Had a wonderful trip to California last week. Three days hiking in Yosemite. Stayed at Chateau du Sureau (by the way this is a great small hotel. Maybe the best service of any place we have been) and ate at their restaurant which was fantastic. Then over to the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur. This was kind of a birthday trip for my wife so I didn’t want to make it wine centric but since we were flying in and out of San Jose, well Ridge was just too close and since I had never been but always enjoyed their wine she graciously consented to a couple of hours there. After all it was International Grenache Day and they were participating so I explained that we liked grenache from all over the world and it would just be wrong for us to ignore this major international celebration. If you haven’t been and are ever in the area, it was just a terrific tour and tasting. From the top of their vineyard you can see a jaw dropping panorama of San Jose, the bay San Francisco, etc.
We tasted:
2011 East Bench Zinfandel
100% Zin. 14.6% abv. Nice dark red fruit with some spice and pepper. Enjoyable wine.
2009 Lytton Estate Syrah/Grenache
50/50 blend. A little earthy and floral on the nose. The aroma follows thru on the palate with red and black fruit, round tannin and nice acidity. Really liked it.
2009 Torre Ranch Merlot
13.9 abv. 100% merlot. Nice wine. Some dark fruit and mocha with balancing acidity and tannin. Liked the cabs better.
2010 Ridge Estate Cabernet
80% cab, 17% merlot, 2% petite verdot (don’t know about the missing 1%). 13%abv. Made from estate fruit that doesn’t go into the Monte Bello (younger vines). 13% abv. Boy is this good! Black cab fruit with flowers on the nose. Dark blackberry, spices, some licorice, and mocha. Very well made and for me, nice qpr.
2010 Monte Bello
74% cab, 20% merlot, 4% petite verdot, 2% cab franc. 13.2% abv. A wow wine even at this point. Black cherries and black raspberries, some pencil lead, licorice and prominent tannins with perfect balance. Seemed pretty approachable now, but I don’t know how long the bottle had been opened. Certainly more open than a 2001 I had last fall that was still tight as a drum after 11 years. Really elegant wine. Loved it!
During the tasting my wife pointed out to me that the cabs were only 13% abv. I think this is very impressive winemaking considering so many CA cabs are way higher, and I do enjoy them too, but more and more I seem to like the lower octane wines. Bravo Mr. Draper!
So I buy a mixed case to take home on the plane and when I am asked if I wan’t a styro shipper I answer that I already have one. So I kind of get into the discussion with the other people buying wine about how I happen to have a styro shipper on hand and my wife outs me and explains to them that we brought wine with us to drink on our trip. One of the guys (and he seems somewhat wine knowledgeable) asks why we would come to CA and bring our own wine. So I have to get into a discussion about liking older wines from other areas of the world and just wanted to have some nice aged Burgundy, Solaia, Vieux Telegraphe, Clape, Rhys etc. to enjoy with the fabulous meals we had. They look at me like I have just grown a third eye or something and I realize how weird we must seem to some. We are in a bit of a sheltered environment on this board. Or maybe I am the only one that goes to CA and takes wine.
Cheers!
