Winery - Gary Farrell
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Shows the lean, structural approach Farrell famously takes toward his wines. It’s almost an austere Chard. You get dryness, acidity, alcohol, oak, lees, and citrusy, flowery fruit. This is not one of your big, fat Chards, but it is a complex wine that will benefit from four or five years of cellaring.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Peppery and acidic and dry. That’s the first impression you get of this wine. Then the tannins lock in. Last but not least is the raspberry and cherry fruit, with tobacco and wild herb complexities. It’s the Cabernet of Zinfandels, elegant and rich and complex, a real white tablecloth red wine, and it should age well for five years.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This multivineyard blend isn’t cheap, but it’s almost as good as Farrell’s more expensive single-vineyard Pinots, which makes it kind of a value. Like them, it’s a dry, crisply acidic wine, and slightly austere. It shows tobacco-infused cherry pie filling, pomegranate, rhubarb and cola flavors.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Paler in color, lighter in body than most of his Russian River neighbors, and higher in acidity, this cherry-infused wine, with its voluptuous coating of oak, is more Pinot-like than the Syrah-like Pinots that are currently critics’ darlings. In its youth, it seems awkward, even simple, but could be a keeper.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
This vineyard needs heat to ripen. In a cool vintage like 2000, it can be tart. But 2004 was a very warm year, and the wine shows unctuous cherry pie, cola, rhubarb and spiced rum punch flavors balanced by dependably crisp acidity. It’s a very dry wine, and should hold and improve for five years.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
A fantastic Sauvignon Blanc. Tastes as fresh and vibrant as a young wine can, with exuberant flavors of pineapples, green apples, cloves, vanilla and cinnamon that are wrapped into a rich, creamy texture. Crisp acidity makes the wine brilliantly clean. With the exception of the ’04, an off-vintage, this bottling has been wonderfully consistent.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
These vineyards are, of course, very famous, among the oldest and more respected in Russian River. Gary Farrell has long had access to their coveted fruit and 2004 is one of his greatest bottlings ever. It may be due to the warm vintage, but the fruit is spectacular, not in your face at the expense of balance, and rich in cherries, cola and cinnamon-infused rum punch. This is a young, vibrant, crisp Pinot Noir, with a good life ahead for the next 10 years.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
A fine Chardonnay, marked by crisp, citrusy acidity that cleanses the mouth and makes the wine so refreshing. Flavorwise, it’s a powerhouse, with pear, green apple, lemon meringue, buttered toast and smoky, vanilla flavors that finish in a swirl of cloves and pepper.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
A finely structured Chard. It has the citrusy acidity you get only from the coolest areas, providing a bracing, steely quality to the green apple, quince and oaky flavors. Just feels elegant and opulent all the way, a true California first growth that should pick up additional complexities for four or five years before slowly expiring. Editors’ Choice.
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