by Josh Raynolds
Nov/Dec 07
2006 Margerum Wine Company Pinot Gris Alisos Vineyard Santa Barbara 89
($16) Light straw. Bright green apple and quince aromas are sharpened
by citrus zest and tangy minerality. Crisp lemon and orchard fruit
flavors display impressive focus and a brisk white pepper quality.
Finishes dry and clean. Owner/winemaker Doug Margerum says this would
be ideal with raw shellfish, or with a rich scallop dish.
2006 Margerum Wine Company Sauvignon Blanc Santa Ynez Valley 89
($18) Greenish straw. Vibrant grapefruit and pear on the nose, with a
firm undercurrent of herbs and white flowers adding complexity and
verve. Tangy and fresh but also nicely concentrated, offering bright
citrus pith and honeydew flavors, and finishing with a bitter
grapefruit bite. Those who demand fat on their white wine bones won't
find this as satisfying as I did.
2006 Margerum Wine Company Sauvignon Blanc Vogelzang Vineyard Santa Ynez Valley 90
($28) Pale straw. Impressively complex bouquet offers resiny matsutake
mushroom, lime and peach pit scents, with talc-y mineral qualities and
a sharp blast of white pepper. Citrus and pit fruit flavors are
complicated by musky earth and toasted grain; the finish is broad and
chewy. Exotic stuff: I wonder how civilized palates will react to this?
This would work wonders with a wild mushroom risotto.
2006 Margerum Wine Company Rose Santa Barbara County 88
($15; all saignee grenache) Pale pink. Stony strawberry and redcurrant
on the nose, with a fresh floral quality adding energy. Clean and
brisk, with bright red berry flavors and a bitter citrus pith finishing
bite. A refreshing aperitif style of rose.
2005 Margerum Wine Company M5 Santa Barbara County 89(+?)
($28; a Rhone blend incorporating syrah, grenache, mourvedre, cinsault
and counoise, plus dashes of a few other odds and ends) Bright red.
Vibrant, spicy red berry and cracked pepper on the nose, with a deeper
tobacco quality. Fresh and juicy, offering bitter red fruit flavors,
very good focus and lightly chewy tannic grip. Gains a bit of sweetness
on the finish but this is awfully primal right now. Give it a couple
years in the cellar.
2006 Margerum Wine Company M5 Santa Ynez Valley 90
($28; more syrah this year) Medium, bright-rimmed red. Sexy raspberry
and white pepper on the nose, with a subtle anise quality adding
complexity. Bright raspberry and cherry flavors offer impressive depth
and urgency, fleshing out with air but maintaining verve. There's an
impressive delicacy and understatement here that reminded me of pinot
noir. It should be noted that Margerum's winery boasts an impressive
set of racks filled with some of the greatest Burgundies and Rhones-and
even some Bordeaux too. As the long-time owner of The Wine Cask in
Santa Barbara, which for years was one of the country's top retailers
of the best European wines, Margerum brings a particularly broad
perspective to making wines in California.
2005 Margerum Wine Company Syrah Purisima Mountain Vineyard Santa Ynez Valley 90(+?)
($40) Bright red. Intensely floral bouquet of dark cherry, cassis,
mocha, licorice and suave vanillin oak. Restrained dark fruit flavors
deliver excellent flavor punch but are reined in by fine-grained
tannins that extend through the finish. Very northern Rhone in style,
and likely to develop more complexity with a few years cellaring.
Margerum noted that "this is always the most elegant wine in the
cellar."
2005 Margerum Wine Company Syrah Colson Canyon Vineyard Santa Barbara County 89
($40) Deep ruby. Wild, meaty cherry and blackcurrant aromas are
deepened by printer's ink and licorice. Dense and thick, offering
sweet, liqueur-like dark berry flavors, bitter chocolate and succulent
herbs. Gains grip as well as juiciness on the long, powerful finish.
This needs a serious hunk of grilled red meat.
2005 Margerum Wine Company Syrah Uber Santa Barbara County 91
($60) Inky ruby. Emphatically perfumed nose offers an exotic bouquet of
cassis, bitter cherry, candied violet, tobacco and cured meat; smells
like Hermitage. Deeply concentrated dark fruit flavors are surprisingly
energetic and pure, gaining weight and a sexy violet pastille quality
on the back. Balances power and finesse gracefully, finishing sweet,
juicy and long. Leaves a lingering impression of sexy oak spice behind,
which adds to its appeal and complexity. Margerum practically insists
that this be served with Monbriac cheese.
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