WTN: '07 Edmunds St. John Gamay Noir Porphyry Barsotti Ranch

[David M. Bueker]

Bright as the spring day we had yesterday; packed with berry fruit and refreshing acidity. This is balanced & slurpable, but also carrying enough depth of flavor to be more than just a quaffer. There's a sense of tannin, so perhaps a year in the cellar is in order.

Another winner from ESJ.

Another winner from ESJ.

Hmmmm, David...don't you feel just a wee bit guilty about drinking wine this good this cheaply!!!
I found the granitic soils gave the Porphyry and distinct mineral/stoney character that was much like a CruBeaujolais,
but w/ much of that pretty Gamay fruit you described. Good stuff, it is.
Tom

[David M. Bueker]

Indeed it does have more of a mineral character than I would expect. As usual, soil wins out.

Personally, I think the guilt is the important thing!

[David M. Bueker]

I try to make it up on volume.

Well, Vintages Berkeley (a wine shop) got another case or so in (thanks Steve) so maybe I should try the one bottle I was able to buy!

Steve's wines are showing up in all the best places these days.

Just had lunch at The Slanted Door---sitting at the bar, my favorite was to dine at TSD---and noticed the Gamay Noir was on the b-t-g list. So I had some. Delicious, and the perfect wine for the food at TSD. Just as David describes it: juicy, but tight and acid driven, with almost a citrusy tang at the finish, leaving the palate primed for sipping and munching.

Talked my companion into having the Lagrein which was also on the list (St. Magdalener), as she confessed she had never had Lagrein before. She loved it. Very Sud-Tirol red: lean, crisp, lively but light on the palate.

Our apps were basically any fresh veggies they had on the menu that day, so the wines were perfect with the asparagus and spinach. I surrendered to the green papaya salad, as usual; then had a moment of anguish as a guy next to me had the grapefruit and jicama salad. I should just order both of the damned things and be done with it!

The bartender, realizing we were geeks, brought us out a little lagniappe in lieu of dessert, and poured us each a dollop of the Loimer 2007 Riesling. I've had plenty of the Loimer Gewurztraminer over the years, but oddly enough never tasted his Riesling. Zowie! Basic burst of intense aroma and flavor (my companion blurted out "Fresh Limeade on a summer day!!!"), but bone dry and crisp and crackly and celery-snappy and white peppery in the follow through. Damn, that's what we should've been having with the veggies!

The bartender, realizing we were geeks, brought us out a little lagniappe in lieu of dessert, and poured us each a dollop of the Loimer 2007 Riesling. I've had plenty of the Loimer Gewurztraminer over the years, but oddly enough never tasted his Riesling. Zowie! Basic burst of intense aroma and flavor (my companion blurted out "Fresh Limeade on a summer day!!!"), but bone dry and crisp and crackly and celery-snappy and white peppery in the follow through. Damn, that's what we should've been having with the veggies!

Loimer Riesling! Yum!