2008 Zaca Mesa Z Cuvee

DATE CONSUMED

Sunday, August 04, 2013

VINTAGE

2008

WINERY/PRODUCER

Zaca Mesa

WINE NAME

Z Cuvee

TYPE OF WINE

Red blend

COMPOSITION

68% Grenache, 18% Mourvedre, 14% Syrah

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

Estate grown and bottled

REGION/APPELLATION/A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area)

Santa Ynez Valley, California (Santa Barbara County)

ALCOHOL CONTENT

14.5%

PRICE PAID

$21.50

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

We bought this bottle from the winery’s tasting room in November 2012 when we stopped in Paso Robles on our way back to So Cal after visiting friends near Sacramento over Thanksgiving weekend.

BOUQUET

This wine has a sweet, jammy, spicy bouquet, with significant red fruit on the nose (perhaps the most prominent red fruit bouquet I’ve ever experienced with a Southern Rhone-styled red blend).  There’s also subtle savory herbs, earth, and oak playing “peek-a-boo” in the background.  But that jammy red fruit is like an extremely enthusiastic 10-year-old Sheldon Cooper (reference: “The Big Bang Theory”) sitting in the front row of class waving his hand wildly when the teacher asks, “Who wants to be first to read their science report aloud to the class?”  That red fruit can’t WAIT to stand-up and be noticed.

TASTING NOTES

We discovered Zaca Mesa’s Z Cuvee for the first time in June, 2009 (that bottle was the 2006 vintage, which was also mostly Grenache).  I absolutely fell in love with that affordable, delicious red blend.  Let’s see how the 2008 fares.

Once again, for a Southern Rhone-styled blend for $20-ish, this is a difficult bottle to beat.  Despite that aggressive jammy red-fruited bouquet, this wine is not a coyingly oversweet red.  Zaca Mesa makes fantastic Grenache (when we bought this bottle, we also bought a bottle of their 2010 Grenache, which was amazing and I can’t wait to open that beauty in another couple of years), and with this being Grenache-based, it’s almost a given that this wine, at worst, would be good.

This is indeed a very nice red blend, especially considering the price.  There is indeed plenty of red fruit on the palate, like raspberries and strawberries (thank you, Grenache!), along with a decent amount of darker fruit, like plums and blackberries (thank you, Mourvedre and Syrah!).  Though there wasn’t a significant spice profile on the nose, there is indeed a significant amount of savory herbs flavor-wise, such as “Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme” (thank you, Simon and Garfunkel!!), along with plenty of black pepper.  There’s also a tiny bit of oak and earth on the back-end, providing back-up for the wine’s structural integrity of perfect acidity, smooth, silky tannins, with a tart, zingy, lingering finish.  This wine is a perfect accompaniment to food, especially since it’s medium-bodied, very flavorful, and VERY nicely well-balanced.

California’s Central Coast (from the Santa Barbara area in the south all the way up to Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties in the north) is a haven for affordable and quality Southern Rhone-style wines (both single varietal bottlings as well as blends).  Zaca Mesa is just around the corner from one of my favorite Santa Barbara area wineries (Fess Parker, who makes an extremely affordable semi/quasi Southern Rhone blend named Frontier Red, which sells for about $10 at BevMo! and Total Wine & More).  So obviously the soil and microclimate in those rolling hills and valleys are ideal for Southern Rhone varietals, especially Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre (which I call “The Big Three”).  The Paso Robles area makes even better Southern Rhone-style blends (generally speaking).  Tablas Creek makes a couple of blends that have strikingly similar flavor profiles to actual Chateauneuf-du-Papes!! 

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

I paired this wine with a perfectly grilled rib eye, spiced with my Usual Suspects (Kosher salt, black pepper, and Herbs de Provence).  This wine went PERFECTLY with the steak and would also pair well with just about any other red meat, especially lamb (chops, shanks, racks, etc.).  This wine is ever-so-slightly Chateauneuf-du-Pape-esque, and it should age well and pair gorgeously with any red beef dish.

AGING POTENTIAL

This wine is drinking very nicely right now and should continue to evolve and mature/develop for another 5 to 10 years.

SCORE (on a 100-point scale)

89

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

GOOD

WINERY WEBSITE

http://www.zacamesa.com/

2010 Fess Parker Santa Barbara County Chardonnay

DATE CONSUMED

Sunday, July 28, 2013

VINTAGE

2010

WINERY/PRODUCER

Fess Parker

WINE NAME

N/A

TYPE OF WINE

White

COMPOSITION

100% Chardonnay

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

The grapes for this wine were sourced from five different vineyards throughout Santa Barbara County (mostly)(I’m too tired and old to list them all, but they’re from the Santa Rita Hills, Santa Maria Valley, Santa Ynez Valley, and even Monterey County)

REGION/APPELLATION/A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area)

Santa Barbara County, California

ALCOHOL CONTENT

14.2%

PRICE PAID

Retail: $18

Wine club member price: $14.40

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

We received this bottle in June 2011 with our regular quarterly wine club shipment

BOUQUET

This wine has a very stony/minerally bouquet, along with some tropical and stone fruit elements such as pineapple, apricot, and peach.  I also detected some earth and oak on the nose, which isn’t too surprising since Blair Fox (Fess’ head winemaker) likes to partially or fully ferment a lot of Fess’ white wines in oak barrels. 

TASTING NOTES

After writing the above notes concerning this wine’s bouquet, I retrieved the newsletter that came with the shipment that included this wine and, sure enough, this wine was indeed 100% barrel fermented (30% of which were new barrels). 

The second thing I did was scream when I noticed the alcohol level on the bottle label.  I’ve had a lot of red wines with less than 14.2% alcohol, so I was petrified that this wine would be a somewhat typical Fess white where the grapes were picked VERY ripe (resulting in elevated alcohol levels) and that the oak that was apparent on the nose would be overwhelming on the palate.  Luckily, neither concern came to fruition.

This is a good, decent Chardonnay, but sadly, I’ve had much better Chardonnays for a similar price (ranging from $8 to $40).   Since the oak was not overwhelming and this wine carries its alcohol level very well, I was expecting a Chardonnay with more depth and complexity.  Like a ripe, typical California Chardonnay, there’s plenty of tropical and stone fruit (which the bouquet foreshadowed), such as peach, apricot, mango, pineapple, pear, and apple.  The barrel fermentation adds vanilla and richness; this is indeed a medium-to-full-bodied Chardonnay, with rich, creamy, oaky elements mid-palate.  In addition to the oak and fruit characteristics, there’s also honeycomb and herbal elements as well.  The finish is palate-clinging and lingering.

We’ve belonged to Fess’ wine club since 2007; they were the first wine club Arthur and I joined.  Pretty much all of their wines are, at worst, good, going all the way up to fantastic (some of their Pinot Noirs and red blends).  I do have one issue with Fess’ white wines: they tend to use VERY ripe grapes (with high alcohol levels) and the (partial or full) barrel fermentation can make their whites seem a bit heavy, leaden, overly-rich, and almost overbearing.  Although I appreciate all kinds of wines made in all kinds of styles, I do prefer whites that are generally lean and lower in alcohol.  If the wine has incredible depth-of-flavor with a complex flavor profile (along with fabulous balance and a gorgeous structure), I’d have no problems with a Cali Chardonnay with 20% alcohol.  However, I’ve yet come across a fantastic Cali Chard above 14% alcohol with complexity, depth-of-flavor, balance, structure, and elegance that warranted all that alcohol.

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

I paired this wine with scallops pan-seared in curried butter (about one or two tablespoons of butter with a light sprinkling of curry powder) and topped with freshly-cracked sea salt and black pepper.  This wine paired beautifully with the scallops and because of its richness and fruitiness would also pair well with most rich/fatty fishes (like salmon), roasted chicken, lobster mac & cheese, and even pan-seared pork chops.

AGING POTENTIAL

This wine is drinking well right now and will probably continue to age/mature well for another 5 to 10 years. 

SCORE (on a 100-point scale)

85

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

FAIR – GOOD

WINERY WEBSITE

http://www.fessparker.com/

2012 Lynmar Rose of Pinot Noir

DATE CONSUMED

Sunday, July 21, 2013

VINTAGE

2012

WINERY/PRODUCER

Lynmar

WINE NAME

Rose of Pinot Noir

TYPE OF WINE

Rose

COMPOSITION

100% Pinot Noir

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

N/A

REGION/APPELLATION/A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area)

Russian River Valley, California

ALCOHOL CONTENT

14.2%

PRICE PAID

Retail: $25

Wine Club price: $20

Final price with sales tax and shipping: $25.54

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

We received this wine with our quarterly wine club shipment in February, 2013

BOUQUET

This wine has a beautiful “strawberries & cream” aroma (along with cherry), which is probably exactly what it’s going to taste like based on my previous experience with Lynmar’s Rose of Pinot Noir.  There’s also suggestions of savory herbs with just a hint of a rumor of a suggestion of RRV soil/earth as well.

 

TASTING NOTES

I have read quite a few articles/stories about how fantastic the 2012 vintage was throughout most of California.  Evidently, the 2012 vintage was wonderful in the Russian River Valley as well.

As usual, this is by far one of, if not thee, best rose I’ve tasted all year.  Roses that are based on Pinot Noir are almost always my favorite and this beauty fits the bill.  I enjoy roses from Provence and Southern Rhone-styled roses as well, but in my humble opinion, because the Pinot Noir grape possesses unparalleled depth-of-flavors, complexity, and elegance, when properly grown and vinified, it’s rare to surpass a superior rose based on the Pinot Noir grape.

The bouquet for this wine foreshadowed EXACTLY how it would taste.  This wine does indeed taste like vinified strawberries and cream.  In addition to that classic English staple, there are also elements of cherries and savory herbs like sage, along with a stony mineral component.  Few grapes have the complexity and depth-of-flavor of Pinot Noir, and thanks to that heavenly grape, this rose does indeed show incredible depth-of-flavor and complexity (just like most of Lynmar’s Pinot Noirs).  Like most Pinots, there’s black pepper running in the background as well, running side-by-side with all of those fabulous savory herbs.

Some roses from Provence and the Rhone can be bone dry (almost painfully), but this rose strikes the PERFECT balance between dryness, fruit, herbs, earth, minerality (I just made-up that word; it’s the adjective form of “mineral”), earthiness, alcohol, and a flavor profile that my description(s) does absolutely no justice to this fantastic rose!

One quick word about this wine’s 14.2% alcohol level: that is generally quite elevated for a rose.  However, this wine doesn’t taste anywhere NEAR 14.2%.  If I were to taste this wine blindly, I would have guessed around 13%.  So if you’re one of those “Oh my God/Allah/Buddha; this wine’s alcohol is way too frickin’ high!!!!!” relax and enjoy this wine.  That 14.2% alcohol level is as sly as a fox and won’t be noticed.

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

I paired this wine with my favorite rose-pairing food: grilled salmon.  I take a nice, thick salmon steak and generously spice it with sea salt, freshly-cracked black pepper, and Herbs de Provence.  This gorgeous rose paired PERFECTLY with the salmon steak.  About a year ago, Arthur made his fantastic duck confit salad when friends came over for dinner and the 2011 Lynmar Rose of Pinot Noir paired gorgeously with his duck confit salad.  As we all know, Pinot (both red/still wine and rose) pairs fabulously with duck and salmon (along with practically every other protein on the planet).  As I was drinking this wine, I kept thinking about how well this rose would pair with smoked salmon deviled eggs.  I haven’t tried that particular pairing yet, but I would just about bet my life that this rose would go PERFECTLY with smoked salmon deviled eggs.  I know it goes well with duck confit salad and grilled salmon, but I can’t WAIT to try one of our other bottles with those smoked salmon deviled eggs; I’d bet the house that that pairing will be beyond compare!

AGING POTENTIAL

Roses are meant to be drunk young and this beauty is drinking gorgeously right now.  I’ve head years-old roses that were shockingly good and because this rose has a spicy, herbally structure, I would actually imagine that this rose would age well for another year or two or three.  I don’t know about anybody else, but I wouldn’t bet that our other three bottles of this rose will still be “viable” in another year or two, so we’ll be finishing the other three bottles we have in the cellar before the end of the year.  But if you discover a “lost” bottle in your cellar a couple of years from now, please let me know how it’s drinking in 2015 or 2016; I’d bet $100 that this wine will still drink well up to around 2016 or so.

SCORE (on a 100-point scale)

92

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

GOOD – EXCELLENT

WINERY WEBSITE

http://www.lynmarwinery.com/

2005 Caparone Zinfandel

DATE CONSUMED

Sunday, June 30, 2013

VINTAGE

2005

WINERY/PRODUCER

Caparone

WINE NAME

N/A

TYPE OF WINE

Red

COMPOSITION

100% Zinfandel

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

Estate grown and bottled

REGION/APPELLATION/A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area)

Paso Robles, California

ALCOHOL CONTENT

13.3%

PRICE PAID

Retail price: $14; Price paid because I buy this wine by the case(s): $12.01

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

We bought a case of this wine (I ALWAYS buy cases of Caparone wine whenever we’re in or driving by Paso) in November 2012

BOUQUET

This wine has a very earthy, acidic, spicy, red-fruited bouquet.  This wine smells like it’s going to be a rustic, classic, austere Italian-styled red wine.  And based on the fact that I’ve had several vintages of Caparone’s Zin, I would just about guarantee that that’s exactly what it’s going to taste like!

 

TASTING NOTES

We discovered Caparone in October 2007 when we went on a wine trip to the Paso and Santa Barbara wine countries with friends (we rented a beach house in Cambria for a week and went all OVER Paso Robles for 3 or 4 days). 

Caparone is not your typical Paso winery.  It is a father and son operation, very unassuming/not pretentious, and in addition to their fabulous Zin, they also make FANTASTC bottlings of three noble Italian varietals (Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, and Aglianico).  Their wines are unfined and unfiltered (which I REALLY like/prefer) and all their wines are the same price ($14).  In case you hadn’t noticed, their Zin is not your typical Paso Fruit Bomb; Caparone’s Zin has only 13.3% alcohol, is unbelievably well-balanced, and has a depth-of-flavor that most Cali Zins would envy.  The tasting profile is also atypical of most Paso Zins.

Whereas most Cali Zins have a black fruit profile, Caparone’s Zin has mostly, if not all, red fruit in its flavor profile; there’s sour cherry, raspberry, and currant fruit, along with a MOUNTAIN of savory herbs (rosemary especially) and a universe-worth of black pepper as well on the palate.  This wine is rich and viscous, exhibiting more terrior than 99.9% of any/all wines I’ve ever tasted.  Also contributing to its fabulous earthy/terrior essence, Caparone’s wines are unfined and unfiltered, which, in my opinion, allows the vineyard’s soil and essence to shine brightly.  I’ve always felt that fining and filtering wine extracts critical elements (both flavor-wise and terrior-wise) from its profile, and this Zin SCREAMS depth-of-flavor and terrior.  I’ve used the term “dirty” wine many times before (wines that parlay their sense-of-place (terrior) as well as earthiness) and this is one dirty wine (in only the best of ways)!!

Once again, this is NOT your typical Paso Zin.  Whereas most Paso Zins are high-octane fruit bombs with limited depth and soft, silky tannins, this wine is rich, creamy, earthy (“dirty”), spicy-beyond-belief, delicious-beyond-belief, viscous, slightly oaky, with a depth-of-flavor that never seems to cease and a finish that goes on for light years.  It is also tannic and acidic, but in only the best of ways; this wine begs to be paired with good food, whereas a typical Cali Zin can be drunk on its own.  If you’re adventurous and well-versed on what a good, interesting, not-your-father’s Zin should be like, you really owe it to yourself to give this Zin a try.  If you prefer safe, fruity, high-alcohol Zins, look elsewhere.  If you like to challenge your preconceptions of what a Zin can/should be, and you’ve had it up to HERE with typical Zins, you truly must give this Zin a spin.  It’s fabulous.

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

We paired this wine with Arthur’s fantastic baked beans and BBQ’d pork ribs (baby backs) and this Zin could NOT have gone any better with this meal.  Because this Zin is big, bold, and brash (yet well-balanced, different, and elegant in its own way), I would pair it with dishes that can handle that kind of character, such as a heavily-spiced grilled steak, curry dishes, just about any kind of red beef dish, and something as traditional as BBQ’d ribs or hamburgers (especially on the 4^th of July!!!).

AGING POTENTIAL

Most Zins are not known for their age-worthiness, but due to this beauty’s structure (acidity and tannins especially), I would imagine this wine would continue to evolve and mature beautifully for another 10 to 25 years.  At close to eight years post-harvest, this wine is drinking fantastically right now.  And like all of Caparone’s wines (especially their wonderful Italian reds), this wine will probably age perfectly for 20 to 30 years after bottling.

One side note: the 2005 Zin is Caparone’s current Zin release (this is not a wine I bought YEARS ago).  I don’t know if Caparone makes a TON of Zin and it takes years to sell through their vintage(s) or if they purposely and slowly bottle-age their wine and slowly release it to the public.  Either way, if you’re looking to pick-up a well-aged and unique  Paso Zin for an incredible price, you only have one winery to visit: Caparone!

SCORE (on a 100-point scale)

92

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

EXCELLENT

WINERY WEBSITE

http://www.caparone.com/

N.V. Domaine Chandon etoile Rose

DATE CONSUMED

Sunday, June 30, 2013

VINTAGE

N.V. (non-vintage)

WINERY/PRODUCER

Domaine Chandon

WINE NAME

Etoile Rose

TYPE OF WINE

Sparkling wine (rose)

COMPOSITION

49% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir, 6% Pinot Meunier

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

N/A

REGION/APPELLATION/A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area)

59% of the fruit sourced from Sonoma County

41% of the fruit sourced from Napa County

ALCOHOL CONTENT

13.0%

PRICE PAID

Retail price: $50; Wine Club price: $35, final price with sales tax and shipping: $42.77

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

We received this wine with our usual wine club shipment in April, 2012

BOUQUET

It’s very difficult to properly/accurately judge the bouquet of bubbly because one can’t/shouldn’t swirl the hell out of their bubbly in a Champagne flute in order to oxygenate the wine.  I did my best to put my big, fat, ugly Italian nose into the flute to gather some sort of impression upon this bubbly’s bouquet but just came-up with almost nothing worth mentioning.  We’ll see how it tastes………

 

TASTING NOTES

This is a typically wonderful Chandon bubbly.  We joined their wine club in September 2009 and have never regretted a single bottle from them (Domaine Chandon makes both still and sparkling wines, but we joined their “sparkling wine club” because any/every bubbly we’ve ever had of theirs has been fabulous).

You may have heard of both Dom Perignon and/or Moet & Chandon; Domaine Chandon is the American outpost of this world-class sparkling wine producer.  In fact, several of France’s best Champagne houses have American outposts in the Napa Valley (Taittinger and Piper Heidsieck to name just a couple).

This bubbly has a gorgeous salmon-pink hue and being almost 50/50 Pinot/Chardonnay, it has a flavor profile that is complex, deep, and varied.  There’s an abundance of creamy strawberry notes, yeasty brioche-like suggestions, along with plenty of minerally earthiness and crisp, clean, sharp acidity that allows this wine to pair PERFECTLY with rich, fatty foods (see below for paring suggestions). 

In addition to the previously-mentioned strawberry notes, there’s also yummy cherry elements, along with savory herbs and spices (especially white pepper) running through the wine’s flavor profile/core.  It’s tough to beat the depth-of-flavors that come with quality Pinot-based wines (both still and sparkling) and this bubbly is a great example of how Pinot can contribute to a wine’s complexity, depth, and even bouquet and color.  The peppery/herbal undercurrent, creamy cherry/strawberry fruit, mountains of granite stoniness/minerality, and well-balanced acidity/alcohol/structure all add-up to this being a fantastic American rose bubbly. 

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

We paired this bubbly with a pork and chicken liver mousse with truffles that we picked-up at Sprouts.  As previously mentioned above, this bubbly’s crisp acidity matched perfectly with the mousse’s creamy fattiness.  We also like to pair bubbly with a chicken liver pate that we buy from Trader Joe’s often.  And because this is a delicious, lively, well-balanced bubbly it would also pair well with just about any seafood (especially salmon!!), crackers with humus, Arthur’s world-famous smoked salmon deviled eggs, and practically any other appetizer that I can think of.  This bubbly would make just about any dish better than it would have been if eaten on its own!

AGING POTENTIAL

Most bubbly will/can age for (practically) EVER if stored properly.  Domaine Chandon ages this bubbly for at last five years on the lees (yeast) in bottle before releasing it to the public.  That extended lees aging before disgorgement contributes to the wine’s depth, complexity, balance, elegance, and age-worthiness.  This bubbly is fabulous right now and will continue to age gracefully and beautifully for another 10 to 10,000,000,000,000 years (especially if aged at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean).

SCORE (on a 100-point scale)

92

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

GOOD

WINERY WEBSITE

http://chandon.com/

2007 Bodega del Abad Carracedo Tinto Mencia

DATE CONSUMED

Sunday, June 23, 2013

VINTAGE

2007

WINERY/PRODUCER

Bodega del Abad

WINE NAME

Carracedo

TYPE OF WINE

Red

COMPOSITION

100% Tinto Mencia

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

N/A

REGION/APPELLATION/A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area)

Bierzo, Spain

ALCOHOL CONTENT

14.0%

PRICE PAID

$22.49

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

We got this wine from winestilsoldout.com, a fantastic clearinghouse that includes free shipping when a minimum number of bottles are purchased (four bottles in this instance).  The original price for this wine at release was $90 (confirmed by Wine Spectator and Robert Parker).

BOUQUET

This wine has a fantastic, fruity, spicy bouquet, with subtle elements of earth and oak.  There’s an abundance of dark fruit and savory herbs on the nose, along with an earthy oakiness.

 

TASTING NOTES

Holy Cow!!  This is a fabulous Spanish red and, as far as I know/can remember, our first experience with a 100% Mencia wine.

The first impression this wine made upon my palate: this wine is very Chateauneuf-du-Pape-like.  It shares many characteristics with the world’s greatest red blend (in my humble opinion; I’m sure Bordeaux lovers are rolling their eyes like crazy right now!), including gorgeous black and red fruit, tons of spices, and that lovely earth/terrior from the Southern Rhone.

This wine is fantastically rich and creamy, with mostly black fruit (plum, boysenberry, and blackberry) along with some red fruit (cherry and raspberry).  There’s also a truckload of savory spices that compliment the MOUNTAIN of black pepper.  The saline earthiness and creamy, sweet tannins from the oakiness contribute to the rich, smooth, elegant, lingering finish.  This wine is fantastically well-balanced, deeply-flavored, smooth, rich, and creamy, and at $22.49 a bottle, one of the best reds we’ve drunk all year.

Once again, this wine shares almost EVERY aspect with a quality Chateauneuf-du-Pape.  If tasted blind, I imagine that I would have guessed that this wine was indeed a CdP.  At $22.49 a bottle, if I knew just how good this wine was going to be, I would have ordered at least a case of this Spanish beauty.  Sadly, this bottle is the last one of the original four that I ordered from wtso.com.  Looking forward to the 2008 vintage!

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

We paired this wine with a rack of lamb and the wine could NOT have paired better with any other protein!  Arthur spices the lamb and sears it in a cast iron pan and then spreads a thin layer of Dijon mustard and panko breadcrumbs on the fatty side and finishes the rack in the oven.  This big, bold, gorgeous wine begs to be paired with a big, bold, gorgeous main course.  It paired perfectly with Arthur’s rack of lamb and would also pair well with curried lamb shanks, a ribeye smothered in Kosher salt and a ton of freshly-cracked black pepper, along with just about any red meat dish (prime rib, meatloaf, etc.)

AGING POTENTIAL

Based on a little bit of research regarding the Mencia grape, it is generally made to be drunk fairly young.  At almost six years post-harvest, this wine is drinking beautifully right now and based on its structure (it’s still slightly tannic) I would imagine this wine would continue to develop and evolve gorgeously for another ten years or so.

SCORE (on a 100-point scale)

93 (after I tasted this wine and wrote all of these tasting notes, I checked to see what Wine Spectator and Robert Parker gave this wine (who tasted and scored this wine YEARS ago).  WS gave this wine a 93 in November 2011 and Parker gave this wine a 90+ in April 2010).

I’m 100% confident that this wine does indeed deserve a 93-point rating.  Wine Spectator scores/tastes/judges all of their wines blind, meaning that when they’re tasting a wine they don’t know who produced it and how much it cost.  That’s why I consider Wine Spectator THEE most reliable source for wine ratings (after me, of course!).  I love it when they give a grotesquely over-priced French wine (like $1,500 a bottle) 80 to 90 points.  Either way, I feel pretty good about giving this fantastic wine 93 points.

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

Original release price of $90: FAIR

Wtso.com price of $22.49: EXCELLENT

WINERY WEBSITE

http://www.bodegadelabad.com/

2008 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel

DATE CONSUMED

Sunday, June 9, 2013

VINTAGE

2008

WINERY/PRODUCER

Tablas Creek Vineyard

WINE NAME

Esprit de Beaucastel

TYPE OF WINE

Red blend

COMPOSITION

38% Mourvedre, 30% Grenache, 26% Syrah, 6% Counoise

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

Estate grown and bottled

REGION/APPELLATION/A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area)

Paso Robles, California

ALCOHOL CONTENT

14.5%

PRICE PAID

$38 (excluding tax and shipping) ($50 full retail)

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

We received this bottle directly from the winery with our regular wine club shipment in October, 2010

BOUQUET

This wine has a very nice, fruity, floral, spicy, earthy, ever-so-slightly oaky bouquet, with an emphasis on herbs and spices, dark fruit, violets, and that lovely Paso Robles earthiness/terrior.

TASTING NOTES

This is a fantastic Rhone-style G-S-M/Chateauneuf-du-Pape red blend.  The first thing that impresses me the most about this wine is its chalky/clay/limestone earthiness that practically jumps out of the glass.  After the fabulous soil/”dirty” characteristics, wonderful red and dark fruit elements shine brightly, especially the plum, blackberry, black cherry, and raspberry flavors, followed closely by gorgeous herbs and spices (TONS of black pepper and acres of savory herbs like thyme, rosemary, sage, and lavender).

This is a wonderfully well-balanced red blend, with smooth, sweet, silky tannins, the perfect amount of oak, acidity, and alcohol, along with a gorgeous, long, lingering finish.  We actually drank a half bottle (375 ml.) of 2009 Domaine du Pere Caboche Chateauneuf du Pape before we drank this Tablas Creek bottle with dinner and it was VERY interesting how closely the earthiness, fruitiness, and spiciness paralleled each other.  Paso Robles shares quite a few characteristics/elements with Chateauneuf du Pape, which is exactly why Robert Haas and the Perrin family founded Tablas Creek in Paso Robles, assuming/knowing/betting-on that Paso could produce world-class “New World” versions of Chateauneuf du Pape blends along with single-varietal bottlings.  Boy-oh-boy, did their homework/assumptions/research pay dividends!!!

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

We paired this wine with Arthur’s fabulous rack-of-lamb, encrusted with panko bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, mustard, and spices.  This wine paired PERFECTLY with the lamb and would also pair well with a well-seasoned ribeye, lamb chops, prime rib, and just about any red meat dish.

AGING POTENTIAL

Tablas Creek’s vintage chart on their website (where every wine they’ve EVER made is categorized by the wine’s drinkability (too young, early maturity, peak maturity, late maturity, closed phase (hold), and past its prime)) lists this wine as “early maturity,” meaning this wine is drinking well right now but will continue to age and mature beautifully for another 10 to 20 years (TC’s Esprit de Beaucastel and their flagship blend “Panoplie” are famous for drinking well for the first few years after bottling and then during the (in bottle) maturing process goes though a closed/shut-down  phase about 3 or 4 (or more) years after bottling).  This wine does indeed have the structure/backbone to age for decades, but at 5-years-old, it’s about to enter it’s “closed/hold” phase, so either drink this wine now or assume it will be in a “closed/hold” phase for a few years and won’t be ideally “drinkable” until 2016 or so.

SCORE (on a 100-point scale)

92

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

GOOD – EXCELLENT

WINERY WEBSITE

http://www.tablascreek.com/