What follows are my notes from a day of wine tasting in Paso Robles.
While we were waiting at the gate of the Indianapolis airport to leave
for the West Coast, CNN carried the news of the earthquake (6.5 on the
Richter scale). We decided to stick with our plans, and spent several
nice days down there anyway from Dec. 28-29.

Touristic notes: Paso is located almost exactly halfway between LA and
SF and 20-30 mi inland from the Pacific. It's easily accessible by car
from either city on US 101. In addition the 60+ wineries in the area,
Paso Robles is also located on the old Spanish Mission Trail ("El Camino
Real") and consequently is close to a number of historical
attractions. In addition, it's a short drive to San Simeon on the
coast, where the Hearst Castle is situated. (Note: we were amazed to
find throngs of European and Asian tourists at the Hearst Castle on a
Sunday -- silly us!). Paso is also an easy day trip from the Monterey
Peninsula. Dining in Paso Robles is normally plentiful, with no less
than 3 quality French restaurants and a good CalMex place (Villa
Creek). Alas, two of the French restaurants suffered bad damage in the
quake and were closed pending relocation. The meals that we did have
were still excellent, however. Quite a change from the cowtown I
remember from my youth!

At our bed and breakfast, we sampled a few wines:

2002 York Mountain Viognier Frahlich Vineyard:
A nose of medium intensity with floral and apricot notes; crisp entry,
with flavors of apricot and slight buttery notes and a clean finish.
Good varietal character for a CA Viognier, and thankfully no overt
oakiness to it.

2001 York Mountain Muscat Late Harvest:
9% RS. Golden straw in color, with a nose of spice, apricot, honey and
a touch of heat; very round on the palate, modestly fruity with a clean
finish. Quite nice.

Then, on to Garretson, our first winery, located in a warehouse, where
an assistant winemaker poured for us while regaling us with tales of the
earthquake (he'd been operating a forklift at the time and saw all the
barrels suspended briefly in air, all of which fell back into their
cradles with nary a barrel lost).

2002 Roussanne:
A nose of honey and figs; creamy on the palate, with more honey and a
long finish. Very nice wine, if not profound.

2002 Viognier:
Interesting appearance: there was a protein haze in this unfined,
unfiltered wine.
An interesting nose of hazelnuts and peaches; rich entry, round in the
mouth, with stone fruit and pineapple flavors and a long, sweet finish.
WOW! I can see why Mat Garretson is known as "Mr. Viognier". This
blows away the York Mtn.

2002 Rosé "Celeidh":
A nose of bright strawberries; crisp entry, moderately fruity, with
citrus notes in the finish. Interesting wine, but still a bit too
alcoholic (like most every CA rosé).

2001 Syrah Paso Robles "Aisling":
A color of dark ruby red. In the nose, it's almost Port-like with smoky
notes; on the palate, flavors of butterscotch and dark fruit, lightly
tannic with an acidic finish. Not bad.

2001 Syrah Rozet Vyd:
Inky black-purple in color. An intriguing nose: floral, with bright
fruit and a few green notes. In the mouth, it showed ample tannins,
with coffee and blueberry flavors and a clean finish. Very good, if a
bit idiosyncratic.

2001 Grenache-Syrah-Mourvedre "The Reliquary":
Inky purple in color. A nose of roasted herbs and dark fruit. Rich on
entry, with chewy fruit and soft tannins that carry over into the
finish. Very impressive, but also quite pricey ($75 IIRC).

Our next stop was Tablas Creek, the American arm of Ch. Beaucastel in
Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Although we had showed up to get the 2:00 pm tour,
it was raining sideways when we got there, so the tour guide convinced
us to stay inside (the tour is outdoors) and just taste instead.

2002 Vermentino:
When I asked why they used the Italian name, I was told that "Rolle" is
not permitted by BATF (or whatever) rules...
A nose of floral notes, with minerals and peaches; soft entry to the
palate was followed by creamy pineapple flavors and a crisp finish. I
liked this wine, but Jean was put off by some of the flavors she
encountered.

2001 Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc:
A nose of pineapple and peach; round in the mouth, with buttery notes
and a crisp finish. Decent, but unremarkable.

2002 Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc:
A nose of melon and peach; on the palate, flavors of honey and melon and
a sense of richness. Distinctly richer and (to me) better than the '01
version.

2002 Roussanne:
An odd, sweaty nose was followed by flavors of peach on the palate, full
body, moderately acidic with a crisp finish. All in all, a bit
bizarre.

2002 Cotes de Tablas Blanc:
(A mix of 36/30/26/8 Viognier/Marsanne/Grenache Blanc/Roussanne)
A nose of tropical fruit, with an acidic edge; On the palate,
grapefruit, floral notes, pineapple with an acidic finish. Very nice.

'98 Rouge:
(44/24/21/11 Mourvedre/Grenache/Syrah/Counoise)
Dark garnet in color, with a stemmy, herbal nose that showed some coffee
notes. In the mouth, an acidic entry, followed by moderately rich
mouthfeel, some green flavors and herbal notes. A decent but
uninspiring wine.

2001 Côtes de Tablas
(38/34/24/8 Mourvedre/Syrah/Grenache/Counoise) This is their version of
Coudoulet.
Dark red-purple in color, with a nose of pencil lead and juicy fruit; on
the palate, rich fruit, red berries, balanced acidity and some tannins
in the finish. Very good wine, if not likely to be mistaken for a
Cotes du Rhone.

2000 Esprit de Beaucastel Rouge
(35/26/25/14 Mourvedre/Syrah/Grenache/Counoise) This is their
Beaucastel equivalent.
Inky, dark red-purple in color, with a nose of herbs and cassis; in the
mouth, flavors of meats, herbs, deeply fruited, balanced acidity and
somewhat tannic finish. Excellent wine. We are going to put it up
against the 2000 Beaucastel in a blind tasting years from now.

(There is also a luxury cuveé "Panoplie" that we couldn't convince them
to taste. Damn!!)

Our final stop was at Turley, which despite losing hundreds of barrels
to the earthquake a week earlier, had reopened its tasting room.
Perhaps the hundreds of daily visitors paying the $10 per head tasting
fee will help restore cash flow? At least they give you Riedel
Ouverture glasses for your fee...

1998 Pesenti Zinfandel
(This was stock left over from the previous owners. We tasted it to get
perspective on the cuurent criop wines made from the same vineyard)
Medium garnet in color, with a nose of pencil lead and stewed fruit;
herbaceous on the palate, with modest fruit and a tart finish.

1999 Pesenti Zinfandel (previous owners)
Pale garnet in color, with bright Zinfandel bery fruit inthe nose; tart
entry was followed in the mouth by flavors of cherry and berries,
followed by a tart finish.

2001 "White Coat" (Roussane/Viognier/Marsanne):
A nose of sulfur, toasty oak and peaches; in the mouth, an oaky entry,
followed by tropical fruit and pineapple and finished cleanly. Too
oaky for my taste, especially after the other whites of the day.

2001 Pesenti Vineyard Zinfandel
A nose of tart berry fruit and pine sap with slightly oaky overtones; on
the palate, bright berry fruit, slightly oaky, with a clean, slightly
tannic finish. What a difference from the previous Pesenti Zins!
What changed? I asked. Lower yields and a complete revamping of the
winemaking facility. Duh...

2001 Dogtown Zinfandel:
Ruby in color, with tart berry fruit in the nose, followed by toasty oak
and darker fruit; rich entry was followed by berry fruit in the
midpalate, slight oakiness and a clean, tannic finish.

2001 Pringle Family Zinfandel:
Dark red-purple in color, with pine sap and minerals in the nose; in the
mouth, flavors of berries, cedar, slight oakiness, balanced acidity and
a tannic finish. Very nice wine.

All three of the Turley Zins were outstanding wines, with our preference
going to the Dogtown, followed by the Pringle Family and Pesenti.

We left Paso Robles very impressed with the quality of the "Rhone
Ranger" wines being made there. We will certainly return, hopefully to
find a rebuilt downtown and a booming economy.

Mark Lipton

Mark Lipton wrote:

> 2001 Dogtown Zinfandel:
> Ruby in color, with tart berry fruit in the nose, followed by toasty oak
> and darker fruit; rich entry was followed by berry fruit in the
> midpalate, slight oakiness and a clean, tannic finish.

Was given some of this for Christmas. Thanks for the TN.

nice notes.
thanks

"Mark Lipton" > wrote in message
...
> What follows are my notes from a day of wine tasting in Paso Robles.
> While we were waiting at the gate of the Indianapolis airport to leave
> for the West Coast, CNN carried the news of the earthquake (6.5 on the
> Richter scale). We decided to stick with our plans, and spent several
> nice days down there anyway from Dec. 28-29.
>
> Touristic notes: Paso is located almost exactly halfway between LA and
> SF and 20-30 mi inland from the Pacific. It's easily accessible by car
> from either city on US 101. In addition the 60+ wineries in the area,
> Paso Robles is also located on the old Spanish Mission Trail ("El Camino
> Real") and consequently is close to a number of historical
> attractions. In addition, it's a short drive to San Simeon on the
> coast, where the Hearst Castle is situated. (Note: we were amazed to
> find throngs of European and Asian tourists at the Hearst Castle on a
> Sunday -- silly us!). Paso is also an easy day trip from the Monterey
> Peninsula. Dining in Paso Robles is normally plentiful, with no less
> than 3 quality French restaurants and a good CalMex place (Villa
> Creek). Alas, two of the French restaurants suffered bad damage in the
> quake and were closed pending relocation. The meals that we did have
> were still excellent, however. Quite a change from the cowtown I
> remember from my youth!
>
> At our bed and breakfast, we sampled a few wines:
>
> 2002 York Mountain Viognier Frahlich Vineyard:
> A nose of medium intensity with floral and apricot notes; crisp entry,
> with flavors of apricot and slight buttery notes and a clean finish.
> Good varietal character for a CA Viognier, and thankfully no overt
> oakiness to it.
>
> 2001 York Mountain Muscat Late Harvest:
> 9% RS. Golden straw in color, with a nose of spice, apricot, honey and
> a touch of heat; very round on the palate, modestly fruity with a clean
> finish. Quite nice.
>
> Then, on to Garretson, our first winery, located in a warehouse, where
> an assistant winemaker poured for us while regaling us with tales of the
> earthquake (he'd been operating a forklift at the time and saw all the
> barrels suspended briefly in air, all of which fell back into their
> cradles with nary a barrel lost).
>
> 2002 Roussanne:
> A nose of honey and figs; creamy on the palate, with more honey and a
> long finish. Very nice wine, if not profound.
>
> 2002 Viognier:
> Interesting appearance: there was a protein haze in this unfined,
> unfiltered wine.
> An interesting nose of hazelnuts and peaches; rich entry, round in the
> mouth, with stone fruit and pineapple flavors and a long, sweet finish.
> WOW! I can see why Mat Garretson is known as "Mr. Viognier". This
> blows away the York Mtn.
>
> 2002 Rosé "Celeidh":
> A nose of bright strawberries; crisp entry, moderately fruity, with
> citrus notes in the finish. Interesting wine, but still a bit too
> alcoholic (like most every CA rosé).
>
> 2001 Syrah Paso Robles "Aisling":
> A color of dark ruby red. In the nose, it's almost Port-like with smoky
> notes; on the palate, flavors of butterscotch and dark fruit, lightly
> tannic with an acidic finish. Not bad.
>
> 2001 Syrah Rozet Vyd:
> Inky black-purple in color. An intriguing nose: floral, with bright
> fruit and a few green notes. In the mouth, it showed ample tannins,
> with coffee and blueberry flavors and a clean finish. Very good, if a
> bit idiosyncratic.
>
> 2001 Grenache-Syrah-Mourvedre "The Reliquary":
> Inky purple in color. A nose of roasted herbs and dark fruit. Rich on
> entry, with chewy fruit and soft tannins that carry over into the
> finish. Very impressive, but also quite pricey ($75 IIRC).
>
> Our next stop was Tablas Creek, the American arm of Ch. Beaucastel in
> Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Although we had showed up to get the 2:00 pm tour,
> it was raining sideways when we got there, so the tour guide convinced
> us to stay inside (the tour is outdoors) and just taste instead.
>
> 2002 Vermentino:
> When I asked why they used the Italian name, I was told that "Rolle" is
> not permitted by BATF (or whatever) rules...
> A nose of floral notes, with minerals and peaches; soft entry to the
> palate was followed by creamy pineapple flavors and a crisp finish. I
> liked this wine, but Jean was put off by some of the flavors she
> encountered.
>
> 2001 Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc:
> A nose of pineapple and peach; round in the mouth, with buttery notes
> and a crisp finish. Decent, but unremarkable.
>
> 2002 Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc:
> A nose of melon and peach; on the palate, flavors of honey and melon and
> a sense of richness. Distinctly richer and (to me) better than the '01
> version.
>
> 2002 Roussanne:
> An odd, sweaty nose was followed by flavors of peach on the palate, full
> body, moderately acidic with a crisp finish. All in all, a bit
> bizarre.
>
> 2002 Cotes de Tablas Blanc:
> (A mix of 36/30/26/8 Viognier/Marsanne/Grenache Blanc/Roussanne)
> A nose of tropical fruit, with an acidic edge; On the palate,
> grapefruit, floral notes, pineapple with an acidic finish. Very nice.
>
> '98 Rouge:
> (44/24/21/11 Mourvedre/Grenache/Syrah/Counoise)
> Dark garnet in color, with a stemmy, herbal nose that showed some coffee
> notes. In the mouth, an acidic entry, followed by moderately rich
> mouthfeel, some green flavors and herbal notes. A decent but
> uninspiring wine.
>
> 2001 Côtes de Tablas
> (38/34/24/8 Mourvedre/Syrah/Grenache/Counoise) This is their version of
> Coudoulet.
> Dark red-purple in color, with a nose of pencil lead and juicy fruit; on
> the palate, rich fruit, red berries, balanced acidity and some tannins
> in the finish. Very good wine, if not likely to be mistaken for a
> Cotes du Rhone.
>
> 2000 Esprit de Beaucastel Rouge
> (35/26/25/14 Mourvedre/Syrah/Grenache/Counoise) This is their
> Beaucastel equivalent.
> Inky, dark red-purple in color, with a nose of herbs and cassis; in the
> mouth, flavors of meats, herbs, deeply fruited, balanced acidity and
> somewhat tannic finish. Excellent wine. We are going to put it up
> against the 2000 Beaucastel in a blind tasting years from now.
>
> (There is also a luxury cuveé "Panoplie" that we couldn't convince them
> to taste. Damn!!)
>
> Our final stop was at Turley, which despite losing hundreds of barrels
> to the earthquake a week earlier, had reopened its tasting room.
> Perhaps the hundreds of daily visitors paying the $10 per head tasting
> fee will help restore cash flow? At least they give you Riedel
> Ouverture glasses for your fee...
>
> 1998 Pesenti Zinfandel
> (This was stock left over from the previous owners. We tasted it to get
> perspective on the cuurent criop wines made from the same vineyard)
> Medium garnet in color, with a nose of pencil lead and stewed fruit;
> herbaceous on the palate, with modest fruit and a tart finish.
>
> 1999 Pesenti Zinfandel (previous owners)
> Pale garnet in color, with bright Zinfandel bery fruit inthe nose; tart
> entry was followed in the mouth by flavors of cherry and berries,
> followed by a tart finish.
>
> 2001 "White Coat" (Roussane/Viognier/Marsanne):
> A nose of sulfur, toasty oak and peaches; in the mouth, an oaky entry,
> followed by tropical fruit and pineapple and finished cleanly. Too
> oaky for my taste, especially after the other whites of the day.
>
> 2001 Pesenti Vineyard Zinfandel
> A nose of tart berry fruit and pine sap with slightly oaky overtones; on
> the palate, bright berry fruit, slightly oaky, with a clean, slightly
> tannic finish. What a difference from the previous Pesenti Zins!
> What changed? I asked. Lower yields and a complete revamping of the
> winemaking facility. Duh...
>
> 2001 Dogtown Zinfandel:
> Ruby in color, with tart berry fruit in the nose, followed by toasty oak
> and darker fruit; rich entry was followed by berry fruit in the
> midpalate, slight oakiness and a clean, tannic finish.
>
> 2001 Pringle Family Zinfandel:
> Dark red-purple in color, with pine sap and minerals in the nose; in the
> mouth, flavors of berries, cedar, slight oakiness, balanced acidity and
> a tannic finish. Very nice wine.
>
> All three of the Turley Zins were outstanding wines, with our preference
> going to the Dogtown, followed by the Pringle Family and Pesenti.
>
> We left Paso Robles very impressed with the quality of the "Rhone
> Ranger" wines being made there. We will certainly return, hopefully to
> find a rebuilt downtown and a booming economy.
>
> Mark Lipton
>
>
>
>
>

"Mark Lipton" > wrote in message
...
> What follows are my notes from a day of wine tasting in Paso Robles.[...]
>
> 2002 Rosé "Celeidh":
> A nose of bright strawberries; crisp entry, moderately fruity, with
> citrus notes in the finish. Interesting wine, but still a bit too
> alcoholic (like most every CA rosé).

Thank you for the good read, Mark. I'm catching up on the group, sorry for
the late entry, but I wonder why do you think this is about CA rosé? Is it
something about the way the wine is made or a perception of what the market
wants?

-Amalia

amalia wrote:

> "Mark Lipton" > wrote in message
> ...
> > What follows are my notes from a day of wine tasting in Paso Robles.[...]
> >
> > 2002 Rosé "Celeidh":
> > A nose of bright strawberries; crisp entry, moderately fruity, with
> > citrus notes in the finish. Interesting wine, but still a bit too
> > alcoholic (like most every CA rosé).
>
> Thank you for the good read, Mark. I'm catching up on the group, sorry for
> the late entry, but I wonder why do you think this is about CA rosé? Is it
> something about the way the wine is made or a perception of what the market
> wants?

Hi, Amalia. Good to hear from you again. If what you're asking is why I
think that CA rosés are too alcoholic, then my answer is that in my world
rosés are mostly consumed in summer, with lighter summer fare. I like mine
light, fruity, crisp and low in alcohol. In that context, a 14% alcohol
content is just over the top, IMHO. If, OTOH, you're asking why CA rosés are
so alcoholic, then I think we need look no farther than the weather. CA just
gets so many more degree-days than most parts of Europe that the grapes
develop very high levels of sugars whether you want them to or not. Perhaps
there's some trellising trick they could use to retard the ripening of the
grapes, but that would require a conscious decision to reduce the sugar
content -- and who besides weirdos like me is looking for less ripe grapes in
CA?

Mark Lipton

"Mark Lipton" > wrote in message
...
> amalia wrote:
>
> > "Mark Lipton" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > What follows are my notes from a day of wine tasting in Paso
Robles.[...]
> > >
> > > 2002 Rosé "Celeidh":
> > > A nose of bright strawberries; crisp entry, moderately fruity, with
> > > citrus notes in the finish. Interesting wine, but still a bit too
> > > alcoholic (like most every CA rosé).
> >
> > Thank you for the good read, Mark. I'm catching up on the group, sorry
for
> > the late entry, but I wonder why do you think this is about CA rosé? Is
it
> > something about the way the wine is made or a perception of what the
market
> > wants?
>
> Hi, Amalia. Good to hear from you again. If what you're asking is why
I
> think that CA rosés are too alcoholic, then my answer is that in my world
> rosés are mostly consumed in summer, with lighter summer fare. I like
mine
> light, fruity, crisp and low in alcohol. In that context, a 14% alcohol
> content is just over the top, IMHO. If, OTOH, you're asking why CA rosés
are
> so alcoholic, then I think we need look no farther than the weather. CA
just
> gets so many more degree-days than most parts of Europe that the grapes
> develop very high levels of sugars whether you want them to or not.
Perhaps
> there's some trellising trick they could use to retard the ripening of the
> grapes, but that would require a conscious decision to reduce the sugar
> content -- and who besides weirdos like me is looking for less ripe grapes
in
> CA?

Hi, Mark, happy new year. My question regarded the latter, and your response
helps me understand a bit more about CA wines in general. I haven't had a
lot of CA rosés (Cline, Gundlach-Bundschu, I think that's it), but I'll have
to look out for this.

Thank you,
Amalia