French Colombard

WINE TALK
21

These are the same wine…

2013 Buena Vista Colombard French Colombard Russian River Valley
2013 Buena Vista Colombard The Count’s Selection

We still have a few cases left of the 2014 at the Historic Tasting room.

Tom Blackwood
Buena Vista General Manager

22

Very much agree. Had a great conversation with Yannick last year at his open house and tasted through his lineup. Thought the Tannat was the best of his reds, but the Colombard still feels like the overall standout. Would love to see one with a few years of age on it.

23

Sorry to necropost, but I think it’s an interesting story about Colombard. And my own mistakes.

First grapes I ever took professionally was some Colombard from Sonoma. It was from a homestead of old vines from the 40’s, not a vineyard, so the owner had no clue about sugar levels etc. I had to make a decision based on him sending me photos of the lignification of the seeds! Needless to say, it was way off. I was total rookie in harvest terms and had already picked half a ton when I decided “maybe I should test these for sugar?”. 16 Brix… [head-bang.gif]

Packed the truck up and drove all the way back to LA under a huge cloud, kicking myself for being such a tool. Vinified it, but it was a tart mess. Thing was, tho, I had already paid for all the vines and money was tight, so using the usual rough formula of a 1 Brix rise per week, I returned 5 weeks later to harvest the rest of it (thinking I could at least make that batch work), confident it would now be at 21-22 Brix. Nope. 18-19 Brix, barely. Hadn’t counted on Sonoma’s much cooler temperatures… [wow.gif]

Anyway, by that time I was already so over it and humiliated by it all, I took the rest of the fruit, drove it down and vinified it, hoping it would magically improve somehow. But no, and I made the decision not to release it. Hard decision to do financially, but the right one. Wine was simply too acidic and had a hollow mid that somehow never unified it.

Cut to:

Almost a year has passed since. Same wine has just sat there in those neutral oak barrels, neglected. Wasn’t sure what to do with it. But something has changed. Now when I taste it, I’m starting to see something that wasn’t there before. It always had a wonderful nose, full of fruit, but now the mid and end is starting to come in. My guess is that those neutral barrels (that are never fully neutral) have filled in that hollow mid, somewhat. Acidity feels a little less in your face, but I know acidity doesn’t really subside in such short period, so it’s the rest of the flavor profile that has risen, integrating it better.

Not sure what to do with it now. But if it keeps improving, then maybe… [thumbs-up.gif]



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24

California Armagnac :slight_smile:

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Or sparkling! champagne.gif

26

Spot on. I used to sell buckets of this. Pronounced passionfruit fruit. Touch of RS, a guzzler.