nice notes.
thanks

"Mark Lipton" > wrote in message
...
> What follows are my notes from a day of wine tasting in Paso Robles.
> While we were waiting at the gate of the Indianapolis airport to leave
> for the West Coast, CNN carried the news of the earthquake (6.5 on the
> Richter scale). We decided to stick with our plans, and spent several
> nice days down there anyway from Dec. 28-29.
>
> Touristic notes: Paso is located almost exactly halfway between LA and
> SF and 20-30 mi inland from the Pacific. It's easily accessible by car
> from either city on US 101. In addition the 60+ wineries in the area,
> Paso Robles is also located on the old Spanish Mission Trail ("El Camino
> Real") and consequently is close to a number of historical
> attractions. In addition, it's a short drive to San Simeon on the
> coast, where the Hearst Castle is situated. (Note: we were amazed to
> find throngs of European and Asian tourists at the Hearst Castle on a
> Sunday -- silly us!). Paso is also an easy day trip from the Monterey
> Peninsula. Dining in Paso Robles is normally plentiful, with no less
> than 3 quality French restaurants and a good CalMex place (Villa
> Creek). Alas, two of the French restaurants suffered bad damage in the
> quake and were closed pending relocation. The meals that we did have
> were still excellent, however. Quite a change from the cowtown I
> remember from my youth!
>
> At our bed and breakfast, we sampled a few wines:
>
> 2002 York Mountain Viognier Frahlich Vineyard:
> A nose of medium intensity with floral and apricot notes; crisp entry,
> with flavors of apricot and slight buttery notes and a clean finish.
> Good varietal character for a CA Viognier, and thankfully no overt
> oakiness to it.
>
> 2001 York Mountain Muscat Late Harvest:
> 9% RS. Golden straw in color, with a nose of spice, apricot, honey and
> a touch of heat; very round on the palate, modestly fruity with a clean
> finish. Quite nice.
>
> Then, on to Garretson, our first winery, located in a warehouse, where
> an assistant winemaker poured for us while regaling us with tales of the
> earthquake (he'd been operating a forklift at the time and saw all the
> barrels suspended briefly in air, all of which fell back into their
> cradles with nary a barrel lost).
>
> 2002 Roussanne:
> A nose of honey and figs; creamy on the palate, with more honey and a
> long finish. Very nice wine, if not profound.
>
> 2002 Viognier:
> Interesting appearance: there was a protein haze in this unfined,
> unfiltered wine.
> An interesting nose of hazelnuts and peaches; rich entry, round in the
> mouth, with stone fruit and pineapple flavors and a long, sweet finish.
> WOW! I can see why Mat Garretson is known as "Mr. Viognier". This
> blows away the York Mtn.
>
> 2002 Rosé "Celeidh":
> A nose of bright strawberries; crisp entry, moderately fruity, with
> citrus notes in the finish. Interesting wine, but still a bit too
> alcoholic (like most every CA rosé).
>
> 2001 Syrah Paso Robles "Aisling":
> A color of dark ruby red. In the nose, it's almost Port-like with smoky
> notes; on the palate, flavors of butterscotch and dark fruit, lightly
> tannic with an acidic finish. Not bad.
>
> 2001 Syrah Rozet Vyd:
> Inky black-purple in color. An intriguing nose: floral, with bright
> fruit and a few green notes. In the mouth, it showed ample tannins,
> with coffee and blueberry flavors and a clean finish. Very good, if a
> bit idiosyncratic.
>
> 2001 Grenache-Syrah-Mourvedre "The Reliquary":
> Inky purple in color. A nose of roasted herbs and dark fruit. Rich on
> entry, with chewy fruit and soft tannins that carry over into the
> finish. Very impressive, but also quite pricey ($75 IIRC).
>
> Our next stop was Tablas Creek, the American arm of Ch. Beaucastel in
> Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Although we had showed up to get the 2:00 pm tour,
> it was raining sideways when we got there, so the tour guide convinced
> us to stay inside (the tour is outdoors) and just taste instead.
>
> 2002 Vermentino:
> When I asked why they used the Italian name, I was told that "Rolle" is
> not permitted by BATF (or whatever) rules...
> A nose of floral notes, with minerals and peaches; soft entry to the
> palate was followed by creamy pineapple flavors and a crisp finish. I
> liked this wine, but Jean was put off by some of the flavors she
> encountered.
>
> 2001 Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc:
> A nose of pineapple and peach; round in the mouth, with buttery notes
> and a crisp finish. Decent, but unremarkable.
>
> 2002 Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc:
> A nose of melon and peach; on the palate, flavors of honey and melon and
> a sense of richness. Distinctly richer and (to me) better than the '01
> version.
>
> 2002 Roussanne:
> An odd, sweaty nose was followed by flavors of peach on the palate, full
> body, moderately acidic with a crisp finish. All in all, a bit
> bizarre.
>
> 2002 Cotes de Tablas Blanc:
> (A mix of 36/30/26/8 Viognier/Marsanne/Grenache Blanc/Roussanne)
> A nose of tropical fruit, with an acidic edge; On the palate,
> grapefruit, floral notes, pineapple with an acidic finish. Very nice.
>
> '98 Rouge:
> (44/24/21/11 Mourvedre/Grenache/Syrah/Counoise)
> Dark garnet in color, with a stemmy, herbal nose that showed some coffee
> notes. In the mouth, an acidic entry, followed by moderately rich
> mouthfeel, some green flavors and herbal notes. A decent but
> uninspiring wine.
>
> 2001 Côtes de Tablas
> (38/34/24/8 Mourvedre/Syrah/Grenache/Counoise) This is their version of
> Coudoulet.
> Dark red-purple in color, with a nose of pencil lead and juicy fruit; on
> the palate, rich fruit, red berries, balanced acidity and some tannins
> in the finish. Very good wine, if not likely to be mistaken for a
> Cotes du Rhone.
>
> 2000 Esprit de Beaucastel Rouge
> (35/26/25/14 Mourvedre/Syrah/Grenache/Counoise) This is their
> Beaucastel equivalent.
> Inky, dark red-purple in color, with a nose of herbs and cassis; in the
> mouth, flavors of meats, herbs, deeply fruited, balanced acidity and
> somewhat tannic finish. Excellent wine. We are going to put it up
> against the 2000 Beaucastel in a blind tasting years from now.
>
> (There is also a luxury cuveé "Panoplie" that we couldn't convince them
> to taste. Damn!!)
>
> Our final stop was at Turley, which despite losing hundreds of barrels
> to the earthquake a week earlier, had reopened its tasting room.
> Perhaps the hundreds of daily visitors paying the $10 per head tasting
> fee will help restore cash flow? At least they give you Riedel
> Ouverture glasses for your fee...
>
> 1998 Pesenti Zinfandel
> (This was stock left over from the previous owners. We tasted it to get
> perspective on the cuurent criop wines made from the same vineyard)
> Medium garnet in color, with a nose of pencil lead and stewed fruit;
> herbaceous on the palate, with modest fruit and a tart finish.
>
> 1999 Pesenti Zinfandel (previous owners)
> Pale garnet in color, with bright Zinfandel bery fruit inthe nose; tart
> entry was followed in the mouth by flavors of cherry and berries,
> followed by a tart finish.
>
> 2001 "White Coat" (Roussane/Viognier/Marsanne):
> A nose of sulfur, toasty oak and peaches; in the mouth, an oaky entry,
> followed by tropical fruit and pineapple and finished cleanly. Too
> oaky for my taste, especially after the other whites of the day.
>
> 2001 Pesenti Vineyard Zinfandel
> A nose of tart berry fruit and pine sap with slightly oaky overtones; on
> the palate, bright berry fruit, slightly oaky, with a clean, slightly
> tannic finish. What a difference from the previous Pesenti Zins!
> What changed? I asked. Lower yields and a complete revamping of the
> winemaking facility. Duh...
>
> 2001 Dogtown Zinfandel:
> Ruby in color, with tart berry fruit in the nose, followed by toasty oak
> and darker fruit; rich entry was followed by berry fruit in the
> midpalate, slight oakiness and a clean, tannic finish.
>
> 2001 Pringle Family Zinfandel:
> Dark red-purple in color, with pine sap and minerals in the nose; in the
> mouth, flavors of berries, cedar, slight oakiness, balanced acidity and
> a tannic finish. Very nice wine.
>
> All three of the Turley Zins were outstanding wines, with our preference
> going to the Dogtown, followed by the Pringle Family and Pesenti.
>
> We left Paso Robles very impressed with the quality of the "Rhone
> Ranger" wines being made there. We will certainly return, hopefully to
> find a rebuilt downtown and a booming economy.
>
> Mark Lipton
>
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