Seminar two's wines

Hospice du Rhône is dedicated to advancing the cause of wines made from the Rhône varieties, and this annual event, now in its 19th year, brings together hundreds of Rhône wine lovers at the Mid-State Fairgrounds in Paso Robles, California. The event kicked off Friday night, with the Rhône n Bowl tournament, but kicked into high gear today, with two seminars, a rosé-themed lunch, four hours of afternoon tasting and an evening soirée filled with big bottles.

Avignon native and Mix Las Vegas Sommelier Christophe Tassan moderated the first seminar, which introduced the wines of the Rhône Valley through the words and wines of three producers: Michel Gassier of Château de Nages in Costières de Nimes, Nicolas Haeni of Domaine de Cabasse in Séguret and Albéric Mazoyer of Domaine Alain Voge in Cornas. To be honest, it was probably a little too basic for the sophisticated, knowledgeable crowd, who might have preferred more details on the winemaking and terroirs.

Fortunately, seminar two filled those gaps, with Joey Tensley of Tensley Wines and Morgan Twain-Peterson of Bedrock Wine Co. describing in depth the various vineyard sources and vinifications of 10 different California Syrahs. Perhaps most illuminating was Twain-Peterson’s 2008 trio, harvested from the same vineyard on the same date, with only the winemaking differences to account for the variation in the finished wines.

And the differences were striking. The wine made with 90% whole clusters and matured in used demi-muids (“Cornas style”)  finished with 14.2% alcohol; the second wine, cofermented with 8% Viognier and matured in new puncheons (“Cote Rotie-style”) finished with 14.6% alcohol; the third wine, barrel fermented and matured in new oak barrels (“Aussie style”) finished with 15.1% alcohol. Twain-Peterson attributed much of the variation to the thickness of the staves in each of the different aging vessels. The wine geeks in the crowd were loving this stuff.

After lunch, at which importer Patrick Will, Vintus LLC vice president of brand management and development, was honored as the Hospices Person of the Year, the crowd streamed back inside for the afternoon tasting, meant to showcase special bottlings or library wines. Some of the highlights included Bob Lindquist pouring Qupé‘s 2001 Bien Nacido Hillside Estate Syrah, Château de Beaucastel‘s 2007 Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Lagier Meredith‘s 2002 and 2006 Syrahs from Mount Veeder, and Elderton‘s 2001 Command Shiraz from the Barossa, served out of a 6-liter bottle.

The evening meal brought even more big bottles out, with magnums from many of the participants lined on the bar. A 2004 Domaine Les Pallières Gigondas was surprisingly charming, while Augie Hug‘s 2003 Basseti Ranch Rena Block Syrah still showed tremendous potential. But it was another Aussie 6-liter that stole the show, courtesy of Torbreck‘s Dave Powell. His 2004 The Factor was a true tour de force of Barossa Shiraz, a fitting end to 12 hours of old friends, new acquaintances and wine, wine, wine.

I can’t wait for tomorrow’s tastings.

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