#Darren Delmore

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I am Pinot--Watch me ROAR

I am Pinot–Watch me ROAR

An odd addition to Delmore’s curt line-up of traditional cool-climate, harsh-as-a-cat’s-tongue Pinot and Syrah, I tasted it at a winemaker luncheon and couldn’t resist a couple bottles. Probably sold out by now, but check for sure. 2020–just a few months old, practically a nouveau, definitely some carbonic and fresh as a daisy. Light purple, thinning to maroon-pink at the wide edge. Carbonic…

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White Ridiculousness

This is a beautiful wine. Pretty sure you can’t buy it, but it speaks greatly to the quality of this little label of here-to-fore all Pinot and Syrah. Not exactly a shiner, this was a small hand-bottling of a leftover Syrah-addition that got a lab-label and hand-delivered by the winemaker. Not sparkling-clear, incredibly spicy and bright in the nose, it reeks of cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon grass,…

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My Favorite Neighbor

The smell of this wine absolutely stops you in your tracks, the shy cinnamon and nutmeg coaxed along with deep raspberry and rose-hips, the hot vinyl seats and House of Color Kandy urethane only puncuated by gasoline and burnt rubber of ’71 Nova SS and the fresh-scrubbed blonde pressin the go-pedal. There’s a smoky texture to this wine–assuredly not from oak–permeating the ridiculous floral.…

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Claymore

Dark ruby, but completely transparent and an abrupt pink edge. All the stemmy briar, peat, and horse-stall funk you can stand oozes straight out of it without apology, dirty and roiled in sweaty barnyard, manure and that leaky faucet poking out of the bloodshot boards at the end that leaves a muddy puddle the cats drink out of when the dogs aren’t watching. So much soil and pith, concentrated…

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Relaxing with the GOOD STUFF @ojaiwinefestival ROCKSTAR Mr. Darren Delmore pouring the true-blue @tablascreek @pasorobles premiere juice! Never fails to please. What an awesome event! 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷 #ojaiwinefest #ojaiwinefest2018 #ventura #tablascreek #pasorobleswine #ojai #wine #syrah (at Lake Casitas Recreation Area)

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The smell of this wine absolutely stops you in your tracks, the shy cinnamon and nutmeg coaxed along with deep raspberry and rose-hips, the hot vinyl seats and House of Color Kandy urethane only puncuated by gasoline and burnt rubber of ’71 Nova SS and the fresh-scrubbed blonde pressin the go-pedal. There’s a smoky texture to this wine–assuredly not from oak–permeating the ridiculous floral. Blood, butter, sweat, curry, Oolong, and a greasy vigor that comes up so freely from the clear bright purple-rimmed ruby. I tasted this wine on release and it was a bit rough. As I suppose any wine shooting for this direction SHOULD be on release. Now that I’ve had this bottle in my cellar for a year, signs of *settling down* are apparent. Really hittin its stride, and easily one of the most Northern Rhone darlings from California I have crammed my nose into this year. Shrill, acidic and gloriously thin on the palate, but by no means meager. The texture of the nose plants itself firmly on the tongue, the crazy green briar and grapefruit minerality spreads itself evenly over all surfaces, rich cherry kissing everything in its way. The way the virginal cherry syrup waters itself down with joy and coy graciousness is pure wine magic, assertive and on top, giggling and squirming the whole time, wholesomely pleasing but not slutty. No spikes, not up and downs, no bubbles, just clear defined fruit and straight-forward balance curvingly grippy in the finish, the massive fruit never taking a breath, plunging on forever, insatiable. This is the most remarkable wine I have had this year. I know it’s only April, but this shit is so nails I can’t even. A LOT of you know Darren Delmore from his national travel with Tablas Creek; this is his personal project and if you can’t find yourself some GET ON THE LIST. This wine’s not for everyone, but those of you who get it, GET it. 2018 @delmorewines #Syrah #Stolo/Boulder Creek Vineyards 65/35 Cambria North Central Coast 13.5 #libbeyglass (at Darren Delmore) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-a-7Agn9cS/?igshid=1tqlx43sl1r

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Darren Delmore's new book--LUCKY COUNTRY--a rousing sophomore effort to Slave to the Vine--is a sublime testament to the agony and ecstasy of 'casual cellar hands'--a mainstay of wine country during crush and the great unsung heroes of wine production.  The glamorous visions most wineries promote of fun, laughing, women in hiked skirts joyfully stomping vats of plump fruit with up-splashed glasses of product is not reality, and Lucky Country continues where Slave to the Vine left off: diagramming the highs and lows of crush-season at most wineries.  Long hours, under-estimated involvement, equipment fatigue and user-error all play heavily into this first-person tale of getting grapes to barrel--and bottle--during this excruciatingly well-choreographed but ofttimes hap-hazard portion of harvest. ⬆️That's the first paragraph.⬇️ FULL REVIEW AT soifknows.com ⏩LINK IN BIO⏪ (at Barossa, South Australia, Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrR6yq8AvsY/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=xvstrg2pws3u