked me over the head with Menthol! It was like Vicks Vapo-rub zinfandel, not one for me.

1999 Saxon Brown “Fighting Brothers” (Group votes: 1st place: 4, 2nd place: 1)
A bit earthy, peppery, closed at first but developed nice fruit with some time in the glass. Firmly tannic, very nice.

1999 Livermore Valley Cellars “1st Street Reserve” (Group votes: 1st place: 2, 2nd place: 2)
Huge nose, comes across more like a port than a regular Zin. Dense, rich sweet fruit masking the tannins, powerful – the kind of wine I could enjoy as dessert. My #2 of the flight.

As always, the above tasting notes are my own, and the votes are those of the overall group. You can assess top wines by interpreting the scores however you would like (total votes, total 1st place votes, weighted scoring) . Some interesting observations: The Pride Viognier ROCKS! But not without an equivalent price tag - $40-$45. I’m somewhat biased toward the Failla, as I love the style, but my 3rd favorite Viognier was the Vino Con Brio, which represents a great value at $17, and stood up fantastically in a lineup including the pride. It’s always tough to compare wine from different flights and come up with an overall favorite, but for the Zins the Biale Monte Rosso and the Turley Duarte stood head and shoulders above the rest, with the Biale taking top honors.

Great tasting! Looking forward to next month and tasting Tempranillo!

Eric,
Getting tired of saying this. Another great job on notes. Sounds like a ton of fun. Hope Lafon behaved.

Cheers!
And remember: Life's too short to drink bad wine.

Of course Lafon didn't behave! What fun would THAT have been

Thanks King, it was a lot of fun!

Eric,

"2000 Cailloux Chateauneuf du Papes blanc...Not 100% Viognier, blend?"

Viognier is not offically allowed in CDP whites. Some may sneak in, as enforecement is difficult, though it's not an approved variety. The official approved varieties (white) are:

Roussanne
Grenache Blanc
Bourboulenc
Clairette Blanc
Picpoul
Picardin

There is some serious doubt that Picardin exists, some growers insist it does and it may show up on the back of a bottle, although who knows what went in the bottle.

Paul paul@hockeyguy.com

Thanks for the refresher Paul! I knew about the Viognier not being in CdP (and honestly I did not detect any), but I did not recall the allowed varieties.

Good notes! The 2000 Biale Monte Rosso was definitely my No. 1 wine of the night. And of course, I brought it. I found the Turley to have alot of fruit, spice and pepper, but a tinge of bitterness at the end which is what made it my No. 2 wine of the night. Also, it was not as extracted as other Turleys I have had.

And of course I behaved. It was Miss Amy that was Miss Behavin'!

Also, Skwid will simply have to learn to taste faster! I think he's still pondering the third flight!

Lafon,

lol...good one...

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How 'bout a game of 8-ball for a nice bottle of Cab...