Sadly, the much anticipated Sideways tasting is now in the
rear view mirror, and it is unlikely that we will
resurrect the tasting. As far as any other over-the-top movie themed tastings on the horizon, we'll have to wait for Hollywood to provide us with more material.
Unfortunately, unless we all want to drink make believe
Bandol, A Good Year will not suffice, and I wouldn't count on a rendition of Bottle Shock (The Judgement of Paris), due to it's
grandeur.
Aside from making the wine lists available in this post, I took a few minutes to reflect on the tasting, and Sideways country in general. I must admit, I had no notes and in some cases, only a faint memory of the wine...due in part to pouring most of the night, and just the overwhelming number of wines tasted.
Here is my possibly inexact recount of the evening:
I hope I'm not putting words in
any one's mouth by saying there were three common themes to the tasting.
1. All of the wine was good, a majority very good, and most of all, the expectations we had for these wines were exceeded. I had more than a few people get excited about these wines in their conversations with me.
2. Although the
Pinot's were good, most of them did not differentiate themselves, and could all be lumped under the following tasting note: Well balanced wines, lacking some acidity. Bright simple fruit aromas of strawberry and raspberry, sometimes going to syrupy. I have reviewed a few exceptions below.
3. The whites and rose were all very good to great wines, taking value into account. I think we were all surprised how drinkable the Firestone was, considering the winery's reputation and the WE score of 82. See my specific notes on the Sanford Vin Gris and the
Kalyra Chardonnay, below.
Sanford Vin Gris - What I love about this wine is the balance I get, and the pure fruit. For me, most roses can be described as watery, bitter wines, sometimes finishing with doctor's office alcohol. This wine has surpassed
Syncline (although different varietals), as my rose of choice.
Blackjack Ranch Maximus Syrah - A massive wine of dense concentration, but open enough to show it's complexity. This was my Best in Show.
Kalyra Chardonnay - As expected, this wine shined. People who don't "like Chardonnay" (unfortunately a lot of my friends), found a Chardonnay they want to drink in this wine. Knowing this Chardonnay is steel fermented, I can only come to the same conclusion as Miles, they like all varietals, but do not like the way they manipulate Chardonnay in California with the new oak and secondary
malolactic fermentation. I suggest you all try the Four Vines Naked Chardonnay, and it's a great vintage to start liking Chablis. On a side note, Alison and I have loved all of
Kalyra's whites (Chard,
Semillion,
Sauv Blanc, Late Harvest
Gewurtz), and I strongly suggest doing their wine club, which gives a 25% discount.
Whitcraft Bien Nacido Q Block Pinot Noir - This wine has the most obvious nose of gravel, I've ever detected. But not just any gravel, the kind you end up face down in, with a bloody nose, after you've bitten it on a well traveled, dusty mountain bike trail. The irony
minerality of it (which JK alerted me to) gives me the bloody nose reference.
Sea Smoke Botella Pinot Noir - Tightly wound with a lot of structure, but still showing nice fruit and other complex aromas. Needs time.
Kistler Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir - Very pronounced aromas of warm spices. Round mouth feel. These wines are simply priced to high for what you get, and can get at a more affordable level.
Dominique Laurent Les Epenots Pommard -
Disappointing, considering that it comes from one of the top 2 Premier
Cru vineyards.
Hitching Post Highliner Pinot Noir - For those of us that stuck around for second pours, this wine rewarded us. It opened up to be one of the most complex wines of the night. Big smoky aromas of cedar and
tobacco, and a silky mouth feel.
Fess Parker Clone 115 Pinot Noir - A huge surprise...in a good way. This "
Frass Canyon" winery did nothing but
disappoint us on our trip to the tasting room. Out of
necessity (needed a wine for the tasting), we purchased the most expensive, highly rated wine they had on their shelf without
tasting it. There was no way I was bringing home any of the swill we tasted. I can't recall any specific tasting notes, but it was my #2 wine of the night.
Cheval Blanc - Still too tight for me to get much of anything from the nose. It did have a nice silky mouth feel, with good back end tannins, suggesting it may still need to
evolve in the bottle. Overall, didn't reach the hype I'd placed on it, or the hope I had for it.
Lastly, I wanted to give a few shout-outs to the restaurants of the greater Santa Ynez Valley, all of which I consider a MUST when visiting. We had an amazing dinner at the Hitching Post II
http://www.hitchingpost2.com/restaurant.html, nothing too fancy, just a great old-time steakhouse...you know the kind that gives you the carousel of baked potato toppings. We also had lunch at the Los
Olivos Cafe and Wine Merchant
http://www.losolivoscafe.com/. The food was great, offering fusion selections and genral bistro fare. The highlight being, the bread and dipping sauce, which can be purchased at the restaurant (the sauce that is...you wouldn't want to take the bread home). Stay away from the wine merchant unless you want to get ripped off, but they did have Sea Smoke...so in some cases it may be alright to overpay. And of course we needed to go to the
Solvang Restaurant
http://www.solvangrestaurant.com/ (where Miles and Jack went for breakfast, it had the
Scandinavian booths) for some
aebleskivers, a
spherical pancake dipped in jam.
Here are the 2 wine lists
winesFeaturedInSideways.pdf - All the wines (showing a label) seen in the movie.
sidewaysTasting.pdf - The list of stuff we tasted.
Screenshots of the mystery wine can be scene here:
(*The mystery winery has been solved. It is Lucas & Lewellen Vineyards, from the Sanata Maria Valley. they have a tasting room in Solvang.)
mysteryWine1.pngmysteryWine2.png
