Went tasting in Paso on Sunday. We hit Summerwood, Terry Hoage, L’aventure, and Turley.
First we hit Terry Hoage. Terry was pouring the wine and seemed to be a pretty nice guy, but points are deducted because he doesn’t miss Philadelphia. 
His 2005 ”The Hedge”(Syrah) and “46″ (Grenache/Syrah) is good, but not as nice as the ’04 we currently sell. I think it needs more time in the bottle. It was pretty young and tight. We also tried “The Pick” (Grenache, Mouvedre, Syrah) nice nose, but somewhat chalky finish. I will most likely get a few cases of each to sell.
Headed over to L’aventure next… I was very disappointed in what they were pouring. Of course all their Estate wines have been sold out for months so we were left with the 2003 Syrah and the 2004 Optimus. No one was impressed, very dry french style, we were told that the Esate wines are much better. I hope to taste thier newer stuff at Hospice Du Rhone in the spring.
Next we hit Summerwood. This was really good, we received the royal treatment because we are wine club members. We were able to taste their Estate Syrah, GSM (Grenache, Syrah, Mouvedre) , Diosa Syrah, Denner Syrah, James Berry Syrah. We are really taken by all of thier wines. The estate syrah would probably rank the lowest.. maybe an 8, but the rest are definately 9′s. I would love to carry their wines in my shop, but they only sell direct. I do get a 15% discount on purchases, so let me know if you want anything. 
We finished up at Turley. Again we are wine club members, but still had to pay for tastings. No freebies here. Luckily their wines are fantastic. We tasted their Zins and I believe everyone was impressed. The desert port was too much for me. I am looking forward to the “pick up party” on March 31st. Should be a good time. Anyone want to go?
It was a really great day of tasting. I need to keep better track of the wines we taste. I will do a better job next time.