Teaser alert. These are barrels we found hiding in the Carlisle Winery and there’s probably 5 or more of each. Story to follow.
The blitz passed through Forestville this evening, in its wake…
Fun was had by all. Looking forward to next time. 
Brian will forever regret inviting us to his house for dinner! 
A beautiful property filled with Oaks, dogs, fruit trees, and a big garden. Alan was the frommage king, Brian had three types of chilli and we grilled hanger steaks. For dinner there was a 6 bottle blind Syrah tasting which got lots of people talking.
Three Chilli Cook-off - Texas, Bean, and a Veggie
That’s Taz, a 55 lbs lap dog. So he thinks.
An outdoor man cave designed for cooking meat!
Two dogs, one bone
Adding to Brig’s mosaic above, a big thank you to Brian and his wife, Dava, for hosting the Blitz crew over to do the backyard dinner, a repeat of last year when he bravely hosted us then, too. So many great dinners over the years, another last night can be added to the list. Alan bringing the Chidaine and some other wines, then Brian doing the blind syrah flight, it was a blast. Alan made a fresh salad, followed by 3 different chili’s made by Brian, plus some steak and then closed by Dava’s berry crisp dessert and the fascinating piece of history when Brian pulled the mystery wine from his cellar. We all sat around in typical blind bagged humility trying to guess it, with the resulting discussion always a blast to get to the punchline and the wine revealed.
Brian and Dava, thank you for hosting the Blitz Crew, so we could eject from the Healdsburg hilltop palace and spend dinner with you in your backyard. We press on, fueled by gratitude and the warmth of the River Rat estate of last night’s dinner and wines, which are noted below…
CHILI, BBQ, SYRAH AND OTHER THINGS WITH RIVER RAT - Brian Tuite’s Backyard (7/28/2018)
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2008 L. Aubry Fils Champagne Aubry de Humbert 1er Cru - France, Champagne
Disgorged 09/2016. Lemon, honeyed green apple and a finish of saline. This is drinking well at this stage, showing fresh. -
2008 François Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Les Choisilles - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Montlouis-sur-Loire
Ahh, the 2008. My fondness for this wine keeps on. Still has a good support of the lemony acidity, with the same lemon, yellow apple and stone fruit in the palate. The wine is beginning to soften at this age, and it is smoothing out too. No rush to finish these. Thank you Alan for sharing this with us.
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2004 Jade Mountain Syrah Paras Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, Mt. Veeder
Poured blind as part of a 6 wine syrah flight. Some aged quality on the aromatic. Smooth, becoming resolved. Dark fruit, tarry, sweet cherry and a sweet A-1 sauce note. Finishes with rosemary, creosote and riper tones with dark chocolate. -
2008 Bedrock Wine Co. Syrah Lauterbach Hill Russian River Valley - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
Poured blind as part of a 6 wine syrah flight. Pepper and smoke, lavender (what I would guess to be a trio of whole cluster imprint). Smooth and polished, terrific depth. Cooked meat, garrigue , tangy and meaty, with the herbal qualities finishing the wine. This is bigger styled but made in a way that is delicious. -
2009 Wind Gap Wines Syrah Griffin’s Lair - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Poured blind as part of a 6 wine syrah flight. Rich and modern with some whole cluster. Flavors of cooked sausage (this is what my notes describe as the meatiness), bitter chocolate, black olive, iron, tarry with a tannic, youthful finish. Plenty of life left in this wine at nearly 10 years so I’d think this would go for a lot longer. -
2009 Halcon Vineyards Syrah Alturas - USA, California, North Coast, Yorkville Highlands
Poured blind as part of a 6 wine syrah flight. Didn’t realize this was the first vintage of Halcon. Floral, some bacon fat and a core of blue fruit. Inky and chalky with espresso, blue-fruited juiciness and dark cherry. Enjoyed this a lot. -
2010 Myriad Cellars Syrah Esther Block Las Madres Vineyard - USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros
Poured blind as part of a 6 wine syrah flight. Distinct aromatic, funky and leathery, a kind of horse saddle thing. Very cool and interesting to smell this wine. Balanced and approachable, juicy with same sweet leather, bright acid, tarry, soy and steak sauce and a touch of sweet fruit in the finish. -
2012 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave St. Joseph - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph
Poured blind as part of a 6 wine syrah flight. Had what I thought was an older world bouquet, that distinctiveness that says not from CA. What fooled me though was the darker fruit, my notes even say black fruit. Shoe leather, inky, blue and black fruited with some crunchiness. Spicy, charcoal, garrigue with a blue fruited, herbal finish. Really liked this, the best of the 6 wines we tried in the flight. -
2007 Peay Vineyards Syrah Les Titans - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Blue fruit, purple flower aromatic. Plush and generous, resolved in texture yet fresh. One thing the group pointed out towards the end of the tasting was a brett-like aroma. I could sense that when they raised it for discussion but did not find it when I had tasted and wrote the notes on the wine a few hours prior. FYI.
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2001 Vino Bambino Pinot Noir - USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros
Poured blind as a stumper for the group at the end of our dinner. No decant, just open and right to the glasses for discussion. In typical blind format fashion, we’re all trying to guess producer, AVA and think we had the wine figured out because of what we told Brian (our host) earlier in the evening as to what we like to drink. None of us were right, although the guesses at Pinot Noir were correct. If I remember my facts right about the wine, it was made by Morgan Peterson when he was 13 years old and the wine was stored and held for more than a decade, then offered to the Bedrock mailing list–fascinating piece of history here. Strawberry, watermelon, pine and a finish of cherry syrup. Made by a 13 year old? Could I do this at 52 years old? Loved tasting this history and hearing the story.
Posted from CellarTracker
Thursday afternoon (MATTHIASSON)
As if you’re not already confused, we now wind backwards in time and finish Thursday afternoon which was our visit to Matthiasson.
I met Jill Matthiasson about 7-8 years ago, via an introduction to her wines from Sam Sheehan, who suggested Jill’s wines join Falltacular. She put the wines in and I became a fan. Subsequent to that year, she has remained a devoted supporter of our Falltacular gig, and attended this year in person, which was bitchen. We’ve also had Jill down to our house to do a dinner/offline with the OC dorks. It’s been great so this year we returned to her turf, the home of her and Steve that sits in southern Napa, tucked away off Hwy 29. You’ll never find it without a map, but when you arrive, you see the farm and the passion of Steve and Jill growing all over the property. I have been to the house a few times but this visit, I really took it in.
The group greeted Jill and we did a series of the newer wines under the big fig tree, sitting in the shade on a wooden picnic table. Those notes are below, along with a few other things Steve and Jill pulled to go with the lunch. As to the lunch, the photo below (which will later be joined by Brig’s) show what was a true farm to table salad, fashioned by everything from the property. All grown without chemical BS and truly harvested an hour before our lunch.
While we waited for lunch, we asked Steve to walk us over to some of the rows, as a # of the Matthiasson cuvees, many that are produced in small quantities, are grown organically on their home ranch. Steve walked us through the Cab Franc rows and we got a 101, more like a 201, class on viticulture. Damn, he knows his stuff on farming and if I could work a few years alongside someone of his talent and knowledge, it would be a ride I would love to take. As we dined over lunch, we tasted one of their earliest red wine bottlings, the 2005 Red Wine, and we also tasted the 2015 Refosco, with the Refosco vine rows right next to the lunch table.
Such a great visit, and inside of this visit, I found one of my wines of the trip (WOTT), their pinot noir. What a fantastic bottle of wine that is and I took a handful home with me to see if it can repeat the experience of the wine that was in my glass during our visit.
Jill and Steve, thank you. It was our pleasure to dine with you, for your generosity and your wines we paired over our lunch meal.
JULY 2018 MATTHIASSON VISIT - Matthiasson Winery/Vineyard (7/26/2018)
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2017 Matthiasson Rosé - USA, California, Napa Valley
This is a GSM blend, along with Counoise. Peach/gold colored, with peach and steely acidity. Little chewy ending with a watermelon. Liked this, as it has some varietal character but is also refreshing. -
2015 Matthiasson White Wine - USA, California, Napa Valley
Grapefruit, lemon, stone fruit, fig and finishes with a lemongrass note and as always with this wine, terrific delineation. Remains one of my favorites white wines from California. -
2016 Matthiasson Chardonnay Harms Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley
This was the best of three bottles I have tasted since release. Pear, yellow apple, light caramel, and good supporting acidity. I still prefer the Linda Vista chard over the Harms, as that wine just has the energy that I like. -
2015 Matthiasson Ribolla Gialla Vare Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley
Crisp, steely and citrusy with lime. I like the cut and profile here. Finishes with bright acids. Good stuff. -
2015 Matthiasson Pinot Noir Spring Hill Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Petaluma Gap
50% whole cluster. I LOVED this wine and bought some to take with me. Every trip there is a wine or two that in that moment grabs me and reels me in. This was one of those wines. Rose petal and floral aromatic, accented beautifully from the stems. Neutral oak, too. Beautiful cherry, red fruited and gentle in weight, with strawberry and touch of watermelon. Think delicate, aromatic and beautiful. For me, what will be key in a wine like this is can it repeat itself the next time, to show just as beautifully. We’ll see. -
2013 Matthiasson Merlot Red Hen Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley
Herbal nose, little vanilla cherry and the supporting acidity. At this point, we were transitioning over to lunch and I got a little lost in capturing this one. -
2015 Matthiasson Refosco Matthiasson Family Vineyards - USA, California, Napa Valley
Added this to the database, as I don’t believe it has been released yet? We had this over lunch. Reminds me some of the Spring Hill pinot, with the florality of that wine. Plummy too, akin also to something pinot noir in tone too. Pure berry flavors, lavender and ripe and fresh. This is grown right on the property from the few rows that are close to the house. -
2005 Matthiasson Red Wine - USA, California, Napa Valley
Drank this with Jill and Steve Matthiasson, a bottle they had pulled from their cellar Aromas of brewed coffee, tobacco leaf, some indian spices and a jammy core of red fruits. It always is a joy for me to sit with someone who has a craft and they pull backwards into their history and share that with me.
Posted from CellarTracker
Glad you all enjoyed yourselves! It was my pleasure to host and will volunteer my services next time you come up. Taz misses you already! More props to Alan for the great assortment of cheeses and bread and for the delicious salad. Brig for grilling the hangers hwie I put dinner together. Sean and Frank for your friendship and for pulling this week together. Was the highlight of my Summer.
I’ll add a couple that Frank didn’t try.
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2012 Sandlands Trousseau - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (7/29/2018)
The group kinda whiffed on this bottle last night so I have a lot to follow up with this morning.
Pale brickish red and transprent aromas of strawberry, clove, dried flowers, tea, bright and energetic. Thinking Nebbiolo. Still very juicy and bright with an explosion of strawberry, tart cherry, earthy mushroom notes and firm yet dusty tannins. This is fantastic.
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2017 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé - France, Provence, Bandol (7/29/2018)
The benchmark for Rosé. Earthy, pomegranate, jalapeño, bright acidity. Wonderful.
Posted from CellarTracker
That fig tree looks an awful lot like a redwood! 
Also wanted to thank you for the generous gift which reminds me that I forgot the wine I had for you that you were going to take. I’ll ship it.
I did my due dilligence this morning and found Morgan was 20 yrs old when he did this bottling. He had other vintages dating back to his early teens and prior. At the time of this one he was home for the summer on break from studying at Vassar to be a History Professor. If he had stayed on that path just think of all the great wines we never would have enjoyed.
A collective WOW so far . . .
Keep up the fun and informative notes, my friends.
Cheers.
Typing on my phone trying to dig out from under the landslide of tasting notes. I don’t even want to look at what’s left to write up. Here’s the Rhys.
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2014 Aeris Wines Etna Bianco Superiore - Italy, Sicily, Etna DOC (7/29/2018)
This is a really challenging wine to describe because it’s unique which makes relating to your common descriptors puzzling. It’s very complex, oily and has yellow fruit. That’s a terrible note. We opened another bottle the next day and I’m still not getting the feel for it. It’s interesting and something that would pair well with grilled seafood in keeping with the Sicilian pedigree. -
2015 Rhys Syrah Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (7/29/2018)
Awesome aromas, it screams Northern Rhone. I need this was going to be good right out of the gate. Huge mineral and charcoal layer tearing across the palate. Medium plus acidity, an smoky incense with white pepper. Very long finish. I was the one chatting up FMIII about WOTD. It was tied with the Skyline Pinot. -
2016 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (7/29/2018)
I got a bit of the “weed” nose on this one. I like it. There’s a “gaminess” that everyone agreed too. The mouthfeel was silky compared to others and very elegant. A light toasting of Raspberry and the only wine that showed some strawberry characteristics. Excellent. -
2016 Rhys Pinot Noir Swan Terrace - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (7/29/2018)
Another winner. It’s concentrated and very dark. Smoke cherries and tar flavor. Lots of fine tannins boiling about and whole cluster deliciousness. Excellent. -
2016 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (7/29/2018)
Very good. Dark red fruit, maybe currant and dark raspberries. It also contains cranberry. I like cranberry. -
2016 Rhys Pinot Noir Skyline Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (7/29/2018)
Probably WOTD for me. Heck, I put two stars next to the note. I guess that’s a good thing. I’ll write this note in reverse order because the finish is enormous. Really long and entertaining. Had a bit of Burg character. Fruit is red apple skin and raspberries. The attack is spicy white pepper. I like this - mucho -
2016 Rhys Pinot Noir Home Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay (7/29/2018)
This suffered from my ADD because I was still thinking about the Porcupine two wines ago. I know because I went back to revisit and then it was time to move to the next flight. Idiot. I wrote down “light fruit profile” and that was it. -
2016 Rhys Pinot Noir Family Farm Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, San Mateo County (7/29/2018)
I wrote “lush” and I can remember tasting it now. It was lush and fleshy. Very accessible and easy drinking. -
2016 Rhys Pinot Noir Porcupine Hill - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (7/29/2018)
While this is the “A” finger block of bearwallow it didn’t shows differently. Some years I didn’t notice a difference. Color is dark. Got a hint of heat but not on the palate. The acid really pops here, excellent. Raspberry and red apple. Good foundation of minerals. This has the coiled tension and angular tannins. Big shoulders on this wine. Don’t pop n pour this one, drink an Alesia AVA until it’s ready. -
2016 Rhys Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (7/29/2018)
The bearwallow vineyard is really special for aromatics. Past vintages would explode out of the glass on a pop and pour. Silly, really. This has the beautiful aromatics and along with the red fruit there’s a blue note with light baking spice. A dark cherry flavor pokes out at the finish with a whiff of caramel. -
2016 Rhys Alesia Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (7/29/2018)
This has more of an “old world” slant to it because of the earthy tones at the finish and the tannins show some grittiness. Spicy red berries. This is good stuff. -
2016 Rhys Alesia Pinot Noir Anderson Valley - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (7/29/2018)
This screams the deep end of Anderson Valley to me. There’s the classic red apple. The spicy aspect, well, I wrote cinnamon but the wine didn’t come across as baked apples. It was more like the cinnamon bark. Yeah, that’s it. I’m happy with that description. This is a great wine, the baby Bear. -
2016 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (7/29/2018)
Smells like it’s a little fatter, are you allowed to smell weight? The body does show broader shoulders and there’s good green apple and lime and lemon zest. -
2016 Rhys Chardonnay Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (7/29/2018)
This was a bit shutdown initially in the glass. Nose of pear and tropical fruit. Very good balance, medium plus finish, and a sharpness to it. I saved the pour to revisit after some air and when others came back to it I think I had already dumped the glass. Opps. They said it was showing very well. -
2016 Rhys Chardonnay Bearwallow Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (7/29/2018)
White flower and perfume nose, didn’t get that in the Alesia. I like the cut on this wine with the acid driving a spicy jalapeño and pineapple combination. There’s very good salinity, think sea splash. -
2016 Rhys Alesia Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (7/29/2018)
This kicks off a lot of flint and Marijuana type skunkiness. Kevin said the vineyard is surrounded by pot farms so maybe a little “terror” from the neighbors. Medium acidity and lime, pineapple, and a citrus base. Nice spice component. Medium plus finish. -
2016 Rhys Alesia Chardonnay Anderson Valley - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (7/29/2018)
Medium yellow color. The nose is very tropical, pineapple comes to mind. The palate does the same with an unripe pineapple and citrus zest. Fleshy mouthfeel. All these Alesia wines are very good.
Posted from CellarTracker
omg, this will take a while to comprehend - will have to go over it again, but I dove in to find some notes about Mending Wall, as Jen and I are slated for tasting there on Friday!
This looks like a wonderful mini Berserkerfest
Jill and Steve Matthiasson are great human beings. I’ve been fortunate to meet Jill a couple of times and Steve is always a topic but he was never around. We call him the hologram. He was there this time. What an interesting cat. He’s a farmer at heart and lover of mother nature. After tasting they grilled up some steak, made a salad from the garden in the picture. Lovely day.
Photo from our just finished final Blitz breakfast together. 12 eggs, 1.5 of bacon, pound of organic fruit and of course, Paul Dethune EB. The Blitz family.
Jamie, if you’re reading this, we’re coming…hold on and belt yourself in for later.
By popular request. Here comes Carlisle. We showed up early and Mike took us into the barrel room, there’s a lot of barrels in there. We tasted through at least 15 barrel samples from the 2017. Probably 1/2 were zin. I had heard zin took it on the chin in '17 and Mike confirmed. The issue is zin is very susceptible to heat spikes and the berries will shrink up, that’s normal for all grapes, but zin can “pull back” from the stem they’re attached too. There’s the problem, the berry is now in serious trouble. Mike said he was forced to sort in the field twice and once more in the winery. He guesses that 1/2 the fruit was sorted out. Yikes. It made for lots of work as a winemaker, he’s a perfectionist so nothing but the best out the door for Carlisle.
So how were the barrel samples? Fantastic. We tasted Dupratt, Mancini, Papera, Sonoma County among others. All excellent, surprising based on the vintage. Moral of the story, 2017 was challenging for many but not for Carlisle other than adding a few gray hairs for Mike.
We ran through 3 or 4 Syrah and it’s typical high quality stuff. I don’t like writing up notes on barrel samples but thought I share the impressions. We hit the Grenache, 2 acres, and my memory is fading.
News: as I posted in the pictures up thread. There’s new wines in the portfolio.
I asked Mike “Hey, I heard you make a small amount of Pinot for your wife each year. Do you have any here we taste?”
He said “I do” with a sheepish smile. I happened to be standing next to the barrel and Mike walks over and grabs a thief full from another barrel.
I said “Mike, the Pinot is right here.” He looks with a big grin and says “Brig, there are more than one barrel.” Oh!?!?
So 2017 will be the first release of a Carlisle Pinot Noir, it comes from a single vineyard but will be designated as Russian River. It’s very good. I’m excited.
Next to the Pinot barrels was a “cabernet” label on a barrel. “hey, Mike. What’s this? Did you make a custom cabernet for a client?” Another smile. “Nope, I made a cabernet from montecillo vineyard for Carlisle.” Wow.
It’s not a big overblown Napa style cab, think traditional '80 California cabernet. The barrel sample was singing.
Then we tasted through some of the current release with Sarah as Mike need to jet off and attend to family matters.
Paging FMIII…
Friday AM (CARLISLE)
To piggybacking on the narrator genius and photos of Mr Campbell, I will add some notes. These are from the finished bottles we tasted with Sarah after Mike did the barrels with us. In terms of the barrel samples, I really dug on the Papera and the Somona County. The Papera was particular pure and beautiful even at this early stage.
Mr O, your tenacity and vision for these grapes is inspiring. You farm these 100 year old plots and bring them home to the bottle for us, to enjoy and reminisce as customers about the heritage and history in these wines. Those of us who drink your wine owe you a debt and thank you for this preservation and beauty that comes to us all. Thank you, Mr O.
JULY 2018 CARLISLE VISIT TO SEE MR. O - Carlisle Winery (7/27/2018)
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2016 Carlisle Zinfandel Carlisle Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
Drank at the winery. Spicy, some bay leaf/eucalyptus. The core of this is boysen with dark raspberry and a finish of the signature Carlisle acidity comes through and some tartness too to keep it all bright. Always love this plot, it forms for me the emotional connection I have to Mike and his wines. Always. -
2016 Carlisle Zinfandel Dupratt Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino Ridge
Dark, hard cherry candy and lightly jammy. Juicy, my notes have this underscored so this is my indicator that it was a strong presence. Bright acids. -
2016 Carlisle Zinfandel Piner Olivet Ranches Russian River Valley - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
Dark raspberry, crunchy and juicy. Zesty with zippy acidity and lots of energy. This is such a screaming value to get this blend from the key Carlisle OV sources. Delicious. -
2016 Carlisle Zinfandel Montafi Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
337 users of this wine? My god. So much support and interest in Zinfandel, a grape that just a few decades ago was about pink wine and bulk quantity. Now, we land here with a vineyard like this, with so much support and love for the wines. Really inspiring. As to the wine, smooth. Showing a light cocoa, boysenberry, dark and razzy with some black fruit. Jammy in the finish with some light structure. Seems to me like this is drinking great now. -
2016 Carlisle Syrah Rosella’s Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
This tastes similar to the 2017 barrel sample we had an hour prior. Floral with bacon fat. Dark red fruit, some garrigue and a bigger style. -
2016 Carlisle The Integral - USA, California, Sonoma County
Fragrant, leather and white flower. Juicy with the same leather in the finish and some minerality. -
2016 Carlisle Petite Sirah Palisades Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley
I am a sucker for Palisades, and sometimes it is Carlisle and sometimes it is Mending Wall. The difference for me is approachability and density, as I find the Carlisle shows a sexy, more accessible quality and the MW showing an intense, coiled core. Both show the pen ink color of the vineyard and yet I think Mike makes (or gets rows, or both) that are more open to the youth and drinking earlier. As to the Carlisle, this one shows dark chocolate, maple syrup (which Brig used as a term to describe the 2016 bottle we drank together a week ago–it’s spot on). Medium weight, dark fruit and a touch of chocolate. Pure, red and black fruit into the finish. I do think the 2016 will drink easier and sooner than previous vintages, FWIW.
Posted from CellarTracker
With FMIII as the inspirational leader, we’ve done this trip a few times before. It was great to see Frankie, Sean, Paul, Alan, Larry and Brian again and to finally meet Brig.
Even though I missed Brian and Dava’s dinner (spectacular last year) and a few of the winery visits, this was one of the best visits yet for me.
The diversity of the wineries was notable. Aesthetically, difficult to imagine a greater contrast from Kevin’s space age laboratory through Mending Wall’s lush Napa villa to Steve and Jill’s bucolic organic garden. Stylistically, we have everything from the lighter touch of Matthiasson and Rhys to the robust hedonism of Mending Wall and Switchback Ridge. This was a trip for omnivore palates!
Thanks again to Frankie and the team! 99+ points!
I agree with FMIII’s notes here. I liked the Rose and Ribolla Gialla (I think this was from Matthiasson Vineyard, not Vare) so much I ordered more, even though I have some in my cellar. Ordered more Cab too.
I missed the Carlisle visit, but I’m very intrigued by the Cab. The vines are close to a half century old (some of the oldest cab vines in California), and the fruit went into some very fine Kenwood Artist Series wines decade ago. Can’t wait to taste.
Well, we got back last night and I think I will go dry for the next few days. In the meantime, to work our way towards the end of the blog, let’s march on, as I still have SWITCHBACK RIDGE, CIRQ and KUTCH to bang through so let’s get back to it…
Friday PM (SWITCHBACK RIDGE)
I have known Kelly Peterson for a decade now, and she has been a rock solid supporter of not only my fascination for Petite Sirah, but for our charity event, Falltacular. Thanks to her generosity, the wines are always in the event, as well as the silent auction. And to wind back the clock a bit, I found these wines back in 2003 when I was introduced to them. I later fell in love with the 2005 vintage, which for me remains in my Top 3 for iconic wines, a wine that moved me to pause, think and appreciate how much wine can overtake my senses. That wine was monumental for color, intensity, balance and sheer power and while it has softened in the years, it still drinks lovely and is more smoothed out. Yet, the impact remains and my love for Switchback Ridge and my fondness for Kelly remains as strong as ever.
To visit the winery, in past years we would maybe meet at the trailer in the vineyard off Silverado Trail North. Then, I remember a few years at the shared tasting room in St Helena and so when we visited this past week, we landed at a tasting room called Phifer Pavitt, which also makes wines so they share a cool tasting barn there off Silverado Trail North just past Larkmead. Below are my notes, which include the Phifer Pavit wines, as well as the SR wines we tasted. Kelly did make the tasting, having ran back from SFO to see us so she is a rock to do that drive and make it back to Calistoga to see our purple stained teeth.
Once the tasting was over, I asked Kelly if I could show the gang the old vine, dry farmed petite vineyard that her Dad helped plant almost 60 years ago, which is the fruit that goes into the Old Vine PS and also makes it into the blend as part of the regular PS. Also grown on the property is the Merlot and Cab, along with a younger vine plot of PS. We walked the vineyard and asked questions, so you will see those below.
I will always love these wines and the PS is special to me. It’s not 12.5% PN, it’s not delicate but it ain’t supposed to be. It’s made to reflect throttle and power and the PS from the Peterson Vineyard of SR always does that for me.
JULY 2018 SWITCHBACK RIDGE VISIT - At Phifer Pavitt (7/27/2018)
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2017 Phifer Pavitt Sauvignon Blanc Date Night - USA, California, Napa Valley
Glossy and glassy. Oily, lime and stone fruit. This is the bigger framed style of SB that is not what I prefer. This is made well and has good stuffing but it’s a bit too broad shouldered and heavy for me. -
2013 Phifer Pavitt Cabernet Sauvignon Date Night - USA, California, Napa Valley
Bitter chocolate, currant and good structure. And, it gives me a sense that there is Cab varietal here, as it’s not weighed down by bigger, modern touches. The red and back fruit pops nicely. Enjoyed this wine. -
2014 Phifer Pavitt Cabernet Sauvignon Date Night - USA, California, Napa Valley
Drank next to the 2013, which I preferred better. Open textured, seems riper and that shows through the core of the wine. The oak seems more in play here, too. -
2014 Phifer Pavitt Cabernet Sauvignon XROADS - USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District
This 2014 is plummy, spicy, lots of oak and while there is some Cab qualities here, it speaks a bit too modern for me. I know this will appeal to some, I just don’t have my passion for this style. -
2014 Switchback Ridge Merlot Peterson Family Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley
Plush yet tight. Herbal and good acidity. Some oak to still shed and then the structure will help the wine settle. -
2014 Switchback Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Peterson Family Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley
Spicy and rich. Berry, cocoa and red fruit. Blue and black with air. Delicious and while there is plenty of modernity at play here right now, there is solid fruit under the structure that will need another 3-5 years to shed off. -
2014 Switchback Ridge Petite Sirah Peterson Family Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley
Smooth, inky and powerful. Uber-dark with great balance and some finishing structure. I have not drank the 2014 in some time and this vintage of SR PR is humming, perhaps akin back to the epic 2005 that was glorious and iconic for me. I bought a handful of these to take with me as we left the winery, as this is one I will gladly keep more of to share and enjoy over the next 7-10 years.
Posted from CellarTracker
Frank… just spent 3 hours with Kelly and Ray at the vineyard. Tasted the 2015 cab, merlot, and petite sirah.
The petite in particular, was out of this world.
To be fair, the cab and merlot were pop and pour from 375ml.
The petite had been previously opened.