2005 Horton Vineyards Orange County Norton

Solid effort from Horton, one of the vineyards responsible for re-introducing the Norton grape. This is a more accessible Norton than something like the Cross J and a better "beginner" Norton. Not as big as the previous wines, but still substantial. Good balance of fruit and tannins, it's the first Norton I've tried that seemed ready to drink. A little of the Concord grapiness noted in the St. James Cynthiana but in balance. Tart. The muskiness noted in the previous Nortons I've tried isn't noticable in this bottle. At 13.1% ABV it doesn't have the high alcohol heat that's so common in big wines.

Again, the wine opened up the second night after spending a night corked in the fridge. I had help from relatives on the second night and the bottle was emptied fairly early - preferred over a eight buck Argentinian malbec. The '05 is no no longer on the Horton website, and the '03 blend at $12 is the only Norton I see listed. If it's as good as this, it's worth the twelve bucks. 13.1% ABV. DF grade: B-, I'd buy it again.

Cable News Sucks

Why can't people, especially overpaid college educated talking heads learn to argue without constantly devolving into streams of logical fallacies? It's an ad hominem followed by a false analogy, all wrapped into a straw man. And it's not just cable news, politicians all the way to the top spew this crap. ("Some say...")

Aarrghhh!

St. James Winery 2005 Norton

Another St. James Norton, this one is much better than the St. James Cynthiana and doesn't have the overpowering muskiness. My taste buds are acclimating to Norton. It's no longer the unfamiliar flavor that it was on first taste, and I'm getting to like it. Having decided that Norton likes air, I ran this through a Vinturi and it made a big difference. However, unlike the Cross J, this one seems to have peaked after being open for one day and wasn't quite as nice the third day. It's a big wine and was an easy move from the '04 Bordeaux we had with dinner. Aged 18 months in unspecified oak, $10, 14.9% ABV. Good value for a ten buck bottle.

St. James Winery - 2005 Cynthiana

The Nortons have arrived and I'm starting at the low end. Cynthiana is the same grape as Norton, which is pretty obvious after a taste. Not much in technical details on this wine aside from the fact that it's aged in oak and 14.2% ABV and topped with a screwcap. $5.99 on the winery website.

St. James says that Cynthiana is a little lighter style of Norton. That being the case, can't wait to try their Reserve Norton - this is probably the biggest six dollar bottle of wine I've ever had.
Tasting notes:
Day 1: Smells like Norton. It's a different flavor profile that I still haven't pinned down the components to, but it's growing on me. Spicy, and this one has a bit of Concord grapiness to it. Nice medium dark color on a swirl. But it falls apart on tasting. It's big all right, solid tannins but not too much, spice (hint of curry?), rasberry, and St. James says "fig", which I guess I could see. Then it gets gamey, like a muskiness that stays with the finish, and the finish goes on forever. A little bitter too. Might be a bad bottle. Wanted to drink something better, so into the fridge it went. Moved to a decent Rhone, which tasted like watered down cool-aid at first compared to the Cynthiana.
Day 2: Still a Norton. The gaminess has let up a bit, and so has the overt grapiness. The nose has opened up, more spice and dark fruit. Similar on the taste buds too. There's just a hint of concord now and the wine has gained a whole bunch of depth. Nortons seem to like a lot of air.
Day 3: Tried some with the Son. He also noticed the muskiness, which is much tamer now. Like day two but more so.
Conclusion: Interesting wine, I might try another bottle to see if the muskiness was the result of an off-bottle or that's just the way it is. Worth the six bucks it cost just to experience something so different.

Norton?

My sister came back from a trip to St. Louis with a bottle of Cross J Norton from Stone Hill Winery in Hermann MO. Have to admit I was more than a little skeptical since I've never had a really good - or for that matter drinkable - midwestern wine. Did some research on the intertubes and found some interesting info on the Norton grape. I opened the bottle one evening and was entirely surprised by the Cross J. It's a BIG red, a credible wine. Although it seemed pretty closed and didn't have a lot of fruit, or for that matter, much of a nose at all, it seemed pretty young and like it might have some serious potential. Shared some with the Neighbor and my son, and both of them made polite comments about the new wine. Corked it and into the fridge it went, half a bottle. Too good to toss, but not good enough to drink more than a glass.

Two days later I found it in the fridge, pulled it out, and poured a glass. WOW. What a change! The wine opened up and changed totally. Huge nose. Serious tannins, but not overwhelming, and definitely a bit smoother than they were on opening. Big flavors of dark fruit and some cherries in there too. The fruity finish went on forever. I would not have bought another bottle of Norton based on the first taste. The second try changed that: I have eight bottles on order from Chrysalis, Horton, and St. James.

It's been a long time since I've bothered posting here. Ron Paul is no longer invisible. Obama is president. And Jon Stewart is the most trusted newsman, beating Brian Williams by a sizeable margin in a meaningless online poll.

I think that I'll start posting here again, using it as a notebook for some wine tasting notes (as well as some occasional musings). It's basically an internet notebook - one that I'm not likely to lose - that's available from pretty much anywhere.