Wells Guthrie took a few of us through some of his 2008 barrels. As most will know, 08 was a very challenging vintage, particularly for parts of Mendocino county, where there were both severe spring frosts, and one of the worst summer fire seasons on record. Yields were down, and, depending on location, some vineyards were affected by smoke from the fires, necessitating even more selection. Despite both of these difficulties, Wells has managed to create some exceptional wines. He continues on the somewhat singular path in the industry of picking earlier than most other producers with the goal of reduced sugars, and higher natural acidity. To this taster’s palate, the result is a collection of fresh and vibrant wines, with no loss of intensity of flavor.
2008 Copain Roussanne James Berry Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Barrel sample. Lovely rich fruit, touches of spice, mineral, and nuttiness. (92 pts.)
2008 Copain Pinot Noir “En Haut” Kiser- USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Barrel sample. Bit of funk, earth, smoke on the nose, medium light bright cherry fruit, high acidity, coming through with some refreshing tartness on the finish. (90 pts.)
2008 Copain Pinot Noir “En Bas” Kiser- USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Barrel sample 1: some applewood smoked bacon on the nose, medium weight, medium dark black cherry, great balance, touch of a smoky note on the finish. 92
Barrel sample 2: hint of bacon smoke on the nose, gorgeous dark black cherry fruit, deeply flavored fabulous balance. 95 (93 pts.)
2008 Copain Syrah James Berry Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Barrel sample. Beautiful dark boysenberry/pomegranate fruit, very focused, great acidity and tannic structure. Mouth-watering wine, picked on the early side to dial back on the Paso ripeness. Fabulous example of Wells work with central coast fruit. (93 pts.)
2008 Copain Syrah Garys’ Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
100% whole cluster comes through on the nose, and a bit on the palate, very nice dark fruit, exellent balance and some nice complexities. (92 pts.)
2008 Copain Syrah Brosseau Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Chalone
Nice deep dark red fruits, great acidity. An interesting contrast to the other Copain syrahs, which all have a much blacker fruit profile. (92 pts.)
2008 Copain Syrah Hawks Butte Vineyard- USA, California, North Coast, Yorkville Highlands
Just a hint of smokiness on the nose, then gorgeous dark blackberry/boysenberry fruit, laser focus, deep dark flavors, medium fine tannins on the finish. (94 pts.)
2008 Copain Syrah Halcon Vineyard- USA, California, North Coast, Yorkville Highlands
Barrel sample. Deep, very focused boysenberry, violets, crushed rocks, mineral, floral, great acidity, medium tannins, excellent structure overall. Brilliant wine. (94 pts.)
Thanks for the great notes. I am not familiar with the Halcon Vineyard Syrah, but it sounds interesting. Some of my other favorites were in your line-up as well. Something to look forward to next year.
FWIW, the Halcon property is owned by Paul Gordon, who is a poster on the other forum. I second Alan’s take here, as I too have tasted the Halcon from barrel and it is a tremendous wine, which Wells is doing in the very large barrel, forget the name of the size. I think he has two total of these.
Correct. Actually, Paul and Valerie Gordon. And they are not gentrified absentee owners. They drive 3 hourse each way from the south Bay Area nearly every weekend to do most of the hard labor in the vineyard, year-round. A truly impressive accomplishment, and this first wine from the property sure bodes well for the future from Halcon. (Disclaimer: the Gordons are good friends of ours, but if I didn’t think the Halcon wine was exceptional I would just say nothing at all).
Great notes Alan. Congrats to Copain…and esp to Paul and Valerie Gordon for their incredibly hard work in making Halcon vineyard happen. Impressive stuff.
Heard from Mr. Kiser in yesterday’s Copain pickup party that next to "en Base’, there is a new block planted with suitcase clones (as opposed to Dijon in en Base and en Haute) and juice was first bottled in 2008. Anyone tasted it? According to Mr. Kiser, it tasted more like an "en Haut’
Nice notes, Alan. Thanks for the report on your barrel tasting. It’s always a treat to do that with Wells, and I’m glad you got to on your recent visit.
Here’s my report on what we tasted at the previous pickup weekend, a week ago:
Getting the sorting belt working at Copain 9/5/09 (Wells on far left)
I’m a big fan of Copain, and they always do a lovely event for the pickup weekends. This is what we got to taste on 9/5.
Parker has downgraded his points on Copain ever since Wells moved to pick earlier and lower alcohol levels with the '06 vintage, but that’s just another sign of Parker’s insistence on a particular (outmoded) style of wine, and his demonstrated idiosyncratic (and incomprehensible) palate for Pinots that taste nothing like Pinot. It’s also a sign of Wells’s continuing growth as a winemaker (one of the most influential in California at this point) and of his integrity.
Most of these wines showed as well or better than when I’ve tasted them before, especially the '07 Monument Tree Pinot, which is developing into something “monumental.” The Tous Ensembles are Copain’s lower price label. Whites
2008 Copain Viognier Tous Ensemble- USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino County
Light yellow color; light peach, honeysuckle nose; ripe peach, honeysuckle, orange cream palate; medium finish (90 pts.)
2006 Copain Roussanne James Berry Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Light medium canary yellow color; lovely, lightly oily, apple, green apple, pineapple, mineral nose; tasty, complex, lightly oily textured, green apple, mineral, tart pineapple, tart peach; medium finish (93 pts.)
Pinots
2006 Copain Pinot Noir Cerise Vineyard- USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Light medium strawberry red color with pale meniscus; lovely, spicy, strawberry, cranberry nose; tasty, refined, silky textured, tart strawberry, cranberry, spice palate; medium finish 92+ pts. (92 pts.)
2007 Copain Pinot Noir Monument Tree- USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Dark cherry red color with pale meniscus; gorgeous roses, spice, dried cherry, berry nose; very tasty and huge tart cherry, spice, dried cherry palate with orange notes; medium-plus finish (94 pts.)
Grenache and Syrah
'09 Brosseau Vineyard Syrah after destemming
2006 Copain Les Copains James Berry Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Medium cherry red color with pale meniscus; berry, charcoal, black fruit, dried cherry nose; great Grenache, cherry, dried cherry, charcoal and berry palate; medium finish (93 pts.)
2008 Copain Tous Ensemble- USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Light yellowish pink color; light strawberry, cranberry, orange nose; tasty, ripe and tart strawberry, mineral palat with good acidity; medium-plus finish (91 pts.)
2007 Copain Syrah Baker Ranch- USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
Dark red violet color; lovely, roasted red fruit, pepper, green peppercorn nose; tasty, tart roasted red fruit, pepper palate, drinking surprisingly well now; medium-plus finish (93 pts.)
2005 Copain Syrah Hawks Butte Vineyard- USA, California, North Coast, Yorkville Highlands
From magnum - dark cherry red color; nice creme de cassis, pepper and graphite nose with a savory note; tart cassis, red fruit, pepper, spice and peppercorn palate; medium-plus finish (93 pts.)
2005 Copain Syrah Eaglepoint Ranch- USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino County
Dark cherry red color with pale meniscus; sexy, blue fruit, satsuma plum, talcum powder, sweet smoke nose; tasty, sweet plum, blue fruit, pepper, graphite palate; medium-plus finish 93+ pts. (93 pts.)
Richard, good agreement with your notes from our visit on Saturday. We didn’t get the Baker Syrah, but I remember really liking the wine on release. What we did get to taste was the 07 Kiser en Haut, which is a beautiful wine, the equal (or better) of the Monument Tree, maybe the most burgundy-like wine I’ve had from California yet. Definitely a future ringer at a future Euro lunch
