Just had these forwarded…  This is a new vineyard put in by Grand Reve in Washington’s Red Mountain AVA.  The photos don’t do the steepness justice and my rental car could barely make it up the hill…

Syrah vines

Hillside Grenache

Drum roll… and, it’s finally out.  Please peruse at your leisure!

http://www.therhonereport.com/issues/pdf/TheRhoneReport_Issue4.pdf

Fantastic blind lineup last night…  The ‘03 Mitolo GAM was seriously impressive, and the groups favorite.  The ‘05 Amon Ra was about as good as Shiraz gets for me!

10 wines from France and Washington last night to re-taste… and 9 more Aussies tonight!

Well, the next newsletter is starting to take shape… notwithstanding me losing a notebook with over 50 notes.  First notebook I’ve ever lost and I’m still holding onto the idea that it will show up somewhere.  That’s the last time I put off entering notes into the computer.

I’ll be in Washington working on the next newsletter later next week and then I’m off to Cali for Hospice the week after.  I’m shooting for mid-May for the next newsletter but if I can get it out earlier (Ha!), I will.  Btw, 4.5 hour drive from Seattle to Walla Walla??  Really?  Slight miscalculation in my travel plans.

I’ve been through over 20 Washington State wines in the last 3 days and some standouts include:

Abeja - textbook Syrah, very solid.
Long Shadow Sequel - Ripe, lush, damn good.
Syncline - high acid, fresh, very pretty and well done.

… what else…

Fielding hills makes some downright elegant, balanced Syrahs.
Boudreaux Cellars - rock solid juice.  Concentrated, edgy and structured.

Overall, some really quality juice coming out of the state and I’m looking forward to the trip.

More WA tasting through this week and then a change of pace with multiple aussie lineups just prior to the trip!

Thanks for reading!

Jeb

Brixr sample pack

I had extra hours at work and took the day off to work around the house (it’s 2 o’clock and I’ve done nothing on the house) and catch up on the next newsletter…  More snow here in Denver.  It was 65 or so yesterday and now there’s 5 inches of snow on the ground.  I cried uncle on the snow months ago but alas, no dice….

I also finally got around to opening up the Rhone Sample Kit I received from brixr (http://www.brixr.com/).

These kits contain small 1.7 ounce samples and from a consumer standpoint, represent a fantastic opportunity to purchase and try a wine before committing to a full bottle.  Since I have had a couple of these wines before, I was curious as to how the wines would show from this smaller format.  I’m happy to report that wines showed beautifully!

I’ll have full notes on the wines in the next newsletter.  The ‘08 Arnot-Roberts Clary Ranch Syrah was stunning and I think someone screwed up and bottled a northern Rhone Syrah instead of the Sonoma juice.  The ‘06 La Pialade Cotes du Rhone was singing and demonstrates that you don’t have to have an inky, dark wine to deliver power and intensity on the palate.  The ’07s from the south of France continue to impress and the Feraud-Brunel Cotes du Rhone Villages and the Font-Sane Gigondas were also terrific.  The ‘06 Gilles Robin Crozes Hermitage and ‘06 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel showed consistent with my prior notes.

Over and out.

Jeb

Had a great meal on Sunday with some good friends and drank through some noteworthy bottles.

‘95 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape - I’ve had this wine many times and it has always come across as relatively tight and compact on the palate, leading me to believe it needs more cellar time… not this bottle.  While it blossomed after a short time in the glass, it faded over the evening and lacked the backend structure to really age.  My previous notes on this wine are pretty consistent so I’m not going to jump to any big conclusions based off one bottle… but I plan on checking back in on this relatively soon. (91? pts.)

2004 Arcadian Syrah Hommage à Max - Count me as a fan.  This bottle was rocking with great aromatics of spiced blackberries, leather, garrigue, meat and spice cabinet notes.  The palate was medium to full bodied with a deft, light texture framing rich, down right sweet fruit.  The table was split with one person calling it a Cote Rotie… and another saying it was aussie like.  To me, it’s a blend of the complex aromatics only Northern Rhone Syrah can deliver and the fruit and richness you get from California wines.  Loved it.  (94 pts.)

2006 Williams Selyem Gewürztraminer Late Harvest Saralee’s Vineyard - Wow.  Glorious stuff and would stand up to just about any dessert wine out there.  Fresh, vibrant and decadent, the wine is filled with aromas and flavors of apricots, tropical fruits, flowers and creme brulee.  Full bodied with tons of sweetness that’s buffered by riveting acidity,  this just about had me considering licking the last drops out of the bottle. (95 pts.)

Just starting to dive into this region and am working on wrapping my head around the wines…  A couple standouts from recent line-ups include…

Mark Ryan’s Wild Eye Syrah - Has an oaky edge but beautiful fruit and depth.

Va Piano - Their ‘07 Syrah shows nice complexity and mixes ripe fruit and balance/elegance perfectly.

Buty - Two awesome wines.  The ‘07 Rediviva of the Stones(77% Syrah/23% cabernet) shows tons of depth… and the cab component really shows.  The ‘07 Beast Syrah is straight up, pure Syrah and showed the best on the second day.  Both highly recommended.

I’ll keep posting on the standouts from weekly tastings.

It’s now official.  I have the honor of being the moderator for the Hospice du Rhone seminar with Vincent Maurel of Clos Saint Jean, Michel Tardieu of Tardieu-Laurent and  wine consultant, Philippe Cambie.  I’m looking forward to sharing a glass of wine with these guys and hearing what they have to say.   Saturday, May 1st and  hope to see you there!

The other seminars and moderators can be found at: http://www.hospicedurhone.org/blog/2010/03/10/drum-roll-please-moderators-announced-for-the-2010-hdr-seminar-series/

Issue 3 notes…

Finally, all of the notes from the last newsletter are in the searchable database…  I still have a few minor clean ups but I think everything is linked up correctly.  Any miss spellings or inaccuracy catches are very much appreciated (email me at jeb@therhonereport.com).

A small subset of recent note worthy bottles…

Eric Solomon - I had the good fortune to attend a tasting of Eric’s Colorado portfolio last week and the highlight was getting to compare the the ‘06/’07 Marcoux CdP and Vieilles Vignes…  I love this producer and the wines show stunningly pure Grenache characters.  The ’07s are just fantastic and their straight CdP is easily one of the top base cuvees of the vintage.  Don’t get me wrong, I think the ’06s are impressive, but when tasted side by side, the ’07s truly shine.   Disappointments, Mas Doix.  The ‘05 Salanques and ‘06 Vieilles Vignes were both outstanding, but seemed well beneath prior vintages. Either way, the portfolio rocks across the board.

2001 E. Guigal St. Joseph Vignes de L’Hospice- ‘ello beautiful.. what a rocking bottle of Syrah… perfumed, smokey and packed with meaty notes, the palate is down right elegant, silky and shows gobs of vibrant acidity.  Burg lovers that like a touch more wild aromatics would love this. Highly recommended and drinking well.

Wind Gap - I attend a dinner with Pax Mahle and was able to taste the ‘07 Sonoma Coast Syrah as well as the ‘07 Griffin’s Lair Syrah. Both well worth seeking out and the Griffin’s Lair is really something.

2007 Sans Liege The Offering - I grabbed this bottle locally for around 20 bucks. A blend of that’s mostly Grenache (49% Grenache, 37% Syrah,13% Mourvedre and 1% Viognier), it has awesome aromatics of cocoa powder, earthy black cherries and freshly laid pavement and the palate has plenty of freshness and fruit. An easy buy again.

I’ll have full notes on these in the next newsletter in May.

Other happenings…

I’ll be in Washington state from April 21st through the 25th tasting and visiting with producers for the next newsletter. If you have a favorite Washington state producer that you’d like to see included in the next edition, let me know!

Hospice du Rhone is coming up at the end of April. Hope to see you there.

That’s it!
As always, all the best and thanks for reading.

Jeb