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Tasting Notes for BadaBingAgain

(7 notes on 7 wines)

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Red
A Cab that should more than please both those who shy away from fruit driven Cab/Merlot/Bordeaux choices, and those who embrace them.

The ‘10 here is hitting on all cylinders right now, and drinking as good as I’ve ever tasted it. I’d venture to say that this is in its ‘drink now’ state, as more cellaring time is more seams like it may hurt, rather than help it.

For my tastes/preferences, the Staggs Leap District produces some of Napa’s most consistently poignant big reds, and while Stag’s Leap Cellars is right up there on that list, their neighbors aren’t so bad either. I honestly can’t think of one bad experience from any of that district’s wines. This Stag’s Leap Cellars mass release is a perfect yearly add, subtract wine/price, but do yourself a favor if you like this wine; try some others who produce from The Stags Leap District too.
2 people found this helpful Comment
Red
Way way way too much alcohol for my taste, at least with how it’s applied in proportion to the rest of its parts. Bottle stated 15.5%, but it appeared even more concentrated: 15.5%+ alcohol seams to defy sense and logic, not to mention is sense deadening.
*I may have had the 2014 rather than the 2015 this was written against, and in checking, the stated alcohol content is 15.8%, which still seams lower than how it comes through in its taste/quaff.

Against my nose and pallet, the alcohol completely dominates everything else, and while it finishes nicely once the alcohol dissipates, by that time the sip has well ended and it’s quality finish is left to act as damage control rather than a complimenting conclusion. Oddly, or not so, it made me think about those who drown great Chinese food in an endless soy sauce pouring; maybe that thought came to mind since I suspect the need for that type of sodium drenching to off set the overbearing alcohol in the wine.

My aunt loved it, as did some others I had it with; so was my loss their gain? If it was, then the wine finally did show some balance to me in the end.

Likely alone in my opinion here I’m sure, and around 140+ bottle, and a sea of better options out there for much less, i can lie and say I’ll be richer for it too.
Red
There’s never been a bottle of Duckhorn Merlot or Cab that’s failed to make me glad to be drinking it. Duckhorn reds are a no brainer when seeking either of its mainstay releases. The 2014 Merlot release is no different than any of its predecessors as it too was a pleasure to drink and leaves with good memories.

The Three Palms Merlot/Howell Mount. Merlot/Cabs releases, at double the price of their wider releases, but can go head to head with any of the Napa Valley reds that have been deamed by many, and price as such, to be the very best.

2015 three plams is still a great option when wanting and able to splurge for a great bottle, and at $90-95 per, is more than worthwhile for the money. The 2014 Three Plams is a lost cause now in the price/value range since its unfortunate WS crowning at the top of one their lists a year ago. Skip the 2014 Three Plams as it’s been hyped/re-priced beyond reasonable value now, and go for the 2015 instead. Even if you can note the differences as giving diminished returns against the 2014 Three Plams, you still get two really great bottles over the one, plus you can buy dinner with what you still have left over. It’s actually quite a great example of why you should avoid the hype when deciding what to buy/drink.

Ps Hewitt Cabs at around a $100 per bottle are equally great in quality & value. Their Cabs were established by the same vintner that weaved the greatness into Duckhorn’s reds before leaving Duckhorn to have his try with some of the most highly prized Cab grapes in all of Napa Country. Try them if you haven’t already.

PS PS Decoy has yet to make a good impression for me, and unlike the usual success in getting more for less thru sub-brand/lower tier’d releases out of premiere wineries, I haven’t found that to be the case at all here. Duckhorn’s Decoy reds, and its even its Paradux reds, though not as bad, are wines I would not recommend getting.
1 person found this helpful Comments (1)
Red
2017 La Onda El Colo Sierra Foothills Red Blend (view label images)
Wow, fantastic wine!

Out of the bottle with no decant it was fresh, lighten medium body intro, under spoken rich balance minerals/acids offset with just the right amount tannins against it’s fruit/sugars. It may be overlooked by some (no pun intended) at first glance out of the bottle, as it may appear a bit thin to eye, and since the eyes have the very first sip, they usually alter our taste perceptions without realizing so. But, the presentation is pleasantly deceiving as its depth and balance, even in this most infant stage, is perfect. I actually quite enjoyed the first glass, even with my impatience in not giving it much of a chance to start stretching out and waking up from it’s short nap in the bottle.

Second day it opens up into more of a true medium body intro with the same balance, now giving a bit more of the acids/minerals up front which are cast out through multiplications of its original layers, which seams to have added density in both taste and appearance. One it’s amazing qualities is that somehow the fruits/sugars come thru equally woken as to compliment the acids/minerals in again, perfect balance. Not an easy accomplishment in any art form, especially so in winemaking as every maker has to forfeit a percentage of control to Mother Nature and her endless alchemical/biological unpredictable nuances.

The finish on both days were long and endless. Which version is better, day 1 or 2? Both are great really. In it’s most youthful version, it was, and would be, perfect for medium/light type fat(s) enriched meals.Day two went perfect with a grassfed steak, but I assume it would be perfect with anything, or even nothing at all. All this and it’s just a baby.
White
2016 Château Roquefort Blanc Bordeaux Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend (view label images)
Nice acid/min balance with a light tannic & thinly sweetened finish. Worth every penny and more. Day 2 was even better.
Red
Clos Saron will be listed next to the best of them at some point in ours lives so you may as well start getting their bottles now, before everyone else makes that harder and harder to do. Small batches, big passions, big knowledge and a willingness to be creative with each year’s yields is why they’re the one to follow.

Most established wineries tend to stifle their grape yields’ full potential by letting their sugar contents dictate their harvest. They do this to maintain a favor constancy from one year to the next in order to appease their following and critics, which is not meant to suggest its a horrible practice of course, but it does usually limit the full character of the fruit and all the elements involved in their making. More often than not, it also limits the creative freedoms one has in their wine making processes and blendings.

I think this is just one of the key reasons Clos Saron differs from most other wineries; they strive to annunciate the inputs and outputs of their grape’s to the fullest. Without carrying on too much here, I think one way of saying it is that most other wineries will try to contain the year to year differences with their fruit by directing their outputs to a signature flavor. Clos Saron lets their grapes lead the way as to where each year’s offerings will ultimately go, even when it means getting flavor varieties from their carryover releases.

Clos Saron takes their grapes when they’re at their fullest potential, and with that, they often get grapes from one year’s yields that are very different from prior years, and the sugar differences aren’t the only aspects changed through their process. All the subtle, and not so subtle differences from exposure, light , heat, water, chill, wind, dirt, etc., are allowed to also show themselves in their fullest forms, the results of which require constant changes to blends/co-fermintations, and not just through agmentions of past blends, but rather with usual additions and/subtractions of specific grape varieties to their carry over signature releases, which among being risky on several fronts, requires much in the way of small batch testings that ultimately produces carry over releases that are more a recomposition, rather than just a rendition, from their past songs. This requires so much in way of knowledge and know how on so many levels of management and directing, and this is where the alchemy beings.

The conductor at Clos Saron is an unsung genius in my belief, and the wine Gideon makes is joyous beauty. How many other wine makers/wineries other than Clos Saron let many of their wines age for years on end in their barrels, and yet again aged for further additional years after bottling until those particular releases/varieties show themselves fittingly matured for retail consumption? This is just one of many very costly practices employed by Gideon, who in conjunction with his wife Saron, goes through in their quest, and consistent success, in exposing the flavors from all elements, dirt and fruit into their purist forms while making “..the finest wines available to humanity...”, if I may borrow from the great Bruce Robinson, and one his characters, ‘Withnail’.

If you’re ever inspired to try their wine, and you’re obviously reading this, so either you have already or you’re thinking about it, I’d recommend getting and opening enough so that you can taste it over a 2 day period for a better understanding of what’s inside those bottles you’re drinking. The first sip from a bottle will speak one language that, depending on the length of time and air it’s exposed to, can end up sounding very different to the bottle’s last sip. This isn’t to say one sip is better than the other, because the first sip never displeases, but you if take you time with it, you’ll allow the wine to show itself in it’s many different forms. Or you may just drink it up quick and easy, being throughly satisfied too. In either case, you’ll be pleased you did and you too will likely notice the greatness within their wonderful wines.

Trying to grade their wine seams almost disrespectful, but please just know that i found it to be more than worthy of a Clos Saron label. This 2015 being a recent release is in its infancy stage, but it’s very wonderful now, and in fact, so much so that I’ve already taken down another bottle from my stash. It’s going to be hard to allow my other bottles the minimum 5 years of cellaring they rightfully deserve, but at mentioned above, anything I’ve tried Gideon has been nothing short of stellar from day one on the market. Many believe that you miss out by not allowing for that extra time to be added to a vintage, but I usually feel with great wines like theirs, that you get more than enough pleasure from great wines while in their youthful stages, as you do from their later years, but do try and save some for aging as you do owe it to yourself to taste the dramatic differences from year to year with each of their releases, and as mentioned above, many like the Spring Frost, were aged 5+ years years before their release. I believe this particular Carigan was aged approx 2 yrs prior to its release, and while it still has many years+ of furthering potential, it’s rather quite nice right now.

Try all their wines. The Pinots and Syrahs are just as good, if not better, than those touted on magazine covers. This Carignan is fantastic too, and was my first of many happy experiences yet to come through the other bottles of it I have in waiting. The Sprint Frost release is next on my list to enjoy, and with less than 900 bottles of it in existence, you may want to get some now if you wish to do the same.

If I sound like their advertiser, I promise you, I am not. I’m just a big fan who was re-shown the beauty of wine, which I had lost for a time before again being reminded of it through drinking my first bottle of 2008 Clos Saron Black Pearl 5+ years ago. I hope this helps you try one of their wines so that you too may find in them something equally memorable.
Cheers
3 people found this helpful Comment
Red
Try a bottle before buying more, there’s plenty to be had should you enjoy your first taste of it more than I did. I’m not a big fruit fan, so that’s why I’m not a huge fan of this wine, but it’s well made and is likely going to be more appreciated by those who enjoy a more fruit based red.
1 person found this helpful Comment
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  • Tasting Notes: 7 notes on 7 wines
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