2014 SonkinCellars Unmasked, USA, California, Mendocino, Yorkville Highlands, Wine Review

Disclaimer - biased wine review. This may be the best wine we ever made. It is still young and tight and should improve over the next five to seven years. It is made entirely with Halcon fruit. Inky purple in color. The nose has boysenberries, black pepper, slight baking spices, slight earthiness and roasted herbs. On the palate, I love the texture of this wine. Deep if still tightly layered. The biggest difference between this and other Halcon based wines, is that this is a bit riper. Juicy boysenberry fruit over and bit of char and minerals. Long finish. Good acidity. This should go well with roasts and stews. I believe that it has at least fifteen years left. If you only have one, wait a few years.

Grade:

Score:

Vintage:

2014

Current Price:

$53.00USD

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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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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2012 SonkinCellars Unmasked, USA, California, Mendocino, Yorkville Highlands, Wine Review

Vintage:

2012

Score:

Grade:

Current Price:

$45.00USD

This vintage seemed so open at first but eventually got tight. This took some air/time to open up once the cork was popped. Purple in color. The nose is nice with boysenberries, charcoal, black pepper and just a bit of tobacco. On the palate, this has a nice texture. Lots of boysenberry fruit but tightly packed. A nice backbone of acidity. Good finish. It is a cooler climate Syrah and Halcon takes a while to mature. It still needs another three to five years and should be good for a decade or more after that. Disclaimer, I was part of the team that made this wine so I may be a li

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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2012 SonkinCellars Unmasked, USA, California, Mendocino, Yorkville Highlands, Wine Review

Vintage:

2012

Score:

Grade:

Biased review as this is our own winery. I post this as guidance for anyone thinking of opening a bottle. Purple in color. The nose has boysenberries, grilled meat, black pepper, slight iodine. On the palate, this is still young. It needs air or cellar time. Medium tannins. Juicy boysenberry fruit. An underlying char. Good finish. Very food friendly but works on its own. Still should see some upside.

2014 SonkinCellars Unmasked, USA, California, Mendocino, Yorkville Highlands, Wine Review

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2012 SonkinCellars Unmasked, USA, California, Mendocino, Yorkville Highlands, Wine Review