WineBoard
2006 Wine South and Reserve Tasting - Printable Version

+- WineBoard (https://www.wines.com/wineboard)
+-- Forum: RESOURCES AND OTHER STUFF (https://www.wines.com/wineboard/forum-300.html)
+--- Forum: Wine Events & Festivals (https://www.wines.com/wineboard/forum-6.html)
+--- Thread: 2006 Wine South and Reserve Tasting (/thread-2363.html)



- dananne - 09-16-2006

Last night, we attended the Wine South Reserve Tasting event held at the Intercontinental Hotel. Essentially, it could be considered two ways. Some might view it as a smaller, less crowded "Wine South Jr.," but with some better stuff being poured than at the big event. More jaded people might look at it as "Wine South for people who don't want to rub elbows with the unwashed masses." Either way, we went and enjoyed ourselves. We tried to be pretty selective about what we tasted -- we're long since past the time where we tried (always unsuccessfully) to taste everything -- and just focused on the stuff that we just don't get to try every day.

So, we had our first taste of Silver Oak (I apologize in advance if this hurts anyone's feelings, but it tasted like toothpicks), BV's Georges de Latour Private Reserve (much better), and Tenuta dell 'Ornellaia (we could have just stayed there with our glasses extended, but propriety quelled that impulse -- actually, though, I see both sides of the argument about Super Tuscans, and while I have not had many like that one in the past, it certainly would beat a traditional Tuscan for just sitting and sipping without food -- just MHO).

Mat Garretson was the only actual winemaker present, and we've bought and enjoyed many of his wines, so we spent a good bit of time talking with him. Thankfully, the crowds were off pushing and shoving each other in front of J. Lohr and Peju. Few seemed to realize that it would be better to spend 5 minutes talking with an actual winemaker about his actual product than 5 minutes waiting in front of a table like a baby bird waiting for mother bird to drop a worm . . . OK, so my mini rant has veered down an odd analogy path, where Peju Cabernet has become a worm, so I'll get back to the point -- the point being that Mat had the time to talk with us about everything from the screwcaps on his wines, to how he comes up with the names of his wines (a Roussane that we tasted has the name "The Gabhar," because the guy who owns the vineyard from which the grapes are sourced smells like a goat at harvest), to the fact that he went to UGA, to the fact that he was staying at his parent's home and sleeping in his old bed. As for the wines, we thought the Roussane to be too oaky, but we really liked the 03 Syrah called "The Luascain."

Others that we enjoyed, but didn't really take notes on, included St. Clement Oroppas Napa Cab (I think WW has posted favorably on it in the past), Hanzell Pinot Noir (Sonoma '03), Foley's '03 Pinot Noir from Santa Rita Hills, and d'Arenberg's '03 "Coppermine Road" Cabernet (McLaren Vale).

Today, we attended Wine South's "Grand Festival." Briefly. Very few wineries came this year. Frankly, most of the tables were distributers or non-wine products or services. The distributer tables might have some good things mixed up with the crap that they are trying to offload, but you need to actually get right up in front to see what they are pouring. Due to the vast crowds and limited tables where wine was being poured, people stacked up three-deep, and I felt disinclined to fight through a crowd to discover that some slick distributer with a bad moustache is pouring a bottle of "Happy Emu" or "Chateau Stinkypants" or some such. So, we avoided the crowds and tasted odd things.

I had a Romanian Pinot Noir, an Armenian pomegranate wine, a Tannat from Georgia, and a rustic and tasty red blend from Lebanon (the '04 Chateau Ksara Reserve du Couvent, a blend of 40% Syrah, 30% Cab, and 30% Cab Franc).

Some high points for either quality or QPR: Periquita from Jose Maria Du Fonseca (not the Port house, if I'm correct), which is a red table wine from S. Portugal made from Castelao and a fantastic bargain at around $10, Faustino's 1995 Gran Reserva Rioja (the '95s are starting to show very nicely in general), and two nice Priorats from Fuentes, of which the '01 Gran Clos was the standout.

Anyway, I could get more detailed, if anyone needs better notes, but I just wanted to post my impressions. Sorry about the length [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]




[This message has been edited by dananne (edited 09-17-2006).]


- Innkeeper - 09-16-2006

"--a Tannat from Georgia," Is that the country or the state? Didn't know they grew it anywhere except SW France and Uruguay.


- dananne - 09-16-2006

The state [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img] Tiger Mountain Vineyards is in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and they've made it for several years. I hadn't tasted one since their '00, however. It's interesting that it seems pretty well suited to the microclimate up there, and the end product is not as tight as ones from SW France -- more approachable early. However, it lacks the depth one would usually associate with Tannat. Incidentally, they're also growing Cab Franc, Viognier, Touriga National, Tinta Cao, Malbec, Mourvedre, and Norton, among others.


- dananne - 09-17-2006

Rereading last evenings somewhat tipsy prose, I realized that I didn't mention vintages of a few wines mentioned above. For the Silver Oaks, we had the '01 Napa and the '02 Alexander Valley. Of the two, I actually preferred the more tannic and complex tasting Alexander Valley. Both still tasted like toothpicks, though. The Georges de Latour was the '02, and what I remember most about it was the loamy earthiness. The Ornellaia was the '02 (though they said the '03 would be the one on the shelves right now). The Oroppas was the '02.

[This message has been edited by dananne (edited 09-18-2006).]