Archive for the Jim Cowan Category

Jim Cowan Photo by Chris Witkowski - click to enlarge

The 2012 archive is presented by date the notes were compiled and submitted. Prior year’s tasting notes may be found here.

January 16, Winter Whites, etc

Florida “winters,” warm as they are, often suggest white/pink wine and lighter meals. For those rare days when we hit the 40’s, we break out the reds. By the predominance of white/pink noted below, you can pretty much guess how mild our January has been.

Red:

2010 Achaval Ferrer, Malbec Mendoza:
14.5% alcohol; a big wine, quite concentrated, round, rich and bordering on overdone, but it is saved by the absence of apparent oak and a fairly complex flavor profile. Not a wine for anything but the rarest steak; not even assorted cheeses paired well. About $15.

So, on another day, I grilled a porterhouse (rare) and tried again; good pairing. There is an aroma that I think smells like wet nori but is probably oak related; it’s not unpleasant but unusual; the wine seems to lose some of its weight and richness and gain complexity with the steak. And it’s a more balanced pairing. No doubt, this wine was made for rare beef. Thanks Tom. Find this wine

(Aside: For the style of wine this is, it is well executed. But this is not a style of wine that I have much use for as I eat very little rare beef and find this kind of wine overwhelming in its absence.)

2008 Calluna Vineyards, Calluna Estate:
14.9% alcohol; a blend of 35% cab. sauvignon, 32% merlot, 18% malbec, 12% cab. franc, 3% petit verdot, from the Chalk Hill AVA; too much new oak at this young age but considerable spice on the nose and palate sourced therefrom; concentrated, rich and weighty but has plenty of acidity, plush tannins, some complexity, and good sustain. We had this with a red-sauced pasta with egg plant and chicken sausage and it went very well. But by itself, this is simply too young and big for me. No overt evidence of the alcohol but identifiably CA. Decant and have with food unless you like ‘em BIG. About $50. Find this wine

(Aside: In the rarified world of CA Cabernet, $50 is well under the norm. But $50 doesn’t sound inexpensive to me. Everything is relative, I suppose, but when I think of what else I can buy with that much money . . .)

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Jim Cowan Photo by Chris Witkowski - click to enlarge

The 2011 archive part 2 is presented by date the notes were compiled and submitted. Part 1 may be found here. Prior year’s tasting notes may be found here.

December 10, 2011

A very nice dinner with friends included the following:

2006 Overnoy, Arbois Pupillin:
Crisp, clean and deep – perhaps not typical descriptors for Overnoy but in this vintage, certainly appropriate. A unique flavor profile to any other poulsard I have tasted and a wine I never tire of. Lovely. Find this wine

2006 Allemand, Cornas both the Chaillot and Reynard:
The Chaillot is pretty open and forthcoming for being so young and it is complex, even now. The Reynard is a coiled spring and made of sterner stuff; clearly we are too early to this bottle, but its promise is evident. Both are obviously Cornas and obviously Allemand. And both accompanied my steak very well indeed. Thanks Justin. Find Allemand Cornas Chaillot and Find Allemand Cornas Reynard

I have given up writing any notes on my wines except those not yet released. There are only about 15 cases of the 2008 Skin-Fermented Sauvignon Blanc and I tried a bottle recently.

I am pleased with where this has gone; it’s darker than when first bottled (think burnished copper), softer and has developed some ginger and sauvage notes while maintaining its balance and skin-fermented character. Starting, I think, to tend into Gravner-esque territory. I do hope our 2010 Isa does this with age.

Beautiful with squash soup.

I also recently tasted the as yet unreleased 2009 Calluna Vineyards, Merlot Aux Raynauds and was surprised by how European it came across. This one needs several years in the bottle but promises to be the kind of merlot I actually like, that is to say, merlot without the chocolate, oak signature so many CA merlots have. No “booty” here, just a focused and layered wine. Impressive and dandy with beef stroganoff. Thanks David. Find this wine

Calluna is located in the Chalk Hill AVA here in Sonoma County.

The 2008 Occipinti, Frappato is a thing of beauty; smells a bit like gamay but reminds me more of something from the Jura when tasted. I have never had this grape before so I apologize for the comparisons but it was excellent wine with good grip and sustain. Thanks Garrett. Find this wine

And one last comment; for those of you in the Oakland area, do not miss the wine bar called Punchdown at 2212 Broadway. They have two wine lists; one by the bottle or carafe, and one by the glass. Both are extraordinarily well chosen, filled with things esoteric and unusual, and loaded with quality. The service is provided by the owners (always a good thing) and the noshes are delicious. Finally, a good reason to go to Oakland.

Best, Jim
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With much anticipation, Cowan Cellars has announced its first release. Way to go, Jim and Diane!!  We wish you both much success in this and upcoming releases.

The wines are:

2010 Isa (skin-fermented white)
2010 Pinot Noir, Bennett Valley
2010 Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast.

You can read about these wines on here.

You can read a little about the history behind these wines here.

You may purchase these wines here.

Jim Cowan Photo by Chris Witkowski - click to enlarge

The 2011 archive is presented by date the notes were compiled and submitted. Prior year’s tasting notes may be found here

April 24, 2011

2001 F.X. Pichler, Riesling M:
13% alcohol; this wine has shed the fat and viscosity of its youth to become both more balanced and less powerful. Clean scents of fruit and spring water; balanced in the mouth with solid flavors, some nuance and excellent balance; good length. In its youth, one could see this developing a richness and depth that would stun; instead, it has become more feminine and contained. Not what I expected but very good with “bubble and squeak.” Three days later: after being re-corked and refrigerated, this came out with the texture of Welch’s White Grape Juice mixed with pineapple syrup. I liked it better upon opening. Find this wine

2008 Bedrock, Cuvée Caritas:
14.1% alcohol; fairly expressive nose with fruit and mineral tones, some resin; a pretty good flavor profile that shows a bit too much new wood influence, there aren’t any oak flavors nor does it smell of wood but the mid-palate texture is amped up (as new wood will do) and the fruit is noticeably deadened; medium finish. Later vintages of this wine seem to be more dialed in as far as the oak goes and have better balance. Find this wine

1999 Lafarge, Volnay Vendages Selectionées:
13% alcohol; substantial VA on the nose with an impression of tannin but, even still, the cherry (both black and red) comes through; brooding, tannic and moderately unbalanced in the mouth but the Volnay texture is there and the tannin is not too drying; medium length. A flawed wine but, curiously, an interesting one. Find this wine

Best, Jim

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Jim Cowan Photo by Chris Witkowski - click to enlarge

The 2010 archive is presented by date the notes were compiled and submitted.  This is Part 2 of the archive.  Part 1 may be found here.

December 22, 2010

2005 Luneau-Papin, Muscadet Pueri Solis:
12% alcohol; smells close to corked; tastes similar; not much here for me although, with the proper food this is better than something that really is corked. Find this wine

2002 Verget, Chablis Vaillons:
13% alcohol; rich on both the nose and palate with a full-ish delivery and good sustain. A damn nice wine – and I| don’t usually give Verget the props. Find this wine

2004 de Vilaine, Mercury Les Montots:
12.5% alcohol; pretty green to start with but this came alive with a spicy corn dish. Probably less than what I want (at least, right now) but has its place. Find this wine

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Jim Cowan and Russell Bevan (Photo by Bruce Leiserowitz) Click to enlarge

(See August, 2010 update below)

In the fall of 2005, Russell Bevan gave me a call. Russell and I had been friends for almost a decade, wine buddies from the start. I had visited countless times and been a guest at his house on several occasions. But this call wasn’t about a party or a tour; this was a request to come out and help work the harvest for his new enterprise, Bevan Cellars. I am retired so I had the time. As it turned out, it was the beginning of my interest in starting my own label, Cowan Cellars.

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Jim Cowan - photo by Allan Bree - Click to enlarge

The 2010 archive is presented by date the notes were compiled and submitted.  This is Part 1 of the archive.  Part 2 may be found here.

August 7, 2010

2007 Francois Cotat, Sancerre Rose:
Very slight residual sugar, pleasant aromas and flavors of strawberry and melon, good acidity and balance and a medium finish. A nice wine but not even in the same world as the 2009 Tempier, Rose. 13% alcohol. find this wine

2002 Francois Chidaine, Montlouis Les Choisilles:
Sour to begin with but it comes around with airing; a nice balanced chenin with good fruit, light complexity and decent length. Nothing to write home about but better than quaffable. find this wine

2005 Rochioli, Pinot Noir Little Hill:
Although obviously a fine wine, this did not open completely over the course of an evening; so if you have it, hold it. 14.2% abv with a slightly sour but very expansive nose; excellent fruit flavors with gentle oak, some finesse and good length. It will be more than it is now. find this wine

2006 Overnoy, Arbois-Pupillin (rouge):
What it always is – a conversation stopper. Served to a bunch of CA wine geeks that initially didn’t like it – “where’s the fruit?” By the end of the evening, three out of four were converts. Looks and smells old, more savory than fruit driven with both elegance and rusticity and a fine grained finish that lasts. I love this wine and to see such CA centric folks wind-up digging poulsard – ‘gives me hope. find this wine

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All notes, except as otherwise noted, were from bottles that were opened and drunk with a meal over an extended period.  The 2009 archive is divided into the following categories:  Bubbles, Red, White and Rosé
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