Futures

The Wine Cask and the Brander futures tastings are two of the best ways to start summer. Both venues offer real challenges to winemakers who are showing their latest works in progress. For red wines it can be especially brutal and if the weather is nice as it was on both days provisions must be on hand otherwise it is difficult to hide ones shock.
For whites kept well chilled, it was a done deal. There were some exceptions Gary Burke's Colson Canyon syrah 2006 should be in bottles now, it's going to be a tough one to beat. I also found his Faith Vineyard 2006 sauvignon blanc best of show, hands down (a vision for those who cannot imagine: It's a hot, sultry evening you have just visited a gallery on your way to dinner, by the time you sit down you need something to quench your thirst. A glass of this is placed in front of you and you taste.) This was the only wine to conjure an image.
There is also footage of this event at the Wine Cask if any of our subscribers would like to obtain a copy.

Fred Brander always manages to attract the most diverse crowds and some of the best winemakers so it was no surprise to find so many cars parked. The short hike to the wines on a long dusty trail without shade nor shelter pretty much guaranteed it was going to be another day for the white wines, the goddess of destruction to the bringers of pinot to cab and all points between. I knew, as soon as I saw Kris Curran that she was going to have some of her '06 gewurtztraminer stashed away somewhere, it reminded me of my first taste of lychee in Guilin. I spent the rest of the day looking for 2nd best and runner-up. Epiphany's Camp 4 rousanne doesn't come out until September, bottle it now I say so we can live out the rest of the summer on it. Beyond that, a toss of the coin between Coquelicot's riesling or both Blair Fox and Ovene for their almost identical viogniers from Paradise Road Vineyard.
I did take a peek into the red camp and am looking forward to Jaffurs' sangiovese from the Stolpman Vineyard, you want a red wine on a hot day, this is the only one for me so far, it's also a 2005 by the way.