We tried last night (11/5/08) some PasoRobles Wines of Adelaida & Kaleidos:
1. Adelaida Pavanne CheninBlanc SantaLuciaMtns (2 acres; 30 yr old last harvest; 184 cs; 14.6%;
http://www.Adelaida.com; HoffmanMtnRanch vnyd) 2002: Med.gold color; beautiful/fragrant rather minerally/
stoney bit metallic/steely some perfumed talc/French whore house somewhat old Loire nose;
soft/rich/lush 7Up/stoney/minerally bit caramel/old botrytis wine old Loire flavor; very long
bit caramel/aged minerally/stoney/steely/metallic soft/lush complex finish; some of that caramel/
old Loire character but much richer/lusher/softer than old Loire; terrific/interesting wine
in great shape. $40.00
_____________________
2. Adelaida Viognier GlenRoseVnyd/PasoRobles (14.6%; 403 cs) 2005: Light gold color; attractive pear/
peach/Viog light minerally lovely fragrant nose; tart bright pear/peach/Viog light minerally/
steely flavor; tart light minerally/chalky bright/pear/peach finish; a very attractive bright
light minerally Viog. $30.00
_____________________
3. Adelaida Viognier GlenRoseVnyd/PasoRobles (15.1%; 174 cs) 2006: Light gold color; light oak rather
ripe/overripe/peachy/Viog light perfumed talc nose; soft/lush very ripe/peachy/Viog light earthy
bit grapefruity/citric flavor; med.long lush/rich/soft very ripe/peachy/Viog finish; pleasant
very ripe Viog but veers a bit too much towards DollyParton. $30.00
_____________________
4. Adelaida 43% Roussanne/57% GrenacheBlanc RhoneStyleWhite GlenRoseVnyd/PasoRobles
(466 cs; 14.9%) 2005: Med.dark gold color; beautiful/intense floral/honeysuckle/pineapple some
pear/peach bit toasty/oak nose; soft/fat/porky very lush/floral/honeysuckle/pineapply light
toasty/oak flavor; med. soft/fat/porky pineapple/peach/floral/honeysuckle finish; a lovely
perfumed nose but a bit too soft/fat/porky on the palate. $35.00
_____________________
5. Adelaida SchoolHouse PinotNoir/PasoRobles (U/U; HMR Ranch planted in 1964; 14.3%) 2006: Med.
color; attractive earthy/plummy bit Burgundian rather buttery/oak bit herbal light toasty
complex nose; soft bit hard/bitter plummy/earthy/minerally/PN slight Burgundian/toasty/oak
flavor; med. bit hard/bitter/tannic plummy/earthy/minerally/PN light toasty/oak finish; very
attractive nose but rather hard/bitter on the palate; some like the Chalones of old; quite
good Pinot for the price. $18.00
_____________________
6. Adelaida PinotNoir HMR Estate/SantaLuciaMtns/PasiRobles (Planyed in 1964; U/U; 1244 cs; 14.3%)
2006: Med.dark color; more intense plummy/earthy/licorice/PN slight herbal some Burgundian/light
charred/toasty/oak complex nose; soft rather deep/rich plummy/bit blackberry/black cherry/PN
rather Burgundian/earthy some toasty/charred/FrOak complex flavor; very long slight tannic
earthy/Burgundian strong plummy/licorice light toasty/oak finish; very attractive/interesting
Pinot; a bit of history here. $30.00
_____________________
7. Adelaida Version GlenRoseVnyd/PasoRobles RhoneStyleRedWine (U/U; 1184 cs; 34% Mourvedre,
22% Syrah, 18% Grenache; 14% Counoise; 12% Cinsault; 14.8%) 2004: Dark color; rather pungent/
licorice/plummy/Mourv slight black cherry slight alcoholic very interesting nose; big Mourv nose;
tart bit earthy/dusty rather plummy/licorice/Mourv bit gamey/minerally light toasty/pungent/oak
slight tannic flavor; long bit tannic/tight plummy/licorice/Mourv some gamey/earthy finish; needs
several yrs yet; a very attractive Rhone blend that speaks mostly of Mourv and reminds me some
of the ContraCosta Mataro. $35.00
_____________________
8. Kaleidos Osiris PasoRobles (68% Grenache, 22% Syrah, 10% Mourvedre; 15.7%;
http://www.KaleidosWine.com) StevenArthurMartell 2005: Very dark color; strong toasty/oak intense
strawberry/Grenache/plummy light toasty/oak some peppery/herbal rather perfumed/fragrant nose;
very strong strawberry/Grenache/raspberry/framboise rather high-end CdP like strong toasty/oak
bit herbal/earthy flavor; very long some tannic/hard strawberry/Grenache/framboise bit herbal/
peppery some toasty/oak finish; needs 2-6 yrs; a lovely blend as good as mony high-end CdP;
very fairly priced at $28.00
_____________________
9. Kaleidos Morpheus PasoRobles (15.9%; 70% Syrah, 15% Grenache, 15% Mourvedre) 2005: Very dark/black
color; very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah almost Oz-like licorice/framboise very fragrant
nose; soft/lush bit alcoholic/hot intense boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah Oz-like some toasty/oak
framboise/intense bit tannic flavor; long very ripe/boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah bit hot/
alcoholic light toasty/oak some tannic finish; bit on the ripe side and bit Oz-like but a pretty
classic Paso Syrah. $34.00
_____________________
10. Kaleidos Morpheus PasoRobles (16%; 67% Syrah, 23% Grenache, 10% Mourvedre) 2004: Black color;
rather funky/wet dog fur/wet army blanket strong charred/toasty/oak bit licorice/pungent
canned tomatoes rather strange/funky nose; rather hot/alcoholic wet dog fur/wet army blanky/
funky very ripe/some boysenberry/Syrah flavor; med.long funky/wet dog fur very ripe/overripe/
boysenberry/Syrah some toasty/oak finish; wine seems over the top and rather funky and perhaps
a bacterial spoilage problem. $28.00
_____________________
11. Kaleidos OakRock PasoRobles (15.5%; 62% Syrah, 16% CS, 11% CabFranc, 11% PetiteVerdot)
2005: Black color; intense very ripe blueberry/boysenberry/Syrah/framboise some Cab/herbal strong
toasty/oak/smokey/pungent bit Oz-like pretty intense nose; soft/lush strong/blackberry/Syrah/
boysenberry some herbal/Cab/licorice/pungent/blackcurranty some toasty/charred/oak slight tarry
flavor; very long rather tannic strong blackberry/boysenberry bit herbal/blackcurranty/Cab some
toasty/oak finish; a very good blend w/ lots of Oz-like character; needs 2-6 yrs; the Cab
really comes thru; great red for the price. $24.00
_____________________
12. Adelaida Syrah VikingEstate/PasoRobles Reserve (1-1.5 tons/acre; Planted in 1991;
EstrellaSelection clone; 110R rootstock; U/U; 176 cs; 14.1%) 2005: Very dark color; intense
blackberry/peppery/smokey /charred/oak very ripe blackberry/blueberry/Syrah slight earthy/
dusty complex nose; tart rather tannic/hard rather toasty/smokey/pungent/charred/oak intense
blackberry/blueberry/DrPepper/Syrah bit dusty slight Cornas-like flavor; very long strong/
pungent/charred/oak intense blueberry/blackberry/Syrah/ripe slight earthy finish; needs 3-8
yrs yet; a pretty big/rugged Syrah w/o that overripe/jammy Paso character. Bit pricey at $65.00
_____________________
13. Adelaida Zin PasoRobles (U/U; 912 cs; 14.5%) 2006: Black color; very intense blackberry/Zin/
licorice ripe slight earthy/tarry very attractive nose; soft intense blackberry/Zin/boysenberry
slight AmOak/vanilla/pencilly light tannic flavor; long light tannic very strong blackberry/
licorice/Zin slight tarry/earthy light vanilla/oak finish; lots of ripe character but avoids
veering into that jammy territory; remends me a lot of the early PeachyCanyon Zins of old; very
good Zin for a very good price. $26.00
_____________________
14. Adelaida CabSauvg HMR/Viking vnyds/PasoRobles Reserve (60% HMR vnyd, 0.5-1 ton/acre; Planted
in 1964, HMR Selection clone, OwnRooted; 40% Viking vnyd, 2-2.5 tons/acre, Planted in 1992,
Clone 8, 110R rootstock; U/U; 322 cs; 14.3%) 2004: Black color; very strong plummy/blackcurranty/
boysenberry/Cab slight earthy/tarry cedary/pencilly/toasty/oak lovely complex nose; soft very
lush blackcurranty/boysenberry/Cab bit tannic cedary/pencilly/oak/pungent slight earthy/minerally/
tarry complex flavor; very long rather tannic strong blackcurranty/Cab/boysenberry some toasty/
pungent/oak slight tarry/licorice/earthy finish; needs 3-8 yrs; one of the best Paso Cabs I've had
and better than the Justins I think; a bit like some of the Friuli Merlot/Cab blends; terrific
Cab. $50.00
____________________________________________________________________________________
And the usual blatherings from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Adelaida: This is a wnry that I go way back with, but have sorta lost contact with over the yrs.
In the late '80's, we bought a lot of their Zin. I believe JohnMunch was the winemaker and they
were pretty big/rustic Zins at a very good price.
On a wine board a month ago, someone was asking about old Pinot vnyds in Calif & thought there
was one in PasoRobles. Bingo...of course...Dr.StanleyHoffman, a cardiac surgeon in SanLuisObispo
had a home up in the SantaLuciaMtns to the west of Paso. Starting in 1964, he started planting
grapes there on his ranch and eventually started his wnry, HoffmanMtnRanch, one of the very/very
early wineries in Paso. These were probably the first new plantings up there since IgnacePaderewski,
famed concert pianist, planted up there in ??, not too far away. According to MaryBaker, three
of those original Paderewski Zin vines are surviving. In 1973, Dr.Hoffman hired Andre Tschelechev
as his winemaker. The HMR vines were all planted on their own roots. I believe DrHoffman is still
alive...or was in 1998. His sone, Michael took over, but the wnry closed in '88. The vines were
pretty much neglected for almost a decade. I recalled tasting the HMR wines back then and thought
them pretty good, especially the Pinot.
As an aside, back in the '80's sometime, HMR produced a Pinot that they put a label on that
was an exact replica of the DRC label, down to the individually #'d btl. And sold it pretty
cheap, much to TraderJoe's I recall. For some reason, the French wnry got a bit huffy over that
and took them to court, or threatened to. Don't think I'd wanta mess w/ DRC. So they had to
pull back all the wine and relabel it. I'll have to go back thru my 100,000+ collection and see
if I can resurrect the label. Actually, the wine was darned good. Don't know why those DRC folks
were so upset?? Pompous French!!
In 1992, the VanSteenwyk family bought AdelaidaWnry and then the adjacent HMR vnyd, nearly
all of it the Pinot. The Chard vnyd went to HiddenMtnRanch (another HMR) I believe. Under
Munch, the Pinot vnyd was restored to its former glory. I believe HMR is now called Thunderbolt,
but I've never tried their wines.
In the mid-'90's I pretty much kissed off Adelaida because of some lacidasical treatment I
got in their tasting room about '94. I finally went back about a yr ago, the treatment was very
welcoming and attentive, well informed pourers, and the wines pretty good. I had tasted the
Adelaida Rhones at HdR from time to time and liked what I tried. So...I thought it would be a
good time to revisit the Adelaida wines and renew my connection to HMR.
I presume the CheninBlanc was from original HMR plantings of DrHoffman. I vaguely recalled
him making a CB. I gather that those CB vines have now been pulled. Bummer...because this CB
was a terrific example of CB, the kind you seldom find in Calif anymore. Reminded me a bit of
some of the old Chalone CB w/o the oak. Still available.
The HMR Pinot was very/very good, a slice of history. It had that plummy character that I
recall StanleyHoffman's Pinots as having. A bit like some of the Chalones of old, back when
they made great Pinot. It doesn't have the bright/vibrant cherry character of many Calif
Pinots. Maybe a bit like the AltoAdige Pinots in character, some like those from the Baden
region. Paso in not an obvious region to grow Pinot, other than the chalky/limestone soils,
but I've had a number that have been impressive, if'n you don't worship at the altar of typicity
and demand they taste like RRV Pinot.
Apparently, Adelaida has a bunch of their own Rhone varieties and other interesting stuff planted,
including some Portugese varieties, that are not yet producing. Their Rhone stuff also is made from
from purchased grapes from Glen Rose vnyd. GR sells to a number of good producers and TablasCreek
makes a LasTablas blend from there, a wine I'd never heard of. I presume the GR material all came
from the TablasCreek stock. Curious if Adelaida will continue w/ GR grapes when their new
plantings come on line??
Across the board, I was impressed w/ these Adelaida wines. Fairly priced and not a weak one
in the lineup. The Zin and the Cab are particularly good. It seems the StanleyHoffman legacy
is in good hands here.
_______________________
2. Kaliedos: I tasted one of their wines at HdR this year and was fairly impressed. So I thought it
would be worthwhile to taste their full tableau. Started in '04 by SteveMartell, it is located
in the TempletonGap area of the SantaLuciaMtns in WestSide Paso. It appears to be not far from
Rozet and FratelliPerrata in the foothills of the SL Mtns. Except for the '04 Morpheus, which
seemed to have some problem like bacterial spoilage; the '05's were all three pretty impressive
reds. A winery I need to get to know better. The WebSite doesn't have much to say about Steve
so don't know what his background is nor what drew him to Rhones & Paso.
_______________________
3. Mary's gonna love this post. With all the historic detail, she's sure to find an error in there
and gleefully set me straight...a rare opportunity for her!!
Tom