cmaldoon wrote:You took good notes when David was talking to you about manning the boards. Thanks! I wish more wineries were this responsive. Your sales and more importantly long term goodwill will benefit.

Thanks again!

Or even womaning the boards.... thanks for your great comments....

cmaldoon wrote:Gah.... Resolve breaking down....

I am so glad to see the winery here answering questions and am remembering how unique and lovely this wine was.

Holding off a bit longer....

"Look at the light.. look at the light.... your resolve is breaking down... your resolve is breaking down... your resolve is breaking down.... you want 24/2 packs... you want 24/2packs.... you're getting very sleepy.... cracking open your wallet..... taking out plastic.... pushing the yellow button ..... pushing the yellow button......

Oh! What??? Was that all just a dream?? Whew!"

twstdvn wrote:I just hit the BIG YELLOW BUTTON because this price beats my inner-winery discount!

Hey all, Jon here from Inspiration... This is a neighbor of mine on Olivet Road. I knew the original owners (Rich & Tara) who started the winery and now I'm good friends with Wendy & Kevin who took over.

Consistently these cab vines produce a very deep rich CS that can lie down for years. Also, this wine has consistently received GOLD medal awards because it’s made with total passion and commitment and really high quality! The fact that it’s grown in Russian River Valley proves that my neighborhood can produce something other than Chardonnay (that I grow) and Pinot Noir. In fact, I’m starting to think that some Pinot Noir producers are making their Pinot’s from the RRV in the style of this Cab! ;)

All of you Wootsters have been awesome supporters of my brand – Please extend a BIG warm WOOT welcome to Wendy & Kevin as they join the World of Woot with this first outstanding offering.

Cheers...
JP

Hey Jon.... wendy here... thanks for the great shout out.... this is fun!

twstdvn wrote:I just hit the BIG YELLOW BUTTON because this price beats my inner-winery discount!

Hey all, Jon here from Inspiration... This is a neighbor of mine on Olivet Road. I knew the original owners (Rich & Tara) who started the winery and now I'm good friends with Wendy & Kevin who took over.

Consistently these cab vines produce a very deep rich CS that can lie down for years. Also, this wine has consistently received GOLD medal awards because it’s made with total passion and commitment and really high quality! The fact that it’s grown in Russian River Valley proves that my neighborhood can produce something other than Chardonnay (that I grow) and Pinot Noir. In fact, I’m starting to think that some Pinot Noir producers are making their Pinot’s from the RRV in the style of this Cab! ;)

All of you Wootsters have been awesome supporters of my brand – Please extend a BIG warm WOOT welcome to Wendy & Kevin as they join the World of Woot with this first outstanding offering.

Cheers...
JP

Hi Jon.... thanks for the shout out..... this is a blast... Wooters ARE fun! w

kylemittskus wrote:Speaking of, I got your other case of wine today.

so long as you don't charge me storage...

tarabellawine wrote:Hi Jon.... thanks for the shout out..... this is a blast... Wooters ARE fun! w

You're quite welcome Wendy... Keep up the good work by being involved...

tarabellawine wrote:Hi Jon.... thanks for the shout out..... this is a blast... Wooters ARE fun! w

For now, but just wait until you try to raise your price $5 on your next offer.

tarabellawine wrote:"Look at the light.. look at the light.... your resolve is breaking down... your resolve is breaking down... your resolve is breaking down.... you want 24/2 packs... you want 24/2packs.... you're getting very sleepy.... cracking open your wallet..... taking out plastic.... pushing the yellow button ..... pushing the yellow button......

Oh! What??? Was that all just a dream?? Whew!"

Favourite post of 2013 so far...

OK,
Finally able to open and taste.

This is the first taste, shortly after opening.

Color: medium dark, purple center over a white card. not completely clear - it may be travel shock, but there is some fine particulate matter.

Moderate legs when swirled.

Aroma: subdued right out of the bottle (~10 minutes); not an 'in your face' Cabernet, but immediately recognizable as Cabernet. Something quite spicy - I'd almost say eucalyptus, but without the minty aspect. Violets, but not a lot of distinctive berry aromas.

Entry: tart berry flavors (but berry variety not distinctive). Pleasant, not overwhelming.

Middle Palate: medium body, pronounced tartness (but not acetic). An interesting middle; rather unusual. In no way unpleasant.

Finish: medium at this state; more tart (but again not acetic) than tannic.

Overall: the wine definitely and obviously needs to air and open up. Interesting promise, I'm not sure where it's going with the tart fruit flavors. Seems like it will be a good food wine.

I will report in a hour or so, and then with food.

Reporting 6:01 pm

More berry fruit in the nose, some tobacco.

Flavors more pronounced; still very (pleasantly) tart; more tannin showing in finish.

Showing more of its stuff.

7:15:

The wine continues to open up, all the aromas described before are more intense. More a sense of Olives now than before.

This is a very nice wine that should have a good future for at least a decade or so.

What I don't know is how well it will develop.

7:25

SWMBO arrives. She is not a fan of most California Cab (she does like Cathy's wines, but hates "grapey" and "overripe").

The wine continues to open and develop complexities.

SWMBO is immediately drawn to the spicy nose, the freshness of the tart, fresh fruit entry and the medium body. Notices cinnamon on the nose - something didn't and still don't get.

SWMBO likes it; describes it as very different from typical California Cabernet and likely a good food wine.

I concur.

We'll have some with dinner and get back to you.

8:10:

This was a planned leftovers night: some Swedish meatballs (but with an amazing homemade veal stock-based gravy) and minestrone soup. Not exactly what I would have picked to showcase the wine, needless to say, but very good.

And, the wine went very nicely with the food! Clearly more sophisticated than the food, it still sort of slid in with it, nodded it's head and complemented it. And let the food complement it.

Really thoroughly enjoyable. I think this is a true 'find' for woot. It's expensive, 'tis true, but if one's Mittel erlauben dir das*, it's a treat you should take advantage of!

NB - from a humorous German folk-song in which the singer is a rich horse's rear, essentially means 'your means allow you to do it'

tarabellawine wrote:HA,HA,HA! That's a great question...we use a waiters cork puller (with the hinge) twist the cork screw right through the wax and pull. It cracks right off the top. ENJOY!!!

That works (but not for aged port and I don't think it will be much fun when the wax is 20 years old....) but I'm with North, I think it's pretty but prefer a traditional lead capsule.

tarabellawine wrote:"Look at the light.. look at the light.... your resolve is breaking down... your resolve is breaking down... your resolve is breaking down.... you want 24/2 packs... you want 24/2packs.... you're getting very sleepy.... cracking open your wallet..... taking out plastic.... pushing the yellow button ..... pushing the yellow button......

Oh! What??? Was that all just a dream?? Whew!"

ZZZZzzzzzzz.......

Last Wooter to Woot:
cmaldoon

ZZZZZzzzzzz........

*Wakes up*

Huh... what? I just had the weirdest dream!

rpm wrote:OK,
Finally able to open and taste.

This is the first taste, shortly after opening.

Color: medium dark, purple center over a white card. not completely clear - it may be travel shock, but there is some fine particulate matter.

Moderate legs when swirled.

Aroma: subdued right out of the bottle (~10 minutes); not an 'in your face' Cabernet, but immediately recognizable as Cabernet. Something quite spicy - I'd almost say eucalyptus, but without the minty aspect. Violets, but not a lot of distinctive berry aromas.

Entry: tart berry flavors (but berry variety not distinctive). Pleasant, not overwhelming.

Middle Palate: medium body, pronounced tartness (but not acetic). An interesting middle; rather unusual. In no way unpleasant.

Finish: medium at this state; more tart (but again not acetic) than tannic.

Overall: the wine definitely and obviously needs to air and open up. Interesting promise, I'm not sure where it's going with the tart fruit flavors. Seems like it will be a good food wine.

I will report in a hour or so, and then with food.

Reporting 6:01 pm

More berry fruit in the nose, some tobacco.

Flavors more pronounced; still very (pleasantly) tart; more tannin showing in finish.

Showing more of its stuff.

7:15:

The wine continues to open up, all the aromas described before are more intense. More a sense of Olives now than before.

This is a very nice wine that should have a good future for at least a decade or so.

What I don't know is how well it will develop.

Hi rpm.....
I absolutely appreciate such profoundly thought provoking notes over your entire day.

It is like watching time lapse photography, but with words.

Our wines traditionally lay down for at least a decade... just like you mentioned. I think some of it has to do with growing season. Our 08's right now are showing fabulously and are being touted in many circles. The 09 that you tasted had a similar growing season. We just opened an 03 of our Clone 4 Reserve Cab and I was blown away at how it was still so very drinkable.

2010 & 2011 were such @&*$#*&%$ challenging weather years..... let's just say they were "exciting"! It will be interesting to see how those develop.

2012 on the other hand was one of those dreamed about textbook growing seasons with more fruit than most growers from the Mexican border to the Canadian border can remember for decades.

Anyway... love your input.......
Oh...one more thing.... we'll probably keep the wax....
In fact, we're going back to foil AND wax. It's like that extra layer of protection where no air can penetrate and we've never had a leaker.

I know, I know..... if you catch us when we're bottling....let us know and we'll set aside your 4 cases without wax..... OK?
w

rpm wrote:OK,
Finally able to open and taste.

This is the first taste, shortly after opening.

...

We'll have some with dinner and get back to you.

This is exactly what I aspire to in my reporting. I've got a long way to go. My resolve is also crumbling. *sigh*

tarabellawine wrote:Oh...one more thing.... we'll probably keep the wax....
In fact, we're going back to foil AND wax. It's like that extra layer of protection where no air can penetrate and we've never had a leaker.

I want to understand this better.
I'm quite early in a learning phase, but have browsed discussions here and elsewhere on the web regarding closures. It seems, from what I've read, a perceived fault in screw closures is that some don't 'breath', a trait I understand traditionally thought necessary for aging to occur. Some vintners however are staunch proponents of screw tops (hi Larry) to avoid any possibility of TCH issues, and have selected closures that allow controlled transfer.

Can you help me understand your attempt at a hermetic cork seal?

Thanks.

rjquillin wrote:I want to understand this better.
I'm quite early in a learning phase, but have browsed discussions here and elsewhere on the web regarding closures. It seems, from what I've read, a perceived fault in screw closures is that some don't 'breath', a trait I understand traditionally thought necessary for aging to occur. Some vintners however are staunch proponents of screw tops (hi Larry) to avoid any possibility of TCH issues, and have selected closures that allow controlled transfer.

Can you help me understand your attempt at a hermetic cork seal?

Thanks.

I would venture to guess that they subscribe to the opinion that any oxygen remaining from the bottling process is enough to lend itself to the aging process. Though that is only my guess. I asked myself the same question that you did, and satisfied myself with the answer I just provided, rather than doing the smart thing and just asking the question, hah. I just wanted to get my answer in before the reply, in case I was right all along!

rpm wrote:OK,
Finally able to open and taste.

This is the first taste, shortly after opening.

Color: medium dark, purple center over a white card. not completely clear - it may be travel shock, but there is some fine particulate matter.

Moderate legs when swirled.

Aroma: subdued right out of the bottle (~10 minutes); not an 'in your face' Cabernet, but immediately recognizable as Cabernet. Something quite spicy - I'd almost say eucalyptus, but without the minty aspect. Violets, but not a lot of distinctive berry aromas.

Entry: tart berry flavors (but berry variety not distinctive). Pleasant, not overwhelming.

Middle Palate: medium body, pronounced tartness (but not acetic). An interesting middle; rather unusual. In no way unpleasant.

Finish: medium at this state; more tart (but again not acetic) than tannic.

Overall: the wine definitely and obviously needs to air and open up. Interesting promise, I'm not sure where it's going with the tart fruit flavors. Seems like it will be a good food wine.

I will report in a hour or so, and then with food.

Reporting 6:01 pm

More berry fruit in the nose, some tobacco.

Flavors more pronounced; still very (pleasantly) tart; more tannin showing in finish.

Showing more of its stuff.

7:15:

The wine continues to open up, all the aromas described before are more intense. More a sense of Olives now than before.

This is a very nice wine that should have a good future for at least a decade or so.

What I don't know is how well it will develop.

7:25

SWMBO arrives. She is not a fan of most California Cab (she does like Cathy's wines, but hates "grapey" and "overripe").

The wine continues to open and develop complexities.

SWMBO is immediately drawn to the spicy nose, the freshness of the tart, fresh fruit entry and the medium body. Notices cinnamon on the nose - something didn't and still don't get.

SWMBO likes it; describes it as very different from typical California Cabernet and likely a good food wine.

I concur.

We'll have some with dinner and get back to you.

8:10:

This was a planned leftovers night: some Swedish meatballs (but with an amazing homemade veal stock-based gravy) and minestrone soup. Not exactly what I would have picked to showcase the wine, needless to say, but very good.

And, the wine went very nicely with the food! Clearly more sophisticated than the food, it still sort of slid in with it, nodded it's head and complemented it. And let the food complement it.

Really thoroughly enjoyable. I think this is a true 'find' for woot. It's expensive, 'tis true, but if one's Mittel erlauben dir das*, it's a treat you should take advantage of!

NB - from a humorous German folk-song in which the singer is a rich horse's rear, essentially means 'your means allow you to do it'

Now we're hungry..... AND thirsty.....
Love this post.

tarabellawine wrote:Now we're hungry..... AND thirsty.....
Love this post.

If you should come back here frequently, you'll come to understand the weight rpm's opinion carries in these parts. So congrats on a job well done.

klezman wrote:If you should come back here frequently, you'll come to understand the weight rpm's opinion carries in these parts. So congrats on a job well done.

Exactly, I just bought a second set!

jhkey wrote:Exactly, I just bought a second set!

As did I. Last wooter to woot: klezman

neilfindswine wrote:...wow... quite a day here on the Woot boards... just settling down after a day 'running on the wine treadmill' as it were...

...I have very little to add here; it's pretty much all been said. I'll say this:

1. I enjoyed tasting this on Saturday at the NorCal gathering, though I clearly didn't pay attention to the 'aged pinot' theme with this bottle. The jalepeño note was discussed at length, though I think I called it 'olive tapenade'.

2. My eyebrow has been raised since I first spoke to Kevin and Wendy and they told me about their Russian River Cabernet. Russian River???? I had to go see this for myself.... I pulled up to the Tara Bella Estate as the sun was going down over Olivet Road. Kevin & Wendy gave me a tour of their little piece of Russian River heaven... We walked the vineyard and winery and wound up in their cozy little barrel room where I taste the 08/09/10 Estate and Reserve cabs... and the rest is history.

Thanks for a great day of Wooting Tara Bella!

Kudos for finding this Neil! I have had some real nice Pinot's from Olivet Lane and area but never a cab.

Have been to this winery and enjoyed the wines. We were there right after they had an article about them in the Sall Street Journal or Times. I can not recall now...or cnn...

Anyway great people we got to go into the barn or barrell room if you will and then up to the tasting room. We sent a case of wine home and still have a few bottles buried in the racks.

I believe we were wine club members for a while...back in 2002 maybe? Anyway I am ordering for sure.

North316 wrote:I would venture to guess that they subscribe to the opinion that any oxygen remaining from the bottling process is enough to lend itself to the aging process. Though that is only my guess. I asked myself the same question that you did, and satisfied myself with the answer I just provided, rather than doing the smart thing and just asking the question, hah. I just wanted to get my answer in before the reply, in case I was right all along!

Hey North 316 and rjquillin: Let's talk about wax.
You know you're both on track... and like any discussion there are usually at least 2 schools of thought.

We love the wax.. well not only because it is aesthetically pleasing, but having a good seal does prevent the cork from drying out, also preventing "excess" air and moisture from entering the bottle, maybe causing mold around the cork. It does assist in a slower aging process also.... it has been said.

Now in the other corner are the thoughts that it 'prevents' the wine from aging and a variety of other maladies including it is a PITA.....

We have both types of customers... those that love it and those that hate it.

Because it has been part of our signature since 1998.... we probably won't change it soon.....

But having just returned from a huge wine trade show & symposium (the biggest in the WORLD, right in Sacramento, CA) ... we were actually looking at a lot of the various foils... from the extremely simple all the way to the other end of the spectrum to some that are flamboyantly extravagant.

To rjm ALSO: I cannot say with certainty that at some point in our evolution we may move away from wax...... but it won't be in the immediate future.....

Stay tuned... you'll all be the first to know.

kahuna75 wrote:Have been to this winery and enjoyed the wines. We were there right after they had an article about them in the Sall Street Journal or Times. I can not recall now...or cnn...

Anyway great people we got to go into the barn or barrell room if you will and then up to the tasting room. We sent a case of wine home and still have a few bottles buried in the racks.

I believe we were wine club members for a while...back in 2002 maybe? Anyway I am ordering for sure.

hey Kahuna..... great back story.... You probably saw the CNN video. Rich and Tara (hence the name) had entered their 2001 Clone 4 Reserve in the SF International and took a Double Gold. Because of that they were invited to go back to the NY Int'l and pour at a special event sponsored by Bon Appetit Magazine. They were from small towns in the Midwest and Texas and didn't want to go to NYC because they thought they'd get mugged... (cute, huh?)

But they went.... (and didn't get mugged). They were pouring and a gal was walking around who LOVED their wine and adored them (because they are totally precious). She happened to be a producer for CNN and within 2 weeks was out here with a film crew and took a bunch of footage.
She's like, "You may get 30 seconds, you may get a minute"... but they showed that whole 5 min piece on CNN at 5 & 11 and our wine club went from 50 to 500 in less than 2 weeks.
That is when Kevin & I entered the picture. Kevin told Rich... if you're going to continue to plant Cab in the RRV... make it Clone 7 (what you are ordering today).
We no longer drag people upstairs but do all our tasting and schmoozing in the barrel room.... it is just so cool......
come check it out....... you'll fall in love. wendy

jhkey wrote:Exactly, I just bought a second set!

I really respect rjm's thoughtful, deeply specific notes.... that reflect his astute palette.

Take a sip.......ponder. Love it!

I should have known better than to read this thread! In for 1, with some restraint.

Thanks for the participation from the winemakers, as well as the great tasting notes from all the others.

neilfindswine wrote:...wow... quite a day here on the Woot boards... just settling down after a day 'running on the wine treadmill' as it were...

...I have very little to add here; it's pretty much all been said. I'll say this:

1. I enjoyed tasting this on Saturday at the NorCal gathering, though I clearly didn't pay attention to the 'aged pinot' theme with this bottle. The jalepeño note was discussed at length, though I think I called it 'olive tapenade'.

2. My eyebrow has been raised since I first spoke to Kevin and Wendy and they told me about their Russian River Cabernet. Russian River???? I had to go see this for myself.... I pulled up to the Tara Bella Estate as the sun was going down over Olivet Road. Kevin & Wendy gave me a tour of their little piece of Russian River heaven... We walked the vineyard and winery and wound up in their cozy little barrel room where I taste the 08/09/10 Estate and Reserve cabs... and the rest is history.

Thanks for a great day of Wooting Tara Bella!

Loved having you visit.... it was a blast wasn't it?
This has been a fun day, talking with Wooters.... totally digging it....
And of course..... we know they are going to absolutely LOVE their wines....

tarabellawine wrote:Hey North 316 and rjquillin: Let's talk about wax.
You know you're both on track... and like any discussion there are usually at least 2 schools of thought.
Stay tuned... you'll all be the first to know.

While I can't speak for all, many of us have the utmost respect for rpm; he is a walking talking book (that he needs to write) from whom we've learned many lessons.

This is on the high end of my comfort range for an unknown, but they all were at one time.

Thanks for coming back to address my seriously asked question. I had hoped for some additional comments, but understand tradition; corks, and wax, have been here a long time.

That said, and with your comments, looks like I'm in on this.

Hope to see you here as a regular, thanks WD and Neil.

rjquillin wrote:While I can't speak for all, many of us have the utmost respect from rpm; he is a walking talking book (that he needs to write) from whom we've learned many lessons.

This is on the high end of my comfort range for an unknown, but they all were at one time.

Thanks for coming back to address my seriously asked question. I had hoped for some additional comments, but understand tradition; corks, and wax, have been here a long time.

That said, and with your comments, looks like I'm in on this.

Hope to see you here as a regular, thanks WD and Neil.

Agreed on rpm's wine knowledge. I hope I conveyed our utmost respect in one of my other posts.....


It has been a pleasure to hang with all of you and compare notes....

thanks all.... a great day. w&k

klezman wrote:As did I. Last wooter to woot: klezman

Make that a third. I didn't want to regret having one bottle of each. Now I'll probably regret having just 2 of each. Oh well

Last wooter to woot:cmaldoon

tarabellawine wrote:Agreed on rpm's wine knowledge. I hope I conveyed our utmost respect in one of my other posts.....


It has been a pleasure to hang with all of you and compare notes....

thanks all.... a great day. w&k

lack of proofreading;
"utmost respect from rpm" was supposed to read "utmost respect FOR rpm".
Huge error on my part I can't blame on auto-correct, apologies.

otolith wrote:I should have known better than to read this thread! In for 1, with some restraint.

Thanks for the participation from the winemakers, as well as the great tasting notes from all the others.

I think this one may be right up our alley!