The Official Wine Thread

[Raoul Duke]

On edIt: WTF...this new forum is screwing with me. Anyone who read my post can disregard the comment I make with respect to the first ******* post in this thread.

 

[Piobaire]

One of my local somms texted me he has a new wine for me to try Friday night. Paul Mathews, RRV Pinot. My somm friend says he is a "low input" wine maker and trys to do things Burgundy style, i.e. uses indigenous yeast strains. Sounds like the maker is leaving himself open to some funkie batches but we'll see Friday night what's in the bottle.

Had an 01 Rosella Vineyard Syrah last night by Novi Family. Very nice wine, a little foxy and peppery.

 

[Manton]

^^ yeast is good, scotsman.

 

[Piobaire]

Agreed but it sounded like he was doing the Old World thing of not innoculating with a known strain but rather leaving fermentation vats open to let random spores drop in. It's one thing to do it in a cave in Burgundy that has had wine made in it for a century vs. something in the Russian River area.

 

[Manton]

I don't know if this is right or not but I often associate a "yeastiness" to a good red burg as opposed to a CA Pinot. So maybe this guy is onto something.

 

[Piobaire]

Could be. I also associate Burgs with brett though.

I just looked up his website: http://paulmathewvineyards.com/

From the home page.

Paul Mathew Vineyards is committed to low input winemaking using indigenous yeast and Malolactic bacteria. This winemaking style produces wine lush on the palate with seamless flavors. This process is much slower and more time consuming than traditional commercial winemaking. Low input winemaking showcases the fruit and the site.

The winemaker:

He began a vineyard development business in western Sonoma County and started making wine on his own. While developing vineyards during the heightened grape-planting boom in the late 1990's, Joe Dutton of Dutton Ranch recommended Mat for small production sites. Mat crushed his first vintage of chardonnay at Sebastopol-Dutton Estate Winery. In 2001, Mat sold his share of his vineyard management company and began working at Sebastopol-Dutton Estate Winery. He started making wine under Merry Edwards, as she was the consulting enologist for the winery. In 2002, he was promoted to head winemaker as Merry handed the art of the winery's winemaking to Mat. His knowledge and understanding of the best vineyards sites at Dutton Ranch is unsurpassed. Mat states, "grape sources are never an issue."

Mat is dedicated to low-input winemaking techniques. Whenever possible, indigenous yeast is used for fermentation as well as indigenous ML bacteria. He uses as little SO2 as possible and bottles the wine without filtration. "Slower indigenous fermentations make for more a complex wine and a more refined and seamless wine as well," says Mat. "Lower levels of SO2 in the barrel allow for 'elevage', the elevation of the wine quality in the barrel that higher levels of SO2 stifle." Mat is committed to Burgundian and Rhone varietals and winemaking. His plan is to make some of the best wines in Sonoma County.

 

[Quatsch]

Seems like I've been noticing more and more Cali/Oregon pinot labels/etc talking about using "native" yeast strains, but now that you point that out, I wonder if they are innoculating with a known native strain while sort of implying they're using spontaneous fermentation.


On a similar note, at the wine shop today I I found a Oregon pinot @ 12.5% alcohol. I wasn't aware we made any wine in this country under 13%, let alone a red!

 

[pscolari]

I stopped by a local store after work tonight b/c they tweeted the Lapierre Morgon 2010 was in. It has been opened about an hour and it shares many of the same qualities as the '09 just in a more restrained style. I think in the long run the '09 will cellar better but for a pop n pour the '10 can hang. This is the sulfured version and i will be definitely be in for at least a half case shortly.

Speaking of bojos i finally tried the Thivin last week and it was not my favorite right now. Way too acidic currently and may need 2 years or so to integrate. Also had an 08 l'ancien from jp brun. For about 13 bones this was really nice for a village.

Anyone else see any 2010s yet? I have heard the vintage should be solid again.

 

[foodguy]

i've been on vacation for a couple of weeks and heading out for another week away. but did want to post this pic of the lineup from a dinner i cooked last week.

interesting tasting the rayas and the vieux telegraph side-by-side ... the vt was very beefy and just a little coarse. the rayas was like silk. both the graillot and the gaillard were, imho, better wines, though.

 

[Piobaire]

Very nice stuff, FG!

So had the Mathews last night. Well, had several wines last night.

Had a Shug which had a very Burgundy nose (or at least what I associate) with earth/barnyard dominant. Light colour and a sour cherry/craisin type taste going.

A Phelps Pinot that was just your typical RRV Pinot.

The Mathews lived up to its billing. Imagine a good Kosta Browne but with a little Burgundy earth on the nose and tannins to age. An impressive wine and I plan to log onto the website today and see about ordering some.

A Chard from Perception wines. Very drinkable in the CA buttered popcorn style. Had a very nice peach pit component which balanced out the butter.

Had several interesting cocktails but the one I'll mention was what we had for "dessert." It's a riff on Banana's Foster. Diced banana pieces in a martini glass, put in some vodka. Light and caramelize the bananas. Half scoop of vanilla gelato to coat (and cool) the glass, then an infusion of banana and dark rum with cream. It's a nice show sprinkling cinnamon in the flames, melting the gellato and I hope he sells a bunch of them.

 

[Slewfoot]



i've been on vacation for a couple of weeks and heading out for another week away. but did want to post this pic of the lineup from a dinner i cooked last week.

interesting tasting the rayas and the vieux telegraph side-by-side ... the vt was very beefy and just a little coarse. the rayas was like silk. both the graillot and the gaillard were, imho, better wines, though.

Wow! Amazing lineup! I agree on the 89 VT as it's fun, but not super elegant. I'm a huge Rayas fan and actually just had the 90 last night. Very interesting to hear that the Graillot and Gaillard beat the more well known (and more expensive) bottles. I can't say I've had any Gaillard. I've always enjoyed Graillot. You can still find those wines for cheap on occasion. Glad they were enjoyed.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Foodguy, I'm surprised you didn't put the Rayas at the top of that lineup. Is it that you prefer a Northern Rhone to Southern Rhone?

On edit: Looks like the Rayas should have been lightyears ahead of the others in terms of critic and CT user reviews. Not to mention, all but the Rayas appear to be past their drinking window or right near the end of it. Was the Rayas flawed?

 

[itsstillmatt]

Graillot makes some fantastic wine year in and year out. Rayas should last thirty years, at least.

 

[coolpapa]



i've been on vacation for a couple of weeks and heading out for another week away. but did want to post this pic of the lineup from a dinner i cooked last week.

interesting tasting the rayas and the vieux telegraph side-by-side ... the vt was very beefy and just a little coarse. the rayas was like silk. both the graillot and the gaillard were, imho, better wines, though.

What a line up! I've had the 89 VT several times and have always loved it, though at that age, bottles have ranged from okay to sublime. Graillot and Gailliard also great producers, wow!.
BTW FG, Richard L from Mill Valley says hello!

 

[gomestar]

awesome stuff, foodguy. Jellis.

Interesting to look at the fill levels of the Graillot and the Gaillard.