Napa/Sonoma Tasting Blitz Cirq, Rhys, Carlisle, RM and more

FMIII, Brig, Sean and Paul flew to Norcal for a great wine tasting trip. Fellow Berserkers Mike D, Brian T, and Alan R joined us at various points in the adventure to round out the crew. Here’s the basic agenda and we’ll be dropping in tasting notes, pictures, commentary, and breaking news from a few winemakers over the next week. Stuff nobody knows about!! Curious?

Rhys
Mendling Wall / Rivers Marie
Matthiasson
Carlisle
Switchback / Phifer Pavitt
Cirq
Tuite BBQ
Kutch

There are lots of notes, day one was over 40 wines. Probably barrel sampled 12-14 Carlisle alone on day two so it’ll take some time. Stay tuned.

Paging FMIII… Bring it brother.

Yes, Brig, I am here. Bleary eyed and blessed to be on this trip, with guys who I love hanging out with and banging through a lot of wines with people who I have known for many years. These wineries for me are close to a decade (or more) of buying the wines, getting to know the people, becoming friends and as I have said on a # of past occasions, going beyond a transactional purchasing relationship. The wines are an expression for me of the relationship, of the people behind them. All people I respect with a deep regard.

I’ll do my best to bring this along and what makes this thread and the trip fit like a glove is that Brig is the big picture, the story guy and I typically get wrapped around the detail so bringing both of these orientations together makes the report that much stronger. For those of you who are into MBTI (Myers-Briggs), I am quite devoted to the work and philosophy and so think of Brig as the “N” and me the “S”. A complement that works super together.

I’ll add color as I go, and you can then be mesmerized by the narrative musings and perspective that only Mr Campbell can bring.

So, let’s get cracking.

Wednesday (RHYS)

I have been buying the wines since the 2006 vintage and have worked hard, diligently focused on trying to taste as many of the Rhys wines that I can. I have had events at my house on a # of occasions to get bottles open, to facilitate discussion and tasting notes, all to go on this journey with Kevin Harvey and Jeff Brinkman. In several past years, I have packed my bags and gladly dragged my ass north to meet with them and taste on their turf. It’s a privilege to do this and as I have told them, feel invested in their journey with them.

As I told Brig this week, I think of words to describe the winery, the work of Kevin and Jeff, as invention and intention. Every year working to stand back, look at things, bring in ever more complexity with fruit sources, vintage conditions, whole cluster approaches, wood, and on and on. It’s impressive to me, inspiring to see them keep cranking out the vintages and constantly making the adjustments to be better, to make the wines stronger. I see it, I have watched it occur for the last decade. The wines are changing, getting better and the work evolves.

We tasted all of the 2016s, along with the 2015 Shoe Syrah, and the new 2014 Aeris. And, the Alesia wines are back, and the approach now is much like that of Jamie Kutch. Take the single vineyard plots, figure out what part of the barrels make the cut to the single plot bottling and then declass the rest of it to an AVA blend. Jamie began this in 2016 and Rhys is there now, too. The Alesia Anderson Valley wines are all Bearwallow, and the Santa Cruz wines are similar in that they are declassed of the main mountain vineyards. A couple of the Alesia wines we tasted are EXCELLENT and the pricing will be attractive. Most certain these wines will now be ending up in my cellar.

To Jeff and Kevin, thank you again for carving out the afternoon to do this with us and run through what was a vintage’s effort. Keep going, keep striving and stay at it.

JULY 2018 RHYS VISIT–TASTE THE 2016S - Rhys Estate (At The Winery) (7/25/2018)

  • 2016 Rhys Alesia Chardonnay Anderson Valley - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
    Composed entirely of declassed Bearwallow fruit. Lemony, lots of cut/intensity, lime zest and a touch of apple. Larry Piggins made a comment about grapefruit, which I thought was spot on. It’s the acid that has that bit of edge that reminds me of that fruit. Finishes with a light lemon curd and a life of green apple. Terrific wine.
  • 2016 Rhys Alesia Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
    Composed now of Alpine, 'Shoe and Pajaro declassed fruit. Touch of smokiness, rounder and spicier than the 2016 Alesia Anderson Valley we tasted next to it. Orange, lemon and lots of citrus that energizes the wine.
  • 2016 Rhys Chardonnay Bearwallow Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
    It shows the lemon peel that is part of the 2016 Alesia Anderson Valley, so if you like this aspect (as I very much do), than you can find that here, too. And to affirm the thinking that vineyard designate wines (like this Bear) should be a step-up from the declassed version (Alesia AV), well it realty is: there is more polish and the finish really lengthens in this Bear. The purity of the lemon is on display here, along with some anise and a precise focus of flavor. Light flint infuses both the core of the wine and the finish, and it reminded me of the tactile impression that I got recently while in the Montagne of Champagne. Like the 2015, this is another good year for Bear Chard and I believe now we’re starting to see what Bear Chard can be.
  • 2016 Rhys Chardonnay Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
    Spicy green apple which my notes say is ‘prominent’, as one would find in cutting one fresh and tasting the crisp flesh. Lime, a flinty core and lots of cut with bright acid and orange oil. For what it’s worth, I thought this bottle started off shut down and kind of flat when we first had it in the glass but with air, it was allowed to unfold.
  • 2016 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
    Lightly smoky, flint and a distinct jasmine flower (I drink a fair amount of jasmine green tea and I found this sweet, floral aspect). Also here was what I thought was a little bit of an oily note in the texture with an intense yellow/green apple, light pineapple and a spicy long finish of green apple skin. My last 2 words in my notes say “seductive” and “gorgeous”. Beautiful stuff and Alpine reigns king again for me.
  • 2016 Rhys Alesia Pinot Noir Anderson Valley - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
    Composed entirely of declassed Bearwallow fruit. Dark apple, roasted cherry, blueberry and a touch of savory which I flagged in my notes to say “herb, but not herbal”. I say this because I don’t want my note to take you down the rat-hole of ‘stemmy’ because this is not. I failed to write down the whole cluster % on this one but I did recall a few times during the tasting us talking through the wines with the Rhys team about how the whole cluster routines have been changing, with some wines now completely de-stemmed and others seeing less %. In the end, for me this savory quality was/is more about a soil imprint, which I have found in Bear before and it is here again, which is now beginning to affirm for me that the emergence of a terroir/signature is coming through. It’s a loamy note that I really dig. There is lovely balance here and this is medium weight as it crosses through my palate. I LOVED this wine and starred it as one of my WOTD for our visit. Will be easy to buy this on release and load several of them to the cellar.
  • 2016 Rhys Alesia Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
    Composed of declassed singe vineyard fruit and I didn’t right down the vineyards but given the small circle of options that these could be, it’s not hard to guess. Solidly red fruited with lots of intensity shown through iron, herb (not herbal), a distinct pomegranate and it adds more plushness than the 2016 Alesia Anderson Valley (which is entirely declassed Bearwallow). The fruit here is just a bit richer than that wine yet the structure is higher, too. Man, these new Alesia AVA bottlings in 2016 are good.
  • 2016 Rhys Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
    Shows a more rugged quality, a deeper fruit than the 2016 Alesia AV PN, yet I don’t feel that this Bear has the balance yet of the Baby Bear (my nickname for the 2016 Alesia AV PN). It doesn’t show the definition of that wine yet either. What is here is red apple, richer, with astringence in the finish. I also didn’t find the soil note, the loam that I got in the Baby Bear so I just don’t think the Bear is ready yet, as polished as the Baby Bear wine. Also of note, if you are into the fuller picture of the Bear site, we also have the Porcupine Hill bottling coming from it and I found that wine showing very well in comparison to this regular Bear so either call my palate off on the Bear, or call Kevin and Jeff’s composition of the Porkie Hill some wise blending. I consistently like the Bear bottling in past years so I will re-taste after the wines arrive in the future and scope it again. FWIW, I tasted Bear this past February and found it more composed.
  • 2016 Rhys Pinot Noir Porcupine Hill - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
    Juicy, spicy and has the quality that showcases the same delineation that I found in the 2016 Alesia AV bottling (which is all declassed Bear). This Porkie shows the roasted cherry quality and intense finish that was more akin to that wine, too. Balanced, with great definition and uniquely has the structural coil of the 2016 Bear bottling which I noted in my note for that wine. I know all this sounds a bit confusing because we have one vineyard–Bearwallow–creating the juice for three wines: Alesia AV, Bear and Porkie Hill but this helps explain why I make comments here about aspects of each that show up in one, and yet not in the other. Ultimately, I find the Porkie be intense, red fruited, with acid and herb.
  • 2016 Rhys Pinot Noir Family Farm Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, San Mateo County
    Plush and round, and I found this to be open-knitted and easy to enjoy. Juicy red fruit with a plum flesh, a little bit of cedar and then a plum skin note in the finish. Delicious.
  • 2016 Rhys Pinot Noir Home Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay
    Pepper (100% whole cluster but this isn’t stemmy, yet it does give this some of a pepper signature). Hard cherry candy, spicy with some kiwi. My notes say high-toned, which as I look back is a pretty meaningless term so my sense is that I got stuck in trying to describe the intensity and the edges in the wine. Red fruited, with rose water and some finishing tannin. I’d like to re-taste this again but I don’t have this option so if you need some added perspective, look up Brig Campbell’s note, as he tasted from the same bottle.
  • 2016 Rhys Pinot Noir Skyline Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
    Pungent aromatic, a floral and spicy thing going on that I really enjoyed (FWIW, this is one of the few Rhys PNs that still see 100% whole cluster). My notes say this: “Power + Intensity + Structure”. It also has the loamy/soil imprint of the Bearwallow, a wet earth kind of thing. Deeply red fruited, with beautiful depth perfect ripeness and a light jammy quality in the finish. Another WOTD for me, a wine of real class.
  • 2016 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
    Initially, seemed a little reduced to me in the glass but it blew off with air. The bouquet is fragrant (30% whole cluster) and the core of the wine has an intense, concentrated pomegranate that is rich, along with red cherry. The richness here is a pure red-fruited flavor that is sexy yet not cloying. Delicious.
  • 2016 Rhys Pinot Noir Swan Terrace - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
    This was poured next to the 2016 Alpine so we could do a side-by-side. The color on the Swan is darker. 100% whole cluster and it emits a bit of that quality in prickly, stem note in the aromatic. Pomegranate, cherry, lots of primary fruit, reminding of a wine that is more like a barrel sample, full of fruit, power and youthfulness. I noted too that the Swan does have similar expression of the Alpine, yet seems to be evolving more slowly.
  • 2016 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
    Gamey, smokey aromatic with some pepper but let’s get it out of the way that this is totally destemmed. I don’t want anyone running off into the ether and thinking it’s stem, stem. Dark red fruit that shows a depth, supporting acidity, kiwi and reminds me of the fruit character of the 2016 Bearwallow. Not sure I have found red apple in 'Shoe before but it was in this bottle plus strawberry and finishing spice. Fantastic wine, and also has my big star in my notes, of my top 3 wines of the whole day, along with the 2016 Skyline and 2016 Alesia AV PN.
  • 2015 Rhys Syrah Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
    Black pepper, purple flower aromatics. Cherry, juicy, lavender, medium weight, spicy and a tangy finish. This is suave and balanced and several comments I heard at the table was WOTD. I didn’t log it as mine but I did like this wine a lot.
  • 2014 Aeris Wines Etna Bianco Superiore - Italy, Sicily, Etna DOC
    Light petrol, an oily note in the aromatic plus a stoniness and apple. The palate (and confirmed by a second bottle we had over 48 hours) is the core of this wine shows a green banana (credit to Sean Kennedy for getting his head around this comment and putting it out there), along with lime and what I keep wanting to call a green tropical. I’m not even certain a ‘green tropical’ exists so think perhaps of melon or guava, or both. Medium in weight and a lithe texture.

Posted from CellarTracker

Wow, this is going to be a monster thread!!

I want to thank you ahead of time for sharing everything, brig (you ARE going to share everything, right?)!!

I have some chicken scratch notes from the morning power tasting at Mending Wall with Will Segui.

Will blinded us on a number of flights and made us think a bit. Was it a vertical or horizontal, what vintage(s) what vineyard(s). Was fun but I couldn’t keep up taking notes.

Flight 1 - Chardonnay
A: Dark Golden, nutty, touch oxidized, bbq char, pineapple, white pepper, nice balance, biggest palate of the 3. Guess ‘09 Theriot. Actual ‘10 Theriot
B: Lighter pale gold from wine A, citrus nose, creamy, high acid, limestone mineral streak. Delicious. Guess ‘12 Theriot. Actual ‘12 Theriot
C: Pale straw color, youngest wine of the flight, muted nose, granny smith apple, lemon curd, nice acidity. Needs air. Guess ‘16 Theriot. Actual ‘16 Theriot

Flight 2 was a new label called Young Hagen. Non-blind
‘15 Young Hagen Chardonnay Sonoma Coast Platt Vineyard - Pale gold, slightly nutty nose, bracing acidity, lemon zest, chalky mineral finish

‘13 Young Hagen Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Treehouse Vyd - Mushroom, wood, soy, tart cherry, medium weight, slightly bitter finish.

‘14 Young Hagen Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Riddle Vyd - More oomph than the ‘13, black cherry, some wood, most complete wine of the 3 Pinots.

‘15 Young Hagen Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Riddle Vyd - Nose not giving up a whole lot, primary red fruit at this time, showing the oak on the finish. Needs time.

We then did a blind 3-some of Rivers-Marie Pinot which stumped and surprised us all. I’ll let the pros leave their notes on these.

Next was another blind 3-some of Rivers-Marie Pinot
A: Dark nearly black color, blackberry, juicy, tart, easy drinking, I said gulpable. I guessed ‘15 Occidental Ridge. Actual ‘09 Occidental Ridge
B: Dark ruby cloudy red, cherry, cranberry, bay leaf, most polished of the 3. Guessed ‘12 Occ Ridge. Aftual ‘09 Silver Eagle
C: Dark ruby cloudy, juicy red berries, great lift and balance. My favorite of the flight. Guess ‘13 Occidental Ridge. Actual ‘09 Summa Old Vine

We followed that up with another blind RM Pinot trio stumper.
Then Mending Wall PS, 3 New release RM Cabs, a vertical of 3 William & Mary Cab Sauvs and the ‘16 William & Mary Proprietary Red. Just an awesome lineup of wines. A tip of the hat to Will for putting it toghether and driving down from Tahoe to work it for us. After that the boys left for Matthiasson and I went to work, after a pit stop at Buster’s for a tri-tip sammy.

Okay, first bit of interesting news.

Rhys is doing a California sparkler

Yes, and it’s like everything Rhys does. All in! Regular chardonnay grapes from their vineyard? Nope, specific clone planted and farmed just for sparkling wine. Need advice? Hire Rudolph Peters to consult on all aspects of the project, he knows his shit. The bar for California sparkling wine is about to be raised.

All in.

This is an awesome thread…Thanks for the stories and notes guys, I almost feel like I am there with all of you…Keep it up

I have been on the Rhys list for many years, I love their wines. I haven’t bought as much the last few years as I kinda went nuts in the early years and then realized I almost had more Rhys than I could possibly drink! So I have been drinking a lot of the older Pinot’s and Syrah’s and enjoying them as they have aged. The Horseshoe Chard remains one of the best Cali Chards I have ever tasted, such a balanced and nuanced wine in every vintage…And the Alpine Chard, oh my…

Looks like I will be adding to my Rhys collection once again…I will look forward to trying some of these wines when they are released

Paul

This sounds awesome. When will it release?

Killer mix of wines.

There isn’t a release date, yet. They are planning on disgorging “soon”. In fact, the riddling racks are being delivered next week. All by hand, old school.

It’s like the skunk works over there. Project has been underway since 2015 which will be the first vintage release.

They’ve been testing dosage levels and they like the aromatics and overall performance of lower dosage. 1 gram has been promising but no decision.

I need to get motivated writing notes… But here’s the fun stuff.

I’ve never been to Rhys but I knew the area, it’s a nice area. We drove in from the north down Skyline Road which teeters on the knife edge overlooking the pacific ocean to the west and Silicon Valley to the east. It’s a narrow winding road that looks a lot like something you’d see in the west hills of Paso with huge Live Oak trees. You actually drive through a few small groves of Redwood trees. I love Sequoia. They are noble, confident, and calming in their presence.

The turnoff to the Rhys property is guarded by the Skyline vineyard and you drive up a step hill through the middle of it. At the top is the house, looks like a French Château, with panoramic views to the east staring at Ridge Vineyards and to the south Mt Eden. The valley below that separate these properties is the mighty San Andreas fault. The fault line is important because on the west side where Rhys sits the geology is a jumbled mess. The earth’s stratification is push up on end exposing the layers of deposits which means as you walk west the geology changes every couple of hundred feet. This mean no two Vineyards are sitting on the same composition of soil. Think unique terroir.

Casa de Rhys
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Ridge to the left and Mt. Eden to the right. San Andreas fault under our feet.
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The skyline vineyard sits next to the house and looks southwest. Jeff walked us around and talked but the property but really opened up about what they’ve learned along the way. There’s a theme at Rhys and that’s “improvement”. Nothing is set in stone, experimentation and a better way in all facets of the operation are constantly reevaluate. Jeff Brinkman reminds me of Sashi at Domaine de la Cote. He’s wicked smart. I kept thinking to myself “don’t ask any stupid questions, please” like it was out of my control.

I like caves, any caves. I really like caves that are filled with wines in barrel. Rhys has a great cave! For some reason I have a disturbing fascination with boring machines and this cave took some serious machinery to carve out all the offshoots.
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Code:Very Tight Grain, Medium Plus Toast, 4 years dried
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Back to wine. We tasted upstairs in what was once the kitchen and dining room of the property, it was someone’s home before Kevin purchased it. It looks out at spectacular views. Jeff, who took time out of his busy day to baby sit us, ran through a line up the current release of Rhys and the “relaunched” Alesia. The Alesia was a BIG hit, see FMIII story up above for details. Kevin was able to join us and he even commented that it was a great opportunity for him to check in on all the wines. Of course, we had lots of questions. LOL
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Although we didn’t taste the Italian project he’s doing here he did talk about how excited he is with the progress of the Nebbiolo. He’s going for a real Piedmont style wine which required him to search high and low for a property and microclimate that would yield such. He thinks he might have done it… A famous Barolo producer has tasted the wine and was very impressed. I can see why they’re excited.

Here are some photos to join with Brig’s narrative.
Skyline Vineyard.jpg
The Rhys Cave.jpg
The Tasting.jpg
The Gang.jpg

No pressure…but looking forward to the Carlisle notes.

Tom

That sounds and looks like one awesome tasting at Rhys.

Thursday (RIVERS-MARIE, YOUNG HAGEN, WILLIAM and MARY & MENDING WALL)

We kicked off Thursday AM to meet fellow WBer, Will Segui. We got an early start of 930AM so we hit the Dodge Grand Caravan and zipped into Calistoga from the north using Hwy 128. Great drive through the Alexander Valley, really beautiful up through there. The soccer mom vehicle landed in Calistoga just in time to meet Will at Mending Wall, where he spends a lot of time doing the customer facing for Thomas and some of the brands, especially Rivers-Marie, and his own label, William & Mary.

I met Will going back what is close to 10 years now, either right before he joined RM or at the time he went on there in 2010. We have drank a lot of wines together over the years, and in past years we would meet him at the Calistoga RM tasting house or even up at Howell Mountain one year, when I think TRB went through a # of the wines with us.

Will is a smart guy, loads of energy and also a savvy, which I enjoy. Having been on the RM list since the 2005 vintage (I think), I simply told him to challenge us and go with his inspiration and put together something blind for us and I left it in his hands.

Well, he put a banging tasting together, and to knock through 25 wines up to and just past the Noon hour was a journey we gladly took on together. All of the notes are below, sans photos as I didn’t take them but Brig will post them eventually.

As the notes lay out, we worked through a few iterations of RM, as what we called ‘up and down’ (vertical) and ‘side to side’ (horizontal). Blind tasting is regularly humbling and it keeps me from thinking I know too much, but it does enhance what I know and build literacy for the wines. Thinking I can guess Summa, or Occidental, or guess vintage, it’s not a precise science but it is learning. Along with the RM pinots, we did a portion of the new release RM Cabs, along with the wines of the assistant winemaker from Mending Wall (forgive me, I don’t recall his name). We then had a chance to get after all of Will’s William & Mary Cabs, along with that beauty of the Proprietary blend, which was fantastic. We then closed with the Mending Wall Palisades Petites, which is a tradition in my own events, where we celebrate the end and honor our time together with a petite. We do it all the time at home for our OC events so Will just carried the torch forward.

Will, thank you for the experience, certainly a way to properly show a Thursday AM what we’re made of. You’re a generous, sharing soul and we dug spending the time with you and seeing the various craft poured blind.

JULY 2018 RIVERS-MARIE VISIT - At Mending Wall winery (7/26/2018)

  • 2010 Rivers-Marie Chardonnay B. Thieriot Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Poured blind as part of a 3 wine flight of RM whites. We did not know the wines but given the portfolio, we knew we had to be in Chardonnay land. The color on this distinctly golden and little bronzy. While the color was advanced, the wine tasted fine to me. Lemon, mint, green apple, decent acidity and a moderately spicy finish.
  • 2014 Rivers-Marie Chardonnay B. Thieriot Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Poured blind as part of a 3 wine flight of RM whites. We did not know the wines but given the portfolio, we knew we had to be in Chardonnay land. Aromatics of white pepper, broad texture, spicy with green apple, flint, light lemon and the same spicy finish of the 2010 we had next to it.
  • 2016 Rivers-Marie Chardonnay B. Thieriot Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Poured blind as part of a 3 wine flight of RM whites. We did not know the wines but given the portfolio, we knew we had to be in Chardonnay land. This is less intense than the 2014, and instead of green apple, this vintage of Thieriot is more yellow/golden apple. It’s not as spicy as the 2014 but it does have the same lemony finish and the flint. I just find the 2014 to be a bit more crisp and intense than the 2016.


  • 2016 Young Hagen Chardonnay Platt Vineyard Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Light acidity. Lemon curd, mint, apple and some light minerality.
  • 2013 Young Hagen Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    This is made from Treehouse vineyard fruit (which is associated to the wines of CIRQ, for what it’s worth). Cinnamon, light pine, and an aromatic that seems on the riper side for me. Cherry, some bitter cocoa and a resiny note.
  • 2014 Young Hagen Pinot Noir Riddle Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Some heat on the nose? Lots of berry, juicy and crunchy acidity with darker fruit notes and the same kind of resiny note in the core, which is the same quality I found in the 2013 Sonoma Coast.
  • 2015 Young Hagen Pinot Noir Riddle Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Generous with a broad texture. Dark fruit of blackberry with crunchy, vibrant acidity. Oak seasons it with a little 5-spice. I liked this best of the three Young Hagen pinots in the flight we did.


  • 2004 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Poured bind. This seems from a riper vintage, as the aromatics tee that up. Round, intense and plush with dark raspberry, some oak barrel tones that shade and richen it. Finishes a little crunchy. Pretty amazing this is coming up on 15 years and is holding right together. Delicate in style? Well, no. But this is the early craft of RM and it shows the wines can age.
  • 2008 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Poured blind. This doesn’t for show the heat or elevated ripeness to that of the 2004 or 2012 that we had alongside it blind. Delicious and juicy, with fruit bowl tones with plenty of backbone acidity. Orange peel, citrus zest, dark strawberry, cranberry and pomegranate. Terrific richness and one of my WOTD for the visit.
  • 2012 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Poured blind, and we had this wine a year ago with Will when we visited and he blinded us on it then, too. Lots of mouthfeel here. Like the 2004, I did find some heat on the nose. Generous and zesty, lots of cranberry is in the core of the wine, along with raspberry. Tangy with some grip in the finish and lots of youth.


  • 2009 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Occidental Ridge Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Poured blind, in a flight of three which all turned out to be 2009 vintage. This shows to me as the ripest of the three wines. Plush, spicy with a light menthol note. Zesty with black/darker fruit, blackberry, dark apple, some cranberry buried here that is underneath the juicy, darker palate. This is broad in tone.
  • 2009 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Silver Eagle Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Poured blind, in a flight of three which all turned out to be 2009 vintage. Lots of dark fruit, with a little tar and some spice, along with menthol (which Brig called out during our tasting discussion) with my thought being bay leaf. Strawberry jam, dark apple, good balance and juicy. This was the best of the flight for me and also on the short list for one of my WOTD.
  • 2009 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Summa Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Poured blind, in a flight of three which all turned out to be 2009 vintage. Very tangy, with cranberry, bit of caramel, with the color showing a light brown tinge on the edges. Some soil? Cherry tomato? Tangy, and it seems to me to be taking on some age so depending on what you like in your RM PN wines, use my note as you like.


  • 2005 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Summa Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Poured blind, in a flight of three which all turned out to be a Summa vertical. Some at the table thought this was flawed. I didn’t find anything that bothered me about the wine. Juicy, still tangy, some cedary quality in the wine and it’s doing fine.
  • 2010 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Summa Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Poured blind, in a flight of three which all turned out to be 2009 vintage. Still have one of these in the cellar and oddly, never have TN’d this wine. Not sure how this got through all the years and never have been tasted. Distinctive aromatic, with some ripeness and heat. Tangy, roasted fruit quality, a little metallic, dark fruit and good acid. My sense is that I will open this in a few years and use it blind, as Will did for us today.
  • 2015 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Summa Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    Beautiful color, purplish fruit, vibrant aromas. Tarry, dark berry, crunch with mineral and a big-time concentration of fruit and intensity. Plush yet balanced and my WOTD for the visit. Outstanding example of the best RM PN craft.


  • 2016 Rivers-Marie Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley
    Poured blind, in a flight of three which all turned out to be part of the just released portfolio of RM cabs. These were not decanted, just opened and poured to the glasses. Dark berry, lots of powdered cocoa, maple, some decadence, iron. No booze or heat here either. Chewy and darkly delicious.
  • 2016 Rivers-Marie Cabernet Sauvignon Panek Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena
    Poured blind, in a flight of three which all turned out to be part of the just released portfolio of RM cabs. These were not decanted, just opened and poured to the glasses. A wow-like wine, with big concentration. Olive, cedar, tight currant and dark berry fruit with an intense and chocolatey finish.
  • 2016 Rivers-Marie Cabernet Sauvignon Calistoga - USA, California, Napa Valley, Calistoga
    Poured blind, in a flight of three which all turned out to be part of the just released portfolio of RM cabs. These were not decanted, just opened and poured to the glasses. Cedary and chewy, with bitter chocolate and a more prominent red fruit core than the other 2 wines in the flight (2016 Napa and Panek). Lots of tannin with the red fruit profile really terrific. This was my favorite of the flight.


  • 2014 William & Mary Cabernet Sauvignon Shifflett Ranch - USA, California, Napa Valley
    Poured blind, in a flight of three which all turned out to be the William and Mary wines. Lots of concentration and density, with light chocolate and after some air, the tangy, herbal fruit comes through.
  • 2015 William & Mary Cabernet Sauvignon Shifflett Ranch - USA, California, Napa Valley
    Poured blind, in a flight of three which all turned out to be the William and Mary wines. Round and concentrated with a beautifully present red fruited core and bright acidity (much more than the 2014 showed). I also liked this today better than the 2014.
  • 2016 William & Mary Cabernet Sauvignon Shifflett Ranch - USA, California, Napa Valley
    Poured blind, in a flight of three which all turned out to be the William and Mary wines. Plush, even a bit pillowy in the texture and for me has the best approachability and overall best experience for me of the three wines (2014-2016). Pencil shavings, herb, juicy, lush and youthful and just getting started as a young wine would be.


  • 2016 William & Mary Proprietary Red Shifflett Ranch - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oak Knoll
    Poured blind, and followed a flight that was the three releases of William and Mary Cabs (2014-2016). Of all 4 wines, this was my stand-out favorite as I found this wine to have all the parts working well for me, the flavor profile to be more aligned with my own palate, which is often away from the more modern style. Delicious mix of acidity, wood, fruit and less opulence and more reigned in that the Cabs, showing focus with bright red fruit. I will be buying this wine when it is released this year. Excellent.
  • 2014 Mending Wall Petite Sirah Palisades Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, Calistoga
    As expected with these wines, it is inky and black, staining the glass. Dense and dark with chalky tannin and bittersweet chocolate. I like this vintage of MW PS, as it mixes plushness, density and yet I find the wine to stay in the balance rails. The tannin here is still hefty so decant like hell if you drink these now, as while I do believe these can be enjoyed today, they just need lots of air to be their best.
  • 2015 Mending Wall Petite Sirah Palisades Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, Calistoga
    Poured next to the 2014. I like that wine better, mainly because I got turned off with some heat on the nose, which I don’t find on the 2014. On the upside, I believe the 2015 is more concentrated than the 2014, with more stuffing.

Posted from CellarTracker

There’s no order here, I’m feeling inspired after meeting Michael Brown and decided I needed to dump my brain immediately.

Cirq - There just happened to be quite a bit of chatter on WB regarding what Michael Brown was up to and it was all I could do to keep my mouth shut that we were invited to visit with him.

As luck would have it there’s an Ironman triathlon today and it the bike course runs right in front of Michael’s driveway. We had to sweet talk the police and take a back dirt road on to his new property on the southwest corner of the Sonoma Airport.

This was the first time Michael has had visitors to the new location and there’s a reason. It’s the former Russian Hills Winery and he’s going to gut the place and make it “better than a Four Seasons”. Those are his words. It’s not a Four Seasons right now, it’s a mid 80’s Georgian Mansion with oak cabinets, white columns, and brass chandeliers everywhere. Oh, add in blue carpeting.

What’s amazing is the location. It sits on a hilltop looking west over Sonoma Cutrer and the valley below filled with vineyards and mountains. It is beautiful.

He’s coming out of his commitments to KB and all that energy to focused here. He wants to build a property of the highest quality to match his wines. It’ll be amazing. It already has a winery permit and even a live music permit so it’ll be a very unique experience. Besides redoing the entire house the back yard will have a stage and music room filled with instruments. Want to jam? Grab a guitar and plug in. Love it.

What’s up with the name Cirq? Well, Michael’s grandfather was a circus clown, the hobo type, and his family were into it. A picture of his grandfather is on the back label. Did you know Michael performed in a circus as a fire eater, unicycle rider and trampoline performer. That’s a good conversation maker.

Regarding the wine moving forward. He wants to two labels. Cirq is the focus and it’ll continue to be very focused and limited production, maybe 3K cases max ultimately. He said think “4 Barrels” the best of the best is Cirq. It won’t have a vineyard designation, it’s about blended the best clones from the best locations with the best wine making to produce the best wine. Laser focused.

The second label will be called Chev. The name was inspired by a Ford gin bottle in a Atlanta bar. He couldn’t use Ford so Chevy was just as good. Sounds cool. Chev will allow him to play around with Pinot and other varieties while maintain the same focus on color intensity, clarity of fruit, and multi dimensional palate experience. All aspects of wine he loves.

We tasted 3 wines from bottle, the 2016 Bootlegger & Tree house and then Michael’s favorite 2012 Tree house.

HCGv_Faboro
Then we went barrel sampling. There are currently 40 barrel for the 2017 vintage. We tasted about 15 of them. Then the video of him making a custom blend of what could be. He would have kept going if we let him. His enthusiasm is contagious.
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The view
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He said we could have the chandeliers. No thanks LOL
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You can have the columns too
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Everyone needs their own mass spectrometer
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Like the new tasting room? Perfect!
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Get some!
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Like the new labels for '16
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The Family Truckster
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Fire to the north. Yikes
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  • 2012 Cirq Pinot Noir TreeHouse - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (7/28/2018)
    After tasting the 2016 treehouse Michael Brown said “I really love the 2012 Treehouse, it’s one of my favorite wines. Want to pull one to compare with the 2016?” Okay, I’ll speak up. Hell yeah.

There’s a mossy herbaceous note on the nose. Good earth / dust too. This wine is sweet with fruit, not sugar, and smooth with rounded tannins. Red fruit and cedar. Very flavorful. Graceful.

Very good clarity, nice dark maroon color. The aromas are beautiful and lots of baking spice. The palate is spicy cherry and like many of his wines a strong Raspberry note. This is “crunchy red fruit” pure and focused. Tangy and ridiculously long finish, 30 plus seconds.

  • 2016 Cirq Pinot Noir TreeHouse - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (7/28/2018)
    The Bootleggers was excellent but this was “more excellent”. It’s maroon and has sweet cranberry and raspberries. I’m all about the cranberries in my Pinot if I can have it my way. The intensity and richness is balance with the medium plus acidity. Great juice.

Posted from CellarTracker

:stuck_out_tongue: :stuck_out_tongue: :stuck_out_tongue:

I felt the same way until I saw the photo of Cirq’s mass spectrometer! Now, I am following along just for the insane content! :wink: