We tried last week (11/12/08) Some Calif Burgs:
1. TreViti Chard CentralCoast (13.5%; http://www.TreViti.com) 2004: Light gold color; lovely
perfumed bright appelley/melony/Chard light pencilly/oak nose; light rather lean/
tart light appley/Chard light pencilly flavor; short tart/lean simple/appley/Chard
light pencilly finish; very attractive nose but not deliver much on the palate.
$17.00
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2. TreViti Chard StoloFamilyVnyd/CentralCoast/Cambria (13.9%) 2005: Med.gold color;
deeper/richer more toasty/oak ripe/melony/Chard some spicy/apple pie very fragrant/
perfumed talc/aromatic floral lovely nose; tart very rich/lush toasty/pencilly/oak
rich/lush/melony/ripe/Chard flavor; very long tart lush/melony/Chard light tpasty/
oak finish; can go another several yrs; a very attractive rich balanced Chard at
a terrific price. $18.00
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5. Failla Chard KeeferRanch/RRV (14.1%; 375 cs) 2006: Light gold color; lovely/aromatic
minerally/dusty/stoney very melony/Chard elegant very floral/perfumed perfumed talc/
valve oil/gardenias light pencilly/oak complex nose; tart fairly rich floral/pineapply/
melony/Chard light minerally/stoney elegant complex flavor; med.long floral/pineapply/
Chard/melony finish; a really lovely/exotic Chard; structured & balanced. $46.00
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6. Failla PinotNoir SonomaCoast (14.2%) 2006: Med.color; very attractive bright/cherry/
black cherry/PN some toasty/oak bit earthy/Burgundian lovely nose; soft bright cherry/
black cherry/PN light toasty/oak slight earthy/Burgundian very attractive flavor; long
bright/cherry/black cherry/PN light Burgundian/earthy/toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins;
a very pretty elegant some Burgundian Pinot. $33.00
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7. Failla PinotNoir OccidentalRidge (14.1%) 2006: Med.dark color; very exotic/perfumed/
framboise/black cherry/CheeringHeering liquer/Pinot very light pencilly/oak nose;
tart very exotic/cherry framboise/liquer/black cherry big/spicy/Pinot light pencilly
flavor; very long exotic/framboise/cherry liquer/Pinot light pencilly/oak finish w/
some tannins; needs several yrs; a very exotic rendition of Pinot. $68.00
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8. Failla PinotNoir HirschVnyd/SonomaCoast (13.8%; http://www.FaillaWines.com) 2005: Med.dark
color; slight volatile very fragrant/perfumed black cherry/cherry/Pinot bright classic
extreme SonomaCoast beautiful/aromatic nose; tart very bright cherry/black cherry/Pinot
elegant/spicy flavor; very long bright/cherry/black cherry/Pinot very perfumed/fragrant
slight earthy finish w/ light tannins; a classic Hirsch Pinot w/ lots of bright/zingy/
aromatic fruit. $71.00
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9. Failla PinotNoir HirschVnyd/SonomaCoast (14.1%; 475 cs) 2006: Med.dark slight cloudy/
murky color; rather closed/tight/unyielding some toasty/oak light Pinot/cherry/black
cherry nose; rather hard/tannic/tight somewhat toasty/oak slight earthy/minerally
bit black cherry/earthy/Pinot flavor; med. hard/tannic/tight some toasty/oak slight
earthy/black cherry/Pinot finish w/ fair tannins; hard to tell much about this wine;
seems very tight & closed & in need of age; jury's out here. $73.00
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10. Failla PinotNoir KeeferRanch/RRVlly (14.1%) 2006: Med.color; strong black cherry/Pinot
earthy/dusty bit Burgundian slight toasty/oak nose; big/ripe black cherry/Pinot some
toasty/oak some earthy/dusty flavor; long some tannic rather toasty/charred/oak strong
black cherry/Pinot/earthy finish w/ fair tannins; a rather blocky/4-square/chunky
Pinot that needs some age. $40.00
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11. Failla PinotNoir EstateVnyd/SonomaCoast (14.2%; 100 cs) 2006: Dark color; beautiful/
complex very spicy/herbal/spicy/exotic cold-climate peppery/spicy/black cherry/Pinot
light earthy/Burgundian very perfumed nose; tart fairly rich spicy/herbal/black cherry/
Pinot slight earthy/dusty/herbal light toasty/charred/oak bit Burgundian complex/peppery
flavor; very long tart strong herbal/spicy/black cherry/peppery/Pinot slight earthy/
Burgundian light toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs yet; very interesting/
complex exotic cold-climate Pinot; beautiful Pinot. $98.00
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12. Williams-Selyem PinotNoir WeirVnyd/YorkvilleHighlands (14.1%) 2002: Very dark color;
rather earthy/walnutty/dusty/Burgundian boysenberry/black cherry/Pinot light pencilly/oak
complex nose; soft fairly rich/lush boysenberry/black cherry/Pinot rather taosty/
pencilly/oak slight Burgundian/earthy flavor; med.long black cherry/boysenberry/Pinot
strong toasty/pencilly/oak slight earthy bit Burgundian finish w/ light tannins;
a very attractive soft/drinkable Pinot. Sterbenz mystery wine/$60.00
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13. Siduri PinotNoir Rosella'sVnyd/SantaLuciaHighlands 2006: Med.color; very strong toasty/
charred/oak rather herbal/black cherry/blackberry/plummy bit Burgundian lovely/complex
nose; tart very toasty/charred/oak/Burgundian rather herbal/licorice/plummy black cherry/
blackberry/Pinot lovely flavor; very long charred/toasty/oak rather herbal/SLH strong
black cherry/blackberry/Pinot finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a lovely
classis Siduri Rosella. $35.50
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And the usual BloodyPulpit:
1. TreViti: I stumbled upon TreViti/StoloFamilyVnyds several months ago when I found out
they were way out in Cambria within a mile or so of the Pacific, even further west than
Susan&Ellis Bassetti's. Makes it (probably) one of the coldest-climate vnyds in Calif.
They grow Chard, Pinot, and Syrah out there. The Syrah is quite impressive. Classic
cold-climate Syrah, very peppery/Rhonish. The '05 Chard is a lovely example of cold-
climate Chard and a great value. Their winemaker is Stephen Ross Dooley, whose Stephen
Ross wines are no slouches of wines. They clearly grow great grapes and put them in
the hands of one of the CentralCoast's best winemakers. Definitely a wnry to watch.
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2. Failla: Here's a wnry that doesn't seem to get the recognition they deserve. I think
EhrenJordan is making some of the most interesting classic-styled elegant wines in Calif.
He may be tarred a bit by his association with Turley. When HelenTurley was making these
Zins, they were big/high-alcohol/high oak/intense blockbuster wines that got big scores
from the critics. That style of Zin seems forever etched in people's mind for Turley
Zins still. Thay are not that at all anymore. Though they're still fairly alcoholic,
they are much more restrained, much less oak Zins that show the individual vnyds
characteristics...far more so than in HelenTurley's days. You want old-style over-the-
top Zins...you buy Martinelli. Today's Turleys are not like that any longer.
But if you look at the wines Ehren makes at Neyers and Failla, they are classic
iron fist in a velvet glove wines. His Pinots are absolutely top-notch and restrained
in style. And his Syrahs are some of the best in Calif, though the PhoenixRanch, like
many/most up-valley Syrahs, don't excite me all that much. But the wines coming out
of their (extreme) SonomaCoast vnyd are some of Calif's best.
Tom