Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/97133
SPEED TASTING REPORT WINE NUMBER FIVE Balance of Truth and Fiction JC CELLARS 2010 The Imposter California ($35) , 52% Zinfandel, 20% Syrah, 15% Petite Sirah and small percentages of Grenache, Mourv��dre and Viognier F ormer Rosenblum Cellars winemaker Jeff Cohn knows Zinfandel. ���I loved blending at Rosenblum,��� Cohn tells the panel. When he began his own label, JC Cellars, he continued to work with the varietal and created the proprietary blend The Imposter in 2005. It has been garnering top scores and kudos ever since. Aged 16 months in a combination of cement tanks, foudres, stainless steel and larger format 300- to 600-liter barrels, the blend gathers fruit from Mendocino south to Santa Barbara. Top locations include the Dusi Vineyard in Paso Robles (Zinfandel) to the Landy in Russian River Valley (Petite Sirah) to the Rockpile AVA (Syrah). ���The Impostor is an unpredictable wine of fantastical aromas and lavors. Wine is whatever you want it to be, not what someone tells you it should be,��� insists Cohn. Our Panel���s Notes: ���Sassy, dark and savory: blackberries and lavender���deinitely a layered complexity with each sip. This is an exciting wine.��� ���Nicole Kosta ���Concentrated and ripe with candied fruit: cherry, plum, dates, huckleberry to clove and violets and leather; this wine has an abundance of offerings on the nose and across the palate. Completely unapologetic about its intensity.��� ���Ted Glennon Je��� Cohn, Owner/Winemaker of JC Cellars. WINE NUMBER SIX Balance of Mountain Fruit Clones ROCKY HILL 2007 Richard Dinner Vineyards, Sonoma Mountain ($36) 40% Merlot, 40% Malbec, 20% Syrah O n the northeastern face of Sonoma Mountain is the multi-generational working ranch called Rocky Hill, with elevations ranging from 600 to 800 feet. The Richard Dinner Vineyards offer lowyielding, cool-climate Syrah, three clones of Merlot and two clones of Malbec. The grapes are crushed and cellared at Three Sticks Winery in Sonoma, where Don Van Staaveren (known for his masterful work at Chateau St. Jean, where his 1999 Cinq C��pages achieved high honors as Wine Spectator Wine of the Year) oversees the winemaking operation and is consulting winemaker for Rocky Hill. Our Panel���s Notes: ���Mercurial and moody, with edges of toast, dry wood tannins that start becoming brighter, richer with loral tones and hibiscus lining up against the earthy core.��� ���Deborah Parker Wong ���Caramel and meat, almost a port-like character, with a touch of graphite. Very dry and oaky inish. After about a half hour, it begins to open up, revealing its sweet black fruit and blue lowers.��� ���Haley Moore 104 / the tasting panel / december 2012 Rocky Hill co-owner/winemaker Lucas Helfond.