the stigma of cali 2011's-sine qua non excluded

2011 dark blossom grenache
i admit it. i’ve been an sqn whore for years. i’ve met very few that didn’t completely thrill me (mostly rose)
this wine is just gorgeous. open from the start, but after 2 hours becoming thrilling.
iirc this is mostly grenache, and the blend is near perfect.
leave it to the krankl’s to kill it. not only in so-called great vintages, but also in the weaker ones.
this 2011 proves the theory that great wineries make great wines in vintages when others just can’t.

fantastic raspberry and earth with a sort of pepper as well. rhone-ish but very cali.
everyone keep passing on these so i can buy all that are left.
cheers

Great note - but please note that for rhone varieties in Santa Barbara County, 2011 was a fantastic year. The rains that cut the vintage short in the North Coast did not affect us in the same way. The coolness allowed for later ripening varieties to take their time, but still hold on to their acidity. Both 2010 and 2011 are sleeper years for those varieties feom here. Period.

2011 is one of my favorite recent vintages for Santa Barbara county. The 2011 stigma of Napa wines also made the uber low production/list ones easier to obtain, at least in my experience.

Yea sometimes vintage reputation from a more talked about area bleeds into surrounding regions, even if their vintage experience was different. I’ve had quite a few wonderful 11s, but now that I think of it they were all socal/central coast

The issue I have with 2011 Napa cabs is the Forrest Gump effect — it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you are going to get

larry
i guess the point was, even on the aftermarket, these wines are really soft ($) despite being fantastic
cheers

I agree entirely. I was just making the point that vintages are often si different down here then up on the North Coast, but most folks don’t understand that - even on this board . . .

I agree that the Dark Blossom grenache and syrah are both great. If you want to see the effects of the bad press for 2011, look at the price of Patine. I have seen it on winebid.com priced below the release price. I think that’s a first for SQN. I haven’t cracked any of mine yet. I know Dark Blosom has been drinking well, but not sure when the EBAs are open for business.

Saxum 11s all great to date.

The 2011 vintage in California south of San Jose was cool, and picked a little later than usual, but didn’t have the issues that plagued later ripening varieties and regions in northern CA. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy 2011 wines from the Central Coast, indeed I bought some wines from the area I thought did particularly well in the somewhat cooler vintage.

-Al

Beat me to this post…great year for Saxum.

Agree 100%. I could be mistaken, but I think I remember Justin Smith posting on the old Parker board that his vineyards got less heat units than Burgundy in 2011.
I follow producers over vintages - and frequently find myself loving the ‘lesser’ vintage.

Geez. Read this board on my 2011 Napa cab. It was possible to make good wines in 2011 in Napa, too. [cheers.gif]

What was the release price for Patine? And is Patine better than Dark Blossom syrah?

2011 Ridge Monte Bello is also awesome.

I had a 2011 Napa the other day that was almost too green to drink. We kept calling it Japaleno juice. Glad there were some winners in there. I have not had many.

For 2011 cabs, Jean Edwards, Beta, Black Cat, Kelly Fleming and Winter were great. Larkmead, Kobalt and Chalk Hill were disappointing. Watermark was a question mark.

Dark Blossom was $160 and Patine $240 (plus shipping and tax). I have enjoyed DB, but haven’t cracked a Patine yet. CT notes are a little better for Patine, especially the grenache, but the score spread is less than usual for EBA versus regular release.

Thank you-in the secondary market, looks like Dark Blossom is more of a bargain than Patine.

Please don’t let the secret out! I have been picking up 2011 CA wines at great prices!

A few recent ones that have stood out:

2011 Saxum James Berry
2011 Saxum Booker
2011 Torrin Banshee
2011 Herman Story “One Hit Wonder” Edna Valley