Thomas Alexander Rhone-Inspired Red
$61.99 + $5 shipping
CONDITION: Red
PRODUCT: 3 2009 Les Origines
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On a GSM kick and just can't kick the habit.

Ok, winery:

I love Paso. I love the Rhone. But... I just bought a base-level CdP for $20/btl. Convince me to buy this (which shouldn't be too terribly difficult ).

I recently enjoyed this wine. It was a bold and bright red. The grip of the tannins were exceptional. It finished a bit harsh on the first few sips, but the palate numbing alcohol content soon mellowed out the finish to a fine, pleasant, relaxing, and comforting smooth warm vanilla velvet.
I definitely will get in on this.

In for one. What have been the best vintages for this winery?

Number019 wrote:I recently enjoyed this wine. It was a bold and bright red. The grip of the tannins were exceptional. It finished a bit harsh on the first few sips, but the palate numbing alcohol content soon mellowed out the finish to a fine, pleasant, relaxing, and comforting smooth warm vanilla velvet.
I definitely will get in on this.

I like good CdP and quality, minerally south Rhone wines. But given this is 16% alcohol and pH4, does this stand up to scrutiny?

richardhod wrote:I like good CdP and quality, minerally south Rhone wines. But given this is 16% alcohol and pH4, does this stand up to scrutiny?

CdPs in general have been creeping up in alcohol (reasons debatable), so I wouldn't be concerned about the alc.%. The pH is kind of the question since such numbers are rarely, of ever, available on CdP or any other European wine sold in the US.

I have a difficult time ascertaining what "Rhone-inspired" can really mean... please enlighten....

ThunderThighs wrote:What is CdP?

CdP = Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the largest and most important wine appellation in the southern Rhône.

An online search will provide much info.

A short Q&A with the winemaker (Thomas Pitchon) from last fall @ The Garagiste Festival ... http://californiagaragistes.com/uncategorized/get-the-dirt-from-thomas-pitchon-from-thomas-alexander-winery/

easysailor wrote:In for one. What have been the best vintages for this winery?

It seems from the above article that 2009 was their first season so this will be their best vintage by default! Sounds great anyways!

brucedoesbms wrote:I have a difficult time ascertaining what "Rhone-inspired" can really mean... please enlighten....

Rhone reds are typically blends of some combo of these 4 grapes: Syrah, Grenache, Mouvedre, Cinsault. In this case it is a very typical blend high in Syrah and Grenache with a touch of Mouvedre. This is what I'd expect in either a Cotes du Rhone or a Chateauneuf du Pape which are the two main southern Rhone wines.

( CdP = Chateauneuf du Pape. literally: new castle of the pope. It is a very well regarded appellation within the larger Cotes du Rhone appellation. It gets its name because it was an area near the city of Avignon which was the home of several wine loving popes in the 1300s)

Mr. Picky likes this wine as well.

Woot, please keep offering these $20/bottle offers for at least another month or two. While I would love to try these, I have way to much wine in stock and these higher ticket items are much easier for me to pass on.

kylemittskus wrote:CdPs in general have been creeping up in alcohol (reasons debatable), so I wouldn't be concerned about the alc.%. The pH is kind of the question since such numbers are rarely, of ever, available on CdP or any other European wine sold in the US.

This alcohol number seems brutal though. I'm very tempted to try it out all the same

brucedoesbms wrote:I have a difficult time ascertaining what "Rhone-inspired" can really mean... please enlighten....

Look at the blend:

50% Syrah, 42% Grenache, 8% Mourvedre

How does this compare to the Tallulah Shake Ridge GSM offered on here about a month ago?

We just cracked open our first bottle of that two night ago and it was thoroughly tasty.

rmm989 wrote:This alcohol number seems brutal though. I'm very tempted to try it out all the same

I don't think I have a CdP in my cellar (from 2005 or later) that's under 15%. And not considering CdP, Paso is a hot region so the wines are quite often in the high 14% range, and much higher a lot of the time.

All of that said, I'm still on the fence, here.

In for one. Had me with the "Rhone inspired" description...

Hello all,
I'm the winemaker for Thomas Alexander Winery and I see there are comments about the pH, acidity, and alcohol %.
It is true that alcohols are a little bit higher here in Paso Robles, as it is a warmer climate. During the growing season temperatures are about 90 to 110 F (but cools to about 55 F at night). This allows for sugar maturity in the grape to ripen easily. In order for the rest of the grape to mature - skin color, seed maturity, and tannin- it is necessary to let the grape hang on the vine longer. As a result the acid content in the grape reduces as well.
The outcome of this wine is a very well balanced wine between fruit and acid, with a very pleasant mouthfeel. The color is a deep garnet, but not overly concentrated, showing nuances of the surrounding oak forest, chalky mineral, and oak barrel spices.
Lastly, to compare numbers, many highly reviewed French wines have a pH of about 3.80 and TAs of about 6.5.

thomasalexanderwinerywinemakertom wrote:Hello all,
I'm the winemaker for Thomas Alexander Winery and I see there are comments about the pH, acidity, and alcohol %.
It is true that alcohols are a little bit higher here in Paso Robles, as it is a warmer climate. During the growing season temperatures are about 90 to 110 F (but cools to about 55 F at night). This allows for sugar maturity in the grape to ripen easily. In order for the rest of the grape to mature - skin color, seed maturity, and tannin- it is necessary to let the grape hang on the vine longer. As a result the acid content in the grape reduces as well.
The outcome of this wine is a very well balanced wine between fruit and acid, with a very pleasant mouthfeel. The color is a deep garnet, but not overly concentrated, showing nuances of the surrounding oak forest, chalky mineral, and oak barrel spices.
Lastly, to compare numbers, many highly reviewed French wines have a pH of about 3.80 and TAs of about 6.5.

Hi, and welcome!

Would you say this is a drink now wine, or will it benefit more from aging? Drink now with decant? Lay down how long?

thanks
Catherine

Looks interesting. I like a number of Paso wines, and Paso really is the best place I know of in the USA for making Rhone-styled wines. A Paso wines do tend to run pretty hot though, with a pretty high alcohol percentage, and many (to my mind) end up a bit too sweet as well. Though even in the hotter wines, the depth of flavor in many of the wines from the better Paso wineries is pretty amazing.

To the winemaker: where in Paso are you located? And would you compare your wines to any other Paso winery that makes wines of a similar style? How long do you think the wine will hold up given the percentages you ended up with?

thomasalexanderwinerywinemakertom wrote:Hello all,
I'm the winemaker for Thomas Alexander Winery and I see there are comments about the pH, acidity, and alcohol %.
It is true that alcohols are a little bit higher here in Paso Robles, as it is a warmer climate. During the growing season temperatures are about 90 to 110 F (but cools to about 55 F at night). This allows for sugar maturity in the grape to ripen easily. In order for the rest of the grape to mature - skin color, seed maturity, and tannin- it is necessary to let the grape hang on the vine longer. As a result the acid content in the grape reduces as well.
The outcome of this wine is a very well balanced wine between fruit and acid, with a very pleasant mouthfeel. The color is a deep garnet, but not overly concentrated, showing nuances of the surrounding oak forest, chalky mineral, and oak barrel spices.
Lastly, to compare numbers, many highly reviewed French wines have a pH of about 3.80 and TAs of about 6.5.

What was the barrel treatment on this? How long and what type?

CatherineB wrote:Hi, and welcome!

Would you say this is a drink now wine, or will it benefit more from aging? Drink now with decant? Lay down how long?

thanks
Catherine

Catherine,
This is a drink now wine and I think it can appreciate a little air in the bottle before serving. I opened a bottle last night and it is still holding up very well this morning and should be great for this evening.
The tannin content is not too intense, so it is very approachable now.
It should age nicely for about ten years in the cellar.

North316 wrote:What was the barrel treatment on this? How long and what type?

The wine aged for 12 months in 100% once used French oak barrels, all of which are Bordeaux shaped.
There is definitely an oak profile in this wine, but I didn't want it to dominate the palate completely.

jawlz wrote:Looks interesting. I like a number of Paso wines, and Paso really is the best place I know of in the USA for making Rhone-styled wines. A Paso wines do tend to run pretty hot though, with a pretty high alcohol percentage, and many (to my mind) end up a bit too sweet as well. Though even in the hotter wines, the depth of flavor in many of the wines from the better Paso wineries is pretty amazing.

To the winemaker: where in Paso are you located? And would you compare your wines to any other Paso winery that makes wines of a similar style? How long do you think the wine will hold up given the percentages you ended up with?

So I make wine in a facility located on the East side of 101, but I source all my grapes from a vineyard located far on the West side, situated adjacent to the Tablas Creek Vineyard at 1400 ft. elevation.
I would say this wine could be compared to the wines Tablas Creek, especially in terms of the organoleptic properties - fruit, terroir, intensity, balance, etc. However, they have a much higher percentage of Mourvedre and they produce much more.

Could not resist. I love me some CdP and I have been wanting to sample some Paso wines.

In for 1, thanks for the offer WD and Thomas Alexander wines.

winemakertom wrote:Catherine,
This is a drink now wine and I think it can appreciate a little air in the bottle before serving. I opened a bottle last night and it is still holding up very well this morning and should be great for this evening.
The tannin content is not too intense, so it is very approachable now.
It should age nicely for about ten years in the cellar.

This and your other comments convince me! Can't wait to try it! Thanks!

I had this wine in San Francisco. It's very hard to find. But worth the effort...I like to cellar wine for up to 10 years. How do you feel your wine will age?

littlebunny2012 wrote:I had this wine in San Francisco. It's very hard to find. But worth the effort...I like to cellar wine for up to 10 years. How do you feel your wine will age?

This one was already answered:

"The tannin content is not too intense, so it is very approachable now.
It should age nicely for about ten years in the cellar."

CatherineB wrote:This and your other comments convince me! Can't wait to try it! Thanks!

I'm thrilled to hear this!
Let me know what you think. There is an email link on my website.

I don't know if I already mentioned this, but this wine in unfined and unfiltered. I kept the wine on the gross lees, and racked only once, right before bottling. I didn't need to sterile filter, as shown by the VA numbers, so a lot of the complexity was retained in the bottled wine.

thomasalexanderwinerywinemakertom wrote:I'm thrilled to hear this!
Let me know what you think. There is an email link on my website.

Will do - one for now, and two to lay down. It'll be interesting to try one in 5 and then in 10 years.

thomasalexanderwinerywinemakertom wrote:So I make wine in a facility located on the East side of 101, but I source all my grapes from a vineyard located far on the West side, situated adjacent to the Tablas Creek Vineyard at 1400 ft. elevation.
I would say this wine could be compared to the wines Tablas Creek, especially in terms of the organoleptic properties - fruit, terroir, intensity, balance, etc. However, they have a much higher percentage of Mourvedre and they produce much more.

Thank you for your thoughtful, complete and enlightening responses! You obviously know your stuff, and deliberately make the wine this way, and know it works for your terroir and declared style, rather than giving dismissive and defensive comments. Thank you, and I promise you wooters appreciate you and your wines all the more for this!

On research, indeed much CdP is higher-alcohol than I knew, heady stuff, and we all know the Parker loves it... indeed the whole point of many of thewines of the warm South Rhone area is their ripe intensity, body and in the right terroir, complexity. Though there are some excellent longer-lived midweights too, for those who don't like their head blown off!

So now I know, Paso Robles seems ideal for the big end of the GSM wines! Any minerality in yours, BTW? I do like it when the stony soil adds a bit of something to the wine! I picked up some of Charpentier's Gigondas for a steal last year, and it has that wonderful mineral bite!

First of all, I applaud your transparency. Not many winemakers are willing to publish their analytical test results for their wines. Such a low volatile acidity (anything less than 6.0 g/L is low for most red wines) in the face of a high pH is a testament to the ridiculous amount of attention that was lavished upon this wine. Personally, I'm terrified by pH's that exceed 3.8 (spoilage organisms just love the 3.8-4.0 range) and would automatically acidify a must down below 3.8, TA be damned! But then I would not be capable of making such a delicious wine and would have to slink back into the laboratory with my tail between my legs.

Fantastic job, Tom! You just raised the bar for all of Paso Robles.

richardhod wrote:Thank you for your thoughtful, complete and enlightening responses! On research, indeed much CdP is high-alcohol, heady stuff, and we all know the Parker loves it... indeed the whole point of many of thewines of the warm South Rhone area is their intensity, body and in the right terroir, complexity. Though there are some excellent longer-lived midweights too, for those who don't like their head blown off!

So now I know, Paso Robles seems ideal for the big end of the GSM wines! Any minerality in yours, BTW? I do like it when the stony soil adds a bit of something to the wine! I picked up some of Charpentier's Gigondas for a steal last year, and it has that wonderful mineral bite!

I absolutely love the Gigondas. They use up to 80% Grenache in their blends, which appeals to Grenache lovers like myself. Unfortunately it is almost impossible to obtain that white pepper characteristic they get in Gigondas, here in California.
However, Paso Robles does have calcareous subsoil, like Gigondas, imparting some chalky minerality on the wine.
Incidentally, the calcareous soil is one reason the pH tends towards the higher side.

thomasalexanderwinerywinemakertom wrote:I absolutely love the Gigondas. They use up to 80% Grenache in their blends, which appeals to Grenache lovers like myself. Unfortunately it is almost impossible to obtain that white pepper characteristic they get in Gigondas, here in California.
However, Paso Robles does have calcareous subsoil, like Gigondas, imparting some chalky minerality on the wine.
Incidentally, the calcareous soil is one reason the pH tends towards the higher side.

Thank you! One of the most tasty Syrahs we've had on woot was Paso Robles' Calcareous 06 Syrah. Very high alcohol, but tasted very good indeed because of the huge limestone minerality.
And.. of course I meant to type "Chapoutier" but you knew that