Shannon Ridge Lake County Sampler 4-Pack
$59.99 (Normally $113.20) 47% off List Price
2009 Shannon Ridge Single Vineyard Collection Roussanne, Morine Ranch
2010 Shannon Ridge Wrangler Red, Lake County High Elevation Collection
2009 Shannon Ridge Single Vineyard Collection Viognier, Morine Ranch
2009 Shannon Ridge Single Vineyard Collection Petite Sirah, Caldwell Ranch
CT links above

Winery website

Had the Roussanne with some friends in CT. Notes:
Honey and floral on the nose
Big and viscous mouth feel
One noted honeysuckle on the finish
A couple felt there may be some MLF, and may have mistaken the wine for a Chardonnay
Very positive response and buy decisions based on price point.

My tasting note on the viognier posted in CT:
1/5/2013: PnP: Color is a clean pale gold, almost straw. Quite viscous. Nose was mild and creamy with hints of tropical fruit and something else I just couldn't place. Maybe honey. On the palate, a very heavy and full mouth feel. Same fruit on the palate that I couldn't place. Picking up a bit of sweetness (not RS but fruit). Has some late acidity and a touch of vanilla and oak on the finish. Medium plus finish, very creamy.

After an hour the nose was a bit more muted and the oak had integrated better. Picking up more honey on the finish, which is still long and creamy. Had with homemade chicken and dumpling soup, which was not the best pairing. Would suggest maybe thai food.

I have a high benchmark set for Viognier (Hawley) and while this did not live up to that, it was quite nice. The main takeaway is this Viognier is very creamy with a nice medium plus finish. A little lacking on the fruit and aroma side, but there is still enough there to make this wine enjoyable.

Really tempted on this, especially to try the ps.

Who can pass up a four pack with PS, a red blend and a white that has "root beer" as one of the flavors?

Oh and First Sucker...SUCKERS!

I had the chance to taste this a few weeks ago. 2009 Shannon Ridge lake County Petite Sirah:

Pop and pour - a little hot, with the alcohol kind of prominent. Blackberry aromas and otherwise very tight. Tasting revealed what was expected: a tannin bomb with great structure, vanilla, and some vegetal flavours with very little fruit. Clearly this needs time to open up, so into the wine.woot decanter it goes!

Meanwhile, the bit I poured into my glass at first was getting its own dose of air for a few minutes. Not much change after a few minutes, but the blackberry and raspberry aromas were asserting themselves more.

After 2.5 hours of decanting and sampling by others I finally was able to tear myself away from the other wines and secure my second (and final) taste of this wine for the evening. First note: still very tannic, as one might expect from a good PS. Otherwise it had opened up quite a bit, but I noted that it had entered somewhat of an awkward phase and needed more air. Since I'd gone through much more wine that evening, my notes from the second tasting are a little on the unintelligible side, but I really enjoyed this one. I noted that at $20-25 this would be a great bet, and here we are at an average cost of around $15. WD and Neil did it again!

PSith masters, if you like the other included bottles then this wine is for you.

Edit: In case it wasn't clear, this wine needs hours (or a day) in the decanter or several years to age before being prime, imo.

Courtesy of CJ:

cjsiege wrote:List of previous WW gatherings by area. Great reading and great examples of how to set up a Get-Together Thread.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Upcoming Woot Wine Gatherings…All The News for the week of December 30th.

January 2013
1/19: Austin #1
1/19: NorCal #14: Santa Clara Valley Wines
1/26 - 1/27: Buffalo/WNY #10: Ice Wine Festival (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada)

February 2013
2/22: 2013 Dark & Delicious (Alameda, CA)
2/23 - 2/25: 2013 D&D Napa/Sonoma Weekend

Pending
TBD: NYC Tasting #21: A Tribute (interest thread)
TBD: NorCal: Volcanic Terroir and/or Eastern European Finds
TBD: NorCal: Wheelbarrow o' Wine
TBD: Dallas #11
TBD: Arizona Verde Valley Winery Weekend

Looking for some helping hands:

• SeaTac & Western Washington Interest Thread.
  
• South Florida Interest Thread
  
• NorthEast Florida Interest Thread
  
• Missouri Interest Thread
  
• Central NC Interest Thread
  
• Albuquerque Interest Thread
  
• Lake County/Chicago Interest Thread

No events in your area??? Start one! Create an interest thread in the World of Wine Woot Community Tab.

So join or create a WW Gathering!


** No changes **

Cool Lake County wines, and a winery I have been to many, many times over the years!

Their Rangler Red is probably their most popular wine, and it is a solid Tuesday night wine. The Roussanne and Viognier should be good, as they're from High Valley vineyards (Brassfield Estates grows most of their fruit in High Valley too).

Although I know I've had it several times, I don't recall anything on the PS, (I don't recall it being bad though).

They have super good lamb too!!

I recently rustled up a bottle of the Wrangler Red. Deep ruby in the glass, with a nose of raspberries, dark cherries, baking spice and vanilla.

PnP. Raspberry bramble, with some darker fruits, toasty oak, a slight herbaceousness and a little upfront heat on the palate. The heat blew off pretty quickly and the wine opened up in the glass to reveal more fruit, including cherry, currant, blackberries and an earthy quality that I didn't notice initially. The wine is medium bodied with moderate velvety tannins and a medium/long finish.

It's an interesting blend that got more interesting and enjoyable as it opened up. I probably should have aerated but don't think it really needed a decant. I would say this is ready to drink now but will improve in the bottle over the next year or two as the oak and vegetal qualities smooth out to integrate themselves more fully into the flavor profile.

As one of four wines being offered in today's sampler, it's an important part of a complete breakfast! (that's for you, Mr. Wootbot)

webdev511 wrote:Who can pass up a four pack with PS, a red blend and a white that has "root beer" as one of the flavors?

Hmmm, I am supposed to be back on my SIWBM but you make a good point. I am duly tempted...

webdev511 wrote:
Oh and First Sucker...SUCKERS!

Props!

klezman wrote:Tasting revealed what was expected: a tannin bomb

O Tannin Bomb, O Tannin Bomb...

Hi everybody, thanks for the comments and for those of you that have tried our wines...many thanks. We are a family owned company (Clay Shannon and his wife & children) and practice sustainable farming techniques on over 1400 acres of prime vineyards in Lake County, California. We put together some pretty cool videos that are up on our website to help spread the word, especially about how sheep are being used in the vineyards for weed control and to supplement labor. Check us out at www.shannonridge.com. I'll check back in later. Chris

We have really taken a liking to Lake County, especially Shannon Ridge.

We've had their non-single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, and one other red that were all amazing for $10 around Boulder. The only one we didn't care for was the Wrangler, but if you like a good fruit bomb you'll love that for the money too.

Anyone here that has never tried Lake County wine should jump on this!

Cesare wrote:Had the Roussanne with some friends in CT. Notes:
Honey and floral on the nose
Big and viscous mouth feel
One noted honeysuckle on the finish
A couple felt there may be some MLF, and may have mistaken the wine for a Chardonnay
Very positive response and buy decisions based on price point.

Adding a couple of thoughts. The Rousanne was the first wine of the night. Looking back on it, it was one of the top wines of the evening in my opinion. (Hard to make that call on the first bottle.) We had this on its own, but it should pair well with food.

Looking at the other comments, this appears to be a nice set of wine. (Yes, I am one of those that enjoy PS.) Since the SIWBM is mostly due to space, I think I can swing at least one set. Then again, the ten commandments of the First Church of Wine state that the amount of thy woots shall be two or three. Oh, what to do?

srchrisbaker wrote:Hi everybody, thanks for the comments and for those of you that have tried our wines...many thanks. We are a family owned company (Clay Shannon and his wife & children) and practice sustainable farming techniques on over 1400 acres of prime vineyards in Lake County, California. We put together some pretty cool videos that are up on our website to help spread the word, especially about how sheep are being used in the vineyards for weed control and to supplement labor. Check us out at www.shannonridge.com. I'll check back in later. Chris

Thanks for stopping by. I enjoyed the video. It was well produced, informative and the use of sheep was much less controversial than in other videos wine.woot has been exposed to in the past!

I respect your farming practices. As a former landscape contractor, I've pontificated here previously about the importance of what we call IPM (Integrated Pest Management), wherein efforts are made to use a variety of methods such as prevention, proper maintenance and organic alternatives in order to minimize (without completely eliminating) the use of pesticides and herbicides while promoting healthy plants and vegetation.

Cheers and here's hoping to see your wines on wine.woot again in the future, hopefully with available shipping to Ohio!

If this is the PS we had at Klezman's house, it's sooooooooooo young. The structure is there, but it will be at least 3 years to see if the guts are or not.

chipgreen wrote: O Tannin Bomb, O Tannin Bomb...

Seriously. I sent an email to WD that night suggesting that as the name of a future Woot Cellars PS.

Just a little history for those of you that are interested. Clay met his wife while working for the Trinchero family (before Sutter Home). He ran the vineyards and she ran the accounting. They were part of the company when there were only 15 employees. Clay left to start his own vineyard management company (called Shannon Ranches) which in it's prime employed over 1,200 workers. Planting, pruning and harvesting for a large number of North Coast wine companies. Today, we still the vineyard management company, the grape growing company (our grapes are and have been in a lot of really well known brands) and now the wine company. We are about 6 years old as a National brand. Three of the wines we are offering you (Single Vineyard wines) are limited production and very limited distribution. As growers, we have many unique grape varieties that most start up wine companies would never plant. This gives us a great palate from which to make some really great wines. Our winemaker, Mike Wood does a tremendous job crafting each of the wines. Hope you enjoy the selection. Chris

kylemittskus wrote:If this is the PS we had at Klezman's house, it's sooooooooooo young. The structure is there, but it will be at least 3 years to see if the guts are or not.

It is

klezman wrote:It is

Thought so...IIRC this was my favorite of the bunch. Sorry no notes, so many wines, so little time.

I am usually all over the mixed packs, but this one doesn't work for me. A PS that needs a few years in the cellar, a couple of heavy whites, and a medium bodied red blend that is unbalanced as several reviewers have noted.

Next.

cortot20 wrote:I am usually all over the mixed packs, but this one doesn't work for me. A PS that needs a few years in the cellar, a couple of heavy whites, and a medium bodied red blend that is unbalanced as several reviewers have noted.

Next.

Thanks for the feedback Cortot20, sorry it doesn't work for you.

All our wines are 100% Lake County fruit that comes off our vineyards, well worth a try, especially for the intro pricing. Our winemaker, Mike Wood has been producing wine from Lake County for over 20 years. The PS's from LC are all big wines and drink well now but definitely benefit from some more bottle aging. Ours comes from the Caldwell Ranch and sits at a high elevation. The whites are not heavy (in my opinion) but are quite different from what you may have had in the past. The beauty of this industry is to find some great producers that grow their own fruit and make it into wine. So many brands these days are purchasing fruit and lack a consistency year over year.

Thanks for adding some flavor to the WOOT!

kylemittskus wrote:If this is the PS we had at Klezman's house, it's sooooooooooo young. The structure is there, but it will be at least 3 years to see if the guts are or not.

YES! That's where I remember this from. Had to find my pics of the evening. Definitely one of the better pours of the evening for bottles under 10, excluding a couple of '05's and dessert bottles later. The housewarming had an excess of fine wine to sample, and notes are sparse.

Good to see this up, nice variety, just may have to break FIWBM.

Hey Wooters (is that the right terminology?)

Just thought I would let you know some of the scores we have received on these wines.

The 2009 Roussanne received 87 Points - Connoisseurs Guide July 2012 "Here is a full and viscous Roussanne...rich and almost unctuous, sweet-melon fruit...firming acidity does its job and keeps the wine from becoming too thick and top heavy..."

The 2009 Viognier won a SILVER metal at the - 2010 Houston Rodeo wine Competition as well as

89 Points - iWineReview.com July 2012 "White peach and a touch of litchi grace the nose of this single vineyard Viognier, while the palate is creamy smooth with flavors of ripe honeydew melon, finishing long and soft with a spicy hint of white pepper."

The 2009 Caldwell Ranch Petite Sirah - 89+ Points - iWineReview.com July 2012 "The Petite Sirah is rich and fruit forward with aromas of ripe boysenberry and dark red plum and hints of milk chocolate. On the palate, it’s well structured with fine, ripe tannins, uncomplicated fruit flavors, and a full body. Aged 18 months in half new American oak and half neutral French oak. This is a great wine to pair with smoky barbecue fare."

And last but not least, our 2010 Wrangler Red - 1 puff * 87 Points - Connoisseurs' Guide January 2013 If arguably just a little too fleshy and ripe to warrant comparisons with claret, this blend makes a brief bow to refinement before heading off to richness rather than elegance. It is nicely filled-out and will be better once its pushy tannins have eased, and it will find useful service with savory meats once two or three years have passed. GOOD VALUE


Hope you try our wines, I'll check back in later, please leave me any questions and I'll be glad to answer them. Chris

neilfindswine wrote:Thanks Chris- what's the word on age-ability of the Petite Sirah?

Years! Lots and lots of years.

neilfindswine wrote:Thanks Chris- what's the word on age-ability of the Petite Sirah?

Neil, we are still drinking some of the PS from several years ago. This grape is well suited to Lake County so you can count on further refinement for 3-5 years. I suggest buying a case and opening a bottle every year and report back

srchrisbaker wrote:I suggest buying a case and opening a bottle every year and report back

This sounds like a great strategy. :D

Huge fans of Shannon Ridge, glad to see them on woot!