Some thoughts after a whirlwind trip (in which Floyd and I set a new record: 18 wineries visited in two days, including the exclusive Cayuse tasting, plus a winemaker dinner at night, at Saviah):
1. Cayuse: The wines poured seemed much better than in years past (3 years ago, the wines then-pouring seemed so big they were difficult to drink young). I think this fortuitous shift was partly due to Christophe's delaying the tasting events by six months, which allows the wines some more age (always a benefit with his wines), but also, perhaps, to a POSSIBLE slight shift in winemaking style away from reductive brawny blockbusters, more towards balance and drinkability at a younger age. That said, some notes on these wines, all poured from bottle:
a. '08 God Only Knows Grenache: Phenomenal bouquet; other-worldly mouth flavors for a Grenache. Redefines what is possible with this grape (though the old vine Garnachas from Spain are very good and are inexpensive, but they are not like GOK!).
b. '09 Camaspelo: Much softer than I expected; very nice. 82cab/18merl
c. '09 Widowmaker: all cab. Not the wine for me; too big; needs some blending.
d. '09 Cailloux Syrah: light nose; gorgeous purple; a great wine.
e. '08 Armada: Great. Amazingly lightweight and supple. Finishes crisp and clean, like mountain springwater. Cannot believe this was a Cayuse red wine; in its style, it is some kind of new, artisinal wine I have never had before.
f. '09 Bionic Frog Syrah: (This is what I get from Cayuse,and it is almost always their highest-scoring wine): So dark; awesome; but still mostly shut down and way too young to drink. It's vinfanticide, to open it now. This one or its precursor got 99 points from Parker. It doesn't get much better than that.
g. '09 En Cerise Syrah: Just OK.
h. '09 En Chamberlain Syrah: Maybe the BEST NOSE ON A WINE EVER. Roses, cherries, earth. Fantastic wine. Find it, if you can, when it comes out. The '07 got 100 pts from W.Enthusiast (though just 94 pts from Spectator).
More posts to follow, regarding lots of other wineries . . .
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