In other words, you don’t like American Oak!!!
Larry, true to a point, though a lot of Spanish wines and Ridge often have enough savoriness that I can get past the American oak. But I’ve had plenty of undrinkable (to me) vanilla bombs that came from new French oak barrels as well.
Next release out. $25.00 all bottles. Decent value IMO.
Just had the 2013 . . . .
The California AVA throws me off a bit here. If it’s Jonata young vines and seconds, why not SYV or SBC, if not Ballard Canyon? Jonata and the Hilt are not hiding their association with this label, so there’s no marketing reason to obscure the AVA to this degree. If they are blending high end Napa fruit, the CA AVA would be required, but that seems unlikely given the price point and overall (very good but not transcendent) quality.
Doing a bit of estimating, Jonata has 84 acres in Ballard Canyon. 84 acres x 3 tons/acre x 60 cases/ton = approx. 15k cases for the property. So between the Jonata line (~5k cases) and The Paring (~9k-10k cases of Red, Syrah and Sauv Blanc), there is theoretically enough fruit in Jonata’s SYV vineyard assuming moderate yields–albeit on the higher end for a cult-y producer. That doesn’t disagree with a hypothesis of back-blending, either with more heavily cropped, less favored blocks in their estate vineyards or with other sources from (legally) anywhere in CA.
My guess is that they are blending in some fruit from up north, most likely Bordeaux varieties. And don’t forget that they have purchased Sta. Rita Hills vineyards as well . .
Thought I would revisit this thread as I am sipping on a 2014 Paring now.
I do like this wine and as one of my favorite wine shops in N Jersey got some back in, I grabbed 4 more.
You can’t beat 19.99 + NJ tax.
I had a few in my wine fridges but as I was in the area I couldn’t resist.
I am hard pressed to say that I can find another red blend that I like better for THAT price.
Bottle King in Hillsborough.
I get some Great buys from this place.
I like the manager who when he notices that I’m there comes out to say hello and talk wine.
Blake is his name.
If you go, tell him I sent you.
He likes my reco’s.
Including the Paring.
Got some nice Italian wine there including another one for 19.99 that made this last years top 100 in WS.
They had the 2012 for 19.99 and then got the 13 in for the same price.
Carpineto Vino Nobile di Multepulciano Riserva
But I digress.
This Paring is not bad as it’s been a while since I have had it.
Cheers!
Any way, I enjoyed everyone’s take on the winemaker and the connections.
I’ve had the pairing a few times and it was good but what was much better for me from Matt was Hilt’s old guard. Certainly not a QPR Champion but some tasty juice.
I like all of this groups offerings. I’ve found The Paring to be one of the best QPR’s out there if you like that style. One of our most fun parties we’ve hosted at the house involved going thru a case of the 2013 with about 8 people over the course of a couple football games. It played the role of cellar defender very well that day!
Got a chance to taste through the Jonata and Hilt lineups at the Santa Barbara Wine Collective two summers ago and was really impressed.
We were blown away by a 2007 Petit Verdot (Fuerza, I brlieve) and a delicious-if-pricey Sauv Blanc. The Todos syrah blend was also delish.
The Hilt is exclusively Burgundy varietals from SRH, I believe. The pinots were good, comparable in quality to Brewer-Clifton wines we had at the sane sitting.
The Paring was described as a second wine of sorts to both brands.
It seems to get good marks across the board from most folks.
Great QPR
I wonder how this Theorize 2015 cab I just got at LB is going to be??
Arrived today.
Maybe try one this weekend.
Let us know!!! Just ordered 4…
I drank the 2010 Carpineto Vino Nobile Riserva on Sunday, and really enjoyed it (esp for the price).
I have a bottle of 2014 The Paring as a club wine through Wine Lab (Costa Mesa), so thanks for the notes/starting this thread.