2014 Keplinger Sumo Shake Ridge, USA, California, Amador County, Wine Review

This is a blend of 84% Petite Sirah, 13% Syrah and 3% Viognier from the home winery of star winemaker Helen Keplinger. Inky purple in color. The nose has boysenberries, graphite, asphalt and some cherries. With air some roasted meats come out. A wonderful lush texture. Firm tannins. This has lots of depth but is still young and tight. It is delicious though. Black raspberries, with underlying char on the palate. Clean. Long finish. This drinks great on its own right now but will need big food. It should continue to improve over the next five to ten years and be good for ten more, at least, after that. Certainly some upside on the score.

Grade:

Score:

Vintage:

2014

Current Price:

$70.00USD

2016 Keplinger Sumo Shake Ridge, USA, California, Amador County, wine Review

Vintage:

2016

Score:

Grade:

Current Price:

$75.00USD

I am a big fan of the Helen Keplinger wines. This one is 84% Petite Sirah, 13% Syrah, and 3% Viognier. It does need some cellaring or lots of air if serving now, but it is delicious. Inky purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose has black raspberries, blueberries, smoke, slight charred earth and black pepper. On the palate, this is a big wine, but has great delineation. Layers, tightly packed of blueberries, black raspberries and charred wood. Great energy. This probably needs about five to eight more years until peak and should drink beautifully for ten to twelve after that. I

America's Best Rhone Style White Wines: 11th Annual Rhone Rangers Tasting Reviewed

The Rhone Report: About Rhone and Rhone-Style Wines and Winemakers is part of an ongoing series. Like many lovers of Rhone style wines from America, we have just returned from the 2008 edition of the annual Rhone Rangers tasting event at Fort Mason in San Francisco (March 18). This was the 11th year that the Rhone Rangers , a group of about 200 American producers of wines using 22 varietals traditional to France’s Rhone Valley, have shown off their wines at this public tasting event. This year, about 138 wineries presented approximately 520 wines. During the tasting, we enthusiastically tasted as many wines as we could within the 5 hours (3 public and 2 trade/media) the event was open. We tasted 30 white wines first, and then we tasted 50 reds. We skipped the rosés, not because we don’t love them, but because we didn’t have time. Kudos to Rhone Rangers for providing eco-friendly paper spit cups instead of the plastic cups so common at other tastings. We divided our attention between wines and producers we have known previously, producers new to us, and specific bottlings we didn’t already know. While we found many wines to admire, we are sure we missed other gems.

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2008 Hospice du Rhone Events: Highs & Lows of American Rhone-style Wines Tasted

The Rhone Report: About Rhone and Rhone-Style Wines and Winemakers is part of an ongoing series. The 16th annual Hospice du Rhone events in Paso Robles, California from May 1 to 3, 2008 was an opportunity to consider Rhone-style wines from a fresh perspective. Unlike most tasting opportunities, these events included Rhone-style wines from the Rhone Valley itself (51 wineries), elsewhere in France (4 wineries) as well as from Spain (4 wineries), Australia (17 wineries), South Africa (6 wineries), Chile (2 wineries), Argentina (1 winery) and the United States. The American wines were mostly from California (144 wineries), but a few examples from Arizona (2 wineries) and Washington State (5 wineries) were also included. While this is a California-dominated event, and while many of the Rhone Valley’s best producers aren’t represented, there is still sufficient European and other entries to make for interesting comparisons and contrasts. The events included two general tastings and a series of focused seminars.

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America’s Best Rhone Style Red Wines: 11th Annual Rhone Rangers Tasting Reviewed

The Rhone Report: About Rhone and Rhone-Style Wines and Winemakers is part of an ongoing series. Last month we discussed the white Rhone style wines offered at the 2008 Rhone Rangers tasting event at Fort Mason in San Francisco on March 18. This month we turn to the reds, of which we tasted 50. Among those we tasted were some old favorites and some wineries or bottlings with which we were not yet familiar. We don’t pretend that we tasted a representative group of wines, because our sample was skewed to wines we have loved in the past and others about which we have heard positive comments.

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Top Ten California Syrahs - 2016

I tend to taste and drink a lot of wine over the course of a year. I am in a few tasting groups, sometimes the wines are consumed at various local wine store tastings and a number drunk with friends and family.

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2014 Keplinger Sumo Shake Ridge, USA, California, Amador County, Wine Review

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2016 Keplinger Sumo Shake Ridge, USA, California, Amador County, wine Review

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