Rhone Rangers

[Carolyn Tillie]

I'll state it up front -- I really don't care for these mass tastings. There is too much feeling of 50 or so... Managing Rhone Rangers, I went in with a list of must-hits and kept my tastings to a minimum (basically, I showed up with the industry/media folks at noon and left when John-Q-Public were let in at 2:00 and it got too crowded). BTW, if I liked a wine I'd consider buying, I get the price. I'm hoping others (Derricks, I saw you!) will fill in with their notes as I only hit twelve wineries (and made limited notes at that!) of the 100+ that were there:

Outpost

03 Grenache - Lively and bright. Still young.

03 'Other' Petite Sirah - Deep and dark and plummy.

Peay

03 Syrah - Massive black raspberry nose. Smooth entry. Exciting mid-palate with spicy finish.

02 Syrah - Dark and elegant. Spicy fruit with balanced acidic mid-palate.

Ridge

03 California Bugchignani Carignane - Immediate aromas of mineral and vegetable tones. Sharp entry with a dry finish.

01 Syrah/Grenache Blend - Exciting and bright fruit. A tad young but it moves briskly in the mouth with a dry end.

01 California Lytton Syrah - Even and smooth. Very enticing.

02 Lytton Petite Sirah - Tight and chewy

02 Lytton Syrah - Tantalizing aromas which evens outs to full, ripe berry.

Rosenblum

02 San Francisco Bay Cote du Bone - Bright and easy to drink.

02 Syrah - Wow factor in the nose. Jammy, chewy aromas which parallel the mouth entry.

03 Petite Sirah - I love a wine you can't see light through... Inky purple with black raspberry and black plum nose. Sweet entry which explodes with fruit and spice. Killer wine for $19!

Copaine

03 Grenache - Candy shop aromas. Smooth entry which expands and fills with more tannins on the finish.

03 Syrah, Alexander Valley - From the Broken Leg vineyards. Elegant with dark, dark fruit aromas. Intensely smooth, even entry. Killer for $25

03 Syrah, Gary's Vineyard - Amazing, deep, complex bouquet. Stunning layers on the entry with coffee tones along with the amazing fruits. $30

Beckmen

03 Cuvee le Bec - Candied red-hots in the nose. Spicy entry with full mouthfeel.

02 Syrah - Classic dark berry. Even entry with balanced fruit and layered, acidic finish.

03 Grenache - Candy shop, floral aromas. Full, even entry which explodes with stunning balance.

03 Syrah Clone #1 - Inky dark color, Thick, dark opulent aromas with dark, dark full mouthfeel.

Andrew Murray

Esperance - A blend of Grenache, Mourvedre, and Syrah. Port-like candy aromas. Truly bizarre sensation of Sweet & Sour in a single sip. Intensely l-o-n-g finish of both Sweet AND Sour!

03 Syrah - Bright and evenly tannic. Enticing plum and cherry.

03 Estate Syrah - Elegant and even Oriental spices combine with the plum and berries to produce a long, dry spicy finish.

02 Hillside Syrah - Port-like aromas that fade to eucalyptus and mint. Seems to enter the mouth like a port as well...

Tablas Creek

04 Roussane (from the Barrel) - Kiwi and bright fruits (one of three whites I tried because it was poured before I could tell them not to -- I liked it better than I thought I would!)

02 Cotes de Tablas - Candy shop aromas and sweet-ish on entry. Dry, tannic mid-palate.

02 Esprit de Beaucastel - Intensely ripe strawberry but overtly mineral mid-palate.

Rockblock

01 Del Rio Syrah - Like a hunk of smoky, BBQ meat. Aromas and tastes of cherry and cedar. Earth and chocolate. Long and distinctive.

02 Seven Mills Syrah - Unlike the previous, overtly jammy, fruity offerings, this is one of the first wines to smell like, well.... WINE! No jam but earthiness that is rich and bright. Not brett, though! Engaging but still a bit tight.

Edmund St. John

NV(?) Shell & Bone - So called from the limestone. Another white I was talked into but jeez, was I ever glad! Kiwi and peach aromas that were intensely exciting. Mid-palate of honey'd peach. Complete wow factor. $25

04 Roussanne - Slightly grassy aromas. Creamy finish.

01 Syrah - Dry and vegetal.

01 Los Robles Vejos - Elegant fruit, well-balanced with both dark berries and earth that ended in a bit of a jammy tease.

Ehrardt

03 Petite Sirah - Amazind cedar bouquet. Smoth and bold entry. $26

Fife

00 Carignane - Candied cinnamon gives way to strawberry.

?? L'Atitude - Dry, mineral, and thin.

01 Syrah - Jammy nose. Nice swallow (the only trickle that went down my throat by accident...)

00 Syrah - Spicy cedar which slightly paled in the mouth.

00 Petit Syrah - Great, dark, fruity nose with a slightly dry mid-palate.

00 Max - Huge, plummy and big.

Edited March 20, 2005 by Carolyn Tillie (log)

[eje]

I'll state it up front -- I really don't care for these mass tastings.

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Thanks for making the sacrifice!

My wife and I went to a ZAP festival once, and I agree, it is just silly. After about a dozen very diverse wines, even if I am only tasting a tiny sip or spitting, I have a really hard time keeping track. Plus, there are usually so many really drunk people elbowing for more "free" drinks. Just kind of unpleasant.

In any case, thanks again! There's a lot of good stuff there that will go on my shopping list.

Erik

[MaxH]

... After about a dozen very diverse wines, even if I am only tasting a tiny sip or spitting, I have a really hard time keeping track.

I hope that you (or others who are interested in the wines) are spitting, though obviously how each of us chooses to taste wine is our own business. But speaking for myself, it's useful to carry emergency disposable spit cups in the trunk of the car (should the hosts fail to provide suitable crachoirs and the tasting not be outdoors, where spitting is rarely a problem). (They're big plastic cups of a generous half-liter or so, kept in an emergency box next to the emergency stopper kits and emergency tasting glasses.) Some commercial tastings may have 200 wines or more and it's hard enough to asess them even with selectivity and patience and spitting.

Plus, there are usually so many really drunk people elbowing for more "free" drinks.

That seems to me to capture very crisply the difference between wine tasting and "wine tasting."

= Max

[derricks]

I hope that you (or others who are interested in the wines) are spitting, though obviously how each of us chooses to taste wine is our own business.  But speaking for myself, it's useful to carry emergency disposable spit cups in the trunk of the car (should the hosts fail to provide suitable

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Both ZAP and the Rhone Rangers tasting provided spit cups (big, red, and plastic), in addition to spit buckets distributed liberally about. Even with adequate spit buckets, I like the cups because it allows me to not fight my way to the spit bucket (because of course you can't say "excuse me" to the person yammering away in front of the spit bucket). Lots of people even at the trade tasting seem to think that "spitting" means you take one sip and swallow, but then pour the rest. At least the alcohol here was a _little_ more restrained than at ZAP, where everything clocks in at 14.5 or more.

To add to Carolyn's comments, I'm a fan of Edmunds St. John in general, and I was happy to see him doing more whites from Paso (when they told me the name of Shells and Bones, I asked if it was from that part of the world). I found it interesting that he was bottling leftover Rousanne from Tablas Creek. He said they offered him the grapes, so he jumped on it. It'd be nice to see that partnership continue. (I asked him if he'd consider bottling grapes from Glenrose, but he says he's trying).

But Steve Edmunds tipped me off to the Eaglepoint rose a few booths down. That was great, my favorite of the 20 or so wines I tasted.

[jbonne]

maybe the Wash. state folks will pick up on the spit-cup idea one of these days.

last year's Rangers event in Seattle was a madhouse, but on the upside, i discovered several wines i've since sung the praises of and written about. that said, i opted for Hospice this year.

would love to hear more about the Edmunds St. John Robles Viejos. we grabbed a bottle of that last month down in Oakland.

[redwinegulper]

Yum, sounds like a great tasting. I tried the Tablas Creek Cote de Tablas '01 last month and really enjoyed it. Actually I put it in my February newsletter A Taster's Journey

Did you have a favorite at the tasting?

I am off for ribs for lunch, I bet a Syrah would delicious with them!

thanks...ed

[SWISS_CHEF]

I'll state it up front -- I really don't care for these mass tastings. There is too much feeling of 50 or so... 

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I have to attend huge tastings that are put on by my suppliers. Last week there was one with 300 different wines. It is really hard to be objective when tasting wine this way. I did my best and managed to work my way through almost 200 of them. Yes I spit. I was even in fine condition for the drive home. One thing I do notice is that huge monster reds still taste great and stand out even on a burnt palate.

[Capaneus]

I'll state it up front -- I really don't care for these mass tastings. There is too much feeling of 50 or so... 

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I have to attend huge tastings that are put on by my suppliers. Last week there was one with 300 different wines. It is really hard to be objective when tasting wine this way. I did my best and managed to work my way through almost 200 of them. Yes I spit. I was even in fine condition for the drive home. One thing I do notice is that huge monster reds still taste great and stand out even on a burnt palate.

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Yeah, in fact it's my personal theory on *why* RP likes the wines he does: they're the wines that stand out under the ungodly conditions in which he works (at least he seems to me to go through great numbers of wines on relatively short tasting trips). At any rate, it works that way for me, which is why I've given up mass tastings as a way to judge wines to purchase. I just do them for fun, now.

[SWISS_CHEF]

Yeah, in fact it's my personal theory on *why* RP likes the wines he does: they're the wines that stand out under the ungodly conditions in which he works (at least he seems to me to go through great numbers of wines on relatively short tasting trips).

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Interesting comment about RP. I have never thought about it that way but I think you might be on to something there!