Over the Holiday of Shavuot, and weeks that followed, I have been continuing my love for all things Rhone, meaning Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, and things like Petite Sirah and others. Over Shavuot we had one half of the Weiss Brothers with us, and it was a great time to break out my last bottle 2007 Brobdingnagian Grenache! We had a few other bottles as well, of course, but that was the winner of the night for sure.

Many of the wines we have had over the past few weeks are still available now, while some are those MUST keep wines that I hope you all start to build from great 2009/2010/2012 wines (yeah 2011 was a tough one).

Over Shavuot we served rib eye and some brisket, and it went so well with the sweet Syrah and bold wines that we enjoyed. I hope you all enjoyed the Shavuot time with wine, learning, and friends!

Over the following weeks after that we opened Summer wines, many were rose and white, which I will post separately, and many were perfect BBQ wines, like the 2011 Chabad Cuvee Zinfandel. Along with the 2011 Netofa Red made of 60% Syrah and 40% Mourvedre. We truly enjoyed the 2012 Landsman Syrah, which is good news, as some of the other Landsman have been OK but not as good as this one.

We also enjoyed a few lovely Israeli blend wines, with a mixture of Cabernet, Syrah, and other varietals. Like the 2009 Kitron Reserve LIKA, a wine named after one of his children. The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, and Merlot. The Tzora Shoresh was awesome, and the 2011 Trio was nice, but not great. I hear the 2012 Trio Grenache, a wine only available in Israel, is really impressive, look for that when in Israel next time.

Finally, the 2012 Capcanes Peraj Petita continues to blow me away, and the mevushal version of it is also very good and is actually more accessible now than the non mevushal version, which feels too tight still.

The wine notes follow below:

2007 Brobdingnagian Grenache, Santa Barbara County – Score: A
The name comes from the colossal, gigantic, extremely tall, and giant creatures discovered by Gulliver in his travels on the Northwest coast of California and is used today (although not by anyone I know) to describe anything of colossal size. That said, the wine does in many ways follow the moniker. The wine has a 16.3% alcohol, is massive in the mouth, and in the bottle! The bottle (empty) is one of the heaviest I have ever seen, quite extreme. The name of the winery, though unpronounceable by me, is one you already know by association. The wine is made by Jonathan Hajdu, the associate wine maker for Covenant Wines, owned and operated by Jeff Morgan.

The last time we opened this wine, the wine was inaccessible for many hours. However, this time the wine was immediately accessible with concentrated dried red fruit, raspberry, toast, smokey aromas, roasted animal, sweet cedar, insane and mad milk chocolate, and spice. The mouth on this browning colored wine is super concentrated, almost laser focused, and layered with dried strawberry, cranberry, raspberry, blueberry, root beer, and plum. The attack is what makes this wine; it is clean lined with heft and power, yet focused on delivering not a single but many blows of dried fruit and oak. The mid palate flows from the mouth with acidity to balance the beast, along with still searing tannins, cedar oak, and tobacco. The finish is super long and concentrated with more mouth coating tannin, sweet herb, licorice, white pepper, cloves, lovely acidity, sweet watermelon, and more spice – BRAVO!!!!

This wine has a year or so left – but I would start drinking them now for another year – drink UP mode.

2012 Covenant Syrah Landsman – Score: A- (and a bit more)
This is the second year for this “Club wine” from Covenant, and this is CLEARLY the best bottle so far this season. The second you pour this wine you hold your breath from the depth of its dark, impenetrable purple color. The wine is more a Rhone wine that a Cali Syrah, with deep rooted mineral, freshly turned earth, slate, rock, and graphite that seems to scream #2 pencil. This turns some wine lovers away, as they want fruit forward wines, but to me this wine screams control, depth, and style.

As I decanted this impenetrable purple colored wine, the decanter screamed with fresh licorice, fresh tilled earth, slight heat, freshly smoked game, and fresh black and blue fruit. The mouth on this full bodied wine is rich and layered with concentrated blackberry, boysenberry, lovely extraction, sweet cedar, and rich mouth coating tannin that linger long. The finish is long with great mineral, graphite, salty notes, crazy sweet spices, nutmeg, along with watermelon, root beer, intense smoking tobacco, and oriental spices – BRAVO!

2009 Kitron Reserve, Lika – Score: B++
The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, and Merlot. The nose on this wine shows its true Cabernet colors with rich and lovely mineral, graphite, loamy dirt, along with initial whiffs of root beer that blow off, and nice black fruit. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is layered with blackberry, raspberry, ripe plum, along with bell pepper, and mouth coating tannin that helps lift the wine, and sweet cedar. The finish is long and mineral, but lacking in the acid to bring it around, along with vanilla, tobacco, chocolate, citrus peel, oriental spices, and cloves.

2011 Domaine Netofa Red – Score: A- (QPR)
WOW! This wine really shocked me, if I tasted this blind I would have sworn it was a Zinfandel. The nose on this wine is super and very ripe, with jam like and perfumed boysenberry, spice, ripe black fruit, and nutmeg, along with crazy Zinberry that blows off after 20 minutes. The mouth is insane with concentrated jam fruit, wrapped in intense mouth coating tannin, showing lovely blue and black fruit, with spice, nice acid, along with sweet oak. The finish is long and spicy with root beer, watermelon, and spice.

2011 Cuvee Chabad Zinfandel, Napa Valley – Score: A-
This wine has sweetness to it, but the wine is more ripe than sweet and the rich smokey notes really help round the wine out. The added earthy, dirty, and roasted animal that lie in the background add to the overall wines appeal.

The nose starts off with sweet notes and heat that does recede overtime, along with great spice, black and blue fruit, roasted animal, loamy earth, and lovely dirt. The mouth on this medium bodied wine starts off hot and sweet, but with time that recedes to the background to show rich boysenberry, blackberry, dark almost liqueur kirsch cherry, ripe red plum, crushed herb, along with lovely mouth coating tannin and sweet oak. The finish is long and spicy with nutmeg, root beer, black pepper, smoky notes, and vanilla, along with a long drag of cigar and leather – BRAVO!

2012 Recanati Petite Sirah, Reserve – Score: A- (and a bit more) (MAD QPR)
This is the first year that this wine has gone from having some Zin mixed in to have none at all. This is the first year of its true PS life, and what a wine it is for the price!

The nose on this wine starts off with rich notes of roasted animal, blue fruit, blackberry, black pepper, garrigue, and intense spice. The mouth on this full bodied wine is nice, and almost complex in nature, with layer of strawberry, raspberry, blackcurrant, and blueberry, followed by hints of green notes, heavy mineral, graphite, and spice, with more roasted and toasty notes as well. The finish is long and mineral with coffee, root beer, bitter notes, Asian spice, tobacco, and more mineral that lingers long, with hints of saline, leather, and sweet herb.

2007 Tzora Vineyards Shoresh – Score: A-
This wine is a classic Australian/Israeli blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Syrah. In Israel this wine can be called a Cabernet, but the winery chose to name the blend after its roots, the Shoresh Vineyard.

The nose on this wine starts off with lovely bright and ripe fruit, blackberry, graphite, and mineral, followed by crushed herb, oriental spice, and hints of blue notes. The mouth on this full bodied wine is lovely coating with rich layers of concentrated red and black fruit, raspberry, plum, cassis, and ripe but controlled fruit, all coming together with sweet cedar, and mouth coating tannin. The finish is long and spciy with hints of green notes, bell pepper, more spice, nutmeg, leather, and tobacco – lovely and ripe – what a joyous wine! BRAVO!

2011 Trio Winery, Spirit of Alona Valley – Score: B+
The nose on this cherry colored wine starts off with rich loamy dirt, dark cherry, mineral, and herb. The mouth on this medium bodied wine falls short of my expectations, a wine made up of 80% grenache and 20% Syrah should show more oomph and gumption. Rather it shows lovely red fruit, blackberry, and mouth coating tannin that is lovely, with rich dirt, and bitter herb. The finish is long and herbal, with pith, smokey notes, dirt, and oak.

2012 Capcanes Peraj Petita – Score: A- (and more) (CRAZY MAD QPR)
This wine is a blend of 55% Grenache, 30% Tempranillo, and 15% Merlot. This is a wine that continues to excel at being a QPR superstar, and this vintage is no different. The nose on this wine is rich and black with loamy dirt, oriental spices, intense graphite, crushed herb, green notes, along with freshly paved asphalt, and earthy goodness. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is crazy with mouth gripping tannins, leather, along with layers of blackberry, black cherry, and inky notes, all coming together with oak and green notes. The finish is long and mineral based with still gripping tannin, tar, and sweet herbs that linger long. This is a wine that really needs another year to come around.