polarbear22 wrote:I am a low level google master. We need Corrado.

In my search, I come across Buena Vista (recently on the rpm tour) or Franciscan Oakville that sold a couple of times. Not sure about four since 2000.

Robert Mondavi is another winery that comes up, but not quite as often.

Someone else able to search better into these?

Sonoma

SonomaBouliste wrote:Sonoma

Of these three, Buena Vista is Sonoma. Or do you consider them Carneros, even though the visitor center was in Sonoma?

Labrat of 2006 Wellington Grenache report. Sorry, not much funny stuff this time. There's only so funny you can be when you're at grandma's for dinner.

The DH and I had already scheduled dinner at grandma's and knew the menu in advance: veal chops, pesto pasta, melon soup (mostly cantaloupe). We arrived and I popped the bottle and decanted it, but there was no time to chill it down at all so it was room temp at probably 72F. Sat in the decanter for 10-15 minutes while we had the melon soup and waited for the chops to broil (half sat in the decanter for only about 5 minutes when I suddenly remembered that I didn't want to drink the whole bottle tonight and quickly poured it back into the bottle and vac'd with my cheap BBB suction vac). I swirled it a bit and tried to get a whiff of the nose. Not much (plus the whole place smelled like veal chops at this point -- mmm, meat!), but no alcohol either, which is impressive given a 14.8% abv.

Dinner server, wine poured. I tried it before taking a bite of anything (the melon soup had cleared from my tongue) -- great! Smooth out of the bottle. Pretty light on the tannins, which became even lighter when coupled with fatty chops, pesto pasta, and slightly buttered green beans. I probably could have consumed the entire bottle myself without a problem but a) I had to drive and b) gotta save some for tomorrow. I felt there was a pleasant tartness to the wine, not too sharp but good, and the texture was rich and again smooth. Couldn't really nail the nose at all, and I'll try to blame that on grandma's not-nose-friendly glasses. On the other hand, again no alcohol detectable to blow off. Grandma identified the taste as raspberry and I think that's very accurate. Tart raspberry. Really nice, long finish that increased in tartness and burn as time elapsed from swallow.

The DH "deemed it poundable" (tense corrected for writeup).

As an experiment I also took a swallow (okay it was more like a swig) while eating dessert, which was the Detroit Jewish bakery delight known as Seven Layer Cake (and a hearty shabbat shalom to all those who celebrate). If you ever come here, I only recommend Diamond Bakery's seven layer cake. It is the best. Anyway, it's a very very sweet cake that I think originates from somewhere in the Bavaria region but I'm too lazy right now to look up. Don't drink this with sweets, kids, mkay?

(This would have been posted 15 minutes ago except I kept getting interrupted by the puppy's favorite new toy, a tennis ball, which she keeps managing to roll under the couch, the kitchen appliance cart, and any other two-inches-off-the-ground items around for a ball to roll under.)

In summation, I don't like giving points because I don't feel capable, but I loved this wine. Excellent pop and pour. Grenache is a big component of my el cheapo fave (Boekenhoutskloof The Wolftrap) for the past two vintages so I'm not surprised that I immediately experience extreme happiness while consuming. I am very glad that I went in for three on this one.

Peter, as always, another excellent effort. Thanks to WD for making my night even better (I was stumped on what wine to bring to grandma's!) and I look forward to seeing how this evolves tomorrow.

A couple of pictures here. Sorry, totally blew the focus on the picture of the bottle.

speedoo wrote:Yeah, well, I can remember back when the only person who seemed to think there was a problem with this was me. Lots of folks piped up with "Everything's fine. If it ain't broke... yada yada." Since nothing's been done to fix it (other than a few more realizing there's a problem and talking about it), it's not getting better. It's a shame.

nope; like PSquishy said, you weren't the only one. this is yet another example of a problem that wouldn't have been a problem w/ weekly wine.woots. time to fix what is quickly becoming broke under the new semiweekly model.

andyduncan wrote:Wait, were you labratted on some Cali Pinot we don't know about? :-)

now THAT wuz teh funneh.

auggie24 wrote:Doesn't security have keys? Just askin'.

I am waiting on brat reports. I hit my $$ discretionary $$ limit for the month, but I am looking at gifting a set to a good friend. He loves hearty reds, and I think the NdN would be up his alley. But I would love confirmation first!

You've already enjoyed the Cuvée R, so you know what kind of Syrah Peter makes. 26 of us visited the tasting room last month on the rpm tour, a good number of whom have without exception told you how wonderful the NdN is. I have no problem trusting the winemaker's characterization of the Grenache. I jumped on this for 3 in the first few minutes, and SWMBO sneaked in an order for 2 more when I left her alone, just because Peter compared the Grenache to a Gigondas. One of the already identified labrats was one of the 26 on the tour, so his report wouldn't even be new info. Why treat the labrat reports as some kind of sacred writing, especially with so much reliable opinion already out there? Pull the trigger. You won't be disappointed.

EDIT: Now you have a labrat report on the Grenache to add to what you've already read. That should do it.

Another guess for SB: Glen Ellen, though I'm not sure that is Sonoma.

How about Arrowood Winery.

Mondavi in 2000, then Constellation, then Legacy (bankrupt) and now ??.

Arrowood is now owned by Kendall-Jackson.

carp did I just double post? gah.

btw speedoo: order. now.

ddeuddeg wrote:You've already enjoyed the Cuvée R, so you know what kind of Syrah Peter makes. 26 of us visited the tasting room last month on the rpm tour, a good number of whom have without exception told you how wonderful the NdN is. I have no problem trusting the winemaker's characterization of the Grenache. I jumped on this for 3 in the first few minutes, and SWMBO sneaked in an order for 2 more when I left her alone, just because Peter compared the Grenache to a Gigondas. One of the already identified labrats was one of the 26 on the tour, so his report wouldn't even be new info. Why treat the labrat reports as some kind of sacred writing, especially with so much reliable opinion already out there? Pull the trigger. You won't be disappointed.

your enthusiasm for this wonderful offer is clearly palpable. and a little scary as well. if auggie wants to wait for those 'Brat reports - and run the risk that waiting brings w/ it -, then i say so be it / let it be. peace.

themostrighteous wrote:your enthusiasm for this wonderful offer is clearly palpable. and a little scary as well. if auggie wants to wait for those 'Brat reports - and run the risk that waiting brings w/ it -, then i say so be it / let it be. peace.

I totally agree. I'm just trying to help an obviously worthy wine lover avoid the disappointment that would surely ensue in the event of a quick sellout once a report or two hits the board. Peace to you too, my good friend.

oppsie wrote:carp did I just double post? gah.

btw speedoo: order. now.

Thanks for the excellent report, oppsie. I will be ordering before going to bed, but it's not bouncing yet, and another labrat report was promised for tonight.

I do appreciate the advice.

SonomaBouliste wrote:This is definitely not a crappy $7 Grenache. Amongst the major California varietals, I'd compare it more to Zin than anything else. If You're familiar with Gigondas or other good Cotes du Rhones, or Priorat (Spanish) You'll have an idea. IMO Borsao (Spanish) makes the best Grenache that's available for < $10.

Thanks for the info. I definitely NOT mean to imply your wine is anything like a crappy $7 bottle! As it turns out, I elected to go in for 2. The Noir de Noirs sounds too good to only have one bottle of, and I know the Syrah will be fantastic. Zin is one of my least favorite varietals, so I am a little worried about the Grenache, but the way you described it to someone else, you said it was not too sweet, and the sweetness is what bothers me about Zin. So I figure, worst case scenario, if it isn't my style, it'll make a great gift!

oppsie wrote:Labrat of 2006 Wellington Grenache report.

You've been packed!

synchrodan wrote:*snip* the sweetness is what bothers me about Zin.

A number of Zins are really pretty dry. I wonder if the Zins you've been drinking are those "fruit bombs" that are so fruit-forward that they taste almost sweet even below 0.1% RS. I think you might find Peter's more to your liking if you were fortunate to get in on the Mystery Challenge offer before it sold out.

In for one. Drinking the 2004 Grenache from a previous offering right now. Here's my (uneducated) impressions. Very berry and black cherry on the frontside. Nice round mouthfeel and good body. Finish is dry with light tannins. My palette isn't the most sensitive, so that's all I got. This is a really good wine, I've never had a Grenache before, and now I will definitely seek out more.
Thanks for the delicious juice SB!

BobboinAVL wrote:Another guess for SB: Glen Ellen, though I'm not sure that is Sonoma.

I think it's Glen Ellen Winery too.
Benziger family sold Glen Ellen to Heublein who sold to Diageo who sold to The Wine Group (Franzia).

2006 Syrah, Sonoma Valley Estate Labrat report:

First thing to get out of the way....buy this offer now!!

Hands down, this is one of the best Syrah's I have tasted from California.

My dinner plans of Mahi-mahi and spinach tortellini did not pan out like planned. Dinner ended up being a Large Round Table Pizza half combo/half Maui Wowie with some garlic twists...

I popped the cork..the cork has a wonderful deep red at the end. No sediment, and not too light. I poured a glass and the color was a wonderful deep ruby...swirling created a stable amount of legs..you could tell the Alcohol content was over 14%...but not too heavy...

Sniffy-sniff gave the subtle aroma of oak, cherries and blackberries..with a tad amount of spiciness.

Big swig......Oh God yes, this is a great Syrah....the spice bites, but, lets go before becoming overwhelming...followed by a lingering amount of oak, mixed with dirt and blueberries...enough tannins to cat tongue the top of your mouth and fades away with hardly any residual....my wife and I had an easy time finishing the whole bottle....this is a "to drink now" wine...it needs absolutely no shelf time...it opened up beautifully...I could see it blossoming a bit after opening, but, the wife and I like the tannin attack of reds, so, it is a great dinner drink.

SB, I will be seeing you next Saturday as we are going to be in Sonoma...I plan on buying a few more of these for my rack...well played, sir...well played. I look forward to the other varitals that are coming.

jkwest wrote:
I popped the cork..the cork has a wonderful deep red at the end. No sediment, and not too light.

Ah yes, forgot to mention: no sediment settled in the decanter to speak of (we'll see what's at the bottom of the bottle tomorrow), and there was just a smidge of tartrate crystals on the bottle mouth. Far far less than pretty much every other Wellington wine I've had, and I've had a few at this point.

oppsie wrote:Ah yes, forgot to mention: no sediment settled in the decanter to speak of (we'll see what's at the bottom of the bottle tomorrow), and there was just a smidge of tartrate crystals on the bottle mouth. Far far less than pretty much every other Wellington wine I've had, and I've had a few at this point.

Peter - you'd mentioned looking at finer filtration in one of your blogs. Have you implemented higher filtration this year than in those previous?

jkwest wrote:2006 Syrah, Sonoma Valley Estate Labrat report:

packed

ddeuddeg wrote:I totally agree. I'm just trying to help an obviously worthy wine lover avoid the disappointment that would surely ensue in the event of a quick sellout once a report or two hits the board. Peace to you too, my good friend.

are we at Mass? I've no one to give peace to. Wait, the dog just walked in, C'mere Darby.

In for two sets. Which is a compromise order... would probably have ordered only one set if this were not Peter's last 2008 offering. But I now have WAAY too much wine, so this will be my last 2008 order, except for the expected woot cellars offering, and maybe one or two really exceptional offerings that WD might come up with. (Vino Noceto, Saxon Brown, for example)

And Peter, here's a confession: this makes 26 Wellington bottles that I have purchased. And I have not yet had any of your wine to drink. How's that for trust, huh?

speedoo wrote:In for two sets. Which is a compromise order... would probably have ordered only one set if this were not Peter's last 2008 offering. But I now have WAAY too much wine, so this will be my last 2008 order, except for the expected woot cellars offering, and maybe one or two really exceptional offerings that WD might come up with. (Vino Noceto, Saxon Brown, for example)

And Peter, here's a confession: this makes 26 Wellington bottles that I have purchased. And I have not yet had any of your wine to drink. How's that for trust, huh?

Don't forget about Little Vineyards...THough I'm not sure they'll have an offering the remainder of this year or not.

Also...If you happen to see Gundlach Bundschu offered up, jump all over it. I loved that winery when I was out there and hope to have them join Wine.Woot someday.

One thing to add to my review...

I showed my wife the notes I typed up and asked if she wanted to add anything....

She said, "I don't know how to put wine flavores into words, but, that was really good...if we had a case, we would easily drink it all."

So, there's the low down right there....from my wine-guzzling better half.

kewl, GA is finally on the list... now to consider this offer.

polarbear22 wrote:How about Arrowood Winery.

Mondavi in 2000, then Constellation, then Legacy (bankrupt) and now ??.

Arrowood is now owned by Kendall-Jackson.

I just knew you could do it! Good work. The next trivia question will have to wait until tomorrow. It's late; we just got back from the Sonoma premier of Bottle Shock. It won't win any Oscars, but fun to watch, especially for the local scenery.

ddeuddeg wrote:A number of Zins are really pretty dry. I wonder if the Zins you've been drinking are those "fruit bombs" that are so fruit-forward that they taste almost sweet even below 0.1% RS. I think you might find Peter's more to your liking if you were fortunate to get in on the Mystery Challenge offer before it sold out.

Alcohol adds a sweet impression, as does oak, but quite a few of those high alc. Zins also have significant residual sugar. Most of the ones below 15% alcohol are dry.

Cesare wrote:I think it's Glen Ellen Winery too.
Benziger family sold Glen Ellen to Heublein who sold to Diageo who sold to The Wine Group (Franzia).

Three sales. Also just a brand, not a brick & mortar winery. Also not the same winemaker(s).

MaskedMarvel wrote:Peter - you'd mentioned looking at finer filtration in one of your blogs. Have you implemented higher filtration this year than in those previous?

We're using the same filtration scheme. The wines are brilliant going into bottle and microbiologically stable. The sediment that forms in our wines with bottle age is not something that "passed through the filter"; it is the precipitation of tannins and tartrates as the wine ages and softens. Because these are substances which also contribute to flavor, I choose not to fine or cold stabilize the wines. It's a trade-off: more flavor, more sediment formation during bottle aging.

Oh, good, I’m not too late...

This is an unofficial labrat report on the Noir de Noir.

First, some background. I’ve never signed up for the labrat program. As we established in the pub this week, I travel a lot on business, taking me away from my home, and sometimes out of the country. I felt that it would be unfair for the rest of yopu if I was ratted a week when I was away. When I mentioned this to WD, he suggested that they could Fed-Ex to the hotel where I was staying, but that would require that I keep WD appraised of my whereabouts at all times, so that the week I was ratted they would know where to send the bottle; plus I really wouldn’t have the time to taste anyway. So, I never felt that I could carry out the responsibility.

Second, it turns out that of all the wines offered this week, the Noir de Noir was the only one I picked up during the RPM tour. So, I thought I’d sacrifice it to the greater good; I’ll never have this chance again to labrat, even if I had to sneak in unofficially.

When the bottle was opened, there were crystals on the cork, which I suspect is typical. No decanting; I decided to do this the SB way.

Color is ruby shading slightly to garnet, and almost opaque. Really a nice color; reminds me of dark red grapes.

First sniff on the first glass out of the bottle: hot. Whow. Swirl a bit more, and the hotness fades, to be replaced with a certain earthiness, but with fruit involved as well. I’m not great with picking out smells; you should have seen the horrified look on Cathy Corason’s face when I pulled pepperoni pizza out of one of her wines. Turns out it was sort of a baked spicy meaty odor I was smelling.

Taste: a little heat, but not anywhere as much as you would think given the initial sniff. Taste some fruit, some pepper, some earthiness, and not much astringency. No one flavor predominated, the mix seemed to be quite equitable. The mouth feel wasn’t buttery or really viscous, but it wasn’t water either. Finish: a second or so. On a scale of a whisper to a drill sergeant shout on the flavor, this was just a touch above a normal conversation volume; definitely “indoor voice”, but not “museum”.

Aftermath: black tongue and gums. Oh, and stuff at the bottom; don’t go for the last drop.

Because of the lack of heavy tannins, this is not an age-able wine; drink now. Pleasant right out of the bottle; we didn’t pair it with anything.

My companion liked it a lot, and would drink it again.

I already was in for one Thursday, and I’ll keep it there; I’ve got too much wine to handle as it is, and more to come from future offerings. Yes, people talk about having two in case you really like it, but I look on a good wine as a great experience, but there are other potential great experiences in my cellar just waiting to be discovered.

SonomaBouliste wrote:Alcohol adds a sweet impression, as does oak, but quite a few of those high alc. Zins also have significant residual sugar. Most of the ones below 15% alcohol are dry.

And isn't it also true that many of those higher alcohol ones come from wineries that have "caved in" to the mass market?

JOATMON wrote: Yes, people talk about having two in case you really like it, but I look on a good wine as a great experience, but there are other potential great experiences in my cellar just waiting to be discovered.

An excellent point, JOATMON, I'll keep that in mind as I try to exercise restraint in the coming months, trying to drink my cellar down to a manageable level. And we're still anticipating the arrival of the 3.5 cases from the tour.

oppsie wrote:In summation, I don't like giving points because I don't feel capable, but I loved this wine. Excellent pop and pour. Grenache is a big component of my el cheapo fave (Boekenhoutskloof The Wolftrap) for the past two vintages so I'm not surprised that I immediately experience extreme happiness while consuming. I am very glad that I went in for three on this one.

Nice ... if it was in the budget (hah! has it ever been?) I'd definitely be in for some of this!

ddeuddeg wrote:An excellent point, JOATMON, I'll keep that in mind as I try to exercise restraint in the coming months, trying to drink my cellar down to a manageable level. And we're still anticipating the arrival of the 3.5 cases from the tour.

Same theory supports opening that great bottle at any time because that bottle makes the occasion special -- no need to wait for the occasion to already be special before enjoying.

jkwest wrote:2006 Syrah, Sonoma Valley Estate Labrat report:

First thing to get out of the way....buy this offer now!!

Hands down, this is one of the best Syrah's I have tasted from California.

Thanks for the excellent report.

SonomaBouliste wrote: ...we just got back from the Sonoma premier of Bottle Shock. It won't win any Oscars, but fun to watch, especially for the local scenery.

I saw the film Friday night, too. Oscar winners rarely get released in Aug.
Filming locations: Buena Vista Vinyards - Sonoma; Calistoga, Napa Valley; Chateau Montelena - Calistoga, Napa Valley; Kunde Estate Winery & Vineyards - Kenwood CA.
Rated PG-13 for brief strong language, some sexual content and drug use.
Sex, wine, and rocknroll; what's not to like?

oppsie wrote:Labrat of 2006 Wellington Grenache report. Sorry, not much funny stuff this time. There's only so funny you can be when you're at grandma's for dinner.

The DH and I had already scheduled dinner at grandma's and knew the menu in advance: veal chops, pesto pasta, melon soup (mostly cantaloupe). We arrived and I popped the bottle and decanted it, but there was no time to chill it down at all so it was room temp at probably 72F. Sat in the decanter for 10-15 minutes while we had the melon soup and waited for the chops to broil (half sat in the decanter for only about 5 minutes when I suddenly remembered that I didn't want to drink the whole bottle tonight and quickly poured it back into the bottle and vac'd with my cheap BBB suction vac). I swirled it a bit and tried to get a whiff of the nose. Not much (plus the whole place smelled like veal chops at this point -- mmm, meat!), but no alcohol either, which is impressive given a 14.8% abv.

Dinner server, wine poured. I tried it before taking a bite of anything (the melon soup had cleared from my tongue) -- great! Smooth out of the bottle. Pretty light on the tannins, which became even lighter when coupled with fatty chops, pesto pasta, and slightly buttered green beans. I probably could have consumed the entire bottle myself without a problem but a) I had to drive and b) gotta save some for tomorrow. I felt there was a pleasant tartness to the wine, not too sharp but good, and the texture was rich and again smooth. Couldn't really nail the nose at all, and I'll try to blame that on grandma's not-nose-friendly glasses. On the other hand, again no alcohol detectable to blow off. Grandma identified the taste as raspberry and I think that's very accurate. Tart raspberry. Really nice, long finish that increased in tartness and burn as time elapsed from swallow.

The DH "deemed it poundable" (tense corrected for writeup).

As an experiment I also took a swallow (okay it was more like a swig) while eating dessert, which was the Detroit Jewish bakery delight known as Seven Layer Cake (and a hearty shabbat shalom to all those who celebrate). If you ever come here, I only recommend Diamond Bakery's seven layer cake. It is the best. Anyway, it's a very very sweet cake that I think originates from somewhere in the Bavaria region but I'm too lazy right now to look up. Don't drink this with sweets, kids, mkay?

(This would have been posted 15 minutes ago except I kept getting interrupted by the puppy's favorite new toy, a tennis ball, which she keeps managing to roll under the couch, the kitchen appliance cart, and any other two-inches-off-the-ground items around for a ball to roll under.)

In summation, I don't like giving points because I don't feel capable, but I loved this wine. Excellent pop and pour. Grenache is a big component of my el cheapo fave (Boekenhoutskloof The Wolftrap) for the past two vintages so I'm not surprised that I immediately experience extreme happiness while consuming. I am very glad that I went in for three on this one.

Peter, as always, another excellent effort. Thanks to WD for making my night even better (I was stumped on what wine to bring to grandma's!) and I look forward to seeing how this evolves tomorrow.

A couple of pictures here. Sorry, totally blew the focus on the picture of the bottle.

Thanks for the wonderful review and pictures. I have been working hard to control myself this week and not purchase, but alas I read your review and wine list. I am in for one. I'm new and not familiar with Peter's wines. But obviously he has a great following and you have to support those who support this site.

Once again thanks and Shabbat Shalom.

SonomaBouliste wrote:We're using the same filtration scheme. The wines are brilliant going into bottle and microbiologically stable. The sediment that forms in our wines with bottle age is not something that "passed through the filter"; it is the precipitation of tannins and tartrates as the wine ages and softens. Because these are substances which also contribute to flavor, I choose not to fine or cold stabilize the wines. It's a trade-off: more flavor, more sediment formation during bottle aging.

Arrghh! I'm in. I tried not to buy this week, but all of your supporters on this site convinced me that it was weel worth it to try your wines. I have only been part of this group for a short time, bu tI'm hooked. In fact my son's best friend is coming to Sonoma this weekend with his girlfriend on their way back to the midwest for their senior college year and I suggested that they stop at your winery (In case they do, his name is Rich from Ohio University). I can't wait to be out there again so I can stop and see you myself. You sound like a great host.

Thanks for your offers and have a great weekend!

JOATMON wrote:Oh, good, I’m not too late...

Packed!