Catching Up On My Reading…
01/07/2013
The holidays provided the perfect opportunity to catch up on some light reading. Both my home and office seem to have stacks of magazines that I rarely have time for anymore, but the Top 100 Issue of Wine Spectator was one that I had been looking forward to. There hadn’t been the usual excitement from friends about “have you heard so and so is in the Top 10”, so I was a bit curious—and anxious—to see who in fact did make the list.
I generally pass up the majority of the editorial content, but have to admit I look forward to reading Jim Laube’s page. He took the opportunity to give his “state of the union” address. I read with interest his thoughts on New Zealand’s triumphs with Pinot and love affair with the screw cap, California AVAs and their continuing focus on the grapes that make them shine, as in Paso Robles where the Rhones continue to gain momentum, the clarity for Sonoma with Pinot and Chard and Napa for Cabernet. He mentioned the continuing debate over ripeness and China’s continued growth as a player in the industry. These are all hot topics which rightfully deserve comment and which we all have our thoughts on. I’d enjoy hearing your comments on them.
The Top 100 was what I was after and as I opened page 48 I saw the Shafer’08 Relentless as the Wine of the Year. I guess the ’08 vintage wasn’t as challenging for Cabernet in Napa as it had been for some Pinot producers. And it was immediately clear that Pinot had not continued its growing prominence on the list overall. In fact, California Pinot only had 4 places in the top 75 wines, headed by Dick Shea’s ’09 Estate Pinot from Oregon at number 7! Kosta Brown, who in recent years has been sprinkled on the list, finally appeared with their Russian River bottling at number 91 and a few others were included along the way. Congratulations are in order to Dick and Dierdre Shea for their efforts and on the ’09 wine. We purchased our first fruit from them in 2008 and I’ve loved the resulting wines we made under the Roessler label. I also want to congratulate old friend Tadeo Borchardt—his Neyers 2010 Chardonnay ranked 63rd on the list. He worked with us at Copain Custom Crush back in 2002 and 2003 before moving on to greater things at Neyers where he is doing a fantastic job with consistent great reviews on his wines.
Further reading led me to the back pages where my eyes moved quickly to the California Rhone wines to see how they were shaping up. To my surprise there was our 2010 R2 Rhapsody with a gratifying 88 point score from Mr. Laube himself! “A rustic earth and sage edge gives the berry and plum flavors a nice foil in this red, which turns dry, ending with a savory dried berry note.” R2 Wine Company had finally made the Wine Spectator! For good or for bad, we all look to the media to see how they merit our body of work. From the day I heard that we were on the cover of the September 2009 issue of the Wine Spectator with our Roessler Savoy Vineyard Pinot to the uneasy feeling I had when two years later one of our Roessler Red Label Pinots was awarded a lowly 82 points, I knew the feeling which can lead to the highs and lows we experience. I have to say I was happy to finally see R Squared in the magazine, and hope we see more great reviews as we move forward.
What a great way to start off 2013! Happy New Year to you all!
I generally pass up the majority of the editorial content, but have to admit I look forward to reading Jim Laube’s page. He took the opportunity to give his “state of the union” address. I read with interest his thoughts on New Zealand’s triumphs with Pinot and love affair with the screw cap, California AVAs and their continuing focus on the grapes that make them shine, as in Paso Robles where the Rhones continue to gain momentum, the clarity for Sonoma with Pinot and Chard and Napa for Cabernet. He mentioned the continuing debate over ripeness and China’s continued growth as a player in the industry. These are all hot topics which rightfully deserve comment and which we all have our thoughts on. I’d enjoy hearing your comments on them.
The Top 100 was what I was after and as I opened page 48 I saw the Shafer’08 Relentless as the Wine of the Year. I guess the ’08 vintage wasn’t as challenging for Cabernet in Napa as it had been for some Pinot producers. And it was immediately clear that Pinot had not continued its growing prominence on the list overall. In fact, California Pinot only had 4 places in the top 75 wines, headed by Dick Shea’s ’09 Estate Pinot from Oregon at number 7! Kosta Brown, who in recent years has been sprinkled on the list, finally appeared with their Russian River bottling at number 91 and a few others were included along the way. Congratulations are in order to Dick and Dierdre Shea for their efforts and on the ’09 wine. We purchased our first fruit from them in 2008 and I’ve loved the resulting wines we made under the Roessler label. I also want to congratulate old friend Tadeo Borchardt—his Neyers 2010 Chardonnay ranked 63rd on the list. He worked with us at Copain Custom Crush back in 2002 and 2003 before moving on to greater things at Neyers where he is doing a fantastic job with consistent great reviews on his wines.
Further reading led me to the back pages where my eyes moved quickly to the California Rhone wines to see how they were shaping up. To my surprise there was our 2010 R2 Rhapsody with a gratifying 88 point score from Mr. Laube himself! “A rustic earth and sage edge gives the berry and plum flavors a nice foil in this red, which turns dry, ending with a savory dried berry note.” R2 Wine Company had finally made the Wine Spectator! For good or for bad, we all look to the media to see how they merit our body of work. From the day I heard that we were on the cover of the September 2009 issue of the Wine Spectator with our Roessler Savoy Vineyard Pinot to the uneasy feeling I had when two years later one of our Roessler Red Label Pinots was awarded a lowly 82 points, I knew the feeling which can lead to the highs and lows we experience. I have to say I was happy to finally see R Squared in the magazine, and hope we see more great reviews as we move forward.
What a great way to start off 2013! Happy New Year to you all!
Post By:
Roger Roessler
Comments
Mark Roessler - 09/06/2014
http://www.roesslerco.com
Roger Planning a trip your way next summer. You have been busy it appears Are you still around San Francisco Mark