Beckmen Futures Tasting

Lauren and I went to the inaugural Beckmen Futures Tasting at the Purisima Mountain Vineyard this past Saturday. Absolutely beautiful setting in the vineyard ... beats the hell out of a tasting room any day! We tasting a bunch of wines ... here's the list:

2005 Beckmen Sauvignon Blanc, Purisima Mountain Vineyard
2006 Beckmen Grenache Rose, Purisima Mountain Vineyard
2006 Beckmen Grenache, Whole Cluster
2006 Beckmen Grenache, Purisima Mountain Vineyard
2006 Beckmen Syrah/Viognier
2006 Beckmen Syrah Clone #1, Purisima Mountain Vineyard
2005 Beckmen Cabernet Sauvignon, Purisima Mountain Vineyard
2005 Beckmen Syrah, Block Six Purisima Mountain Vineyard
2005 Beckmen Purisima
2005 Beckmen Syrah, Barrel Select
2005 Beckmen Grenache, Purisima Mountain Vineyard
2005 Beckmen Syrah, Purisima Mountain Vineyard

Favorite wine would be the Purisima. It's a Grenache/Syrah blend that they only do in the better years (they skipped 2004). We bought two bottles of it at the ridiculous price of $55/each. Oh well. It's damn good! And I've got an emotional attachment to it which you just can't put a price on. It was great to taste the barrel samples of the 06 Whole Cluster Grenache, 06 PMV Grenache, 06 Syrah/Viognier, and the 06 Clone #1. They all were pretty well developed after about 6 months of barrel aging ... they've got about an average of 3-6 more months to go in barrell. Plus the winemaker was pouring these wines ... so it was great to talk to him about what he thought of them. One curious thing I noticed was in the 06 PMV Grenache they add about 15% Syrah at the beginning of fermentation, but nowhere does it say anything about that. But on the clearly labeled Syrah/Viognier there's only 3% Viognier added. Weird.

The event was great ... cold cuts/cheese/bread/etc ... a little symposium of sorts with Steve Beckmen about their winemaking practices, etc ... and a tractor tour of the vineyard with Tom Beckmen.

And for a pic....

Melville, Koehler and Roblar tasting

Since we were in Santa Ynez for the Beckmen shindig we also went to a couple other wineries to pick up wine that we had purchased.

First stop was Melville. We picked up a couple bottles I had purchased a while back ... two of the 2005 Melville Pinot Noir, High Density, and two bottles of 2006 Melville Chardonnay, Clone 76 Inox. We tasted these wines:

2006 Melville Chardonnay, Clone 76 Inox
2005 Melville Syrah, Verna's Vineyard
2004 Melville Syrah, Donna's Vineyard

The 05 Verna's Syrah was really young. Definitely could use a lot more time in the bottle. Especially compared to the 04 Donna's Syrah. I got a couple bottle for a friend of mine and am going to tell him to let them sit for close to a year. Or at least open it a few hours before you want to drink it.

We also went to Koehler Winery, one of our wine clubs, to pick up our wine. Lauren has been a little down on this place the last couple times we've gone. We may drop this club to pick up another one, hopefully one that has good events. The wines are good, I just don't think the feeling is right. We tasted these wines:

2005 Koehler Sauvignon Blanc, Estate
2005 Koehler Chardonnay, Estate
2005 Koehler Chardonnay, Reserve Estate
2005 Koehler Viognier, Estate
2005 Koehler Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County
2005 Koehler Syrah, Estate
2004 Koehler Magia Nera, Estate
2005 Koehler Grenache, Estate
2005 Koehler Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills
2006 Koehler Riesling, Estate

The tasting room had just been "remodeled" to allow more people to taste, and they were busy. The wines were all good, but the one that stood out was the 06 Riesling and we bought a bottle of it which we actually drank last night. Should've bought another one :)

After that we were done and going to dinner in Santa Barbara, but on our way out of town we saw a new tasting room. It was huge and gorgeous so we decided to stop in and try in out. We walked in without any idea what winery it was ... it turned out to be Roblar Winery & Vineyards. The tasting was $10 for these wines:

2005 Roblar Sauvignon Blanc, Reserve Estate
2005 Roblar Semillon
2004 Roblar Syrah, Santa Ynez Valley
2004 Roblar Syrah, Great Oaks
2001 Roblar Cabernet Franc

Overall the wines were pretty good. The tasting room and grounds were amazing ... you can tell this place had some serious financial backing. Especially for being a new place. The girl who was pouring our wines didn't really know much about the owners except that it was a company or group of people that also own another winery or two. It seemed like the $10 for five wines was a little steep and the price of the wines was $16, 22, 28, 40, and 60. Ouch. Average of over $30. We'll see how this place grows ... maybe go back if I hear good things about it.

From a little research just now, it seems they're owned by Adams Wine Group ... they own another winery in Santa Ynez (Royal Oaks) that I've never heard of and one in Sonoma (Adler Fels) that I've never heard of. Oh well.

Palmina tasting

We went to Wade's Wines in Westlake Village on Saturday afternoon for a tasting of Palmina's wines. One of the owners, Chrystal Clifton (wife of winemaker Steve Clifton) was there pouring the wines.

2004 Palmina Ashley's Vineyard & Thompson Vineyard Santa Babara Pinot Grigio
2003 Palmina Bien Nacido Santa Maria Valley Tocai Fruiliano
2003 Palmina Bianca Santa Barbara White Wine
2005 Palmina Botesea Rosato Rose
2005 Palmina Santa Barbara County Barbera
2005 Palmina Santa Barbara Dolecetto
2000 Palmina Stolpman Vineyard Santa Barbara County Nebbiolo
2003 Palmina Nebbiolo
2005 Palmina Alisos Tuscan Blend
2003 Alder Alisos Vineyard Santa Barbara County Syrah

All of the wines were great, and we ended up buying a bottle of the Alder Syrah and the Palmina Bianca. I would've loved to buy the 2000 Palmina Nebbiolo, but the price was a little high and money is tight :)

It was our first time to Wade's as well ... nice little store with great selection. If it wasn't so far away I'd go more often.

Chateauneuf du Pape

Last night was our anniversary and we celebrated well. After work we open a bottle of NV Perrier Jouet Champagne Grand Brut with fresh strawberries. Mmmm ... delicious. After that we went to dinner at Patina downtown. The sommelier helped us pick a bottle of 2003 Domaine de Ferrand Chateauneuf du Pape. It took five minutes or so to mellow out in the glass, but it was a wonderful wine. Too bad it had a $100 price tag! We enjoyed it through the entire meal up to the cheese course. The cheese was way too much for it. :) Here's the cheeses we had:

Jean de Brie
Monte Enebro
Mimolette
Munster Gerome
Fourme d'Ambert

After dinner we walked to Seven Grand, a new bourbon bar downtown for a nightcap before jumping back on the metro and heading home. I love LA.