Sweet and Sour Spectator

2001 Ojai Syrah Melville Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills (2/21/2005)
Tasted blind. Medium red/purple color, translucent. Good nose of white pepper. Shows a good tannic backbone and ample acidity balancing complex and layered cool-climate syrah tastes. Not at all pruney or over extracted. Long finish. Very elegant; a super wine capable of long aging and destined for great things. (93 pts.)

2000 Ojai Syrah Roll Ranch - USA, California, Central Coast (8/5/2004)
Still a dark purple/red. Heady aromoas of black fruits. On the palate this wine is full-bodied with tastes of brown sugar, bittersweet chocolate, kirsch and blackberries. There is a little heat on the finish, but the finish is so long and with such great structure that it doesn't distract. This is an in-your-face-style wine, but it is so much fun and so delicious. It is still a bit disjointed and will benefit from 2 years more bottle age. (93 pts.)

2000 Ojai Syrah 50% Roll Ranch 50% Bien Nacido - USA, California (6/15/2005)
Shows a super big nose of raspberries and cherries mixed with spice. The color is a brooding, opaque deep and dark purple-red. The palate shows great mouth-filling concentration with a full body, good acidity, and strong notes of pepper accenting the ripe and opulent fruit. Firm but smooth tannins make up a long and lingering finish. As Tanzer points out, this displays the lush fruit of Roll Ranch and the elegant structure of Bien Nacido. I last had a bottle of this a year ago and I was unimpressed, but this bottle was very impressive. This is a superb wine which was a treat to drink now, but which will be a knock out in two to three more years. Adam Tolmach is a gifted and talented winemaker. (93 pts.)

2001 Ojai Chardonnay Bien Nacido Vineyard - USA, California, Santa Barbara County, Santa Maria Valley (3/7/2005)
Light golden color more like a sauvignon blanc than a chardonnay; clear and bright. Nose of ripe fruit with some citrus and just a touch of vanilla. Medium body with grapefruit and mineral on the palate with good, refreshing acidity and a moderate finish with no off tastes. Not a hedonistic wine, but very well made. (89 pts.)

2001 Ojai Chardonnay Bien Nacido Vineyard - USA, California, Santa Barbara County, Santa Maria Valley (2/10/2004)
Good nose of sweet chardonnay fruit with minimal oak and a very faint whiff of soap suds. Marked, but refreshing acidity and minerals on the attack, with sweet and creamy fruit on the mid palate. A long, but slightly astringent finish. Not an especially complex chardonnay, but quite good. (89 pts.)

2000 Ojai Pinot Noir Bien Nacido Vineyard - USA, California, Santa Barbara County, Santa Maria Valley (5/19/2005)
Inky, dark red and opaque with a good nose of dark fruit, this is a monster pinot noir, sutffed full of structure, tannin and mouth-coating alcohol (14.5% - though the alcohol isn't at all obtrusive). At this stage of its evolution it is showing more like King Kong than Lauren Bacall; it is amazing that a pinot noir can have so much stuffing. I have two more bottles and I think I'll let them rest for a few years to see what happens. (89 pts.)

1998 Ojai Vin du Soleil Rouge - USA, California, Santa Barbara County (11/19/2004)
Color was a medium purple-red with a bit of thinning at the edge. Nose showed good ripe red fruits. Great ripe fruit, good balance, low acidity, good structure with mild tannins, and just a touch of residual sugar to give it body. A delicious wine that I could drink again and again. (With a traditional Coq au Vin @ Bizou). (89 pts.)

2000 Ojai Syrah Bien Nacido Vineyard - USA, California, Santa Barbara County, Santa Maria Valley (3/23/2004)
Initially, a somewhat funky nose which blew off. Then there were were hints of fruit and brown sugar, but no real impressive aromatics. The palate showed marked acidity, and good extraction. Medium body, very dry and it seems very European in style for an Ojai wine. It's nice but I wasn't tremendously impressed. I guess I am jaded by the really high quality of most of the Ojai offerings. I believe the wine will drink well for another six years or so. (88 pts.)

2000 Ojai Vin du Soleil Rouge - USA, California, Santa Barbara County (11/2/2004)
Not much nose. Palate showed a medium body, sweet red fruit (with just a hit of residual sweetness) and a smooth and balanced finish showing a bit of tannins. I had the 2000 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel a few days before this, and that was more similar to a southern rhone wine that this; the Vin du Soleil Rouge is stylistically a California wine made with rhone varietals. This wine is a good everyday wine for dinner that everyone will appreciate. (88 pts.)

2000 Ojai Pinot Noir Clos Pepe Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills (1/24/2004)
Clear dark ruby red color, with a pleasing clean nose of berries. Very Burgundy-like on the palate with good fruit, balance and moderate body. Seriously marred by a marked gritty and dry astringency on the finish. I will wait until 2005 before trying the next bottle, but I'm not holding my breath, I am not certain tannins have anything to do with this. This was not a lot of fun to drink. The rest of the bottle is going to contribute to an expensive and, hopefully, very fine Coq au Vin. (85 pts.)

And, to be completely accurate in a post entitled "I Love Ojai," I must admit that I also love the small town of Ojai, California which I regard as paradise on earth. I never miss the Ojai Music Festival.