This is based on samples provided by the winery or organization acting on their behalf.

2012 Ledge California Soul (Mother Hips) White

2012 Ledge Catacombs White

About the winery:

The Adams Ranch is in the Willow Creek region on the west side of Paso Robles and rests on a plateau with the Santa Lucia Mountains as a backdrop, with a steep drop to Vineyard Drive in the foreground. The vineyard is almost entirely Syrah, with some Grenache and Mourvedre peppered in. They expand every year at a snail’s pace, with 25 dry farmed acres as the ultimate goal. The vines are own rooted and reared in the home nursery after pruning each year. Once established, the vines are dry farmed, field-blended and co-fermented using only native yeasts and are aged in neutral oak barrels.

The winery’s site and mailing list sign up is available by clicking here.

If desired, you can order wine directly from the winery or just check out their current releases by clicking here.

About the winemaker:

Mark Adams – Paso Robles musician and Winemaker

Mark is mister do-it-all, farmer, winemaker, musician, husband, father and formerly a sound effects editor for Sony. Mark is also the assistant winemaker for the renowned Saxum Winery with his childhood pal, Justin Smith.

“Adams offers a bridge between Paso’s lavish ways and a more cerebral effort”

Jon Bonné – THE NEW CALIFORNIA WINE – A Guide to the Producers and Wines Behind A Revolution in Taste

Much more information about Mark, both wine/beer and music related is available here. I highly recommend giving a listen to some of Mark’s music available on this site.

There is an outstanding over view of Mark on the San Francisco Chronicle’s site in a story titled “Winemakers to Watch 2014: Mixing tradition and pioneering spirit by Jon Bonné. The story is available here.

About the wines:

I received several bottles of wines to sample. There were three different “labels”, California Soul (Mother Hips), Catacombs and Kazoo. The first two labels included a white, red and rosé each. Instead of trying to sample all seven wines at once I had to choose between sampling based on label or style. I opted to sample the wines by style. This post will cover the white wines. I had previously posted about the red and rosé wines.

These wines may be available at your local wine store; I know my local store carries both of these wines. If not these wines are available on the Ledge website by clicking here.

Here is the line up for this tasting:

Ledge White Wines

2012 Ledge California Soul (Mother Hips) White – SRP $20

The Mother Hips is a rock band that is known for a style of west coast music that came to be referred to as California Soul. Upon their 20^th anniversary, Ledge paid tribute to them by blending 60 cases of wine, which to our surprise sold out in a few weeks. This was never intended to be a “lasting” label, but the brand and the wines continue to attract new fans every day. They expanded the line to include white and rose wines in addition to the red blends.

This is a blend of Viognier and Marsanne. This vintage uses grapes sourced from west Paso Robles, but is designed to eventually be sourced from all over California.

This wine has 13.5% alcohol by volume and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.

My Tasting Note

The wine is a bright golden straw color. The open and inviting nose has honeysuckle, green apples, stony minerals, pineapple, orange blossoms and lime zest. This has medium body with decent acidity and a touch of residual sweetness. On the palate ripe, juicy apples and minerals pop out first with pineapple and a floral note coming in later. The finish has decent length with tart lime zest entering the picture. The lingering sweetness would make this a hit at a friendly gathering. (87 pts)

2012 Ledge California Soul White (Mother Hips)

2012 Ledge Catacombs White – SRP $25

The concept of Ledge Catacombs is simply that it is farmed in close proximity to the family estate. The vines are sustainably farmed and offer us some insight with regard to our planting decisions at the Adams Ranch. This wine is a blend of Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier.

The wine has 13.5% alcohol by volume and the bottle is sealed with a natural cork.

My Tasting Note

The wine is a bright straw to yellow color. The inviting nose has apples, white peaches, flinty minerals, lime zest and orange blossoms. This has medium body with an oily texture and good acidity. On the palate apples, minerals and peach hit up front with citrus and a floral note coming in on the back end. The finish has good length with just a hint of sweetness ading a touch or richness. This is very easy to sip on its own but would also pair nicely with food. (89 pts)

2012 Ledge Catacombs White

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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.