onefortywines

Paso Robles Terroir

I love Syrah.  In fact, it’s my favorite varietal if I had to pick just one.  Highly adaptable, very food friendly, and can be made in a variety of styles that I don’t think that you see in alot of other varietals.  Paso Robles Syrahs are excellent at delivering the fruit that doesn’t have an over-arching sugary tone to them.

In general though, I’m mixed on Cabernets from Paso Robles.  I think that this is mostly due to the fact that the tannins are usually softer than my preference.  In a way, at least to me, it makes them a little flabby. This is probably due to the fact that what you get all the way on the east coast is more mass-marketed then the awesome boutique wines readily available in and around Paso.  From what I’ve tasted while visiting Paso wineries, and of the higher end Paso Cabs that make it to MA, they do a good job of balancing the luscious, powerful fruit offered from the region with a firm tannic backbone.  However, there aren’t many that make it all the way here.

Please understand, this doesn’t make Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignons BAD…but I just feel that it doesn’t allow them to do what they do best.  I’m probably spoiled on great Napa Cabernets, but I also am a big proponent on growing the RIGHT varietal in for the TERROIR, and not just what sells.  (Pretty easy to do when you are the consumer, right?)  Granted – I’m speaking ‘en masse’, as most Cabernets that make it to the East Coast from Paso aren’t the high end powerhouses that do it right.  I welcome any Paso Robles Cabernet producers who would like me to post otherwise, email me and I’ll send you my address.

(Sidenote: I have a bottle of ‘06 Justin Isocoles downstairs…and I might have a different tune when that one comes out.)

Bottom Line:

This is a giant, hot, fruit bomb which is representative of what Paso’s heat can produce.  The Cabernet & Syrah combo is an interesting one, but in this case it’s one that I’d flip in ratio around.  The wine offers a great deal in fruit, tannins, and overall structure, and might need to age a bit to settle down.  Overall I liked it alot, but the $35-45 range isn’t an area where I want to ’settle’.

Tasting Notes:

• High alcohol (15.5%) – and you smell it and taste it…and feel it.
• Looooooooooooooooong finish.
• Lots of Mocha and dark chocolate.
• Big juicy fruits – strawberry and currants.
• Baking spices, and licorice.
• If this wine was a dessert, the Cabernet would be a flourless chocolate lava cake, and the syrah would be the raspberry coulis.  It’s sugary and rich, but in a high-end kind of way.

MER SOLEIL VINEYARD’S ‘Silver’ Chardonnay is what an unoaked Chardonnay should aspire to be.

Too often, I find that “unoaked” means “unflavored”.  That just goes to show you that what you are usually tasting in a chard, and how weak or watery most are.  I commend people for going ‘naked’, but you don’t want to see everyone naked.  In fact, its usually just a select few.

Well, at the risk of a crude reference…this Chardonnay is a supermodel. This is full throttle flavor.  It’s bright, crisp, refreshing…yet at the same time, it’s viscous and voluptuous.

Grown in the Santa Lucia Highlands region of CA, this is technically the Monterey County AVA, but is about an hour’s drive south of Monterey, near Big Sur.  Tall mountains which crash down into the Pacific Ocean, where cool morning breezes and hot mid-day sun make this a perfect growing region. This region makes some of the most amazing, high quality, and sought after Pinot Noir outside of Burgundy as well…but this is about Chardonnay.

Wine grower and maker Charlie Wagner II is the son of the well-known Charlie Wagner of Caymus Vineyards in Rutherford, CA – so he’s most definitely learned from the best.

(Sidenote: I just wanted to say that I commend the fact that they went with a screw cap on this wine.  Screw caps are SO underrated in my opinion, and should be used more often.)

So back to the wine.  One of the best parts of this wine is that it unoaked style allows the huge fruit flavors to shine through.  There is absolutely NO sacrifice in flavors, interestingness, and enjoyability due to this no oak.  No malolactic fermentation either…which surprises me given it’s viscosity and voluptuousness.  If I knew what to drink from Chablis, this is how I imagine a great one would taste like.

Tasting Notes:

• Golden straw in color.
• Nose is sweeter – ALMOST like a watered down Muscato or late harvest wine.
• Green Apple, Pear, Pineapple, slight tart citrus.
• Great weight.
• Super refeshing.

14.2% Alcohol.
~$35-40
OFW = 94 pts.

I first experienced Paul Hobbs Pinot Noir at The French Laundry in Yountville, CA (ie Napa Valley).  For those of you who don’t know about TFL, it’s an amazing EXPERIENCE, much less a meal.  Hell, Joe Montana held the door for us, as his family was entering the same time as ours.  We ate there on our honeymoon, and we were WAY over our heads financially, culinary, and culturally.

That night, the Sommelier recommended Paul Hobbs, and we’ve never looked back.

The thing about Pinot Noir, as we all know, is how hard it is to do RIGHT.  The French have it down, but you pay for it.  There are plenty of $8-15 Pinots that you can get domestically, but you’re better off just not.  It’s usually the equivalent of sugar-water.

The other end of the spectrum are the high-end California Pinots that I personally find fantastic…especially those from the Santa Lucia Highlands and Carneros.  To me, there are 2 very distinguishing components of these wines – the penetrating noses, and the depth and viscosity that you don’t get in the inexpensive Pinots.

The 2007 Paul Hobbs Russian River Pinot Noir takes it to the next level.  It’s most powerful in it’s structured understatedness (which I don’t think is an actual word).  The nose is beautifully floral and cherried, but not piercing.  In a way, you almost have to strain to get enough of the nose that you expect.  It’s fantastic once you find it though.

The other distinguishing characteristic that I noticed was that it doesn’t fall off a cliff when it comes to tartness.  Recently, even with the higher-end domestic Pinots that I’ve drank, I’ve found it difficult to get thru (my half) of the bottle.  Towards the end, it just gets to be too much sourness.  I’m probably just so pre-dispositioned to Cabernets & Syrahs that I’m just not used to it.  I admit that.  But it stood out to me that this Pinot didn’t do that.  It was fantastically well balanced and enjoyable through-and-through.

I’ve got one bottle left, and it’s going to rest.  2007 is supposed to be the banner year for CA Pinots…so I can’t wait to see how this one benefits from a little bit.

Tasting Notes:

• Deeper in color than most Pinots, it has less of a watered-down color.  Rich & ruby.
• Floral nose, more strawberry than cherry, but a little of both.
• Lots of earthy goodness, coupled with a syrupy sweetness.
• Black cherries, subtle strawberries, and a subtle spiciness that carries through and through.
• Its in no rush to finish…its loooooong.
• This is a very gracious wine.

14.7% Alcohol

$45-55/btl.

OFW = 93 pts.