TN: Three Older Carlisles...(short/boring)

Over the last two days, I tried these 3 Carlisles:

1. Carlisle Zin DryCreekVlly (15.2%; VinesPlntd: 1885-1952; b+ PS/Carignane; 300 cs) 2008: Med.color w/ some bricking; bit alcoholic/fumey strong blackberry/raspberry/DCV Zin bit dusty/OV plenty of fruit bit complex nose; lightly tart some rich/lush strong blackberry/raspberry/spicy DCV Zin bit fumey fairly dusty/OV bit complex flavor w/ light smooth tannins; very long/lingering strong spicy/DCV Zin/blackberry/raspberry some dusty/OV some complex finish w/ light/smooth tannins; still plenty of classic DCV/spicy Zin fruit & no signs of tired/drying out but not likely to get any better; quite a nice fully-mature DCV Zin.

2. Carlisle Zin MontafiRnch/RRV/SonomaCnty (15.4%; TomFeenyRanch; Plntd: 1926; + PS/AlicanteBouschet/GrandNoir; 240 cs) 2006: Very dark color w/ slight bricking; beautiful aromatic intense blackberry/boysenberry/RRV Zin/very spicy quite dusty/OV strong toasty/Fr.oak rather complex nose; lightly tart/tangy slight metallic strong toasty/Fr.oak intense blackberry/boysenberry/very spicy/ripe/classic RRV Zin rather peppery/bit licorice fairly dusty/OV rather complex flavor w/ modest smooth tannins; very long/lingering lightly tart slight metallic/tangy quite dusty/OV intense ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/rather peppery classic RRV/spicy beautiful finish w/ modest smooth tannins; a beautiful expression of OV RRV Zin; tannins are pretty much resolved and probably at its peak or beyond; no signs of age or drying out/tired.

3. Carlisle Syrah Rosella’sVnyd/SantaLuciaHighlands (14.7%; 175 cs) SantaRosa 2008: Very dark color w/ slight bricking; very strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry some peppery/c-c/bit herbal bit citric/grapefruity strong toasty/smokey/oak slight herbal/rosemary/thyme rather complex classic SLH Syrah nose; quite tart/tangy rather citric/grapefruity strong blackberry/ripe/boysenberry/Syrah some c-c/peppery fairly toasty/smokey/oak bit complex flavor w/ modest tangy tannins; very long/lingering quite tart rather citric/grapefruity very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/very spicy bit herbal/rosemary slight c-c/peppery bit citric/tangy some toasty/smokey/oak fairly complex finish w/ modest tannins; still seems a bit youthful but not sure it’s going to get any better; a lovely mature SLH Syrah.

A wee BloodyPulpit:

1. I was expecting the DCV Zin to be a bit on the tired side. It was not…but not likely to improve any. The Montafi & Rosella’s were in beautiful/mature condition.
   Tom

I love these older Carlisle’s. The hard part is keeping your hands off of them so they can age! I have one of the '08
Rosella’s still in the cellar.

A 2002 Petite Sirah from them last year was superb.

I have been arguing with Mike Officer for years that his published drinking widows are the only problem with his winery - they are all too short. The wines age beautifully. I have a Montafi vertical from 2006 through 2018, missing only the 2010 (which does not appear to exist) and the 2015, which I must have drunk by accident. One of these days, that will make a good dinner.

Although I feel that Mike’s zins are at their best between 8 and 12 years of age I have had plenty of ones that are older and surprise me. I still have a 2002 Tom Feeney that I threaten to open with mike someday perhaps when it turns 20.

Critic and estate windows always are shorter than they need to be. Never had an “old” Mike wine that didn’t fully deliver the goods.

Excellent tasting nots, Tom!!!

It’s generally better for a winery’s drinking windows to be conservative than to utterly disappoint the consumer.

However, if a producer has identified a fairly predictable pattern wherein different vintages of a specific bottling experience a “dumb phase”, that might merit encouraging average drinkers to pop a wine earlier. Only a small percentage of the customer base will bother cellaring purchased wines.

So happy to find this thread, picked up an 06 Montafi at Bottle Barn today. Will share notes when I open it.

I was drinking most of Mike’s wine within about 10yrs except for the petite but good to know the other wines are ageing well. Time to order more.

By the way - - - having passed my 70th Birthday since I wrote my post above, I have something to add. Old is such a pejorative term. I think you should change it to “mature.”

It’s kinda strange how my idea of “old” keeps changing with the passage of years.

Wasn’t the 2005 vintage the last to use “Tom Feeney Ranch”?

I have also found Mike’s wines to age well - and in a few cases, I have even noted that they seemed to have ‘stopped developing’ and instead ‘remain in place’. It does make me wonder how these will show at 20+ years . . . Luckily, I have a few cases of 05-09 wines to explore with.

Cheers.

+1