Thanks for stopping by Tom! I met Tom and tasted his wines at the first Garagiste festival in Paso and have been a fan ever since.
Solid stuff with all the qualities that I like- micro-produced (under 1,000 cases I believe) + great fruit sources + meticulous winemaking + good french oak = killer wines.
So it is officially after noon and that means I get to open the good stuff. Mostly for inspiration, but it can help with lunch as well. I’m thinking the local tri-tip sandwich today to compliment the wine.
Opening wine during the day? I would never… wait, strike that.
So it has been about three hours since I first opened the wine and it has definitely changed. The nose has receded a bit and the tannins/mid-palate are showing more now. I think it needs another 3 hours to really show itself.
Having a very low VA helps tremendously with the longevity of this wine.
I recently came across a bottle of the Thomas Alexander Paso Rhone Blend 2010 Le Tigre, and I must honestly admit that I did not like this wine.
I was anticipating drinking this with food. Since this wine is made up of 2 parts (Syrah and Grenache) of a GSM, we chose Beef Stroganoff with Garlic Bread and Summer Salad.
I opened up the bottle and poured 2 glasses, and let them sit for 30 minutes. Upon opening I swirled and sniffed the wine, and I picked up a lot of heat from the alcohol, and a slight smell of grape jelly. After waiting the 30 minutes I swirled and sniffed again, and barely caught anything. I was thinking that even though this wine is a 2010 vintage, it still is very young.
My wife and I took a sip. To my surprise, she really liked the wine, but to me it was very dry and lacked both complexity and finish. I now read from the winemaker that this is a very dry wine. I agree it’s dry, too dry. I felt like puckering up at each sip. Also it seemed, for lack of a better description, 2-dimensional. The complexity I’m used to in a good GSM (Kaleidos 2006 Morpheus or Osiris) was completely lacking. Perhaps the missing Mourvedre makes a big difference?
I tried this wine over the next 2 days with and without different foods, and still didn’t like it. I decided that I would buy this for my wife if it were in the $13 - $15 dollar range, but as a Black Tie offering, it’s a definite pass.
I’m certain others will enjoy this, as evidenced by the comments. But at approximately $26 a bottle, coupled with my impression that it is too young and way to dry, I can’t recommend.
I’ve tried (and tried again and again) most of his wines from 2009 and they are amazing. Excellent QPR and would easily stand up against wines from CdP that cost 3-4x as much. As his reputation grows I expect it will become increasingly difficult to find his wines at anywhere close to this price, if at all, given his low production numbers. Dont miss out.
emccarl: PM for you.
PM Back to you.
Le Tigre is one of my favorite bottles to bring over to a friend’s house for dinner. Not only is it versatile enough for most meals, but accessible to any red lover’s palate. Your friends will wish you brought a second.
Samantha was just complaining to me that we had already consumed all of our Thomas Alexander wines and bbq season has only just begun. Looking forward to diving into this wine along with a juicy lamb burger!
The 2009 blend of Le Tigre is:
50% SYRAH
25% GRENACHE
25% MOURVEDRE
This is VERY different than the 2010 blend of 71% Syrah, 29% Grenache. Also, I’d be interested in the RS and PH of the 2009.
I love good GSM blends, but the 2010 Le Tigre is not a GSM. Frankly I’d rather had tried the 2009 than the 2010, as the 2009 has gotten some nice reviews.
At a list of $139 for 3 bottles, and a woot discounted price of $75.99, or approx. $26 a bottle, the Quality better be VERY good in order to be an excellent QPR.
I just want to make sure we are comparing apples to apples.
The 2010 wine does not have any Mourvedre because the quality of the grapes didn’t ripen up enough due to the cooler growing season of 2010.
The numbers for the 2009 are as follows: Alc = 14.8%
TA = 6.09
VA = 0.53
pH = 4.00
RS = 0.55
So there is negligible more amount of sugar and the other numbers are also very proximate. In 2009, the addition of Mourvedre brought the Alcohol down under 15%. I still have some left, but not very much. It is just now starting to show itself optimally, and it still holds up very well for days after opening.
I’m sorry the wine was not for you and that is always part of the journey.
Wine update; after six hours the wine is evolving very nicely. The fruit is coming back in the nose, and the tannins are as present as ever.
That aspect that is coming forth now is the peppery spice. There is an earthiness now that shows that ERMD mentioned in his post.
Anyone have a sense of scale for typical wineries? IE how many cases for a mass producer like Coppola or Mondavi, or for your widely available but not mass produced wine like a St Suprey or Bear boat?
Curious to see what my chances are of running into some of these woot wines at a restaurant or local wine store. At 500 total cases imagine some of the boutique wines are harder to find on the East coast.
Huge production: 500,000 cases/year
Tiny production (examples of which we’ve seen here): as small as 50 cases
Tom: thanks for the great participation! I’d like to see more of your wines in the future.