2008 La Diligence

2008 La Diligence

Vineyard: Stagecoach, Napa Ca.

Varietal: 100% Marsanne

Tasting Notes: Stone fruit, almond blossom, and citrus nose with honey, mineral, spiced pear notes on the palate. The wine is full bodied and complex.

Vineyard history: The 800 acre vineyard is located on the upper east hills of Napa Valley at about 1500 feet elevation. The vineyard is named after the famous 1800’s stagecoach trail which was used for travel between valleys before the invention of cars.

Winery Information: This wine is labeled under a brand that was created in partnership with Francois Villard and the Miner Family Vineyards, Gary Brookman - winemaker). 

Francois Villard is an up and coming famous vintner who primarily works in the Condrieu area of the Rhone Valley. His experience with the Rhone varietals has allowed this partnership with the Miner Family vineyards to make a wine of very high caliber. The wine showcases finesse and elegance the best of what the Marsanne varietal has to offer. 

Barrel Aging:  7 months in Burgundian Cooperage (40% new)

Scribe Winery 2004 Atlas Peak, Napa Valley Syrah

Scribe winery Syrah Napa Valley (Atlas Peak) 2004

Andrew Mariani and his partners, wine-industry veterans Kristof Nils Anderson and Andrew Avellar (Mariani's uncle), are growing 35 acres of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Reisling and Sylvaner. 

The vines are still too young to harvest fruit, so for now, the trio buys grapes from Carneros and leases vineyard property in Napa on Atlas Peak, which they call Scribe Outpost East. 

Scribe's 2004 Syrah from the Outpost East vineyard has rich, dark fruit and a lovely earthiness.

The aromas of this fine Syrah are slow to emerge, but when they do, they deliver the goods: layering scents of sweet dark cherry syrup, violet, dried orange, date sugar and dry-cured beef in a plush and sophisticated melange. Things are much more forthcoming on the palate, where bright notes of Santa Rosa plum contrast darker, deeper flavors of cherry syrup, sweet tobacco, earth and forest-floor spice. 

The finish is lingering, palate-coating and beautifully balanced and its richness pushes the wines unresolved tannins almost entirely rearward. This one will be tremendous with braised beef short ribs or flashy lamb roasts right now, and may yet improve for another few years.

119 cases produced.

"Scribe Winery is exquisitely imperfect. This is where the sheen of Wine Country ends and its patchwork, outlaw lore bubbles to the surface. It’s where the dust billows over an irregular dirt road, escorted by a long row of palm trees that beckon you back toward the coarse hillsides and corrupt histories and overgrown, feral sweetness to a turn-of-the-century hacienda wiling away its hours in a state of gauzy, dilapidated bohemian grace.

It’s where Andrew Mariani, his brother Adam, their uncle Andrew Avellar and Napa-based winemaker Kristof Anderson spend their hours making a neglected property whole again, and almost coincidentally, crafting.  To read the rest of this article in Sonoma Magazine: www.sonomamag.net and search Scribe

2006 Bonny Doon Le Cigare Volant

Rich and smooth red.

Meaty, smoky and peppery.

Tasting Notes:

The ‘06 Cigare certainly shows the family flavor profile of red fruits, herbal and earthy notes in a savory medium bodied package. But it is quite a different wine!

A blend of syrah, grenache, cinsault with just a hint of mourvèdre and carignane, making for a bright and wonderfully gamey wine. Very youthful with toasty notes of cherry, birch, sassafras and pomegranate. Pair this racy red with a bloomsdale spinach salad in a sherry vinaigrette garnished with carpaccio of tuna or beef. Speaking of beef, a rare steak in any number of variations (tri-tip, flat-iron, filet) would be quite delish. While the zesty ‘06 is excellent right now, aging it for 2-3 more years would be all to the good.

  

Vineyard | Production Notes

This cuvée, the 22nd edition of Le Cigare Volant, is dominated by the chief red in residence - syrah. Our traditional syrah source in Santa Maria Valley was this year supplemented with the exceptional Central Coast Chequera Vineyard. Chequera Syrah is very fragrant and elegant, not quite classically New World or Old. Bien Nacido produces the closest analogue we have found to a Northern Rhône wine - tannic and meaty in the lower registers; peppery, fruitful and delicately floral in the top, all the while showing great balance and harmony. For those with particular sensitivity, a smidge of our own Biodynamic® Estate grenache adds a discreet spiciness to the attraction. A small group of non-irrigated, centenarian Contra Costa vineyards has provided mourvèdre for Cigare for many years and finally, a small dollop of cinsault provides a very particular fragrance of flowers and aromatic herbs.

Vital Statistics

Varietal Blend: 44% syrah, 43% grenache, 12% cinsault, 1% mourvèdre, carignane

Appellation: California

Alcohol by Volume: 13.3%

Serving Temp: 55-65ºF

Cellaring: 3-5 years

Production: 3,300 cases

2006 Tallulah Del Rio Rogue Valley Syrah

"2006 Tallulah Del Rio Vineyard Syrah Rogue Valley, Southern Oregon - from a vineyard managed by Oregon's quickly emerging champion of Rhone varietals, Rob Wallace of Del Rio Vineyard. Rob Wallace, a fourth generation farmer from the Sacramento region was recruited to run the Del Rio Vineyard in 1999.  Since then he has consistently produced  fruit of the highest caliber, attracting several renowned wineries to the vineyard.  Wallace’s superior growing practices have garnered national recognition for this previously under-appreciated region. These impressively complex grapes are shared among a number of Oregon’s best producers: Rock Block from Domaine Serene, Ken Wright, Bethel Heights and Penner-Ash.

Robert Parker gave 90 points: “An elegant, French-styled effort, it reveals subtle notes of crushed pepper, smoke, and restrained raspberry as well as blueberry characteristics. This dark plum-hued Syrah is built on elegance and restraint offered in a medium-bodied, decidedly European style. However, there is no shortage of flavor, and the wine has plenty of punch. It should drink nicely for 5-6 years.” 

Only 396 cases produced

Tasting Notes : Layers upon layers unfold in the expressive nose of this "chef's favorite."  Black fruits, black cherry and raspberry combine with notes of rose petal and carbon, and savory characters of black olive, peppercorn, and beef tartare.  Expansive on the palate, carbon and black fruits dominate, giving way to rich minerally tannins and a long and smooth finish for this well-balanced wine.

After 17 years of making wine for DeLoach, J Wine, Far Niente, and Luna, Mike Drash and his wife Tracy are going out on their own.  The opportunity has arisen to purchase the Tallulah brand from a member of the Copain winemaking staff, John Raytek..  The name Tallulah is near and dear to our heart with our 3 year old daughter carrying the same name.  Also, Tallulah Bankhead is a distant cousin on Mike's side of the family in Mississippi. With the 2009 harvest, Tallulah will continue on with a Rhone focus but also add some vineyards that Mike has excelled at in his career in the Napa Valley.  The goal is to work with single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Syrah and Marsanne from Organic and Sustainable vineyards in Napa and Sonoma.  The winemaking will reflect a minimalist approach striving to nurture the wines instead of "making" them."

Technical Info:
14.7% Alcohol
6.3 g/L TA
3.93 pH 

(from the Tallulah website)

BEDROCK 2009 ROSE OF MOURVEDRE

 BEDROCK 2009 ROSE OF MOURVEDRE

“Ode to Lulu”, Sonoma Valley

290 cases produced, 13.2% alcohol

Last year the “Ode to Lulu” received 90 points from both Wine Spectator and Tanzer, the highest score given for rose.  The 2009 vintage may be even better, according to winemaker Morgan Peterson.   

The Mourvedre for this wine comes from 120 year old vines yielding 2.5 tons per acre.  It was picked in the last week of September at 22.5 brix, after which it was destemmed, immediately pressed and squeezed off to tank.  The “Ode to Lulu” was fermented cold with native yeasts and stayed on its lees through ML.  This method is common practice in Bandol, which is where the inspiration for this wine comes from, the “Lulu”  being Lulu Peyraud of Domaine Tempier.  This Mourvedre shows aromatics of bright red fruits with red currant, cherry pit, white flowers and orange peel.  There is a creaminess in the mid-palate of this wine and a dusty minerality on the lengthy finish.   This wine is atypical of what you normally think of when you approach a rose.  There are none of the bright strawberry notes, but rather a rich and creamy red cherry character with less acidity than usual.  Its mineral texture makes it great for heartier foods.  

                                                        

The Bedrock winery makes their wines in a converted chicken coop. Only top quality grapes are hand pitch-forked into open topped redwood and stainless steel vats, and fermented using only native yeasts.  The wines are then manually basket pressed into French oak.   Morgan Peterson describes the wine making at Bedrock as “Cro-Magnum,” meaning the process is rudimentary and pure.   They take a very hands on and manual approach to wine making, which means that they become intimately familiar with every wine.  It may be slow, time-consuming and messy, but it is ultimately very effective at producing wines with great precision, focus, delicacy and food friendliness.  

This year at Hospice du Rhone, 2011

Joining the stellar 2011 Seminar Series will be Joey Tensley of Tensley representing the Santa Barbara growing region and from another famous corner of California will be Morgan Twain-Peterson of Bedrock Wine Co. sharing tastes from the North Coast. Both tout a strong obsession with Syrah and a passion for multiple vineyard sourcing. Together they will share their Syrahs and additional Rhône varieties along with stories of how they have become staunch Rhône advocates and winemakers.

 

Unti’s 2007 Dry Creek Syrah

Unti’s 2007 Dry Creek Syrah comes primarily from the winery’s six acre benchland  vineyard, which has been the mainstay of their Syrah program since 1997.  The vines were planted in 1991 using bud wood obtained from the Durell vineyard in Sonoma.  

Since 2004 this vineyard has been farmed following natural cycles without the use of pesticides or herbicides.  Mick Unti keeps the yields extremely low in this vineyard to ensure that this wine is dense and packed with intense dark fruit aromas and flavors.  The color is a deep black cherry.  The nose is spice, leather, violet, pepper, and a light smoke.  The wine itself is full bodied with great balance and structure, showing intense and concentrated blackberry and black cherry fruit with the pepper, bacon, earth, and smoke you look for in a good 100% Syrah.  Its firm tannins will allow for many years of development, anywhere from 4-10 years to show its best. 

The Unti winery is a small family owned operation that specializes in red varietal wines of Rhone and Italian varietals with vineyard personality.  Their benchland property is planted with 25 acres of Zinfandel, Syrah, Sangiovese, Petite Sirah, and Grenache Noir.  The winery property is planted with 35 acres of Syrah clones 383, 470, 174, and 877, Zinfandel, Grenache Noir, Mourvedre, Petite Sirah, Barbera, Montepulciano, Grenache Blanc, Picpoul Blanc and Vermentino.  In total, the winery produces about 6500 cases per year.  

George and Mick Unti believe the Dry Creek Valley’s climate is ideal for growing classic Mediterranean grape varietals.  When they are farmed for quality these varietals show attributes of expressive fruit, ripe tannins, and balanced acidity.  Their wine making process employs modern techniques of long pre-fermentation maceration, open top tank fermenters, basket pressing, and aging only in new and used French oak barrels to highlight the aromatics and flavors derived from the vineyards.  Their artisan methods of farming and winemaking enhance and support an ability to make wines with a sense of place.  Almost all of their wines, and opinions, are unfiltered.

Mick Unti co-founded Unti Vineyards Winery with George and Linda Unti, in 1997. Mick manages the day to day operations of the winery including winemaking, sales and marketing. Mick was born in San Jose, Ca. He finished high school and went to college in the Seattle area at University of Washington. Mick realized early in life the importance of taking the easy way out. He eschewed pursuing a career in the subjects of his degree (Broadcast Communications and Political Science) in favor of working in the wine business. He worked in retail for 8 years, then served as National Sales Manager for McDowell Valley Vineyards before taking a similar position with Jess Jackson's Artisans and Estates. In 1998, Mick left his cushy job at KJ to devote all of his time to the Unti Vineyards Winery.

90+ PTS. The Rhone Report, November 2010

“The Wine’s inky purple is followed by a smoky, spicy bouquet of blackberries, roasted meat juice, tar and dusty chocolate.  Very fresh and precise on the nose, the wine is medium to full bodied on the palate, possessing a silky, polished texture, impressive balance, and a chewy, tannic finish where the wine’s whole cluster fermentation shows.  This blossoms in the glass so if drinking anytime soon, a decant is recommended.  Elegant, but well structured, this should evolve over the next 3-5 years, as well as perform beautifully for a decade. “