1. Reustle/PrayerRockVnyd: One of the members in our group is a big fan of SteveReustle's wines. I'd never heard of them before, nor ever tried any UmpquaVlly wines. So Skip made arrangements for these first 6 wines to be sent us to try. The Gloria came from his own stash.
Reustle was the first in the USofA to release a Gruner, in 2005. Being a folower of GV in Calif, I was
eager to try their rendition. It spoke strongly of GV and a very well-made wine. Not quite the intensity
of the Carlisle or the Solminer in Calif, but better than most of the other ones I've tried.
Of the whites, most people's favorite seemed to be the Riesling. It had strong pineapple character w/
some Germanic valve oil nots and not the tutti-fruity character of some OR/WA Rieslings.
I was quite impressed by Steve's reds, especially the last four, particularly the two Syrahs. The Gloria's was as good a Syrah as any you can find in Calif.
These were my first wines from the UmpquaVlly. Looking at the pics of the area and tasting the reds, they reminded me a lot of the wines from JohnCabot's HumboltCnty vnyd and some of those from StuBewley's Alder Springs vnyd, with their slightly herbal/earthy character. Definitely an area I'd like to explore. A real discovery for me.
TomHill
