Grin & Barrett

A retrospective of Heidi Peterson Barrett’s wines

 Storyline and photos by califusa
 Left Coast Correspondent 
 to the Gang of Pour

Never Spit!




Left Coast Correspondent Index:

Bacchus Does Sonapanoma
Cal-Italia 1998
Cal-Italia 1999
Family Winemakers 1998
ZAP '98

Heidi Peterson Barrett Retrospective Index

Introduction
Side Trip to Napa
Pre-Tasting Intro
The Tasting
Afterwards

 

THE WINES

  • 1984 Buehler
  • 1985 Buehler
  • 1986 Dalla Valle
  • 1986 Buehler
  • 1987 Buehler
  • 1991 Paradigm
  • 1992 Paradigm
  • 1993 Paradigm
  • 1994 Paradigm
  • 1995 Paradigm
  • 1990 Dalla Valle
  • 1991 Dalla Valle
  • 1992 Dalla Valle
  • 1993 Dalla Valle
  • 1994 Dalla Valle
  • 1995 Dalla Valle
  • 1996 Paradigm
  • 1996 La Sirena
  • 1996 Jones Family
  • 1994 Oakford
  • 1995 Oakford
  • 1996 Oakford

 

 

Bigdog

Bigdog, Jon Cook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greg Piatigorski (left) and Edward Berman, Broadwayboy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

George Kostyrko (L), Robin Gee (middle) and Jeff Ames

First Flight 

All of these wines showed good color, with hints of brick, but no real signs of age.

Wine A - slightly stinky nose, perhaps a hint of brett - good fruit and cigar box on the palate - well balanced and pleasurable to drink.

1985 Buehler:
My #2 in flight 
Group #1 in flight 

Wine B - light plum and cedar in the nose - very smooth entry - sweet red cherry and plum fruit flavors - good intensity - clean finish.

1984 Buehler: 
My #1 in flight 
Group #3 in flight 

Wine C - the nose opens with cedar and pine, evolving into heavy cedar aromatics - on the palate the fruit is rather nondescript, lacking in character and individuality.

1986 Dalla Valle:
My #5 in flight 
Group #5 in flight 

Wine D - pine, cedar and thyme in the nose - good fruit and firm acid structure - still shows some tannins and can probably age awhile.

1986 Buehler:
My #3 in flight 
Group #4 in flight 

Wine E - again, cedar and pine aromatics - good balance and well integrated on the palate with good fruit and oak, but lacked intensity - not enough concentration and faded a bit in the glass.

1987 Buehler: 
My #4 in flight 
Group #2 in flight 

Second Flight

Wine A - restrained in the nose - medium intensity varietal fruit and acids when it opened, but as the wine spent time in glass, the riper fruit flavors really started coming forward, and the wine improved dramatically - it started out perhaps fourth in the flight, but wound up second.

1993 Paradigm:
My #2 in flight 
Group #1 in flight 

Wine B - very purple-ish color - sweet Cabernet syrup in the nose - the flavors follow through on the palate - but the wine had not quite come together yet - it was not well integrated - probably quite young.

1995 Paradigm:
My #3 in flight 
Group #2 in flight 

Wine C - varietal Cabernet fruit in the nose with hints of cedar and spice - fairly good fruit in the mouth - there were some assertive tannins and a rather bitter finish - in the company of the other wines in this flight, it did not show very well.

1991 Paradigm: 
My #5 in flight 
Group #4 in flight 

Wine D - very closed aromatics that eventually opened a bit to show some aquarium, but the nose is not very well evolved in this wine - pleasant plummy flavors with good balance on the palate and showed some promise, but obviously needs a little time.

1992 Paradigm: 
My #4 in flight 
Group #5 in flight 

Wine E - sweet cassis fruit with hints of allspice in the nose - on the palate, delicious sweet red currant fruit with good balance - it’s a tremendously appealing wine - went down very smoothly and had a clean finish.

1994 Paradigm:
My #1 in flight 
Group #3 in flight 

Third Flight 

Filled with glorious wines - many of us thought this was the "Dalla Valle flight" - the wines, almost uniformly showed elegance and breeding, and very similar aromatic profiles

Wine A - started tight, with hints of wood, but opened up to sweet black cherry aromas - on the palate had very pretty fruit and moderate tannins that mellowed over time - clearly needed more bottle time.

1990 Dalla Valle: 
from magnum (double decanted)
My #4 in flight 
Group #3 in flight 

Wine B - very closed with aromatics that really didn’t open very well - on the palate showed pleasing fruit and minerals, and excellent balance - also needed time, but opened very nicely.

1992 Dalla Valle:
My #2 in flight 
Group #2 in flight 

Wine C - aquarium in the nose that evolved into sweet red current fruit - the tannins were obtrusive and interrupted the midpalate, and prevented me from evaluating the flavor profile or the finish - far too young to drink.

1994 Dalla Valle:
My #6 in flight 
Group #5 in flight 

Wine D - closed, with hints of mineral in the nose - black currant and slate flavors - very good wine, and hard to believe it would rank so low in the flight, but the overall quality of this grouping was extraordinary.

1991 Dalla Valle:
My #5 in flight 
Group #6 in flight 

Wine E - restrained mineral notes in the nose - pretty, sweet stone fruits in the mouth with great balance - tasted 3 times over 30 minutes, and continued to open and improve.

1993 Dalla Valle:
My #3 in flight
Group #4 in flight 

Wine F - Yippee!! Very lush and sweet fruit flavors yielding to mineral and subtle lavender flavors, and a hint of garrigue - smooth, soft, and easy to drink - long, smooth finish.

1995 Dalla Valle: 
My #1 in flight 
Group #1in flight 

An extraordinarily impressive flight of wines.

Fourth Flight

Wine A - opens with sweet, syrupy Cabernet aromas - later showing added hints of char - in the mouth, very sweet, well balanced fruit - extremely pleasing, very smooth on the palate, has a long and clean finish.

1996 Paradigm
My #1 in flight 
Group #5 in flight 

Wine B - muted Cabernet fruit and hints of aquarium in the nose - on the palate there is rather pretty balanced fruit, highlighting ripe and smooth black plum flavors - minimal smooth tannins suggest some ageing potential.

1996 La Sirena
My #3 in flight 
Group #4 in flight 

Wine C - sweet, but shy fruit aromatics - very tightly wound on the palate - clearly needs time.

1996 Jones Family:
My #5 in flight 
Group #1 in flight 

Wine D - opens with ripe stone fruit aromas, later showing a bit of funk - Brett? - balanced, sweet fruit on the palate - very rich, with added complexity from the Brett, but there was enough for me to identify, so I demoted this wine from first place.

1996 Oakford:
My #2 in flight 
Group #3 in flight 

Wine E - quite restrained aromatics - tight, sweet fruit in the mouth, with very smooth tannins - I felt plus/minus about this wine.

1995 Oakford:
My #4 in flight 
Group #2 in flight 

Wine F - offers very little in the way of aromatics - a hint of menthol - likewise on the palate, showing very restrained flavors - clearly needs time, but may evolve into an excellent wine.

1994 Oakford:
My #6 in flight 
Group #6 in flight 

Afterwards . . .




G a n g   O f   P o u r | ©
December, 1999

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