The Cork
I went for my trusty corkscrew, quickly pulled the cork out and cachunk. Three pieces. I should have known better. I was opening a 2006 Patriarche, and an old cork requires a little more patience and finesse if you want it to come out in one piece.
We don’t open older vintages of our wines very often, but every August we hold a vertical tasting of Patriarche, our signature Rhône-style blend. It’s a chance to see how the wine changes over the years and, just as interestingly, how differently each vintage is aging.
A few days before the event, Carrie decided we should taste through the whole lineup and work on tasting notes for the weekend. We had the 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018 ready.
This time I reached for my trusty Ah-So cork puller.
It’s sentimental to me because it belonged to my grandparents, and it’s definitely vintage. “West Germany” is stamped on the side. An Ah-So, also called a two-prong cork puller, doesn’t put a screw through the cork. Instead, two thin prongs slide down between the cork and the bottle. With a little twisting, patience and finesse, even a fragile old cork can come out intact. Usually.
The Lineup
The evening when we were tasting the lineup, Carrie was making tacos. They smelled great, but the house was quickly overpowered by spicy aromatics, which isn’t exactly ideal when you’re trying to come up with tasting notes. So one by one I carried each glass outside. I’d smell and taste a wine, jot down some notes, go back inside for the next glass and repeat.
Holly came over for dinner and tasted through them too. On one of the wines she pointed out something that hit her in the back of the mouth in a not-so-pleasant way. Maybe that one still needed some time. My favorite was the 2018, which wasn’t particularly surprising. I usually favor younger wines.
The next day, Carrie and I were talking about the flight and agreed that none of them had really knocked our socks off. Even the current-release, 2023, wasn’t tasting quite the way it usually does. “Maybe it’s the phase of the moon,” I said. I was only halfway joking. We have noticed over the years that sometimes the exact same wine simply tastes better on one day than another. There are plenty of possible explanations, including what you’ve eaten, the weather, your surroundings and probably your own mood. Wine people have been blaming the moon for this sort of thing for a long time.
I checked. Waning crescent. Yep.
Carrie thought it would be fun for everyone if we added an even older wine to the weekend lineup, so I pulled out a 2005. We still had a few cases tucked away. I successfully pulled the cork. Oh wow. The 2005 was good. Really good. And funny because it hadn’t always been one of my favorite vintages. I remembered it as being very earthy, without nearly as much fruit as some of the other years. Now it was mature and soft, with dried chilies, fruit, chocolate, mint and flowers, finishing with this surprisingly jammy fruit character.
We also brought home the 2024 to taste in the lineup which will be released next month. At the opposite end of the spectrum, it was super youthful, spicy and juicy, with dark berry fruit, ripe figs, black tea, black pepper and a little guava-like character. It was luscious and mouth-filling with a long fruity, spicy finish.
Twenty years apart, and I enjoyed them both.
The Weekend
It turned out to be the hottest weekend of the year, but thankfully we had a nice breeze and kept the misters going. We ended up with three corked bottles over the course of the weekend. When it rains, it pours.
One of our longtime customers stopped by and showed us a photo of her late husband holding his own Patriarche vertical at home. Several vintages were lined up on the table, ready to taste. It was pretty special to see that these bottles had inspired their own vertical long before this weekend. As we poured his wife each vintage, she declared, “This is my favorite!” Then we poured the next one. “This is my favorite!” And so it went through the lineup.
She wasn’t alone in her enthusiasm. Another longtime customer told us, “I’ve never had a bad Patriarche.” Although everyone’s favorites were different, the 2005 had a surprisingly strong following. Was it really the best wine? Or was there a little bit of what one customer called “forbidden fruit” involved? We offered every other vintage for sale that weekend. The 2005 was the one wine you could taste but couldn’t buy.
That’s the fun, and occasionally the frustration, of opening old wine. Corks break. Wines get corked. A vintage that didn’t excite you years ago can suddenly be your favorite. And sometimes the exact same wine just seems to taste better on one day than another.
Then you pull a cork and let the wine have the last word, or, as one customer put it in a single word: “Yum.”
Cheers Gary Tamblin.
Josh Bendick
co-winemaker
Tasting notes below
2005
Very nice bright color for its age. Dried chilies and fruit, chocolate, mint, a little earth and very floral, almost jasmine-like. Very soft in the mouth with a jammy fruit finish and light tannins.
2010
Earthy with an oyster/mussel-shell character, cedar and sage. Raspberry syrup, bubble gum and floral highlights come out as it opens. Very fruity and spicy in the mouth with a very long finish and medium-light tannins.
2012
There’s that oystery, marine character again with lots of earth and spice. Very dark aromatics and dark cherry fruit, opening to floral highlights. Luscious in the mouth with a long strawberry and cotton-candy finish.
2013
Very earth-driven with savory smoked meats, smoky oak, ripe plum and a little cassis. Floral highlights way in the background. Savory in the mouth with a smoky finish and smooth tannins.
2014
Roasted coffee, savory meats, dark chocolate and ripe cherries. Bonbons, faint smoke, herbes de Provence, dried raisins and floral notes. Wow! Very big in the mouth with rich, ripe fruit, a smoky finish and medium-light tannins.
2016
Sweet hickory smoke, red fruits and lots of fresh herbs reminiscent of herbes de Provence. Very floral. Big and coating in the mouth with a long, pleasant fruity, spicy and smoky finish.
2017
Caramel, strawberry, cherry and raspberry. Lots of fruit with fresh oregano and other herbs. Spicy overall in the aroma. Light in the mouth with an easy, short finish.
2018
Lots of ripe fruit with an earthiness and surprising youthfulness. A hint of bubble gum, baking spices, fresh green leaves from the garden and floral aromatics. Big and luscious in the mouth with a very long ripe and syrupy-fruit finish.
2024
Super youthful. Very spicy aromas with dark berry fruit, ripe figs, black tea, florals and black pepper, along with that Grenache-like guava character. Luscious and very mouth-filling with a long fruity and spicy finish
One Response
What I love about Josh and Carrie is the passion they have for their wines (especially Patriarch) and the excitement they have for their winery and brewery. This is a hidden gem in the foothills. What Tom and Holly started Carrie and Josh have expounded on! Josh is also a great cook and they do wonderful pairings!