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Subject: Core 2005 Vintage Blending Notes, 4/14/06

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Eric White User is Offline

San Ramon, CA

Advanced Sommelier
Posts:9210

04/20/2006 1:12 AM
I must say that I was quite honored to be included in this exercise. I had never participated in formal blending trials before, and this opportunity for me was both extremely educational and quite humbling. Dave and Becky’s wines are, across the board, of outstanding quality, and this exhaustive tasting of the 2005 vintage shows that the wines are just getting better and better. What I found most amazing about tasting all the individual lots was just how distinctive each one was, showing an amazing range of flavors, aromas, and textures, from the firmly tannic to the subtly floral. You might think with such a vast palette to work from that blending would be easy – well, that’s where the “humbling” part of this comes in – more on that later. After a wonderful introduction with 2004 & 2005 Core Rose with brick oven pizzas we dove into the first stage – 4 trial blends to come up with the final blend for the 2005 B.Core. The raw ingredients included: 1) Marsanne – 2 barrels produced 2) Rousanne – 4 barrels produced 3) Blend of 75% Rousanne & 25% Marsanne – 1 barrel produced, co fermented 4) Blend of 25% Rousanne & 75% Marsanne – 1 barrel produced, co fermented The wines we were presented with: #1) 25% of each of the 4 listed above, a 50/50 blend of Marsanne and Rousanne #2) 2-50%, 1-25%, 3-25%, roughly 69% Rousanne/31% Marsanne #3) 1-50%, 2-25%, 3-25%, roughly 56% Marsanne, 44% Rousanne #4) 2-50%, 1-25%, 4-25%, roughly 56% Rousanne, 44% Marsanne (math is not my strong suit, but I think I got that right) This was pretty tough, as all the wines showed a similar profile, with tropical notes, lemon (lemon bars, as someone pointed out), minerals, and spice. In the end my vote went to #4, which showed a strong spice component, a nice combination of tropical and lemon character, and the most structured and textured palate of the group, with a persistent pleasing finish. It was also of great benefit to have the 2004 B.Core available for palate calibration as we went along. After a break it was time to dive into the red wines – time to get down to the hard work and try to come up with the blend for the 2005 Elevation Sensation! For the reds, rather than giving us four blended samples to choose from, we were presented with 10 individual lots to evaluate and, when finished, try to come up with the ideal final blend, incorporating as many, or as few, of the individual lots as we wished. Here are the specific lots, with a few notes on each one (note; the * means this lot came from a specific, special vineyard site): Lot #1, Grenache/Mourvedre on Rousanne lees Nose is a tad reticent, but with coaxing shows pleasantly with spice, minerals, and nice Grenache character. Really great mouthfeel on this wine, textured, very fine tannins, and great fruit on the finish. Lot #6, Mourvedre 4/Grenache 1103 Very reticent on the nose, this wine was odd in that it kept fading in and out – one second you’d get great aromas, the next there would be little there. When it was showing, it showed well, with good red fruits, minerals, and herbs. Really nice acidity, but a tough wine to get a fix on. Lot#3, Grenache 1103* My favorite lot of the lineup (I was also pretty jazzed to learn that this is the same wine that was offered at the Wine Cask futures), this wine is lush, with dense red fruits, a touch of guarrigue, strawberries, and spice. In the mouth this is broad and textured, with very fine tannins, velvety, with a long finish. Lot#4, Mourvedre 369/Grenache* Whoa! What the heck? This wine has a wild, exotic nose, with mocha, black cherries, hot rocks, and minerals. The most “Rhonish” of the wines, this has great character, a fine mouthfeel, and fine tannins. Lot #5 Mourvedre 369/4 A backbone wine to be sure, this has quite firm tannins, the most austere of the wines, but also the most structured. It lacks the fruit to stand on it’s own, but with the right blend will provide an excellent platform on which to build. Lot #6, Mourvedre 4/Grenache 1103 Very floral nose, with nice deep red fruits, raspberries, very fine grained tannins, bright acidity, smooth texture. Lot #6A, Mourvedre 4/Grenache* Great nose of mocha, spice, coffee, black cherries, and herbs, this wine possesses really nice complexity, a good feel in the mouth, but shows just a touch of heat. Lot #7, Mourvedre 4 Huge coffee/mocha aromas, black cherries, sweet fruit, full and broad, really fills out in the mouth, fine tannins. *Lot #8, Mourvedre 369 on Rousanne lees The Rousanne lees treatment really shows on this – so much you’d almost believe it was co fermented with a small amount of Rousanne. Very floral nose, with notes raspberries and white flowers. Light and delicate on the palate, shows elegance, a lofty, lovely wine. Lot #9, Cabernet Sauvignon** Interesting wine, I don’t think it stands well as a Cab alone, but should blend well in the making of the Hard Core. On the nose one would be hard pressed to peg this as Cab, with it’s notes of olives and herbs. On the palate is where the fruit really shines however, exhibiting lovely soft red fruits, very fine tannins, good texture – quite interesting. Again, it was of great benefit to have the 2003 and 2004 Elevation Sensation finished wine to refer back to for palate calibration. I was first out of the shoot with my blend, thinking I had it absolutely PEGGED with my choice of: #3-40%.....#5-25%....#4-10%....#8-25% And you know, it was pretty darn good! With nice aromatics and good texture. Well, I told you this was a humbling exercise , my blend was good until Tony’s came along and blew mine out of the water ! His just had something(s) mine was completely missing, plus my blend had used up all of the group’s favorite, wine #3 – with the addition of that I think Dave’s a nice blend to work with. I believe Tony’s was the groups favorite as well, and it consisted of: #2-20%....#4-20%....#5-25%....#6A-5%....#8-15%....#7-5% All in all this was a heck of a nice way to spend a rainy Friday afternoon, I’m glad I made the drive down! After the formal tasting was concluded we had the chance to try the 2003 Elevation Sensation and Hard Core – these wines were absolutely rockin’ after 9 hours or so in a decanter – well done Dave! I’ve to also add, that pint of Fat Tire ale sure hit the spot after all those red wines. Melding right into dinner at the same location, I’ve never spent so much time in a restaurant in my life! Thanks to Dave and Becky for hosting, I’m looking forward to next time!

ChangeMe

Barrel Filler
Posts:1371

04/20/2006 3:16 PM
Sounds like a great time. Thanks for introducing us to this winery.

Al_ksyrah

Barrel Filler
Posts:1044

04/21/2006 5:20 AM
Dave was over in Palo Alto this evening, but unfortunately I couldn't get away early enough. Sounds like the blending trial was a lot of fun! -Al

Winetex

Austin, Texas

Master of Wine
Posts:10750

04/21/2006 7:07 PM
Great notes Eric. This sounds pretty interesting.

David Niederauer User is Offline

Los Gatos, CA

Master Sommelier
Posts:15756

04/24/2006 7:18 AM
Sounds interesting, educational and FUN! I envy your day.

Randy Wigginton User is Offline

Wine Connoisseur
Posts:5484

04/30/2006 3:37 PM
Eric, do you really have a job? Or are you just independently wealthy, able to do these kinds of things all the time, and post continuously as well? When in the world do you work? (Where is that jealous icon?)