CT Offsite: Day 1 Tasting

After the first ever in-person gathering of the newly expanded CellarTracker time, we had a little tasting to wind down our first day.

We started with a couple of whites, first a sublime Riesling to wake up our palates and then a gorgeous Viogier to transition to Rhone varieties.

• 2002 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Delicious. Quite dry, sweet, sour and salty. Not as electric as some past bottles but just so quenching and clean with light diesel notes.

  Read 2 Comments / Post a Comment / 4 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2018 Delmas Viognier SJR Vineyard

  USA, Oregon, The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater

  Seems quite smoky and oaky on the nose. The palate is lovely, glyceral, spicy, faintly bitter stonefruit, hint of kerosene, nice acidity for such a big wine.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

First up was a flight of three predominantly Grenache wines designed to show dramatically different expressions around the world.

• 2004 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  Love it, an especially rambunctious bottle, grilled meat and plum, spicy and peppery. Everything I love about CDP.

  Post a Comment / 5 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2000 Clos Mogador Priorat

  Spain, Catalunya, Priorat

  Mmm, wild bramble and iron on a deep, dark palate. Surprisingly persistent tannins, dark, expressive, licorice and soil.

  Post a Comment / 4 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2005 Alban Vineyards Pandora

  USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley

  Wow, over the top, high octane, dark, ripe, massive, smoky, grilled plum. 15.9% and showing every bit of it. Amazing power.

  Post a Comment / 3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

And then we followed with a similar Syrah flight, designed to highlight different terroirs.

• 2012 Guillaume Gilles Cornas

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  Sigh. This was obviously corked from the moment we poured it. It's too bad, as there was a lot of pure Syrah fighting to get out, but sadly this was a flawed bottle.

  Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2012 Betz Family Syrah La Serenne

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley

  Mmmm, this is drinking GREAT. Lovely black fruit, tar and smoke, just textbook Syrah right down the middle of a fairway. Really on point.

  Post a Comment / 5 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2011 Sine Qua Non Syrah Dark Blossom

  USA, California, Central Coast

  Huge, smoky, roasted Syrah but with surprisingly silky and suave tannins, black cherry, quite fresh on a long finish. Amazing how well balanced such a big wine can be.

  Read 2 Comments / Post a Comment / 3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

A great end to an invigorating day!