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Posted: March 27, 2008
"Syrah and other
Rhone-inspired reds outshine Pinor Noir as James Laube tastes 46 wines
being sold at the Wine Cask futures tasting." "Three
of the eight new wineries that we tasted wines from made showy debuts
in this tasting . . . The Departure Grenache Alta Mesa Vineyard 2007
(88-91, $35/$28) is a tight, structured wine with layers of exotic dark
berry flavors and tapered, fine-grained tannins. It is owned by Tim
Grubb, P.J. and Jason Miele, a trio of Newport Beach, Calif., buddies
who also graduated from U.C. Santa Barbara." "DEPARTURE Grenache Santa Barbara County Alta Mesa Vineyard 2007 Score: 88-91 |
$35/$28 Well-structured,
with a dark fruit medley of ripe, zesty red cherry, currant,
boysenberry and blackberry. Ends with a smooth, tapered finish and
fine-grained tannins. 100 cases made. —J.L."
2005 Tierra Alta Vineyard Syrah - Comments & Reviews:
"This wine is a dark smoky garnet. The nose starts with toast and licorice. Black currant, pepper and light raspberry and floral hints evolve with aeration. The palate starts with licorice notes on entry, and shows currant, cherry and pepper. Subtle mocha and brown spices...." Read Full Review
RWB Score: 90
(February, 2007)
******
"A new project focusing on Santa Ynez and Rhone varietals started by three friends who met at UCSB . . . They made 195 cases of this Syrah (with a 2% Viognier kicker) and priced it sensibly. Black fruits, bright flavors, both richness and elegance this is a well tuned, attractive effort."
Notes From The Coast - Wine Exchange - (November 2006)http://www.winex.com ****** 
"Well, if any of you folks don't know about Tim Grubb and the Miele brothers project, you should.
They are picking fruit from Tierra Alta Vineyard in Ballard Canyon, Santa Barbara. This vineyard is really a great vineyard. Reminds me of the Purisima Mt Vineyard, because it gets some very distinct limestone influenced minerality. The Departure Wine Company wines are high toned and pushing the Cote Rotie envelope. Very nicely balanced in a fairly similar manner to the Kenneth-Crawford wines. Nice forward fruit but lots of interesting things going on underneath the obvious . . . a truly memorable first effort."
Brad Harrington - westcoastwine.net - (September 26, 2006)
http://www.westcoastwine.net
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