Monthly Archive: December 2024

Parsonage: From the 2008 “Snosrap” to the Latest Rocco!

THE STORY

We are never quite sure what will get pulled out of our cellar, but it never surprises me that it will be a  Parsonage wine, as we have been purchasing their wines since about 2002. They are our longest, continuous winery relationship in Monterey County. I do like my big reds.

Our Expansive Relationships with Monterey County Wineries (2021)

In this post, we have 3 cellar pulls, with the 2008 “Snosrap” – the Cyrano, followed by the just-released 2021 Rocco Reserve Syrah. I thought this might make a fun little holiday post. It was shocking to us to find this 2008 wine in our cellar, but, as some racks are double-stacked, anything could be hiding in there! And, IMHO, the Rocco should be tasted BEFORE the voluptuous Xandro (reviewed in the post linked below).  We left with a couple more Xandro’s and I admit I might need to go back and try the Rocco again!

This 2021 Xandro is so big, jammy, and delicious!

My last post about Parsonage was here: Parsonage Releases Stunning Wines from the 2021 Vintage! Since I write about them often, let’s just jump into these wines!

THE WINES:

Today I’m bringing you 4 Parsonage wines across several vintages and varietals.  Winery notes come from their website, newsletters or tasting room. Some of these are so new that tasting notes aren’t even yet available! Any errors are mine and mine alone. As a rule, I do not correct typos from the wineries’ websites.

2008 Parsonage Snosrap Bordelaise Red Wine, Monterey County, 14% ABV, $24 (#1485)

“the nose knows…”

My Review: Deep garnet in the glass. Very dark jammy fruit on the nose with coffee and chocolate notes. Upon opening, a bit like ruby port or that new 2021 Corral Cabernet Sauvignon I just reviewed. On day two, drinking so much better. Medium bodied, this wine expresses some SweetTart flavors, balanced by dark brooding fruit mid-palate with notes of spearmint, and a hint of rosemary. Retains a hot and caramelized, port-like finish. I liked this wine. November 2024

2017 Parsonage Cabernet Sauvignon, Central Coast AVA (#1486)

Winery Notes: “This Cabernet Sauvignon field blend is joined with a mix of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. It’s a full-throttle bombastic beauty, typical of younger vines. The nose is all about dark fruit marked by brambleberry compote. Plum and cassis join with brambleberry on a muscular palate that finishes with some major league tannins.”

My Review: Dark garnet in the glass. Red and black fruits having a party on the nose, with cherry predominant. Juicy palate balancing bright red and black as it crosses the tongue with licorice on the finish. Is Cabernet Sauvignon supposed to be fun? This one sure is. November 2024

2015 Parsonage Dario & Bixby Reserve Red Wine, Carmel Valley AVA, Monterey County (#1487) Merlot & Petit Verdot blend

My Review: Surprisingly bright fruit on the nose – tart blackberry. Huge palate jammed with blackberry and dark fruit flavors. Licorice notes dance on the finish. Powerful for a 9-year old wine. November 2024

2021 Parsonage Rocco Reserve Syrah, Carmel Valley AVA, Monterey County, 15% ABV, $98, (#1488)

Winery Notes: “Our magnificent flagship wine, the Rocco is what we’re known for! A restrained melange of floral, exotic spice and splendidly dark fruit harmonize into a uniquely Parsonage terroir bouquet. The generous palate of black fruit – berries, cherries, currants, plums – accented with dark chocolate, savory spice and mysterious umami all wrapped up in an elegantly full-bodied structure.”

My Review: Caramel on the nose. Full palate of dark fruit, dark berries. This newly released wine is still quite young, drinking a tad lean yet elegant, not as rich and jammy as other vintages. I would recommend tasting it before – not after the 2021 Xandro, which is such a big, jammy mouthful. You can find that wine reviewed in Decanting Monterey at the post above. December 2024

THE TASTING ROOM

“Hooray! We are open for both indoor and outdoor wine tasting daily.”

19 E. Carmel Valley Road, Carmel Valley Village

Hours: Monday – Friday: noon to 5pm, Saturday & Sunday: 11am to 5pm, Last seating for wine tasting: 4:15pm. “Reservations can be made here or by phone. Please call us at 831-659-7322 for same day reservations.”

© Decanting Monterey 2024

**FOLLOW ME ON Instagram, Facebook, and CELLAR TRACKER: Central Coast Sharon

Monterey AWS Chapter Wine Group Celebrates the Holidays at LadySomm!

THE STORY

The Monterey Chapter of the American Wine Society was seeking a place to celebrate the holidays – and I thought of LadySomm at the Barnyard Shopping Village in Carmel. They have interesting offerings in a great space. Fortunately, the date we were seeking just happened to be open on their calendar. They offered us some fun wine education aspects and a beautiful spread of cheeses and fruits paired with some delicious bread, making for a lovely evening. Roxanne and Tamara were great hostesses for our group that evening. Thank you, ladies! And we were very happy to meet some brand new members of our local wine group!

ABOUT LADYSOMM

From their website: “At the heart of Lady Somm are two sisters, Roxane Langer and Tamara Carver, whose passion for wine has blossomed into a mission to share it with the world. With backgrounds that span the globe and the wine spectrum, they invite you to join them on a journey of discovery, education, and enjoyment. Welcome to our world of wine.”

On their website, you can dive deeper into all of their wine education, tasting salon, travel and special events. I encourage you to take a peek! I am excited about their offerings – there is something for every budget.  They host regular wine tasting and education events, running the spectrum from informal to fancy.  It’s a fun place to explore!

THE EVENT

Our holiday celebration at LadySomm was a fun event.  How lovely to enter their space, all decorated for the holidays with the beautiful charcuterie boards on display plus the 3 wine education stations: 

  • “Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles – Taste three different sparklers that evoke the holiday spirit: Are you a prosecco fan or a method Champenoise fan, OR do you even know which you prefer? Taste three of our favorites to confirm your preference.”

This was eye opening. The prosecco from Italy upon first taste was delicious, blowing my preconceived idea that all prosecco’s are sweet. Others thought it was a tad sweet, which I discovered to be true upon a revisit. Alas. The cava from Spain was extremely bubbly, crisp, and dry – the bubbles obfuscated the flavors for me, which is one of my pet peeves in overly bubbly wines. I probably didn’t give it a fair shake and will try another one again. The Champagne (obviously from France) had the finest bubbles, the most sophisticated of the three.  I do enjoy a good Champagne! Those would have been fun to blind taste to see if we could guess which was which.

  • “Beef or Fowl for your holiday table – which wine region has you covered? Taste a “perfect for your roast turkey” white wine, a big red for your prime rib and a wine that pairs well with both all from one European wine region.”

Here, we learned how different wines pair with turkey and beef. We tasted a Domaine de Cala, Coteaux Varois en Provence rosé with the turkey – an appropriate pairing.

Then we tried the 2021 Wrath Pinot Noir, Boekenoogen Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands AVA, Monterey County, 14.3 % ABV, $49 (#1484) (92 points – Wine Enthusiast) with both the turkey and the beef, showing its versatility in food pairing. This wine was fuller-bodied than the typical SLH Pinot Noir, possessing enough structure and tannins to please our palates and stand up to the beef.

Finally we tried a Tribe & Arrow Diamond Dão Proprietary Red Blend (50% Cabernet Franc, 50% Merlot), Diamond Mountain District, Napa Valley with the beef.  I didn’t see the vintage, but this is a limited production bottling by Olette Wines with individually numbered bottles. Another great pairing!

  • “Know What Your Nose Knows – Learning the Language of Wine: Learn to smell and identify common scents in three different wine varietals.”

Here they had on display a 2022 Corral Sauvignon Blanc, Arroyo Seco AVA, Monterey County, 13.4% ABV, $30 (#1088); a Val de Meigas Albariño from Spain; and a MAX Carménère Reserva from Chile. For this exercise, they put wine glasses upside down over Le Nez du Vin wine odor bottles.  Oh, is that what you are supposed to do with them – who knew? Another fun excursion for a future wine event!

First we focused on the aroma chart or what one might smell by swirling one of the white wines in the glass. Then we could pick up each glass and try to discern the odor in each glass to the chart.  I guessed all of these correctly.  The green apple wasn’t so distinctive, but wet hay was the most memorable for me. Then we had a set of cards to use to identify the odor samples typical for a Carménère. I got green pepper off the bat, and found garlic a bit harder to discern. OK, I don’t consider myself to have a very good nose or palate for detecting the multitude of aromas and flavors in a wine, but I aced them all!

VISITING LADYSOMM

LadySomm is located at 3728 The Barnyard, G-23 on the upper level in Carmel. They are open 2-7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 2-5 p.m. on Sundays. Check out their website for upcoming events throughout this holiday period and beyond! 

JOIN THE MONTEREY CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN WINE SOCIETY!

December is the perfect month to join the American Wine Society and select Monterey, CA as your local chapter! Please join today so you can participate in our 2025 local wine education activities!

© Decanting Monterey 2024

*FOLLOW ME ON Instagram, Facebook, and CELLAR TRACKER: Central Coast Sharon

Living Room with Friends: A Bunter Spring Pop-Up

THE STORY

Bunter Spring Winery held a pop-up tasting about a month ago.  I had not been in his pop-up space since he took it over and it felt like we were walking into someone’s living/dining room with friends.  Surrounded by Mark Bunter and Margaret Spring’s close friends and their dogs, this felt more like a small party in someone’s home. Mark shared some novel wines, demonstrating his winemaking prowess, and some fabulous sale prices, to boot!

THE WINERY

From the Bunter Spring website:

“Bunter Spring Winery is a small family operated winery in the Coombsville AVA in the southeast corner of Napa Valley.  We also have some production in Monterey.  Most vintages we make a few hundred cases of wine, mostly for ourselves, but also for sale to friends on our mailing list, and a few restaurants and wine shops.  Why make wine?  We just don’t care for many of the wines sold today. We make the kind of wine we want to drink: balanced, interesting, made with few or no additives, and low or no sulfite. We list all ingredients, the actual sulfite level, and the actual alcohol level on every label.  Incredibly, NO OTHER WINERY DOES THAT.”

VINEYARD Update

In his recent email, Mark informed us that the vineyard had been torn out and is replaced by a field of flowers:

“When Dad decided it was time to retire, I realized the winery would not be going forward.  Vineyards require a lot of upkeep.  An abandoned vineyard becomes an unsightly weedy jungle or desert, depending on rainfall.  It breeds fungi which hurt your neighbors vines.  So…”

THE WINES

We really enjoyed this Bunter Spring tasting event, as we were able to taste two wines made very differently from the same (somewhat suspicious) grape. It’s like an on-the-spot lesson in winemaking. Also, Mark dares to break from the expected in terms of what (as an example) a Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir is expected to taste like by making one with enough juice from Carmel Valley to completely change its taste profile.

As always, winery notes come from the tasting sheet, website, or conversations with the winery.  Any mistakes are mine and mine alone.

2022 Bunter Spring White Wine, Santa Clara Valley AVA, Santa Clara County, 13% ABV  $20 (#1480)

Winemaker’s Notes: “Your basic dry white wine, like in the Southern Mediterranean. Good with fish.” 40 cases produced. 

My Review: Mark said this might be Sauvignon Blanc, but neither he nor we think so.  More like a lighter white without any distinctive flavors.  It is a pleasant wine – nice and dry, worthy of serving at a party. November 2024

2022 Bunter Spring Macerated White, Santa Clara Valley AVA, Santa Clara County, 13% ABV, $20 (#1481)

Winemaker’s Notes: “Same grapes as above, fermented on their skins for extra aromatic punch and exciting texture.” 20 cases produced. 

My Review:  Slightly orange, golden in color with nice legs. Perfume on the nose and palate, followed by a mélange of bold flavors. Quite delicious and interesting. I would serve this to guests. November 2024

2021 Bunter Spring Pinot Noir, Monterey County, 13.5% ABV, $40 (#1482)

Winemaker’s Notes: “Mostly from a famous vineyard in SLH, plus a little lower Carmel Valley fruit.  French oaky, fruity, spicy, fun.” 50 cases produced.

My Review: This was a surprise to me.  This mostly SLH (Santa Lucia Highlands) fruit does not taste like the typical SLH Pinot.  A richer, smoother, fruitier Pinot Noir, with caramel on the finish.  We took some home. November 2024

2017 Bunter “Natur” Syrah, Coombsville AVA, Napa County, 12.86% ABV, $30 (#1483)

Winemaker’s Notes: “Subtle, complex, fresh herbs, berries, floral, meaty, earthy. Superb balance, not BIG SYRAH. That’s OK with me- I like it.” Organic grapes. 50 cases produced.

My Review: This wine was another pleasant surprise. We had for sure tasted a previous vintage – the 2014, I believe.  This one has settled down in the bottle and is ready to drink. We took some home. November 2024

THE TASTING ROOM

You can sometimes find a pop-up tasting by Mark Bunter in the back room of the Big Sur Vineyards tasting room in Carmel Valley Village. Check out the Bunter Spring Winery Facebook Page and the Bunter Spring Winery Instagram page for more information.

© Decanting Monterey 2024

*FOLLOW ME ON CELLAR TRACKER: Central Coast Sharon

I Brand & Family Presents a Stunning Collection of Petite Sirah!

THE STORY

I Brand & Family knows how to throw a great party. Their Fall Vertical and Release Party was one of the best yet.  While I try to keep the main thing the main thing (and that would be to be sure to get notes on their new releases), we instead took great delight in the vertical tastings. Today I am sharing our side by side comparisons of various Petite Sirah vintages and the great experience we had at this party!

We had a packed Sunday on November 10, with 2 release parties in 2 different valleys.  We decide not to use GPS to get to the I Brand & Family winery. And, the GPS in my head (my husband says there isn’t one) turned us an exit too soon off Highway 68.  It was a lovely drive, but totally threw off our schedule. I clarified my intent to taste the new releases, but got totally distracted by the vertical tastings. Oops. The lovely BBQ lunch being served looked and smelled so delicious – alas, no time for that, either! Man, we won’t make that mistake again.

ABOUT I BRAND & FAMILY

I’ve written about I Brand & Family many times in Decanting Monterey. The most recent full post was here: I Brand Summer Releases: A Glimpse of the 2023 Vintage! The rest you can easily find by typing I Brand in the search bar on www.decantingmonterey.com.

THE WINES – PETITE SIRAH

Today I will talk about the Petite Sirah vertical tasting at this event. These are not in-depth notes, but rather, impressions of these wines in a quick serial tasting.  Any errors are mine and mine alone!

2010-2016 PETITE SIRAH WINES

Greeted by Laurel, we were able to taste these 2010-2016 vintages of P’tit Paysan/Paysan Petit Sirah. Now, what fun is that? I believe the fruit for all of them came from Pierce Ranch Vineyards in the San Antonio AVA of Monterey County.

2010 P’tit Paysan Petite Sirah “Le P’tite P’tit”, Monterey County (#1475)

My Impressions: This was the best of the bunch and we missed getting the last available bottle by 30 seconds. Pepper on the nose, sweet and smooth, retaining its full depth of dark fruit flavors – this is how a Petite Sirah should taste! November 2024

2011 P’tit Paysan Petite Sirah, Monterey County (#1476)

My Impressions: In comparison to the 2010, the 2011 vintage came across lean, a touch vegetal and lacking that sweetness I associate with a Petite Sirah.November 2024

2012 Le P’tit Paysan Petite Sirah, Monterey County, 13.7% ABV, ~$21 (#476)

Winery Notes: Black plums, blackberry, crushed rocks, black olive. Full and rich on the palate, but neither hot nor oaky. Structured without being overbearing, rich dark fruit, long finish with hints of stem tannins.

My Review: Inky ruby in the glass. Dark plum, blueberry and earth on the nose. Soft blueberry and blackberry fruit is enveloped by a lingering licorice finish. October 2021/November 2024

2013 Le P’tit Paysan Petite Sirah, Monterey County, 13.7% ABV, $25 (#1477)

Winery Notes: “Picked at atypically low sugars for the variety. Fermented in small lots with some stem inclusion and some native yeasts. Aged on lees in less than 10% new oak.”

My Impressions: This was a fruitier Petite Sirah than the previous two vintages. November 2024

2014 P’tit Paysan Petite Sirah, Monterey AVA, Monterey County, 13.6% ABV, $42 (#788)

Wine Enthusiast – 89 points: “Dried herbs, elderberries, peppercorns and a strong streak of gamy meat show on the nose of this bottling, which is less dense and more nuanced in style than many other Petite Sirahs. The gamy element extends to the palate, giving complexity to the black fruits and sticky tannins. ” — Matt Kettmann June 2018

My Review:  Inky purple in the glass. Red raspberry, plum and a touch of brown sugar on the nose. Cassis and dark berries on the palate. A slight tartness balances the jamminess of the fruit. This was our second favorite of the day. July 2023/November 2024

2015 Le P’tit Paysan Petite Sirah, Monterey County, $22 (#1478)             

My Impressions:  This vintage was very pleasant and a touch sweet.  We liked this wine. 2024

2016 Le P’tit Paysan Petite Sirah, Monterey County, $23 (#1479)

My Impressions: I’m surprised that I don’t already have tasting notes for this wine. This vintage was light on the palate, dancing with a cherry finish. November 2024

THE TASTING ROOM

The I Brand & Family Tasting Room, located at 19 Carmel Valley Road in Carmel Valley Village. It is open Thursday – Monday, 11 am – 5 pm.  Reservations are recommended – more information here.

© Decanting Monterey 2024

*FOLLOW ME ON Instagram, Facebook, and CELLAR TRACKER: Central Coast Sharon

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