Here are some notes from a visit to the Big Basin tasting room late last year - the notes were misplaced and recently found. The winery was pouring some new releases
2009 Rousanne, Estate
The first harvest for this grape at Big Basin, possibly the first ever in the Santa Cruz Mountains, as previous plantings of this grape turned out to be Viognier. Less than half a barrel was made, so the wine was only available for club memers. Nose shows apricot with floral notes.
Creamy, with flavours of Asian pear, peach and apricot, with a long, rich finish. I look forward to more plentiful vintages in the future. 92
2009 Pinot Noir, Coastview Vineyard, Monterey County
The first vintage from what were originally underperforming Syrah vines, now grafted over to a number of Dijon Pinot Noir clones. Notes of cherry, cola, rose petal. Light and fresh, with flavours of black cherry and cranberry, nice acidity. Liquorice and tannins show on the longish finish. 92+
2009 Pinot Noir, Lester Family Vineyard, Santa Cruz Mountains
Black cherry and strawberry aromas are echoed on the palate, adding wet stone and raspberry. Good finish. 92
2008 Odeon
A blend of 57% Syrah, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon
from Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.
Tasted twice; the first bottle had been open 3 days and showed plenty of black fruit - bramble, cassis and plum, but a little too much oak. 91+. A newly opened bottle was much brighter with vibrant acidity and lots of blackcurrant. 92+
2007 Rattlesnake Rock Syrah, Estate
Massive nose of black fruit and game. Mouth-coating richness; flavours of black plum, berry, meat and liquorice. Long, long finish. 95
2008 Syrah, Coastview Vineyard, Monterey County
Spicy with black fruit, white pepper and dark chocolate. Lots of oaky tannin on the finish; needs time. 93
2009 Homestead
A blend of Grenache, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Grenache dominates the nose - bright floral (lily?) with smoky notes.
Bright red fruit - redcurrant, raspberry, 'red vines' with spice - cinnamon and clove, and a medium finish 92
Showing posts with label Coastview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coastview. Show all posts
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Big Basin Tasting Room
The tasting room is in a brand new building on Highway 9, next door to Cinnabar - the address is at 14598 Big Basin Way. The room is light and airy, with a large L shaped bar and some comfortable seats. The walls are decorated with photographs of the vineyards taken by the owner and winemaker Bradley Brown and artwork by Matt Jones, whose work is used on several of the wine labels.
Tasting for a flight of 6 wines is $10, refunded with $100 purchase. There is currently a 2 for 1 promotion. You can also purchase wines by the glass; since the tasting room is open until 7PM on Fridays and Saturdays that makes it an ideal place to meet up prior to dinner.
2009 'Aura' Rose of Syrah, Monterey County
Floral nose, with notes of rose hip. While not sweet it doesn't come across as bone dry; it's fruity with a slightly bitter finish and flavours of crisp red apples. Light acidity. $18 89
2007 Alfaro Family Vineyard Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains
I've often found the wines from the Alfaro Family vineyard to be rather tannic and unyielding when young, but Bradley's treatment doesn't show that at all. The nose has sweet candy and dried cherry; in the mouth it's richly textured and spicy with flavours of dried cherry and white pepper, and a tart finish. $42 91
2007 Syrah
This is a 50/50 blend of Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey County fruit.
The nose is soft and plummy, the fruit is smooth and light fruit with some tart berry notes and a light finish. $28 88
2006 Rattlesnake Rock Syrah, Santa Cruz Mountains
The flagship estate wine; when I've tasted previous vintages it's been a really big textured wine. This seems lighter than in other years; the nose is fairly restrained with dried currant notes. However it's still pretty big and rich; there are layers of layers of dried fruit, herb and minerals and a longish finish showing those mineral notes again. $54 92
This is predominantly estate Syrah, with around 14% Cabernet Sauvignon from a vineyard in Los Gatos blended in. Surprisingly the Cabernet seems more prominent; the nose shows blueberry and pepper, with a balsamic note. On the palate there's blueberry and blackcurrant with oak and tannin showing on the finish. $39 91
2007 Coastview Syrah, Monterey County - Gabilan Mountains
Interesting nose; more assertive than the Rattlesnake Rock with herbal notes, some green pepper and nice black fruit. In the mouth it's another big, richly textured wine; concentrated black fruit flavours with some candied orange peel and meaty notes, leading up to a long finish. Nice smooth tannins; really a delicious wine. $48 93+
Saturday, September 12, 2009
2006 Le P'tit Paysan Syrah, Russian River Valley
Le P'tit Paysan (the "little redneck") is Ian Brand's own label. I mentioned recently that he gave me a couple of bottles after our dinner in Los Altos; this was the second one.
The nose shows some lovely blueberry fruit as well as lavender and sandalwood notes. The palate has spicy chili and lots of berry fruit. It's smooth and balanced with enough structure to indicate that it would benefit from 2-3 years of cellaring.
It was much more to my taste than the Coastview Syrah that we drank at the dinner; it reminded me in some ways of the Stefania Eaglepoint Ranch Syrah although it seemed less concentrated. I'm not sure what the price is; assuming that it's around the $25 mark (which is in line with the Meritage) then it's a definite buy. 89, with potential. Recommended
The nose shows some lovely blueberry fruit as well as lavender and sandalwood notes. The palate has spicy chili and lots of berry fruit. It's smooth and balanced with enough structure to indicate that it would benefit from 2-3 years of cellaring.
It was much more to my taste than the Coastview Syrah that we drank at the dinner; it reminded me in some ways of the Stefania Eaglepoint Ranch Syrah although it seemed less concentrated. I'm not sure what the price is; assuming that it's around the $25 mark (which is in line with the Meritage) then it's a definite buy. 89, with potential. Recommended
Monday, August 24, 2009
2008 Coastview Vineyard Estate Chardonnay, Monterey County
A few local wine enthusiasts got together recently for dinner in Los Altos. One of the guests was Ian Brand; a former assistant winemaker at Big Basin and now consulting for several local wineries including Nicholson in Corralitos and Coastview in Monterey. He brought several of the wines he's been making (my notes were brief due to the dinner and a lack of power in my iPhone), including a 2008 Albariño from Pierce Ranch (Floral and fruity, but unfortunately served a bit too warm), a 2008 Nicholson Arroyo Seco Viognier (Light floral nose, with briny and biscuit/ice-cream wafer notes), a 2007 Coastview Syrah
(Meaty, savoury, smoky bacon on the nose. Good currant fruit, nice acidity and his personal label, a 2005 Le P'tit Paysan Meritage (Nose of roast meat, elderberry, smoke. Tight berry fruit - cranberry and boysenberry. Smooth tannins.)
As we left he handed me a couple of wines that we didn't get around to. One of them was an as yet unreleased Chardonnay from Coastview Vineyard. Coastview is located in the Gavilan Mountains at an elevation of 2300-2600 feet, possibly the highest vineyard in Monterey County and as high as Muns in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Coastview has similar limestone and granite soils as the Chalone AVA, but with a cooler microclimate.
The wine shows a lot of tropical fruit, both on the nose and the palate; particularly mango, nectarine and pear. Although it's smooth and rounded there's very little oak influence. (The wine sees only 20% new French oak, 80% neutral.) It reminded me of Michaud, which I haven't had in a while. The finish is long and rich. Since it's so young I had planned to save some to try the following day, but before I knew it the bottle was empty.
The release date is unconfirmed, as is the price, but it'll probably be in the same range as Michaud. 91 Recommended
(Meaty, savoury, smoky bacon on the nose. Good currant fruit, nice acidity and his personal label, a 2005 Le P'tit Paysan Meritage (Nose of roast meat, elderberry, smoke. Tight berry fruit - cranberry and boysenberry. Smooth tannins.)
As we left he handed me a couple of wines that we didn't get around to. One of them was an as yet unreleased Chardonnay from Coastview Vineyard. Coastview is located in the Gavilan Mountains at an elevation of 2300-2600 feet, possibly the highest vineyard in Monterey County and as high as Muns in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Coastview has similar limestone and granite soils as the Chalone AVA, but with a cooler microclimate.
The wine shows a lot of tropical fruit, both on the nose and the palate; particularly mango, nectarine and pear. Although it's smooth and rounded there's very little oak influence. (The wine sees only 20% new French oak, 80% neutral.) It reminded me of Michaud, which I haven't had in a while. The finish is long and rich. Since it's so young I had planned to save some to try the following day, but before I knew it the bottle was empty.
The release date is unconfirmed, as is the price, but it'll probably be in the same range as Michaud. 91 Recommended
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