French Camp Vineyards

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  September 2009

  Lane Tanner Syrah French Camp 2004

  Snoothrank: Starting at $26^.99

  Smells like rubbing alcohol. Some berry notes in there. Very intense up front, good acid. Not really tannic and no bitter or weird after taste. I like it. Shit.

  Wine review by troyconquer

  
  

• August 2009

  Put me in the camp of unhappy campers. Let's see, 100 years ago we had no way of figuring out what was going on so we decided to classify vineyards. We assumed and in fact, forced a static approach to the wine and the region. Today, when we can go anywhere in the world, study... Read morePut me in the camp of unhappy campers. Let's see, 100 years ago we had no way of figuring out what was going on so we decided to classify vineyards. We assumed and in fact, forced a static approach to the wine and the region. Today, when we can go anywhere in the world, study the soil types and decide whether and what kind of grapes to plant, we still need some bureaucrat to tell us what we can grow and what we can call our wine? Why not "Pierres Special Blend"? And we don't have 50 years of nouveau to overcome - we have a fad that came about in the late 70s and peaked ten years later. If there were no other wine producing nations in the world, maybe. But today France has competition although they don't seem to have learned that yet. So rather than go backwards, they should be going forwards. This is the perfect way to kill innovation and the business - "The final stage will see the French appellation authority, INAO, taste the wines to establish a stylistic link between the study-defined terroirs and the wine, de Castelnau said." Thus, even if you've been making wine in the Morgon area for generations, unless you please the bureaucrat, you can't call it Morgon any more. See, these functionaires will decide what's "real" Morgon because they know. Terrible terrible terrible terrible.    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic Beaujolais GTi post your... by GregT

  
  

• June 2009

  What is terroir. Well it is certainly a point of contention. Loosely stated it is a French concept, the entire phrase is " Gout de Terroir" or, literally, taste of earth, that implies that items, when well produced, express some unique attributes that represent a "sense of place",... Read moreWhat is terroir. Well it is certainly a point of contention. Loosely stated it is a French concept, the entire phrase is " Gout de Terroir" or, literally, taste of earth, that implies that items, when well produced, express some unique attributes that represent a "sense of place", a more figurative translation of the phrase. So what does that really mean? Does it really mean that wines can taste of the minerals in the earth from which their grapes may come? Well the answer to that may be no and yes. You see while there is no scientific basis for these claim, as yet, it is undeniable that, for example, Muscadet tastes of the salty, marine and granite soils from which the wines come. However there is nor salt or granite in the wine so what's up with that? A good question but in order to be able to answer it, and in all honesty I will not be able to answer it, we really need to move beyond the idea that Terroir is exclusively this taste of the earth when it is so much more. At the heart of the debate over terroir is the definition of the word. For my purposes it is that sense of place that certain wines exhibit. When one smells a Barolo from Monvigliero for example one can smell the sandy soil but beyond that there is generally a telltale note of black olive that is uniquely Monvigliero, or should I say Verduno, the village in which the Monvigliero vineyard is located. There is some combination of soil, climate and vine that produces this identifiable trait in these wines but not in other wines that also come form the Nebbiolo grape. That to me is Terroir. So what is up with that? Well a glass of wine has hundreds or organic compounds in it, we can identify only a handful, though each person has his or her own unique  thresholds of perception so don't be fooled into thinking that we each are able to smell and taste the same things in wine.  Somehow the soil, climate and vines are able to produce unique compounds depending on the  characteristic combination of those three element. These in turn produce the signature traits that are called terroir. Now I maybe crazy, and I'll certainly be called out on this, but that means that the terroir of North Coast Pinot in California may be cola flavored low acid fruit bombs. Not my style of wine, allow me an ack! or two, ack! ack!, but that may just be what the unique melange of soil, climate and vine is able to produce. While I fully recognize that this may run counter to what the wine mafia want us all to believe I think the fact speak for themselves. What the wine mafia want you to believe is that Teroir is all about rocks, and minerals, and fresh fruit. To be even handed about this please allow me a Yum or two, yum! yum!. This is where the terroir issue gets sticky. One thing is arguing about whether terroir even exists. I'm firmly in the camp that saysit does, but not everywhere, or at least I am not able to find it in every wine. I also fall into the camp that feels that wines that are produced in very warm climates, or from grapes that are allowed to get very ripe, tend to exhibit a dreary sameness of fruit that obscures or obliterates terroir, and let's not get started on winemaking processes today! It's another thing entirely to then go one step further and narrowly define terroir to only include wine one likes, which is exactly what the wine mafia has done. Then they go around intimidating and bullying people they don't agree with. ENOUGH! It's time to just drink what you like and stop trying to move the immovable object. Let people make their own minds up on this question. I certainly advocate having an opinion and sharing those opinions freely but we need to move beyond the certitude with which we espouse our opinions. Wines are such a personal preference that it is really pointless trying to force people to like a style of wine which they may not like, may not be prepared to like, or may not be in the context to like. Share information, share opinions, state your case, and then move on. I get it. People who generally drink organic wines from the Loire and Beaujolais are not going to enjoy many big Barossa Shiraz. Conversely those who revel in the pleasure of Cult California Cabernets are just not going to flip over many bottles of Sangiovese, but really, who cares. Let everyone know what  choices we have and then let's all make our own buying decisions without belittling or insulting those who have made different decisions. So I started to write a little about terroir and ended up writing a little about wine appreciation as well. Sometimes things are not entirely as they appear and that is just a perfectly fitting note to end this on. Gregory Dal Piaz Community Manager Snooth    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic Is terroir? by Gregory Dal Piaz

  
  
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  August 2007

  Tobin James Zinfandel French Camp 2002

  Snoothrank:

  I really didn't pay much attention to Zins until I tried this one. Tasted great right after pulling the cork and just got better.

  Wine review by Tavss

  
  

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