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WA Grenache Tasting
Tasted November 18, 2017 by mye with 436 views
Introduction
Group of 16 or so gathered at Seattle Wine Storage and tasted through 18 bottles with a WA Grenache theme, 15 WA, 3 ringers.
Flight 1 (6 notes)
Red
2013 Ocelli Cellars Grenache Yakima Valley Snipes Mountain
Red warm fruit. Fresh and felt very young.
Mid acidity, low tannins. Quite a bit of heat..
Red plums with mid finish. 5/6 for flight.
Mid acidity, low tannins. Quite a bit of heat..
Red plums with mid finish. 5/6 for flight.
Red
2010 Rôtie Cellars Grenache "little g"
Not a lot of notes.. bright fruit, high acidity, slightly oaky.
better than the first, but not great. 4/6 for flight
better than the first, but not great. 4/6 for flight
Red
2011 Force Majeure Grenache Force Majeure Vineyard
Cotton candy fruit. wow.. this isn't bad but also not what i like about Grenache from WA. Slightly sweet, mid tannin.
3/6. flight is improving.
3/6. flight is improving.
Red
2010 Cayuse God Only Knows
Stemmy.. identify as christophe wine.
Mid acidity and tannin. a bit sweet but enjoyable.
Cayuse GOK? 2/6 in flight.
Mid acidity and tannin. a bit sweet but enjoyable.
Cayuse GOK? 2/6 in flight.
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Comment
Red
2005 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape
91 points
Earthy, warm fruit. shows a bit of age.
Mid high acidity, soft and mellow. really enjoyed this.
1/6 - wine of the flight.
Mid high acidity, soft and mellow. really enjoyed this.
1/6 - wine of the flight.
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Comment
Red
2010 Gramercy Cellars Grenache MTA Olsen Vineyard
Hot, sweet.. Jammy, Pruney, completely unbalanced. wow this is bad.
edit: now thinking it may have been flawed, removed score
6/6 in flight..
edit: now thinking it may have been flawed, removed score
6/6 in flight..
Flight 2 (6 notes)
Red
Red
2011 Gramercy Cellars Grenache Alder Ridge Vineyard
Slight VA? seems a touch off. but actually really enjoyable. sour cherry, great structure.. 2/6 of flight.
Red
2010 Kerloo Cellars Grenache Alder Ridge Vineyard Horse Heaven Hills
Cotton candy, sweetness. Slightly bitter, with high tannins.
not terrible, but not good. 6/6 of flight
not terrible, but not good. 6/6 of flight
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Red
2012 Latta Grenache Upland Vineyard
91 points
Delicious red fruit, sour cherry notes.. slight hint of sweetness with mid high acidity with long finish.
Called ringer - not WA (turns out i'm wrong).
1/6 for flight, and i'd say tied with the 2005 Vieux Donjon for WOTN.
Called ringer - not WA (turns out i'm wrong).
1/6 for flight, and i'd say tied with the 2005 Vieux Donjon for WOTN.
Red
2012 La Rata Wines La Rata
Funk again.. christophe again? plumy, mid acidity..
not bad.. 3/6 in flight
not bad.. 3/6 in flight
Red
2016 Orr Wines Grenache
Young, fresh.. bright acidity.. can be good but super young.. really needs more time for this to settle down a bit.. wow like grape juice now.
5/6 in flight.
5/6 in flight.
Flight 3 (6 notes)
Red
2011 Maison Bleue Grenache Le Midi Boushey Vineyard
87 points
Dark purple, very young and fresh nose. Dark fruit, mid acidity and tannin. a bit of heat.. but not bad.. 1/6 for flight. the whole flight is a bit weak tho.
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Comment
Red
2010 Maison Bleue Grenache Le Midi Boushey Vineyard
Sweet cotton candy.. sweet plums.. pretty down the middle WA grenache actually.. not bad, but i'm not a fan of this style i think.
4/6 in flight.
4/6 in flight.
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Red
2011 No Girls Grenache
Stemmy and bitter.. whole cluster? another christpohe wine!
low acidity and mid tannins. not bad.. 3/6 in flight
low acidity and mid tannins. not bad.. 3/6 in flight
Red
2011 Keplinger Caldera
Deep ruby.. ringer? I think this is the wine i brought (yup! was right).
seems a bit off.. chocolate..
5/6 in flight b/c thre's one that's even more flawed.
seems a bit off.. chocolate..
5/6 in flight b/c thre's one that's even more flawed.
Red
2005 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de mon Aïeul
Stewy fruit.. this is oxidized.. wow.. bad.
6/6 in flight.. worst of night.. but gotta say it's flawed.
6/6 in flight.. worst of night.. but gotta say it's flawed.
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Red
2013 Ocelli Cellars Grenache Columbia Valley
Sweet licorice.. with some leather notes. sweet plum and psices. actually not bad. 2/6 of flight.
Closing
Interesting Observations:
- One of the best was a 2005 cdp (VDJ), and yet one of the worst was also a 2005 cdp (mon aieul).
- Cayuse/No Girls/Christophe wines are so distinct and easy to pick out.
- Two alderidge vineyards back to back.. one so bad.. one quite good!