TN: 2005 Alban Vineyards Grenache Alban Estate Vineyard

  • 2005 Alban Vineyards Grenache Alban Estate Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley (12/21/2009)
    Opaque blackberry in color…huge nose of oozeberry, kirsch liqueur, dusty dried currants, smoky asphalt, white pepper. MONSTER in the mouth…tied down by a huge wall of tannins. Gobs of rich dark juicy fruit, surrounded by dusty and spicy tannins, smoked cranberries, signature Alban sweet asphalt(very tame compared to older Vintages), peppery candied spices, herbs and some grilled meat. Tasty…but really needs time. Holds the 16.8% alc well, but it still shows. The wine is harsh at times…but tasty as hell! Hard to put it down…but I’m going to cork it up, and try back in 2 days. Will add to the note, and update my score. This might go 5+pts higher… (92 pts.)

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Just… Wow. 16.8. This is what is wonderful about wine… Your description has convinced me that - while I don’t believe in point scores - it would never be higher than, oh, 77 on my scale. Beauty in diversity. [basic-smile.gif]

Sounds right up my alley. Might have to give a bottle a spin tonight.

Buzz,

Thanks for sharing! Had a bottle of the 05 side by side with the 04 about 18 months ago, and at that time, the oak was too overbearing . . . Sounds as if things have melded a bit more . . .

Evan - quick question - are you responding to the stated alc or the tasting notes?!?!? Not sure if you’ve worked with grenache, but it is a variety that needs lots o sugar to really ripen and produce the flavors that makes it unique - and needs to hang a very long time in order to soften the skins (and therefore ‘mellow out’ the tannins) . . .

Day 2 notes?!?!?

Cheers!

i think Grenache is my favorite Central Coast varietal.

+1
+1
+!
+!
[soap.gif]

Thanks for the note Buzz! While the air is cold in the Nickle-Nickle-Nine (and Too Oh Nine), we’ll have to share some Albans [winner.gif]

and i just found a vein of 05 Foresythe that i had to buy!

i’ll be there for the Super Bowl - save some for me!

I’m not sure if I should drink my one bottle now or wait. Thoughts?

Larry - Both, actually. I love CdP, though don’t recall much 17 ABV, and I’ve enjoyed plenty from Spain. The description sounds like a caricature of a wine, though I must say it’s very cool to hear description of CA Grenache that includes discussion of its sense of place. Too often the tasting notes make it sound like any other big garden variety red in CA. Glad to hear that the best are developing serious identity (but I have yet to smoke a cranberry, so can’t quite relate to that aspect…)

I’m probably a little too quick to sour on the idea of “fruit gobs.” I’ve simply had a string of Napa and other CA wines of late that come off as extremely sweet. I suppose I’ll never be a member of the wine-buying majority in my distaste for this style.

Evan,

Thanks for the reply. I too am a fan of CdP and have found some to my liking to have plenty of ‘stuffing’ - aka ETOH. Regardless of what the label states, some CdP from 03-05 were well upwards of 16% ETOH . . .and higher - according to reports on other boards. The same can certainly be said with Spanish garnachas - sure, you can find some at lower ETOH’s, but some of the better known ones are easily 15.5 and higher . . .

My reaction to your comments I guess had more to do with my perception of knee jerk reactions to stated ETOH levels on bottles. It continues to kill me that some (and I’m not accusing you of this at all) look at that and make judgements on a wine in advance of tasting it. And this happens ALL the time . . .

This stated level, in some ways, is no different than the producer itself - some see the name on the bottle and have preconceived notions of the way the wine will taste - before a sip is taken. Human nature for sure . . . .which is why blind tasting is soooo much fun (and so humbling!).

Sorry for the ramble this morning!!!

Cheers!

Larry -

No need to apologize, and I probably deserve some ribbing. Understand that there should be some bifurcation in my reaction. The alcohol thing is entirely separate, and I should probably just get over it. High ABV is a consequence of a number of things, and it’s obviously not a precursor for an inherently flawed wine. It’s the description that came off as, well, unappetizing. I was just musing on the YMMV nature of the wonderful world of wine.

But as always, nothing in a descriptor is going to keep me from tasting a wine. Especially not when the same critic might use different descriptors… for the same wine, tasted on different days. Right, DP? [dance-clap.gif]

in my very limited experience drinking Alban, i tend to like them with at least five years from vintage date, and found a couple of 01’s that i had this summer were the best showing so far… of course, Buzz is the Alban king and can chime in with way more data points.

These are MASSIVE wines, and are really at their best after the 5yr mark as BC said. Me drinking this 2005 is a fluke…I really don’t drink my Alban’s this young…in fact, the last Grenache I’ve had is the 2000…and really prefer the 8-10 yr mark on them. Hell, even the mid 90’s stuff is still massive! Again…there is nothing out there quite like the Alban Grenache. It is true terroir. Even SQN is closer to what a lot of people think of in Ca. Grenache (even WITH Alban fruit!). As I sip on more of the 2005 from 2 days ago…it has gotten a little smoother, a little more open…but I don’t think it’s much better than I thought it might be. To be honest, SQN blows it away…not in taste…but in balance. This Alban is jagged, quite rough at times…where SQN is smoooooth as silk. It has the makings of a killer Grenache…Alban style…just not yet. So…hold-um if ya got-um imo.

Seven oh sev’ can make the trip as well!

Hmmmmm…an all Alban tasting would be INTERESTING??? I’m sure even BR Bob would not miss that!

Mike, I just don’t see these wines up your alley though? You ever had an Alban?

I’ve had a few - fun wines, not something I’d buy regularly but there are a few hanging around BM that I could snag.

Fun read from 12 yrs back! As much as I love me some Alban…( in my deep Johnny Cash voice)…’I fell into a burning ring of fire
I went down, down, down
And the flames went higher
And it burns, burns, burns
The ring of fire
The ring of fire’

It MURDERED my 2020 Turley Cinsault 12.5 in cold blood!

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I think Alban hit it out of the park in 2005. The Reva was also outstanding.

  • 2005 Alban Vineyards Syrah Reva Alban Estate Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley (9/15/2018)
    This one was OUTSTANDING. Last bottle must have had a minor flaw. Rebecca was looking for something special so she picked this. Great balance, explosive red fruit and smooth white pepper to match. Acidity was good and the wine was not flabby. Tertiary meaty flavors perhaps from resolved toasted oak. I really wish the proprietors were not such PITAs. They drove me nuts screwing up my mailing list mailings and kept blaming me so I gave up and stopped buying a decade ago, I wish I had a decade more of these because the wines are wonderful. (94 pts.)

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