By: AJ McClellan
Graileys always has something going on but today we experienced something truly special – the 2010 Winemaker Tour. Once a year a group of winemakers will get together and travel across the United States showing off their wine, everything from currant vintages to the older stuff from the estates cellars. This Tour was unique in the fact that the quality of winemakers that we had gathered was truly exceptional.
On the far left you can see Ted Edwards – Winemaker for Freemark Abbey
2008 Matanza Creek Sauvignon Blanc – Huge tropical nose singing with grapefruit, pineapple, mango, and guava. The palate was incredibly crisp with super sharp acidity the made my taste buds vibrate. There was also a very nice minerality of clay and cobble stone on the back. The finish had a slight green nuance with asparagus and green bell pepper.
2004 Matanza Creek Sauvignon Blanc – It was a real treat to see how different the 2008 Sauvignon Blanc was from the 2004. In 08 they use almost 100% Sauvignon Blanc while the 04 vintage had a good dose of Semillon in their wine giving it more of a white Bordeaux feel. Round on the palate with a slight creaminess like reduced vanilla extract. There was also a nice mellow green apple, rose petal, and lemon weaving in and out through the palate.
2007 Stonestreet Red point Chardonnay – This was an excellent example of California Chardonnay with pear, lemon, and a nice toast on the nose. The palate was soft and creamy with vanilla bean, green apple peal, and stone fruits.
2007 Stonestreet Broken Road Chardonnay – This Stonestreet was slightly fatter than the last with what felt like more oak weighing down the palate and bringing a coconut, toast, vanilla, and dill feel to the wine.
2007 Stonestreet Upper Barn Chardonnay – This was, in my opinion, the best of the bunch with a great balance of oak and fruit sewn together by a crisp acidity and finished with a pleasant loamy minerality.
2006 Stonestreet Christopher’s Cabernet Sauvignon – This was a massive little Cab with big crushed rocks, blueberries, charcoal, and graphite. Full bodied but drinking relatively smoothly for the huge tannin structure.
2005 Stonestreet Black Cougar Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon – This was one of my favorite Cabs of the whole event. Again there was a great crushed rock minerality but there was more red fruit with red raspberries, and red currant frolicking through the blueberry fields. A great smoky characteristic in the background and extremely smooth tannins.