2009 Herman Story Grenache On The Road

Community Tasting Note

Redguy Does not like this wine:

Thursday, August 29, 2013 - Huge, fat, and sluggish...massive extract, lots of wood, and the warmer aspects of the vintage are taking over and pushing this into Willy Wonka land. This is a 10+ on the richness scale, and shows little poise or balance and even less freshness. At this point the profile is dominated by brown sugar, dark wood, basalmic, and earthy notes. Similarly port-like and portly as the '09 Larner Grenache I had a month ago. Loved these 2009 HS wines on release but I do not like they way ageing...at least the grenache based ones.

All that being said is not enough to tarnish my overall appreciation for Russel and his wines. A top flight producer of outstanding wines that are a great value and pale only to the warmth, friendliness, and generosity of the man himself. One of Paso's finest.

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6 comments have been posted

Comment posted by fingers:

8/30/2013 11:59:00 AM - I've been getting the same kind of performance from other '09 like McPrice-Myers. They drank nice early on but don't seem to have the right bones anymore.
Comment posted by Redguy:

8/30/2013 3:44:00 PM - Fingers, I agree completely. Interestingly though the Tablas Creek, Booker, and Epoch reds from Paso have shown little to no growth at this point. Makes me wonder if they too will fall apart before reaching maturity. That was a wierd vintage on the Central Coast.
Comment posted by The Wine Write:

8/31/2013 8:29:00 PM - I'm wondering if this is HS isolated. I've recently had a McPrice Myers 09 Syrah that I rated 91 and an 09 Villa Creek blend that was fine.
Any possibility this is just a phase that will resolve in bottle?
That being said, I doubt I wait on the 09s I have left.
Comment posted by vino nut:

9/2/2013 7:05:00 AM - We opened a 2009 Larner Grenache last weekend and enjoyed it. Usually I open the older bottle first but based on the comments, I'll open 2009 On The Road next.

Agree with the comments about Russell. That guy is a class act!
Comment posted by The Wine Write:

9/2/2013 4:35:00 PM - Almost embarassed to admit, but I tweeted my less than favorable note a few weeks ago...and yesterday, Russell favorited it. I think he saw that I'd drank the wine, but he didn't read the note.
Comment posted by jeagle:

9/12/2013 6:41:00 AM - Opened a bottle last night. Initial swallow was as described and undrinkable. But, after an hour of so of airing, it tasted okay. Not as good as a year ago, but still good. I think the hot vintage has left the structure vulnerable.