2010 Loring Wine Company Convergence Russell Family Vineyard

2005 Kees-Kieren Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spätlese *

2008 Lillian Winery Syrah

2011 Herencia Altes Garnatxa Negra Terra Alta

2007 Château La Nerthe Châteauneuf-du-Pape

 

 

 

2010 Loring Convergence Russell Family Vineyard – $66.33

This is another of the non Pinot Noir wines Brian Loring has produced.  Thus far, every one has been outstanding.  This wine is 75% Grenache and 25% Mourvedre from Paso Robles. 

 

This has 15.7% alcohol and is sealed with a twist off closure.

 

Winery history

My name is Brian Loring and my obsession is Pinot Noir.  OK, I’m also pretty crazy about Champagne, but that’s another story.  While in college, I worked at a wine shop in Hollywood (Victor’s), where one of the owners was a Burgundy fanatic.  So, my very first experiences with Pinot Noir were from producers like Domaine Dujac, Henri Jayer, and DRC.  Needless to say, I found subsequent tasting safaris into the domestic Pinot Noir jungle less than satisfying.  It wasn’t until I literally stumbled into Calera (I tripped over a case of their wine in the store room) that I found a California Pinot Noir that I could love.  But it would be quite a while before I found someone else that lived up to the standard that Josh Jensen had established.  I eventually came to understand and enjoy Pinots from Williams Selyem, Chalone, and Sanford, but I really got excited about California Pinot Noir when I met Norm Beko from Cottonwood Canyon at an Orange County Wine Society tasting.

 

I’d made about 3 trips around the booths at the tasting without finding a single good Pinot Noir.  So, being the open minded person that I am (remember I passed him up 3 times), I stopped at the Cottonwood booth.  I was BLOWN away by Norm’s 1990 Santa Maria Pinot Noir.  After a few years of attending every Cottonwood event and asking Norm 10,000 questions about winemaking, he offered to let come learn the process during the ’97 crush.  I checked sugar levels, picked, crushed, punched down, pressed, filled barrels, and generally moved a bunch of stuff around with fork lifts and pallet jacks!  It was the time of my life… I was totally hooked.  And even though I hadn’t planned it, I ended up making two barrels of Pinot Noir.  That was the start of the Loring Wine Company.  What had started out as a dream 15 years earlier was now a reality – I was a winemaker!

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep ruby red, much lighter at the edge.  The very pleasing nose has blackberries, cherries, earthy underbrush, minerals, baking spices, and some dried herbs.  The wine has a full body, fairly solid, ripe tannins, and good acidity.  The palate is loaded with spicy, juicy berries, but it’s not all about the fruit, there is also nice minerality, dried herbs, and earthiness coming in on the back end adding depth and complexity.  The fairly long finish is a nice continuation of the palate with some additional baking spices and dried herbs kicking into high gear.  This is on the young side, but absolutely delicious today.  (93 pts)

 

 

2005 Kees-Kieren Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spätlese * – $11.39

I bought a couple bottles of this at a close out price at my local wine store (The Wine Cellar of Wisconsin) hoping for a nice Riesling to enjoy on a warm day on the deck.  We opened a bottle that evening and it blew me away.  I immediately shot off an e-mail to the store to stash a case in the back for me.  This was everything I love about a young German Spätlese Riesling, nice rich, sweetness along with enough acidity to leave your mouth watering.  This was drinking very nicely young, but I have no doubt this will be fantastic down the road.  An added bonus is this wine is closed with a glass stopper, which I love.  This closure ensures a nice, tight seal and no possible cork taint.  I just haven’t read any studies about long term cellaring of a wine closed in this manner.

 

This has 9.5% alcohol and is sealed with a glass stopper.

 

My Tasting Note

A light golden straw color. Petrol, honey, apples, pears, peach pits, tangerine, white pepper, pineapple, strong minerality and a floral note on the very nice and intoxicating nose. Lighter body with loads of sweetness and nice balancing acidity. Rich and fruity on the palate with mouthwatering citrusy acidity kicking in to keep it from being too sweet. Long finish with the white pepper note from the nose making a background appearance. Still very young but hard to resist. Glad I have a almost a case in reserve. This will age and improve for another decade or more. Rieslings age incredibly well, I am still drinking some German Rieslings from the mid to late 1980s.  (93 pts)

 

 

2008 Lillian Winery Syrah – $62.00

I joined the winery’s mailing list and bought a few bottles of this wine and promptly stashed them in the back of the wine cellar to give them time and keep them away from my sticky fingers.  Hopefully the time was well spent.  I really hope I like the wine since I have accumulated a decent stash of the wines over the last couple of years.  That said, I have no fears since several people I trust love these wines.

 

For information on the winery or to join the mailing list, click here to visit their website.

 

This has 15.3% abv and is closed with a natural cork with a wax seal.

 

The Winery

We made the first vintage of Lillian in 2004, during the seventh of Maggie’s eight years of training in the cellar at Sine Qua Non.  The opportunity presented itself for us to make wine from a small portion of the top of the White Hawk Vineyard.  We bottled 150 cases in the inaugural vintage.  Since that time, the project has grown in tiny increments, most notably by sourcing additional fruit from Stolpman and Bien Nacido beginning with the 2007 vintage.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep, inky purple color.  The nose on this wine is a real show stopper, full of blackberries, black olives, blueberries, crushed stones, vanilla bean, smoked meat, road tar, violets and mint.  This has a full body with solid tannins and very good acidity.  On the palate the wine is rich and absolutely loaded with flavor but superbly held together and supported by the acidity.  The long, layered finish adds dark chocolate and warm spices to the sweet fruit.  This tastes absolutely delicious today but be even better in a few years.  This has the balance and stuffing to last a couple decades in the cellar.  (95 pts)

 

 

2011 Herencia Altes Garnatxa Negra Terra Alta – $10.44

I don’t remember the circumstances surrounding buying this wine, but it was probably based on a recommendation from a friend at the local wine store.  After doing a little digging, I’m thankful for the rec since it seems like it should be a good bottle of wine.

 

This has 14.0% alcohol by volume and is sealed with a natural cork.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep, dark ruby color.  The exotic nose has blackberries, raspberries, minerals, Asian spices, dried herbs, licorice, and violets.  This has medium body, moderate to solid tannins and good acidity.  On the palate there is a load of berries up front but with enough savory elements on the midpalate and back end to keep this from being all about the fruit.  The finish ratchets up the minerality and dried herbs with the fruit being pushed into the background.  This is in a real nice place but there is no reason to think it won’t hold for at least a couple years.  (90 pts)

 

 

2007 Château La Nerthe Châteauneuf-du-Pape – $37.99

The local wine store brought this in and offered it at an “end of vintage” sale price.  Being a fan of CdP, I had to grab a few bottles.  It’s time to check in to see what I have in the cellar.

 

This is a blend of 48% Grenache Noir, 29% Syrah, 22% Mourvedre and 1% Cinsault.

 

This has 14.5% alcohol and is sealed with a natural cork.

 

The Winery (from the winery website)

Château La Nerthe was born in the 12th Century around the time vines were first planted  in the stone-strewn soil of Châteauneuf-du-Pape (literally the “Pope’s new castle”), the place the pontiffs chose for their summer residence when the papel court relocated to Avignon.

 

The uncontested nec plus ultra of the historic domains of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Château la Nerthe, has always been graced by the attentive care of its successive owners: men of firm conviction, aristocrats, and notable experts on Châteauneuf-du-Pape,

Marquis Tulle de Villefranche, Commandant Joseph Ducos, famille Richard, have all contributed to the reputation for excellence that La Nerthe has acquired and maintained.

 

My Tasting Note

The wine is a deep ruby red color.  The energetic nose has blackberries, minerals, black cherries, wild flowers, dried herbs, scorched earth, licorice and warm spices.  This has medium to full body, moderate tannins and very nice acidity.  On the palate the wine is rich and velvety with a nice balance between the sweet fruit and savory elements, with nothing dominating.  The finish has nice lingering fruit with minerals and spice ever present, but in the background.  This is drinking very nicely but should have a long life ahead of it, during which time it may even improve a notch or two.  (93 pts)

 

 

Connect with me

You can follow me on Twitter for more wine info, potential food pairings, and an occasional recipe or two.  Be warned, I’m also a sports fan and there are occasional Pittsburgh Penguins, Steelers, and Pirates tweets.  I attended the University of South Carolina, so during football season, there will also be some Gamecock posts.

 

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Cheers!

 

 

This is original to CliffsWinePicks.com.  Copyright 2013 Cliff’s Wine Picks.

All rights reserved.

 

 

 

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Here is a link to a YouTube video of me getting “coal” from Santa for being named the “Nicest Person in Social Media” in 2012.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOvQTeGR3-c

 

 

 

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Notes – I use the “official” Cellar Tracker name for the wines.  I use Cellar Tracker to help manage and organize my cellar.  I highly recommend checking it out at www.cellartracker.com.  Loading you existing cellar is a lot less intimidating than it would first appear.  There is a good chance 99% of your wine is already in the system, so you generally only need to enter part of the wine’s name and the system will find it for you.

 

 

Prices noted are the prices I paid at the time of purchase.  I don’t shop around to find the best prices, but my local store is usually VERY competitive.  I generally get case discounts, and since I work there part time, I get a 5% discount.  Wines purchased direct from a winery do not include any shipping charges.  None of the prices include the sales tax.

 

 

All wines that were sent to me free of charge to sample will be noted and I will show suggested prices when available.

 

 

 

Cheers!