Page 37 - the Noise July 2016

Summer 2016 reVieW: aZ rHÔne Style WillCOX SyraH
big nosed kate
& Prescott Winery
L ocated just a couple blocks from Whiskey Row on Alarcon Street, Prescott Winery provides a different sort of experience compared to the rough-and-tumble historical bars on Cortez. Here, a specially curated collection of wines made from grapes grown in Willcox is sure to please. Among their most recent releases is a wine named Big-Nosed Kate. This wine was named after a particularly colorful local character of the same moniker, the girlfriend of legendary gunfighter Doc Holiday. This fits in with the naming theme for the vintages which Prescott Winery produces; they seek to connect their wines to the rich historical heritage of their hometown. Also worthy of note: they’re to be planting vines in Prescott Valley this year! I’m very interested in seeing how the terroir of this region compares to other
parts of the state. I digress. Onto the wine!
The 2014 Big-Nose Kate is a very common style of blend in Arizona I like to refertoasaGSMP,consistingof70%Syrah,15%Mourvèdre,10%Grenache, and 5% Petit Sirah. These sort of blends are designed to emulate wines coming both from the Southern Rhône region of France, and Languedoc. Here in Arizona, however, petit sirah is used to provide the tannic component to these blends, instead of carignan. The fruit for this vintage was harvested from Al Buhl Memorial Vineyard, on the Willcox Bench in Southeastern Arizona. Made by Tim White and Maynard Keenan, and aged in neutral French oak for 18 months, this wine is a deep, dark garnet purple in the glass (again, thanks to the petit sirah influence).
Despite the name, this wine has a surprisingly muted nose, compared to what I would normally expect for an Arizona GSMP blend. Subtle hints of black cherry, perique, and plum form the opening salvo for this vintage, intermingling with the telltale black tea and bergamot notes from the petit sirah in this blend. Syrah-induced notes of clove and black pepper also can be found lurking here. As the wine decants, the terroir notes of monsoon petrichor, as well as the particular scent of the local dust of the region
revieW & photo by cody burkett
emerge; these are all notes I associate with vintages made from grapes grown on the Bench.
On the palate, the 2014 Big-Nose Kate opens with the fairly typical notes of tart cherries, black tea, blackberries, and boysenberry which you would expect a blend like this to have, and for the first moment, it may not seem terribly unique. It is the mid-palate of this vintage, though, where this wine truly shines. There is an absolute riot of different flavors clamoring for attention here. Cinnamon and paprika vie for attention with pepper, granite, and the omnipresent Willcox dust. After a two-hour decant, velvety plum and vanilla notes also come out to play. The finish of this wine is long, lingering, and fruity, lasting for 2 minutes and 40 seconds.
This wine has medium acidity and tannins, making this wine very flexible in terms of food pairings. I paired this wine with smoked St. Louis style ribs from a local restaurant, but you could also play around with some lamb dishes, or even something more local and gamy, like elk. For a vegetarian or vegan pairing, play around once again with some ratatouille (which is almost a standard for Rhône-style vintages for me) or a heavy veggie casserole with lots of brined, smoked eggplant and a bit of rosemary.
When serving this wine, I highly recommend decanting for two hours prior to serving. This particular vintage should age well; I expect it to peak in about 3 years, but will age well for another five. After reading a fair bit about the history of Big-Nose Kate, I have to say that this wine does fit her as a personification: it seems like it’s going to be subtle and unexciting; but when you actually hang out with this wine, it’s quite the firecracker, with quite a long story to tell.
My recommendation is to visit Prescott Winery as stop number three on a four-stop wine day trip in the Prescott area. Begin your journey at Del Rio Springs up in Paulden, head to Granite Creek Winery, and finish off your day of tasting at Superstition Meadery. Prescott Winery is open from Thursday through Sunday.
37 • {online at thenoise.us} JULY 2016 | the best of arizona | the nöísẽ