• For more information on how to avoid pop-up ads and still support SkiTalk click HERE.

mostly wine stuff

Thread Starter
TS
Tony S

Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
Skier
Team Gathermeister
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 14, 2015
Posts
12,616
Location
Maine
Whole cluster. Rhone varietal. Paonia -- not even on my radar for CO wine.

Trifecta of weird. Did you find it locally in the front range?
I don't think it's that weird. A fair amount of my experiences seem to be whole cluster.

But yeah. Weird. :)
 

jmeb

Enjoys skiing.
Skier
Joined
Nov 13, 2015
Posts
4,489
Location
Colorado
I don't think it's that weird. A fair amount of my experiences seem to be whole cluster.

But yeah. Weird. :)
Sorry -- weird for CO winemakers. In fact, they seem to be growing a bunch of interesting grapes over there.
 

coskigirl

Skiing the powder
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
4,590
Location
Evergreen, CO
Whole cluster. Rhone varietal. Paonia -- not even on my radar for CO wine.

Trifecta of weird. Did you find it locally in the front range?

I did a long weekend getaway glamping in Paonia last month. I visited 6 wineries while there (2 additional ones didn't allow dogs) and tasted a lot. Storm Cellar was by far my favorite. They do all whites and roses which I love because while I like reds, they don't like me as much. To find a winery really focusing on doing interesting things with whites is nice. I learned today that the Roussanne just won a gold medal in the Governor's Cup Colorado wine competition. Their Rose of St. Vincent won double gold. They also have a rose with the perfect name for a Colorado rose. It's called Alpenglow.

Here's where I stayed which was absolutely lovely. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/38359142?source_impression_id=p3_1630961201_yOsV4LenT+7Lo+zw
 

Tony

tseeb
Skier
Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Posts
1,284
Location
Northern CA
Rockwall winery is a fun place to visit...
+1 although the only time I was there was for a Valentine's Day party in 2015. I took my wife to try to make her feel better about me leaving for an extended, skiing roadtrip to Canada a couple of days later. Last Friday, I spent night at a winery in Rodeo, CA that is on the shore of San Pablo Bay (Northern part of SF Bay). I was not that impressed with most of their wines, but tasting area and where I parked for night had great views and my TV found over 50 channels. I bought two bottles of Petite Sirah as part of the deal for free overnight RV stay is to buy something.

Picture is my spot with Amtrak going by at left. I had no trains overnight and fog over Bay in background also did not move in.
2362AmtrackLanceCR.JPG

On the way there from Bodega Bay and Guerneville, I stopped at Petaluma Grocery Outlet. Besides the Pearl Hart Reserve (mentioned on previous page that we liked enough that we bought 6 more bottles in San Jose and one more in Petaluma), they had 2016 Rock Wall Solano County Papa's Syrah. This was another $55 value for $10. The back of bottle says it's "an homage to the way my awesome Papa loves to make wine...gigantic in flavor." Haven't tried it, but sounds like another big and flavorful wine and is 15.68%". Also for $5.99 I bought 2015 Three Rivers Columbia Valley Merlot based on recommendation of store's wine manager who said it compares to $35-40 Merlots and will stand up to many Cabs. I tried it after my tasting overlooking Bay and liked it and so did my wife the next day when we both got home, from different directions, the next day. 2338RockWallCRR.JPG
 

Attachments

  • 2338RockWallCRR.JPG
    2338RockWallCRR.JPG
    191.9 KB · Views: 0

mdf

entering the Big Couloir
Skier
Team Gathermeister
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
7,215
Location
Boston Suburbs
I was not that impressed with most of their wines, but tasting area and where I parked for night had great views
Not going to lie.... there is nothing wrong with the wine, but they aren't exceptional. The experience is the reason to go.
 

mdf

entering the Big Couloir
Skier
Team Gathermeister
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
7,215
Location
Boston Suburbs
Not going to lie.... there is nothing wrong with the wine, but they aren't exceptional. The experience is the reason to go.
Just to clarify -- I don't want to overstate my judgement on Rockwall... I can be quite picky. I do like many of their wines, and have bought a few bottles. But for me it's the whole experience of sitting in the sun (well shade actually - I burn easily), eating food from the separate business that can best be described as a non-vehicular food truck, looking at the SF skyline that makes it a special place. Don't know what it's like post-covid.
 

Tony

tseeb
Skier
Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Posts
1,284
Location
Northern CA
We tried the Rock Wall Syrah tonight and it was good enough that we will try to go back to Santa Clara store where I also found it for more, assuming that South San Jose store does not have it. We had it with sausages with pasilla peppers that were part of a bushel we bought and had roasted on our way back from trip to Amador County last weekend where we stopped at four wineries, attended four music events, then stopped at our two favorite produce stands on way home. The Rock Wall Syrah compares with the $30+ Amador County Syrah we brought home. Picture is from Joes Chilie Peppers who has a FB page. Pasillas are the dark green peppers in front. The two bushels in rear are Anaheim or Fresno peppers.
. 2470JoesPeppers.JPG
 

Uncle-A

In the words of Paul Simon "You can call me Al"
Skier
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Posts
10,893
Location
NJ
So all you wine people, what does this year's harvest look like. Will the 2021 growing season produce good wine or not? Was there too little or too much rain etc.?
 

mdf

entering the Big Couloir
Skier
Team Gathermeister
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
7,215
Location
Boston Suburbs
So all you wine people, what does this year's harvest look like. Will the 2021 growing season produce good wine or not? Was there too little or too much rain etc.?
Judging by the SF newspaper wine column, lots and lots of smoke damage, too little rain. So drastically reduced yields or even skipped harvests for some makers. But should still be some good wine.
 

Scruffy

Making fresh tracks
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 16, 2015
Posts
2,429
Location
Upstate NY
We tried the Rock Wall Syrah tonight and it was good enough that we will try to go back to Santa Clara store where I also found it for more, assuming that South San Jose store does not have it. We had it with sausages with pasilla peppers that were part of a bushel we bought and had roasted on our way back from trip to Amador County last weekend where we stopped at four wineries, attended four music events, then stopped at our two favorite produce stands on way home. The Rock Wall Syrah compares with the $30+ Amador County Syrah we brought home. Picture is from Joes Chilie Peppers who has a FB page. Pasillas are the dark green peppers in front. The two bushels in rear are Anaheim or Fresno peppers.
. View attachment 142767

Technically, they are Chilaca chili peppers until they are dried, then they become Pasillas. Nice looking peppers.
 

Swede

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Jan 29, 2016
Posts
2,390
Location
Sweden
IMG_5080.JPG

So it was my 50th birthday during the worst covid-period and a friend gave me a raincheck on sharing a few good bottles of wine with him. Well it was a sunny day a short while ago and we spent a couple of hours of it down in a wine cellar.
 
Last edited:
Thread Starter
TS
Tony S

Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
Skier
Team Gathermeister
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 14, 2015
Posts
12,616
Location
Maine
I am a sucker for a pretty package, and this is definitely a pretty package. However, it walks the walk and then some. First impression on the nose is very upright old school big Rheingau-esque riesling. In the mouth there is a ton of stony texture reminiscent of Chablis. Nevertheless this is not at all an austere wine, with flower petals and butterflies and autumnal ripe fruit notes swirling through it all. Balance is everything here. Notably it's very very clean without the slightest note of sulfur or egg.

PXL_20211008_210349022.PORTRAIT-01.jpeg
 

Uncle-A

In the words of Paul Simon "You can call me Al"
Skier
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Posts
10,893
Location
NJ
This was the Friday night special for dinner with friends.
PXL_20211009_010934859.MP.jpg

What say you wine geeks is it a bad call?
 

jmeb

Enjoys skiing.
Skier
Joined
Nov 13, 2015
Posts
4,489
Location
Colorado
I want a skitalk wine weekend. We go ski a small, out of the way ski hill for 3-4 days and nights. Everyone brings 6 bottles that represent their taste and budget. We geek out, ski hard, have a rose mid-day. And maybe a bottle of champers in the parking lot before we begin. Cru beajoulais with après ski, a Marlbourgh Sav or Loire Chenin as a while-making-dinner pick me up, and then we dive into the reds for dinner.

@Tony S and @skibob pick the spot.

Feeling like fall here…so finishing up our non-age worthy rosé supply. A 100% cab franc for dinner. A salad from our garden: squash, cherry tomatoes, greens, navy beans, garlic, onion. Homemade bread with slices of Brie and a bit of lemon. 84FB3FA0-1F6F-4118-8772-79909C571726.jpeg
 
Last edited:

Jilly

Lead Cougar
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
6,411
Location
Belleville, Ontario,/ Mont Tremblant, Quebec
Canadian Thanksgiving dinner...
1. Sue Anne Staffs - Fancy Farm Girl's, Foxy Pink. A lovely blend 95% Riesling and 5% Cab Franc, Niagara Ontario
2. The host had poured a red into a decanter...so not sure what, but it tasted like a Bordeaux red.
3. Pinot Noir - La Petite Ecluse, French, part of my cellar from the Opimian Society. Along with a California Pinot Noir...Golden Gate Cellars(?). Not as good as the French. Wish I could have gotten over to the county. The Pinot Noir from Long Dog Winery would have been perfect.

Nothing better than good wine, good food with friends celebrating another Covid Thanksgiving...
 

mdf

entering the Big Couloir
Skier
Team Gathermeister
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
7,215
Location
Boston Suburbs
My wife and I miss going to wine tastings... we did a few dissapointing virtual events early in the pandemic. But we got an email advertisement from Justin Vineyards and decided to give it a another try.... Bought the package (3 bottles, Chardonnay, Trilateral, Reserve Cab at a slight discount relative to separate prices) and tuned in to the facebook live event.

We set aside our sense of the ridiculous and decided to go all in. Put the feed up on the big TV, got out the good glassware (and multiples for a fresh glass for each wine) and changed out of the sweatpants into real clothes.

I have to give Justin and his winemaker Scott Shirley a rave review! By far the best virtual event we've done. They were very natural on camera, never seemed to be reading a script, yet they finished exactly on time! Of course it helps that I love his wine (which I already knew). My wife liked Trilateral best, while I loved the Cab.

One story I did not know came out of one of the on-line questions. A viewer asked where the Isoceles name came from. Justin told us that it was what he could get a trademark on! He knew he wanted to suggest a three-way blend, so he started with triangle, trio, triple, ... and all were taken. Somehow a memory from 8th grade geometry bubbled up and he tried isoceles, which worked.

Sure, if you do a lot of tastings, you hear the same stuff a lot. And yes, there was some of that. But they and their video editor (for interspersed clips) did a great job of balancing the basics with some discussion of the way the harvest went and the resulting choices they made.

Afterwards we watched the canned series "crush it with justin" which are a series of snappy 2 or 3 minute videos. Again, mostly the same old info, but so well filmed and fun to watch. (They are linked on the vineyard website, or just google.) I recommend them -- its a small time investment.

IMG_5436.jpg
 

Sponsor

Staff online

  • Andy Mink
    Everyone loves spring skiing but not in January
Top