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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2011 and 2017 (based on 5 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 87.1 pts. and median of 87 pts. in 19 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Cali vino on 4/22/2017 & rated 91 points: Vintage still has a way to go. Wine of the night. Earthy, spicy tasting. (1252 views) | | | Tasted by tominasia on 11/20/2015 & rated 87 points: Pronounced cherry on the nose upon opening, flavors soften to dark fruit in the mouth. Dry medium tannins finish well. Enjoyed this wine, drinking very well right now. (1860 views) | | | Tasted by isaacjamesbaker on 3/19/2015 & rated 85 points: A bit flat on the nose, takes a lot of swirling to coax out the blackberry cobbler and currant jam aromas, some underlying woodsy notes of leaves, loam and moss, but very subtle. Tart and a bit bracing on the palate, the tannins and dusty but still holding down the structure. The fruit tastes a bit tired though, like currants left out in the sun, and the fruit falls flat when compared to the toast and tannic structure. Some smoky, charcoal notes, wood, moss and soil, mushrooms come out with time, but the fruit stays quiet. I usually really enjoy Gun Bun Merlots, but too bad the fruit seems tuckered out on this one, because the rest is still going. Opens up on day two, the wine calms down with time though, the tannins soften and even though the fruit is still lacking, the wine becomes more balanced. (2032 views) | | | Tasted by sp0m on 3/20/2013 & rated 87 points: A very drinkable merlot. Plum notes, slightly acidic finish. Drinkable but could use another couple years. (3438 views) | | | Tasted by richardhod on 4/27/2011 & rated 84 points: Short. Meh (5016 views) | | | Tasted by ikileo on 4/24/2011: Bottle breathed over 2 hours and drank over 2 hours
Nose: Nice rich plummy nose with a chocolate brownie, cinnamon and cut stems
Taste: Primarily dark fruit, nice grip from the tannins and a sense of freshness of the acidity lingering on the sides of my tongue. Some sweet spices on the palate as well. Moderate finish. Medium/heavy bodied wine but would have like a touch more fruit to hold up to the body. Overall still quite nice and would improve with time. Went pretty well with my pasta and roasted chicken with root vegetables.
Update:
Transferred the remaining wine into a full half bottle and recorked it. It sat in my wine fridge for about a week.
Nose: Floral notes and rich fruits and dark cocoa on the nose. More integrated
Taste: More integrated now with some fine tannins. Finish has lengthened and there's far more complexity in this wine now. Drinking wonderfully on its own. This wine really needs time. If you have an unopened bottle don't open it so soon. (3634 views) | | | Tasted by Justin B on 2/20/2011 & rated 88 points: From 50ml tasting bottle. (3195 views) | | | Tasted by merryberry on 1/22/2011 & rated 86 points: TR. Dark ruby red. Violets, blueberry, spice, and a bit of funk on the nose. Medium bodied, dirty raspberries, leather, drying tannins, mocha, and a medium finish. Well made, but I wouldn't call it delicious. (3029 views) | | | Tasted by mtaczak on 11/5/2010 & rated 88 points: From 50ml tasting bottle. Very nice nose, could smell it across the room. On the palate is was nice and restrained, soft tannins, some creaminess and lots of black cherry. Not strong on Merlot character. Oak only shows up late into the very long finish, and is more creamy than sawdust-y. Would be a good everyday drinker. (2229 views) | | | Tasted by merryberry on 7/20/2010 & rated 90 points: Red color, red fruit and leather nose, blackberry, oak taste, smooth drinking, nice finish. (488 views) |
| Gundlach Bundschu Producer website
Gundlach Bundschu Winery is a family-owned, sixth-generation producer of distinctive wines of site-specific character. The winery's 320-acre Estate Vineyard, christened Rhinefarm in 1858,
is located at the crossroads of the Sonoma Valley, Carneros and Napa Valley AVAs, at the base of the Mayacamas Mountain Range. Gundlach Bundschu approaches its vineyards, wines,
business and the world with spirit, creativity and dedication to excellence. When you open a bottle of Gundlach Bundschu, you uncork not only the Estate's unique ability to produce profound
wines, but also a rich, personal relationship between the Gundlach Bundschu family and the land on which the family lives.MerlotMerlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to be a diminutive of merle, the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color of the grape. Its softness and "fleshiness", combined with its earlier ripening, makes Merlot a popular grape for blending with the sterner, later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon, which tends to be higher in tannin.Estate VineyardFrom the Producer:
Coury Clone Block: In the spring of 2000 we took over the farming of what is now our Estate Vineyard from Autumn Wind Winery and Vineyard. Even though the purchase of the property and business would not occur until later that year we were entrusted with running the operation as if it were our own already. The vineyard was only around 22 acres at the time with a good deal of plantable land available. There were also areas that needed to be addressed. This block was one of those. This was originally planted in 1985. It is on a very steep facing at the apex of the vineyard’s hillside. The terraces that had been built to account for the hill’s grade were collapsing making tractor work hazardous. On top of that years of soil neglect had created an extremely untenable growing environment for the plants. We decided to tear this section out and start again. At this juncture Dijon clones were quite fashionable (not they are not now, just more so in an outsized sort of way back then) and since the vineyard was solely Pommard and Wadensvil we decided to plant Dijon 777. The decision never panned out. Despite having the Etzel Block to its west, the Wadensvil Block to the north and the Hallelujah Block (the largest portion of the Estate Old Vine) this block never produced wine anywhere near the quality of its neighbors. For 15+ years we saw harvests produce wines that usually were scheduled for our Willamette Valley bottling rather than something more unique and individual. While clonal makeup is not the defining character of terroir it is an aspect and in this case, we felt that aspect was holding things back. In the spring of 2019, we traded some vineyard management expertise for cuttings off our block of Coury Clone at Freedom Hill Vineyard. Given our success there and at Hyland Vineyard with this unique, Oregon-based clone we felt like we could maximize the setting. In one vintage, not counting the smoke taint-befouled 2020 vintage, we found that we were proven correct. More good things to come from this interesting part of our Estate!
Farming Practices: We have done the management of this property internally since we purchased it in 2000 with the exception of 2014 and 2015 when Sterling Fox’s management service did the work. Also, at that time, the vineyard was switched entirely to organic farming practices and remains so to this day. The vineyard has always been dry farmed.USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Sonoma CountyMendocino CountySonoma ValleySonoma County, California, is one of the most important winegrowing regions in the whole of the United States. Vines have been planted here since the 1850s and, apart from the inevitable hiatus brought about by Prohibition, the county's relationship with wine has been prolific and unbroken.
Viticulturally speaking, Sonoma County is divided into three distinct sections: Sonoma Valley, Northern Sonoma and Sonoma Coast. Each of these has its own AVA title and encompasses several sub-AVAs within its boundaries. |
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