Central Coast

• Edna Valley
• Mt. Harlan
• Paso Robles
  • Willow Creek

From Terry Hoage, this is a blend of 66% Syrah, 23% Mourvèdre and 11% Grenache.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is deep with black raspberries, roasted meats, black pepper, black cherries and spice.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, this has big fruit; black raspberries, black cherries, black pepper and char.  Good energy.  Long finish.  This is drinking well on its own and will work with bigger food flavors.  It went well with spicy Indian style food.  Drink over the next ten years.  

This is a 50/50 blend of Grenache and Syrah from one of the truly great vineyards in California.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with black raspberries, some black cherries, black pepper, spice, roasted meats and herbs.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  Great energy and acidity.  On the palate, this is delicious.  Not quite at peak but mature.  Flavors of black raspberries and black cherries with some spice, minerality and char.  Long finish.  Drink over the next ten years.  Great on its own, this went well with a bowl of vegetarian Chili.  

I wish I knew more about this wine.  I loved it!  Alban makes (not counting this), two different Viogniers.  They make and estate Viognier and a Central Coast Viognier.  Both are labeled as Viognier.  This one is neither of those two.  It carries the additional labelling as Sarments.  The word means cutting or scion, so I assume these vines were propagated from other vines somewhere...  Anyway, I like the Alban Estate Viognier but don't love it.  I prefer Viognier more like a Condrieu which is a region making Viognier in the Rhone Valley in France.  I would like to say the difference is in

This is a blend of 43% Syrah, 41% Grenache, and 16% Mourvedre.  15.1% abv.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is complex and strong with black raspberries, blueberries, black cherries, roasted meats and herbs, and char.  Full bodied.  Plush texture.  Great acidity.  On the palate, this is still young at age 12.  Juicy black raspberries with blueberries and black pepper.  Long finish.  Delicious.  This is great on its own and will require bigger foods.  It would be great with a hearty beef or vegetable stew.  Drink over the next ten to fifteen years.  

This is 100% Syrah.  Torrin wines are big, bold wines that really need at least a decade in most vintages to really come around for my tastes.  That said, at age 9, this was singing.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has black raspberries, smoked meats, slight bacon fat, black pepper and violets.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  Great energy.  On the palate, black raspberries, char, some blueberries and some minerality.  Long finish.  This is great on its own, but even at age 9 will be a difficult food pairing.  A nice BBQ Brisket would work.  Drink over the next ten to fif

This is a blend of 89% Syrah and 11% Graciano from the Central Coast of California.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has black raspberries, black pepper and roasted meats and herbs.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, this is drinking well.  Flavors of black raspberries with some pepper.  Good finish.  This is riper in style but not to an extreme.  It should drink well for another ten years.  Nice on its own, this will work well with hearty foods such as Roasted Acorn Squash.  

While not their "top" wine, this is an ultra premium Cabernet that is on par with Napa or any other Cabernets at this price level.  It is a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Petit Verdot.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is open and enticing.  Cassis, black raspberries, cigar box, chocolate, spice and char.

This is their basic Cabernet.  it is a blend of 77.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15.6% Petit Verdot, 6.5% Merlot, and 0.4% Cabernet Franc.  It had been in a decanter for about 45 minutes when I tried it.  Nevertheless, it was at least partially shut down at this point.  Garnet in color, mostly clear and bright.  The nose is very tight.  With some air in the glass, it opened a bit more.  Aromas of Black cherries, sandalwood and slight char.  Medium to full bodied.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, it is a bit more open.  Black cherries with some spice and char.  Moderate finish.  This wine needs time

This is a blend of 63% Syrah, 19% Mourvedre, 15% Grenache, and 3% Petite Sirah from Paso Robles.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is powerful with black raspberries, black pepper, grilled meats, black cherries, gravel and char.  Full bodied.  Lush texture.  great energy and balance.  On the palate, this is flat out delicious.  Flavors of black raspberries, black cherries, black pepper and char.  Long finish.  Still a big wine but it has calmed down since its youth.  It should drink well for another twenty years.  Great on its own, this will work well with bigger food off

This is a blend of 76% Grenache, 15% Graciano, and 9% Syrah.  It is a ripe styled Grenache that is very impressive.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has black cherries, blueberries, black raspberries, spice and roasted herbs.  Full bodied.  Light to medium tannins.  Great texture.  On the palate, flavors of black cherries and black raspberries with some minerality and char.  Long finish.  Delicious.  Great on its own, this will be a difficult food match until it ages more.  For now, ribs off the grill would work.  Drink over the next eight to twelve years.