The Yangarra Estate Vineyard tasting this past Tuesday evening was to be the second wine tasting at Robust that I had been asked to oversee, and I was jazzed. The first, which Stanley wrote about a few weeks ago, was the Vin vs Vino tasting. That night had seen about 40 people by the time it was over—what I was told was the largest tasting we've ever had here at The 'Bust.
This time around, we were expecting a somewhat more modest proposal. RSVP's told us that we should set up for roughly 12. So, being the optimists that we are, we up'd it and ordered wine, prepared food and polished glasses for 15.
Tuesday had been jammed-packed all afternoon, as we've been working around the clock to prepare our new Wines By The Glass and Wine Flights lists (which are premiering tonight!!). I had a quick hour and a half to run home, shower and change, and be back for last-minute setup before the tasting event started.
A.J. Rosenblatt, our personal representative from Major Brands, had arrived just before me. Accompanying him was Tom Kriegshauser of Yangarra Estate Vineyard, who would be the one pouring and talking about the wines. Tom grew up here in Saint Louis before formally training in enology and winery business operations in Australia. He now lives in Australia, but stays in touch with all of his friends here in Saint Louis. Tom and I shook hands, chatted for a few, and then he casually mentioned that about 20 of his friends were coming that night. Wait, 20 more?!?! Forget about the 12-15 that we were expecting...it was going to be more like 35!
Tom of Yangarra Estate Vineyard and AJ Rosenblatt of Major Brands
All this is important only because it so clearly demonstrates and embodies how 'issues' are handled here at Robust. Within fifteen minutes the kitchen had bent over backwards to double the food, servers and bartenders were helping me set out more glasses, tables were moved in effort to make more room, corks came flying out of more bottles of wine, and the inkjet printer was happily clunking along, pushing out another stack of tasting sheets. The teamwork here is incredible. Everyone who was here that night and helped put on the tasting without a hitch—a BIG thank you.
OK—you've gotten a picture of what the circumstances of the night looked like. I'm sure what you really want to hear now is "how were the wines?!" They were incredible.
The lineup for the evening—the magnum of Shiraz was just for show...we didn't get to drink it.
Yangarra specializes in Rhone wines. This isn't a huge surprise—Syrah, which has adopted the name of Shiraz when it's grown in Australia, has long been a hero of the Rhone Valley. But other Rhone wines, such as Roussane, Viognier, Grenache and Mourvedre dont get the same amount of play 'down under' that Shiraz does. So I really didn't know what to expect when I saw the lineup:
2007 Unoaked Chardonnay
2007 Viognier
2007 Roussanne
2005 Old Vine Grenache
2005 Estate "Cadenzia" (A blend of Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre)
2007 Estate Shiraz
To adequately describe these wines I need only borrow a phrase from Stanley: "nice fruit". My-oh-my was that fruit nice. After tasting the Chardonnay, Viognier and Roussane the little voice inside my head kept shouting, on loop: "clean, pure, simple, elegant...clean, pure, simple, elegant..."
Tom getting some tasters started with the Unoaked Chardonnay
Let's be honest: the Unoaked Chardonnay is the misfit within their Rhone portfolio. But it's not to be dismissed. They ferment in stainless steel and avoid malolactic fermentation, but add back in some creamy-textures by stirring up the lees (the grape skins). Riding on the light, creamy body are heaps and heaps of tropical fruits. Then it's got some citrus nuances. It's unfettered and bright. It's one of the best Unoaked Chards that I've had this year, and surely my favorite ever from Australia. Not a bad start to the tasting...
The Viognier, in its true Rhone fashion, immediately hit me over the head with those wonderful perfumes and floral notes that I've grown to love and desire from Viognier. This guy smelled like vibrant jasmine flowers and white nectarines. It was creamy, but had a special purity to it. It was sharp—not in acidity, but in it's personality. It was like one of those people who's decisive and confident about their decisions, seamlessly fusing logic and gut reaction to attain a calm repose. It tasted good.
Rousanne is tough to grow in the New World. In wine lingo, Europe is the "Old World" (Spain, Italy, France, etc) and the "New World" is everywhere else. In very broad terms, Old World wines are very much about the earth (in taste and smell), and a 'sense of place'. Us cork-dorks call it terroir. New World wines, generally, are more fruity. It's likely you've found yourself, whether or not you've every thought about it this way, falling into one camp over the other. You probably either prefer earthy wines or you prefer fruity wines. I happen to love when the two come together. This Roussane had an old-world finesse to it, but at the same time was balanced out with ripe fruit and vibrancy. These wines were just so clean and welcoming.
The Old Vine Grenache grows in deep sand dunes. The sand retains heat during the day and reflects warmth at night. This helps the grapes ripen in a really nice way. It tasted like chocolate creme carmel and was balanced out by a lot of really nice red and black fruits. It was super complex and even gave me a little bit of tannin on the end. I wanted to take a bottle of it home with me that night but, sadly, it sold out before I got a chance. We sell out of a lot of wines during the tastings because all of our Robust Royalty members receive 15% off all the wines that were tasted that night.
The "Cadenzia", which I mentioned is a blend of Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre, is a thing they also do in France (the French call it GSM). I learned from Tom that the Cadenzia is inspired by the musical term Cadenza, an improvisational solo. In true Aussie fashion they changed the word a bit and made it sound more exotic. It gave me silky tannins along with chocolate, roses and lavender.
Shriaz in Australia, because of the intense heat, can often get overripe. This sometimes makes the wine really "hot" (high in alcohol). Even if not 'hot', Australian Shiraz is well-known and loved for being very fruity and dense. This Shiraz was no different, but it had a soulfulness to it as well. It showed me some savory herbs along with the fruit, and I appreciated that. Tom told me that, as the wine aged, those herbs would start to turn into a peaty and lignite-like complexity.
And then Tom pulled a bottle out from under the table. "Oh, who are youuuuuu??" I asked the bottle as it sat itself up proudly on the table. She was the High Sands Grenache, the richest, most intensely aromatic and densely flavored expression that Yangarra muscles out of its single-vineyard estate. She was voluptous. She had black and red fruits. Fennel and anise and chicory fell from her hair. When our lips parted she whispered to me, and on the nape of her neck I caught a fragrance of polished Spanish leather along with only Bacchus really knows what.
Tom is welcome back any time. He, like the wines, seems a happy marriage between the Old and New World. It's clear that his training and living abroad has instilled in him a worldly calm. There's a refined and restrained professionalism about him. The amount of attention and intrigue that he commanded from tasters was impressive. They listened contently. On top of all this he's a good 'ol boy from MO. He's non-assuming, humble and friendly.
Tom, getting tasters excited with talk of the estates "amazing natural yeast that's just everywhere!"
AJ is the same way: congenial and personable, a face that I see at least weekly here in the shoppe. He's on speed dial in my iPhone so that it's easy to get a hold of him when I call in the wine orders.
The evening as a whole was one of teamwork and friendships, and even offered up new potential friendships. A welcoming contentedness quickly settled over the party right at 6pm and stayed well through the end.
Taran Hensley and Angela Ortmann, who's doing awesome things over at www.StlWineGirl.com. Check it out!
I have been received graciously and with open arms since arriving at Robust a little over a month ago. I'm excited by the level of involvement I've had thus far and am eager to see where it is going to lead all of us. Hopefully I'll be making a few more cameo appearances here on the blog, and I look forward to all the new adventures with the entire Robust team.
Come try our new flights! They're awesome!
—Jayce
