Seattle Tasting Group does 'Rhône Rangers' (sort of)

Jason and Tracy Goldberger hosted a monthly meeting of the self-proclaimed 'Seattle Tasting Group' in order to sample Rhône Ranger wines. We actually had a bit of confusion, as I thought that Rhône Rangers were specifically wines from the California Central Coast (SQN, Alban, Pax, Garretson etc.) This ended up being a somewhat broader tasting of Rhône varietals.

They also made a delicious meal of smoked leg of lamb, a balsamic jus, roasted potatoes, and creamed spinach. Yummy!

All wines were tasted double-blind.

We started out with a white wine.

• 2003 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc 83 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  The nose was fairly mute with hints of vanillin and marzipan and eventually some faint notes of mushroom. The palate was oily and ripe, alcoholic (14.5%), and showing heat on the finish. Tasted blind I guessed this was a mix of Marsanne and Roussane, but in fact it is 68% Roussane, 27% Grenache Blanc, and 5% Viognier.

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Next we moved onto our first, somewhat disappointing, flight.

• 2001 Russell Creek Syrah Walla Walla Valley 84 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley

  The nose shows lots of horse, dill pickle, fennel frond (the green part), asparagaus and a hint of black fruit. The palate is a touch thin and lacking weight, surprisingly acidic. There is a nice leathery and horsey aspect to the finish.

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• 2002 Behrens & Hitchcock Syrah Homage to Ed Oliveira Alder Springs Vineyard 85 Points

  USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino County

  The nose shows blueberry, violet and a hint of volatility. With air I started to wonder if this was Shiraz as crazy notes of menthol, ripe plum and white pepper emerged. The palate is thick with black fruit and road tar, but is is also unfortunately is searing hot. I was honestly wondering who brought the Marquis Philips as a ringer. The finish is loaded with blackberry and pepper, but the stated 15.6% alcohol is just WAAAY too much to enjoy.

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• 2001 Zefina Serience Alder Ridge Vineyard 88 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Horse Heaven Hills

  At first the nose showed a whiff of latex paint, and I found it to be somewhat mute. However, with 30 minutes of air some raspberry and pepper came out to play. The palate was bruising at first, loaded with blackberry, but unlike the B&H which preceded it this was both palate staining and balanced with nice texture and vibrancy, a peppery and spicy mouthful. This clearly had the best balance of the flight. 36% Grenache, 36% Syrah, 14% Counoise, and 14% Mourvedre.

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The next flight was also a little inconsistent, although personally at this point I was warm to the theme and enjoyed these.

• 1995 Ojai Syrah Roll Ranch Vineyard 88 Points

  USA, California, South Coast, Ventura County

  The nose has a nice old-world smell with pine and black cherry and an almost Grenache-like personality. The palate show vibrants acids and cherry fruit, a bit too much sweet cherry in fact. However, I like this. The finish is a little hot and a little simple, yet this is still an interesting wine.

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• 2001 Neyers Syrah Hudson Vineyards 89 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  The nose shows smoked meat, black olive, a sweaty edge, white pepper and a bit of grape jelly. Mmmm, the palate shows nice minerality, salty and meaty, screaming "Syrah!" The finish is just a little hot, but this uanabashed wine handles it pretty well. I should point out that the tasting group was pretty divided on this wine with three positive ratings (88,89 and 91) and a number of very disappointed tasters (70, NR).

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• 2003 ARK Cellars Syrah Alder Ridge Vineyard 84 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Horse Heaven Hills

  The nose had something foreign smelling and was followed by blueberry, kirsch, white pepper and increasingly candied notes with more air. The palate is a bit awkward with drying tannins and primary raspberry fruit.

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We took a brief break for dinner before diving into a pair of wines. The ringer here was so stark and so good that all of the prior wines were a bit embarassing in hindsight.

• 2002 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel 85 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  The somewhat klunky nose shows loads of blueberry and a dusty/chalky note of cardboard. A hint of seaweed comes and goes. The palate is hot, mono-dimensional, and tannic, not showing very much. With air this does improve and is a pleasant effort.

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• 1999 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 97 Points

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

  Tasted double-blind, this was very clearly the best bottle of 1999 Pegau I have ever tasted, although in hindsight I was a bit overexcited, much like a parched man coming upon an oasis in a desert... The complexity, depth and balance of this wine put everything else we tasted to shame. The nose was full of horse, funk, smoke, licorice, and bandaid, prompting me to write in my notes "Is this CNDP?" Ahh, the palate was a revelation spicy and laden with licorice, clearly acting like Southern Rhône. The finish is sweet, persistent, gorgeously herbal with that dry and papery feel that I always associated with Grenache from the Southern Rhône. I was wondering if this was a Beaucastel, perhaps even the 1990. The contrast to the domestic wines was almost embarrassing.

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The last red flight, a pair of SQN wines, offered some serious redemption. These were both very young and very spectacular!

• 2001 Sine Qua Non Midnight Oil 95 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast

  The nose shows spice cake, pomegranate, horse sweat, salt, and succeeds in being both bright and 'red' and brooding and 'black' at the same time. The palate was peppery and vibrant, fantastically precise and spicy. The finish is medium in intensity with sneaky length, pretty fantastic!

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• 1998 Sine Qua Non E-Raised 94 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast

  Mmm, the nose shows a hint of tobacco, raisin, black and brooding. The palate is compact and muscular with amazing focus and hints of soy sauce. The wine finishes somewhat salty with mouthwatering acids and minerality. This rocks!

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Finally, we finished with a delicious chocolate cake, then some blue cheese and a nice Sauternes.

• 1988 Château de Rayne-Vigneau 87 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  This is a pretty, focused, somewhat light and delicate example of Sauternes.

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Thanks for a great tasting folks!