Friday at the LWS (Terre Rouge and others)

Last Friday I attended a weekly happy hour tasting at Colonial Beverage. The wines featured were from Terre Rouge but a few others snuck their way in.

• 2015 Easton Sauvignon Blanc Monarch Mine Vineyard 88 Points

  USA, California, Sierra Foothills, California Shenandoah Valley

  (6/17/2017)

  Light golden in color. The nose starts off a bit grassy but turns to grapefruit. Oddly enough, the palate does the same thing. Good acidity, especially on the finish. While I suspect most of this gets consumed without food, it would be helped by food. Nice wine. $20

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• 2013 Domaine de la Terre Rouge Garrigue 90 Points

  USA, California, Sierra Foothills, Amador County

  (6/17/2017)

  Killer bottle of Syrah for $20. Purple in color. The nose has black raspberries, slight gamey meats and a bit of black olives. On the palate, this has some depth and width but no layering. Given the vintage, it might still develop. Black raspberries, nice earthiness. Good balance. A blend of Syrah and Cab but for now, I found little Cab (who cares ;-) ) Bottled as California. Very nice wine.

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• 2012 Domaine de la Terre Rouge Tête-à-Tête 89 Points

  USA, California, Sierra Foothills

  (6/17/2017)

  The crowd seemed to like this one more than I. For me, the sweetness was an issue. Seemed like some rs which was a bit much for me. Still a nice wine and if you like that, a hit. Purple in color. The nose has black raspberries, black cherries and some spice. On the palate, sweet black cherries; somewhere between kool-aid and pie filling. Good mouthfeel. Nice finish. As I said, the wine store crowd seemed to like this one very much.

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• 2012 Domaine de la Terre Rouge Syrah Les Cotes de l'Ouest 88 Points

  USA, California, Sierra Foothills

  (6/17/2017)

  $20. Another solid Syrah and very good value. Purple in color. The nose has boysenberries, some char, some pepper and spice. On the palate, this is a bit monolithic but very nice. Again, the wine seems to be showing the vintage which was very good but a bit indistinguishable right now (if that makes sense). It gave wines that show their stuff, nothing more, nothing less. Nice black raspberry fruit on the palate. Easy to drink. Very nice wine.

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• 2010 Domaine de la Terre Rouge Syrah Pyramid Block Sentinel Oak Vineyard 91 Points

  USA, California, Sierra Foothills, California Shenandoah Valley

  (6/17/2017)

  $40. Very nice Syrah. Despite being 7 years old, this is still tight. I would hold or give it a good decant. Purple in color. The nose shows black raspberries, slight white pepper, roasted meats and herbs and some spice. On the palate, tightly packed, it opens in the glass to show black raspberries with pepper and a some roasted notes. Tight layering opens slowly. Medium tannins. Nice balance. Good finish. Some upside potential.

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• 2014 Domaine de l'Ecu Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Granite 90 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine

  (6/17/2017)

  Always one of my favorites from Muscadet and a great value. Light golden in color. The nose is crushed shells, minerals and slightly chalky. Perhaps an essence of pears. Its not about the fruit though. On the palate, this is mineral driven. Nice balance. Food friendly. Nice finish. Around $20 IIRC, nice value.

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• 2011 Caroline Cellars The Farmer's Baco Noir 78 Points

  Canada, Ontario, Niagara Peninsula, Niagara-on-the-Lake VQA

  (6/17/2017)

  OK, so it was cool to try this from a geeky point of view, but sadly this was not good. Purple/ruby in color. The nose is all about bell pepper with some tart red berries. On the palate, a wide streak of green; bell pepper, herbal and under ripe fruit drives down the middle. Ok texture. Still, is dumped this quickly. YMMV.

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• 2004 Argiano Brunello di Montalcino 92 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  (6/17/2017)

  Pop and pour, this is drinking very well but I had hoped a bit better. Deep ruby in color. The nose has black cherries, slight black tea and a bit of spice. On the palate, this is juicy. Still young. Some tannins. Some depth and complexity. There is some upside potential here. Nice finish. Of course, it begs for food.

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• 2006 Domaine René Leclerc Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Combe aux Moines 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

  (6/17/2017)

  A better showing than expected for this. Still young and in need of time but drinking well. Ruby in color. The nose has cherries, slight earth, and a bit of hay. On the palate, there is a nice complexity. Slight slight tannins. Cherries, dark cherries and moist earth. Nice finish. Nice mouth feel. Its nice when Burgundy is on.

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• 2009 Ronchi di Cialla Friuli Colli Orientali Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso di Cialla 88 Points

  Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Friuli Colli Orientali

  (6/19/2017)

  My first time trying this iirc. Jeff opened it and seemed a bit disappointed. Ruby in color. The nose is very dust with sour cherries. There is also some spice and tea leaves. On the palate, this is nice. The sour fruit carries thru. Some depth. Good acidity. Lacks the depth or intensity to be great, but very good.

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Fun time.