Over the past six weeks or so Peter & I have done some barrel tasting & blending sessions with two of our winemaking partners for the 2018 vintage wines. Great things are coming up. Don’t worry, we still have plenty of the 2016 vintage available. Our crop from 2017 was small, and there won’t be much wine from that vintage…but the 2018’s look to be outstanding.
In late April, we sat down with the tasting panel at Barrel 42. Brian Gruber, Herb Quady, Nichole Schulte, Sara Garr, Peter & I tasted through & test blended Grenache, Syrah, & GSM blends.
For those of you who’ve never done barrel tasting, it’s a whole different ballgame. It takes some experience, and a vision for the future of a wine. Barrel samples cannot be evaluated like finished wine.
That said, the wines showed extremely well.
· Grenache (Lot 42) – showed bright, forward cherry fruit, with a nice balance of flavors. We tried blending in just a little Syrah, at 4 different levels, 6%, 10%, 13%, and 20%. The panel agreed, the 6% blend was beautiful, the 10% was GORGEOUS, & when we got up to 13% & 20%, the extra Syrah tended to dull the brightness of the Grenache. We’ll revisit this again, but it looks like the 90% Grenache/10% Syrah (which will be labeled as Grenache) will be a real winner. The extra Syrah, at that level, adds some body and roundness without taking away from the brightness that we want from Grenache.
· GSM (Lot 42) – The classic Southern Rhone blend of Grenache/Syrah/Mourvèdre has been one of our best received wines from the 2016 vintage. We started with a basic blend of Grenache & Syrah, which had dark plummy fruit, hints of chocolate & dusty spice quite good on its own. We then tried adding Mourvèdre at 3 levels (5%, 7.5%, & 10%). At 5% & 7.5%, there wasn’t much change, just perhaps a bit darker, rounder & more tannic. However, when the Mourvèdre was bumped up to 10%, magic happened! Suddenly the wine had added components of spice & mushrooms, with more brightness of fruit & depth of character. We won’t see this for a while, but if you like the 2016 GSM, you’ll love the 2018.
· Syrah (Lot 42) – We tasted 3 different Syrahs. One was a blend from all of Peter’s vineyards. One was from mostly the 470 & 470E blocks, and a third was from Block 7, the upper part of the vineyard that ripens more. All of the wines were excellent, with subtle differences. The wine blended from all sites had bright dark cherry/plum/chocolate characters, with rich, round mouth feel. The 470/470E had more of a chocolate streak, with some minerality which really helped the fruit stand out. The wine from the upper block 7 had much more pronounced fruit. The wine was at once bright, and deeper with lots of cherries, mixed berries & plums. It had a fuller, richer mouthfeel, laced with bacon fat & spice. Again, we’ll revisit these, but it looks like a portion of the Block 7 will become a “Reserve” bottling (place your dibs on this, there won’t be much), & the rest will be blended to make another excellent Syrah.
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Today (Fri 5/31/2019), Peter & I tasted wines from barrel at Pallet Wine Company with winemaker Linda Donovan. For the 2018 vintage, Linda is making Syrah & Tempranillo from Peter’s vineyards. These will be different wines (marked as “Lot D”) from those made by Barrel 42.
· Syrah (Lot D) – We tasted Syrah that was aging in neutral oak, and also some in new oak. About 20% of the Lot D Syrah is in new French oak. The neutral oak Syrah showed deep, round fruit, I’d say mostly berries & plums. Full & rich, it shows great promise. The new oak Syrah showed the oak immediately in the nose, & the fruit was a little dulled – but that is to be expected at this stage of development. The fruit was still there, just a bit muted by the oak (which will tone down with time). We did a quick approximate blend in our glass, with about 20% new oak & the rest neutral oak – and ding-ding-ding, we have a winner! The fruit of the neutral sample balanced perfectly with the extra oak from the other. Great promise for a big, fruity, round, deep Syrah. Very much in the same vein as the 2016 Lot D Syrah, but with perhaps even more depth.
· Tempranillo (Lot D) – Just like the Syrah, about 20% of the wine is in new oak, the rest in neutral oak. The neutral oak sample showed beautiful bright cherry fruit, with a really pretty herbal component that just lingered in the background, not taking away from the fruit at all. The other sample, aging in new American oak (Tempranillo seems to love American oak), was closed, & at this point the oak is overpowering the fruit. This is to be expected this early in its development, as American oak tends to be very aggressive this early in the process, but will settle down & soften out to be blended with the other wine. The promise of the fruit in the neutral oak sample makes me believe that the final blend will be another winner. As that new oak tones down, it should add structure to the brightness of fruit of the neutral oak juice.
All said – these wines are all going to be winners! You probably won’t see them until the fall of 2020 – but I just thought you’d like a snapshot of what’s on the way from Peter William Vineyard!