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Central Coast Trip
Tasted Wednesday, January 2, 2008 by tcfishler with 935 views
Flight 1 - Stolpman (8 Notes)
Flight 2 - Casa Cassara (6 Notes)
2005 Casa Cassara Riesling 82 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
Low-toned weedy soil and higher-registering yet almost tropically ripe fruit notes. Thick, pasty attack and rapidly attenuating midpalate.
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2005 Casa Cassara Sauvignon Blanc 77 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
Muted nose. Heavy (15.3% alcohol), finishing funky and hot.
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2004 Casa Cassara Chardonnay 83 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
Rich, custardy, and sweet, with caramel and bourbon cake. Medium bodied but still spiritous in the mouth, which is especially disconcerting given its relatively modest 13.2%.
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2005 Casa Cassara Pinot Noir 88 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills
Light red. Elegant nose is restrained but wholly attractive and very varietal. Greenish flavors but a nice silky texture.
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2003 Casa Cassara Syrah Cuvée 86 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
Medium dark red. Ever so slightly confected nose also shows some peppery qualities. Has a silken texture, like this producer’s Pinot, but this is also unfortunately a bit hot.
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2004 Casa Cassara Syrah 89 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
Dark violet red. Tight, showing just baking spices. Juicy and full, this barely betrays any heat. Perhaps the most promising/successful of the range.
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Flight 3 - Beckmen (4 Notes)
2005 Beckmen Vineyards Le Bec Blanc 86 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
Soft, buttery nose of melons accented by a subtle suggestion of soil. Plush, finishing waxy and sweetly floral.
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2005 Beckmen Vineyards Syrah Barrel Select 92 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
Medium dark red. Very attractive balance of fruit and spice elements, with the subtlest smokiness. Lush, satiny and long; a winner!
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2005 Beckmen Vineyards Grenache Purisima Mountain Vineyard 91 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
Medium red. Raspberry fruit is fresh and tactile even on the nose, with apple skin nuance. Sweet and licorice-y flavors, with a finish that is just so juicy.
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2005 Beckmen Vineyards Purisima Red Wine Purisima Mountain Vineyard 91 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
Dark red. Tobacco, ash, citrus, and earth; far more soil-driven than the preceding wines. Also grittier from unresolved tannins. Fairly long. Promising already in the complexity it exhibits, does this have what it takes to go the distance?
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Flight 4 - Tablas Creek (9 Notes)
2006 Tablas Creek Côtes de Tablas Blanc 88 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Pure, not quite crystalline melons. A green edge to the flavors go well with the bright acid profile, together giving the impression of slightly chewy green fruit.
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2006 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc 91 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Toasted earth and popcorn aromas precede a rich but elegant palate impact.
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2005 Tablas Creek Côtes de Tablas 88 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Medium ruby violet. Highly expressive nose is slightly floral, with cherry, tobacco, and chalky nuances. Sweet on entry, this has nicely fine acids but is a little disjointed, with a dryly tannic finish.
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2005 Tablas Creek Mourvèdre
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Dark violet red. Slightly tight, with high-toned, charry aromas. The massive structure shortens the finish currently; this needs to unwind in the cellar.
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2004 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel 92 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Medium red. Nose projects both fullness and freshness, with sweet flowers and a melange of fruits. Layered, building in the mouth, with an impressively well balanced structure.
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2005 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel 92 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Medium dark violet. By contrast to the 2004, here the leather and mineral dominate, towering over the more seductive elements. Large, intense, and powerful, with sweaty saddle and cranberry flavors and fantastic length. One to wait on for at least a couple of years.
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2000 Tablas Creek Clos Blanc 89 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Honeyed, waxy fruit and a faintly riesling-like petrol note. Utterly round, with the primary fruit very subdued yet still presenting itself in a sweet fashion.
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2005 Tablas Creek Vin de Paille 90 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Visibly viscous, with apricot and some softly woody (though not oaky) notes. High-toned in the mouth, very sweet but lively enough.
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2005 Tablas Creek Vin de Paille "SacreRouge" Paso Robles
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
High-toned, with ash and licorice. Both the sugars and acids seem to possess a spikiness; does this just need aging? The dry Mourvèdre from this vintage was backward also, so I can imagine this needing even more time to come around.
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Flight 5 - Justin (6 Notes)
2006 Justin Vineyards & Winery Sauvignon Blanc 80 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Oak and green grass nose. High on acid but the balancing fruit has been eviscerated by the oak treatment (a modest 20%, but more than the base material can handle).
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2006 Justin Vineyards & Winery Chardonnay 83 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Very ripe pears hiding behind a spicy-oaky veneer. Again, the fruit can’t fight back the oak, but here the finish is sweeter.
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2005 Justin Vineyards & Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 84 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Dark red. Warm and sweet, slightly spicy, with a little perfume-like character. Heavy in weight but doesn’t have the flavor to fill out its frame.
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2005 Justin Vineyards & Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 91 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Toasty, sweet oak, ripe but not excessively warm. Dense and rich, with serious but late-arriving tannins. Far more successful than the regular Cab in this vintage.
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2005 Justin Vineyards & Winery Justification 88 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Dark red, noticeably brighter than the Cabernets from this winery. Dumb nose shows just a little perfumey oak. High-toned fruit and more of a middleweight mouthfeel, with a bright finish.
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2006 Justin Vineyards & Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Obtuse 86 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Medium dark red. Cinnamon and preserved plums. Reasonably tasty but without the flesh and acid to support the sugar.
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Flight 6 - Pipestone (6 Notes)
2005 Pipestone Viognier 88 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Manages to be both fresh and heady, with a light peach/melon flavor profile. Not terribly long, but to its credit this shows no sign of the barrels in which it fermented.
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2005 Pipestone Grenache 89 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Light medium red. Subtle, slightly sweet but more spicy than fruity aromas with some terroirish, leathery undertones. Displays good balance in the mouth and dryness on the finish.
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2005 Pipestone "Vin Rouge Méditerranéen" 88 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Medium light red. Barnyard and wet wood. Fairly lush but sadly short.
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2004 Pipestone Petite Sirah 90 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Medium dark purple. Earthy, with cumin-y spice and mineral notes. Obviously, this is much more extracted than the Rhone Rangerish stuff in this lineup.
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2005 Pipestone Syrah 85 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Medium violet red. Carne asada dominated nose. Lively but compressed in the mouth.
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2004 Pipestone Zinfandel 89 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Medium garnet red. Portlike nose shows a raisiny profile. Not truly sweet, although there is admittedly some RS here; just short of OTT, but pleasing.
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Flight 7 - Linne Calodo (5 Notes)
2005 Linne Calodo Slacker 85 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Medium dark, dull violet red. Weedy eucalyptus on the nose. Juicy but hot and hollow. Made from leftovers and tastes like it.
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2005 Linne Calodo Rising Tides 89 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Dark violet, again with the dullness. But there is vibrancy in the aromas of mixed red fruits and graham crackers. Lithe, high-toned, and gently gripping.
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2005 Linne Calodo Nemesis 92 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Dark maroon violet. Leather, oak, smoke, and gravel; a step up in complexity. Undeniably huge but rather subtle on the back end.
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2005 Linne Calodo "Martyr" 93 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Dark red, visibly brighter. Floral and stone fruit aromas quite unlike any other Mourvèdre-dominant wine I’ve encountered. Dense and powerful, hitting only bass notes, with impressively late tannin. Very cool stuff at a heartbrakingly high price.
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2004 Linne Calodo Zinfandel Sweet Leona Leona's Vineyard 92 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Dark maroon. Classic zinberry spice amped up to max volume; not really portlike. But the super-tannins do remind me of a VP! By far the best dessert-styled Zin I’ve experienced, although it might merit at least some short term cellaring.
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Flight 8 - Villa Creek (4 Notes)
2006 Villa Creek "White" 87 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Subtly nutty, with a slight spiciness and waxiness to the fruit. Very minerally flavors are cool-toned but a little short.
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2005 Villa Creek Willow Creek Cuvée 90 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Dark red. Warm nose brings to mind a Grateful Palate Aussie, with licorice and chocolate, but there’s some lift too courtesy of a certain florality. Full bodied and low acid, this has the roundness of a Grenache-based wine but the profile seems more like Shiraz. Not necessarily a bad thing, however, at least to my mind/palate.
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2005 Villa Creek High Road James Berry Vineyard 94 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Dark saturated red purple. Reticent and deep, with an interesting herbal component. Dense but chewy fruit rimmed by bright acids and sneakily building tannic structure. Very persistent and chewy but not in the least bit coarse; you can taste (or more accurately, feel) the pedigree of the vineyard. WOTT (wine of the trip).
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2005 Villa Creek Avenger 92 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Dark red. Even lower tones here, with chocolate and baking spices. Sure, the fruit is sweet, but the depth makes it avoid any hint of superficiality. This has less energy than the High Road, however.
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2005 Stolpman Poetry in White 86 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
Pungent, slightly weedy but very ripe. Bright and tingly, with decent length.
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2005 Stolpman Roussanne L'Avion 92 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
Earth, cumin, and citrus; there’s a subdued yet serious richness at play here. Almost viscous in the mouth, truly mouthcoating and hauntingly long.
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2004 Stolpman Poetry in Red 90 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
Bright medium red violet. Smoke and flowers hit you right away, with wet wood in the background. Driving acids but finishes sweet. A surprising successful blend and an exceptional bargain.
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2004 Stolpman Limestone Hill Cuvée 87 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
Medium dark red. Cigar, vanilla, and gravel. Dry palate echoes the gravelly notes.
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2003 Stolpman Nebbiolo 85 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
Light ruby. A little dumb, with tart cherry and rose. Acid-driven structure supports an otherwise lean frame.
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2005 Stolpman Syrah Estate Santa Ynez Valley 90 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
Medium violet. Sweet mixed berries and oak, with some sous bois nuance. Lifted, vibrant and structured.
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2005 Stolpman Syrah Hilltops 93 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
Medium dark violet. Striking combination of minerality and citrus zest. Mouthfilling. The fruit and structure are continually neck-and-neck with each other as they race to a lengthy finish, providing what amounts to a gaudy display of exquisite balance.
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1997 Stolpman Cabernet Franc Reserve 89 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
Sweet caramelized red pepper and ultraripe strawberries on the nose. Elegantly styled, particularly in comparison to the powerful Syrahs preceding it.
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