“Surprise” (what a silly name) means that Clustermates (pow!) won’t tell you which wines you’ll get - but I assure you they’re worthy, and have been kept in my own cellar. At least thirty bottles were unlabeled - and in unmarked cases!!! forcing me to open a few to, er, irrigate my memory. I was happily surprised, and believe you will be too. All are semi-recent, two are special “miniblends”. (The “Red Library” I keep in the living room, on a low bookshelf: with Bolshies, Fascists and other Marxist hereticrackpots, disordered. I’d say, “Let Elvis sort them out” - but his books are on the pink shelves across the room.
- Stillman Brown
Included in the Box
4-Bottle order will include 2 of these White or Rose Wines:
2018 Fliegend Zauberpilz Saignee of Alicante Bouschet, Hill of Graceland
2018 Chateau Abalone Estate Vermentino, Willow Creek District, Paso Robles
2018 Colossus Viognier, Paso Robles
And 2 of these Reds:
2018 Red Zeppelin Counoise, Adelaida District, Paso Robles
2017 Colossus Syrah, Paso Robles
Surprise Red Library bottles*
Case will include 6 of these White or Rosé wines:
2018 Fliegend Zauberpilz Saignee of Alicante Bouschet, Hill of Graceland
2018 Chateau Abalone Estate Vermentino, Willow Creek District, Paso Robles
2018 Colossus Viognier, Paso Robles
And 6 of these Reds
2018 Red Zeppelin Counoise, Adelaida District, Paso Robles
2017 Colossus Syrah, Paso Robles
Surprise Red Library bottles*
*Cases will have at least 2 Surprise Red Library bottles. 4-bottle orders are not guaranteed to have a Surprise Red Library bottle.
Note: If you split a case with more than two people, please email us at ariana@winecountryconnect.com within 48 hours with your order number and number of people you split it with. We’ll try to increase the surprise bottles up to the total amount of splitters. Example: 3 splitters, 3 surprise bottles, 4 splitters, 4 surprise bottles etc.
2018 “Fliegend Zauberpilz” Saignee of Alicante Bouschet, Hill of Graceland
The name is Deutsche for ‘flying magic mushroom’ but the 'splainin can wait. Drawn from the fermenter the day of harvest, with a small (15%) addition of early picked AB, this is a savagely atypical Rosé: not crisp but wildly acidic, not dry but explosively fruity, not still but as frizzante as Ginger Baker’s hair. The carbonation is natural and relatively high (>1400ppm) as it had not stopped fermentation until just before bottling. To put the sugar content in perspective, were it Champagne it would be just above Brut, in what I would call Low Extra Dry, and the gendarmes would be apres moi. Le deluge of “white” Zinfandel one sees is typically twice that, around 3%. I’ve made pink Zins, keg size and bone dry, and they’re lovely, but die Zauberpilz is a greater beast indeed: it’s stunning. I can’t wait to pour some for Joseph Franzia, of $2 Chuck fame, at an upcoming annual & venerable wine judging in the OC. (Implausibly enough, we are not completely dissimilar.) That’s me on the label, flying off a NM gypsum dune (sans magic or mushrooms, I just like way FZ sounds). Age >21, speed >18, time 1.0 sec.
Alcohol: 14.6%
TA: 8.4 g/L
RS: 1.4%
2018 “Chateau Abalone” Estate Vermentino, Willow Creek District, Paso Robles
The last vintage to carry this name, as our coastal neighbors are shutting the farm and crossing the mighty Pacific to retire in the lap of - hmmm, I better not say. (The pictured shells aren’t California Red Abalone anyway.) Our Vermentino is to the Sardinian standard as abalone are to sardines: much richer and cleaner, though continuing the comparison would reek like a Pony Express rider carrying news of Fort Sumter’s capitulation after being shot at with arrows by pissed-off Paiutes. Besides, they used cannon, though not of the grade of fine stainless steel I fermented and aged the wine in. Light natural carbonation was preserved, appx 1g/L not as high as the FZSofAB, above. (This is pro winemaker stuff.)
Alcohol: 13.3%
TA: 7.3 g/L
RS: 0.22
2018 Colossus Viognier, Hill of Graceland, Willow Creek District, Paso Robles
Almost a killer wine - not lacking in quality, but what I went through last winter in the process of chaperoning this wine certainly made me stronger. That is to say, and I’ve said it often, I felt like a member of a failed Antarctic expedition. Picked at almost 30 brix, adjusted a la Jesus (though his dad calls him Chuy), and fermented in one new though moderately rinsed 70 gallon Russian oak barrel and a couple of kegs, it is Colossal in flavor if not in ethanol. Maybe one of the Clustermates can try it and fling some words of wino here: FLORAL, CAUCASIAN VANILLA, LEMON, MOAB APPLE WIT- okay, that’s enough!
Alcohol 14.1%
TA: 7.0 g/L
RS: 0.27
2018 Red Zeppelin Counoise, Adelaida District, Paso Robles
Same vineyard as the above wine - in all, there are only a dozen producing acres spread over hundreds of feet up and down and up, but only half a mile north to south - but a different appellation, which is rather less important than the steep southeast exposure and lack of rrigation. Counoise has an immoderately difficult reputation, and is one of the lightest of the red Rhone varieties. I must mention that the previous vintages of this wine have been scored very high at the California State Fair, where judges are actually tested before and during the competition. 99 and 97 points, scores I would mock, but perhaps I should attempt a description instead. Okay: it smells like Counoise would if it was a first-class variety, and is surprisingly (!) big.
Alcohol: 13.1%
TA: 7.4 g/L
RS: 0.07
2017 Colossus Syrah, Paso Robles
All Westside fruit, mainly from what I see when I lift my gaze from this damn laptop, the Hill of Graceland, all clone 877. However, about 20% was, er, gleaned at over 30 brix from a Famous Vineyard more than a biodynamic potato cannon’s range from here: it had the wrong aura, someone thought. (Someone who was a marketer, not a grower or winemaker.) All open-top box fermented, labouriously punched out - er, down. Cthulhu-deep ripe black fruit, Romanian oak, and a very full palate with not mean, but moderate tannins. The high alcohol is balanced by the fruit, tannin, and acidity as well as naturally produced glycerol and unfermentable sugars. Yes, it will age: the 2012, for example, is better than it was upon release, and it was Monumental then.
Authorized in subordination a mere decade ago by consulting winemaker, cellar monkey, and rock band mismanager Stillman Brown of Red Zeppelin infamy, and his late but still insufficiently silent partner Dan Lewis of Jory Winery, Zeppelin Winery makes wines that at least one of them believes are at least more than good enough to have pretty much anything on the label. Over the last several years, most of the wines have been from grapes grown by our infamous client (redacted) and located in two hilariously concocted subappellations of west Paso Robles that split the hidden Hill of Graceland vineyard. Visitors are generally discouraged; if they find us they often become despondent… Sales are almost exclusively to our email list - there is no club to join or quit, just an invitation to a FREE party when the one who isn’t dead yet has a ‘major birthday’.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Stillman Brown Surprise Mixed Reds & Whites
4 bottles for $99.99 $25/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $259.99 $21.67/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
@losthighwayz Sulfur dioxide, generally referring to ‘free’ (not bound to other molecules, aldehydes for example) SO2, and measured in parts per million, ppm. The lower the pH for a given level (30 ppm is a common benchmaark) the more effective it is in antibacterial and antioxidative action, as molecular, SO2, will be an increasing if small fraction of free SO2. But too much and it’ll rip your nose right off.
2018 Chateau Abalone Estate Vermentino:
The bottle- Not a winery or grape I’ve heard of, though I know Paso Robles. There was a little yellow drop of wax on the cork top, which I took off just so I didn’t knock it everywhere when I uncorked it. Looks a bit simple, design wise, which is usually a good sign to me. It’s hard to tell which part is the varietal, and what precisely is going on here though, as the fonts aren’t set apart cleanly. I can’t say, looking at the bottle, I would take much of a risk on it if I saw it at the store. It kinda looks like it was made in Word 95. (Sorry!!)
Initial tasting-Grabbed this from my building’s desk around 10:30am, let it chill until just after 5 in the fridge, since I work from home and had work to do. Finished up and gave it a try. It’s a very light, thin looking wine. It tastes very rounded, almost like the butteriness you get from Chardonnay, but with a touch of sweetness. Not enough to pull it into fully sweet, it’s no Riesling, but just enough to balance the acidity. I’m guessing before looking anything up about this wine, but I’d say it’s close to a 3.3 on the acidity. It has a bit of tang on the backend, in a very summery way, as it starts to warm up, and smells a bit more strongly of citrus, and almost like honey. I almost wonder if it’s related to a chenin blanc style at all, as that’s the closest I can think to compare it. My roomie thought the same, except less sweet than the Chenin Blanc we tend to get. We both REALLY like this one. If you like the North by Northwest white and rose, or the recent Pedroncelli rose, you will probably like this. It has a similar balance of acidity to body.
Didn’t get a chance to pair with food because I was waiting for my SO to get home, and we finished it off before he got home. Drat. I bet it would have been delicious with the chicken tacos we had, though.
I tried to find more information about this, but I wasn’t able to find much similar to this. I’d really like to find more of this grape/style specifically. If it were a case of just that, I’d be all in even at this price point. I can’t say I’m entirely inclined to risk with the randomness in there, I’ll wait and see what other rats thought about the other ones as I’ve been on a bit of a spending spree lately.
@Jamileigh17 I changed the label since I sent the sample bottle you got to Chateau Clustermate - I thought the old one was nice but a bit boring AND THAT’S MICROSOFT PUBLISHER 2010 but whatever font I used was probably in Word 95 so, guilty. (I was the only guy in my typewriter class in high school, and had to write my college papers with one. On papyrus, with Anubis watching.)
@Jamileigh17 There’s a big abalone farm just up the beach that’s winding down production, and our friend that’s worked there for decades as manager/mollusk wrangler won’t be trading with us any more, so I thought I’d turn the conservative label in and replace it with something horridly garish for the Last Hurrah. Thanks for the review! and very glad you liked it, and also that you were discreet enough to not refer to its obvious aroma of elephant seal farts.
@ZeppelinWinery LOL! At least you have a sense of humor about it! I first met a computer via an Apple IIe in 2nd grade, but I have a fondness for typewriters too. They’re just lovely to type on! But I’m an editor, and one of my professional skills is looking at the overall package. I actually like the new label a lot. It’s got a lot more personality, and a certain funky spark to it!
And I wouldn’t say elephant seal farts. I’ve smelled seal farts before, when I worked at an aquarium in my misspent youth. Fetid fish is NOT a scent I’d associate with this delicious wine!
@Jamileigh17 Ah, you have a reference point!
‘Harbor’ no illusions, elephant seals are worse.
And thank you for grading the label on the curve - I usually commission art rather than attempt design myself.
I ran amok with the mystery bottle labels, and of course you can see the Colossi, Red Zeppelin, and that pinkish thing with the flying primate in the pics here. Working 20-30 hour days solo during and after harvest makes for all sorts of ideas…
I wrote all that? It’ll be a wonder if there are any questions other than WHAT ARE YOU ON, FOOL?
I’m on the beach, Baja Cayucos CA, and I could hear the surf if I hadn’t mismanaged punk and metal bands. Alexis, (my better 2/5 by volume) took her headphones off for a few seconds to verify that the surf is in fact audible. She’s watching a Hugh Grant / Drew Barrymore movie on netflix…a romance, no doubt, with Hugh Grant as Tamerlane and Drew Barrymore as Clare Boothe Luce.
@losthighwayz
Oh skunk in the flashlight at midnight! I seem to have I rattled on about it in an above reply in answer to you without mentioning TA, which it doesn’t relate to. Period . . . . um . . . except that higher acid wine will usually have lower pH and so less free SO2 is needed for a given level of molecular, which ‘does the work’. I’d rather have a relatively ‘clean’ (few or no bacteria or bad yeast) high pH wine with low (not enough) SO2, than a ‘dirty’ low pH wine that might ‘need’ high SO2 to kill Kill KILL bad bugs but then burns your nose off if I don’t bring it down before bottling. Maybe once every three years I’ll do that - up with KMBS, ‘agitate and wait to abate’, then down with H202.
@rjquillin no, damnit, I only had a few days free at the Right Time and so it was Chicago,, to see Mott the Hoople (westmost show of the tour, and they hadn’t toured the US since . . . 1974) Tried to get 3 of my most dangerous friends to go to the show but only one could make it.
@kaolis@rjquillin
I really went to Chicago to see three friends, one of whom I hadn’t seen in almost five years. And Mott, though only wanted to hear the greatest, and funniest, short-short guitar solo in rock history, Ariel Bender’s 13.6 seconds of hysterical looniness in “The Golden Age of Rock and Roll”. I had to endure Hunter’s cringeworthy intro (“American Pie”, FFS) and his inability to belt out “Golden Age” (though it’s not his age: he couldn’t do it live 45 years ago either, the studio version is unique) but at least that’s first on the set list. Chicago Theater is awesome, though I was in the youngest 10% of the audience, and I told my friend that I’d have bet $10K that she was the only person in the hall that woke up that morning thinking she might be pregnant…
These are one of those deals I wish popped up in late fall. This is a definite want. We still have not grabbed any Stillman Brown wines to try, I hear they’re good.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
Stillman Brown Surprise Mixed Reds & Whites - $40 = 11.75%
The wine arrived today. Or yesterday maybe. I don’t know. I got an email from the coast: “Wine coming. Review Saturday. Faithfully yours.” There was no golden ticket. Maybe it was yesterday.
I chilled the first bottle. Viognier. Colossus. 2018. I chilled it for a bit. Everyone was jealous of me. My wine buddy said, “You only have one shot at a Stillman Brown pair.” When I pulled the cork, it was too cold. There was a dot of yellow wax on the seal. It was a solid cork. No foil. I let it warm up.
It was a very smooth, round-bodied Viognier. I breathed in the smell of fresh tangerines. Tangerines without the sharpness of the peel, just the orange flesh. At the same time cool and warm. The vague sensation of bananas and vanilla. Like chardonnay. Not chardonnay – not oaked.
I sat on the porch overlooking the street. The trolleys were arriving with the evening crowd. They all looked happy. I sipped Viognier. The Jarlsberg sparked the wine to flares of acidity. The sun began to set. My tongue tingled vaguely at the tip. For that moment, I was happy.
Later after dinner. Red Zeppelin. Counoise. 2018. Pizza done and dinner dishes around us. Lamp rays illumined the brilliant cherry color. Pink cherry red. Fresh breezes swept in from the night – strawberry wafted from the glass, dissipating into cough syrup. The smells that should please, then don’t. I sniffed.
I swirled. Legs in the glass. Metaphor of humanity. Slowly creeping down the glass. But leisurely. I sipped and was met with sharp attack. Such light body. Such peppery show. And dry - dry as if cherried fruits of spring had dried under the withering Algerian sun.
Another sip. Another sharp attack. Another paradox of candied apple. The sweet sourness of chilled cranberry juice. This then was complexity. This then was harsh sweetness. Joy and pain in a glass. This then was life in a bottle.
As I sipped, I knew that I had shattered the harmony of the day, the exceptional silence of an evening where I’d been happy, was happy.
@ejrunion Marveilleux! (sp?)
Stranger and stranger!
In the '90s I made wine with the son of a pied noir - Albuquerque stood in for Algeria - but I didn’t murder anyone after my mother’s funeral last year.
Thanks for the review
And see what I do
If someone asks me tomorrow
(Camuscat with doggerel chaser? sorry!)
I’ve been hanging on to some long ago wine.woot! offerings of Stillman’s, so it’s time to add to the collection. And since delivery is estimated right before my birthday, I say Happy Birthday to me and thank you Stillman!
Cheers!
@cynthylee If it’s not before that it won’t be my fault! I’m threatening to drive it to the Facilitators myself (a mere four hours, on the 4 days of the year the Traffic Gods nod off).
@banner
Hey Stranger! I was just thinking about you the other day. Going to a work-related conference in Columbus next month, hoping to make it to Brew Dog!
@chipgreen Give me a heads up when you’ll be at BrewDog and hopefully I can come out and say hello! (There are 2 bars downtown, but I work at the production facility – which also has an amazing bar AND A HOTEL!! – in Canal Winchester.)
The magic message of “Wine coming your way!”. Thursday afternoon the package arrived; when I got home from work I opened it and immediately saw not one, but TWO bottles! Interesting that both bottles have a little bit of wax on the top of them.
Colossus 2017 Paso Robles Syrah
Fliegend Zauberpilz Saignee of Alicante Bouschet 2018 Hill of Graceland
First up, the bottle of Colossus.
Deep, fruity smell from the bottle. Pouring it, it’s a dark purple of almost blackberries. It’s been a stressful week, so swirl it around my ![Stitch stemless wine glass][1]. Legs last for quite a while. I smell again and this time smell… vanilla? marshmallows? This is interesting.
Taking my first sip, not knowing what to expect… I’m blown away. This is incredible. I drink more and I’m certainly picking up a fruity, light bodied taste. It’s almost creamy and soft on my pallet. It’s not dry, but it’s not sweet either. This is not a very in your face red wine; super easy to drink and enjoyable. Glass two, and then three and I’m still loving it. A very fresh finish that makes you want more. I love the smell too, I still am picking up vanilla. I look closer at the bottle and realize it’s 17% (!!!). No wonder why I’m feeling so good right now, but you would have -no- idea it’s 17%. Dangerously good stuff. I seriously love this wine. Unfortunately I don’t drink enough water and Saturday morning is a bit rough
Saturday night and time for Bottle #2! The Fleijgjetej Anaeirekrke Siagnenjrej 2018 Hill of Graceland (Fliegend Zauberpilz Saignee of Alicante Bouschet 2018 Hill of Graceland). What in the world is this?
First pour, oh, it’s a Rose! Probably should have chilled it a bit, but too late now! Color of strawberry. Almost no legs it seems. Trying to figure out what I’m smelling, aside from alcohol and it’s a bit hard for me. I don’t know if I could really identify a smell from it. First sip it’s a bit fruity with light tannins. Light and pleasant on the tongue. Soft to medium finish, can taste the acidity but it’s nicely balanced. I’m not normally a Rose drinker, but I could certainly see busting this out for a nice summer BBQ.
Both are great bottles of wine, and I really love the Colossus. It’s one of the best bottles I’ve had the privilege of tasting. Knowing now that it’s from Stillman Brown, this makes a lot of sense. I’ve always been a fan.
Why thank you! I might point out that I need to stop opening bottles that - no, opening paragraphs that might contain pointed information about bottles that are pointed out as - oh scheisse, I’ll just make a separate post to point out what - yeah, see below!
Many of the Mystery Bottles that will be included in case shipments are the Cousins of the Colossus - components that I bottle 20 or so 750s of from distinctive barrels just before Final Assembly, then put unlabeled in plain cases which I mark in Linear A, or not at all, so I then have to open one. Mainly Syrah, some Syrah/Alicante. Some have a wax dot that means or once meant something, but I figured I should put a label on them for this occasion. Some are a variation of the TNT, 5/6th Tannat rather than 50/50 with Tempranillo. And there’s also a Alicante / PS that doesn’t state the %s, or mention PS at all.
I expect I’ll be hearing from some of you next month…don’t forget to mention the color of the wax drops!
Zeppelin Winery has some of my favorite everyday drinking reds… I haven’t had any of their Rose… but BBQ season is… well it’s snowing on Mother’s day, so not sure when BBQ season will actually start, but hey, I’ll have a case of wine ready to go… unless anyone in/around Southern Vermont would like to split?
After all this time on… um, well, the OTHER site and Casemates, how can this possibly be our first Stillman case? Rock on, Stillman- look forward to solving the mystery when it shows up and a having formal ceremonial unboxing rite for the event. Feel free to stop by!
Love me some surprises and especially obscure varietals!
Also I guess it’s a spending-kind-of-day since I just bought an OLED TV at Costco I didn’t plan to buy, but it was one of those prices ending in .00 where it was one of two left and they give it a massive discount (the other one was a floor model but I got one in a sealed box.) So adding a case of wine to the day’s expenses seems logical. (maybe not advisable, but apparently inevitable.)
In for a four pack! My first Stillman purchase on casemates. Really looking forward to trying your new creations. And wanted to let you know your white label 2010 PS is in my top three bottles of wine I’ve ever tried. Excited for more!
@CruelMelody thank you! I haven’t seen one in years - somebody must have one - but I just found an 09 white label ‘red wine’ (screwcap). I haven’t opened one in at least 6 years. It’s time!
Shit, it’s beautiful. Little dent at the edge of the screwcap didn’t break seal.
This was a blend of Monterey Syrah, Monterey PS, and an ‘accidentally’ misvintaged ‘10 Colossus. So, Arroyo Seco, Hames/Lockwood, and Paso. 09 was a cool year around here, 10 hot.
@benguin986@chipgreen Mine showed up today with no prior shipping notice, a true surpise case! Try tracking by reference with the order number, mine showed up then, after the fact.
@benguin986@catcoland
I tried using Track by Reference with the order number and it showed me my case of Slingshot Cab instead which I already knew arrived at a pickup location today whereas I have not had the option to HAL for the Swilly Swill since there is no tracking number with which to do so!
@catcoland@chipgreen Mine didn’t have a tracking number for my order either- but it was showing up on my Fed Ex ‘manage my deliveries’ view. It was a pleasant surprise, as well as a mystery.
We received the same case today. Fedex was kind enough to let me know that the case had shipped, so it was safely diverted to a Walgreens for safe keeping & easy pickup.
@sndg@benguin986@catcoland
Turns out that I had already diverted my case for HAL as well. I received a text from FedEx last week and chose where to hold the package on my phone. When I looked at my orders on my home PC a few days later, I noticed a tracking number for Slingshot and not for Stillman so assumed that I had placed a HAL on the Slingshot, which is actually still enroute!
- Stillman Brown
Included in the Box
*Cases will have at least 2 Surprise Red Library bottles. 4-bottle orders are not guaranteed to have a Surprise Red Library bottle.
Note: If you split a case with more than two people, please email us at
ariana@winecountryconnect.comwithin 48 hours with your order number and number of people you split it with. We’ll try to increase the surprise bottles up to the total amount of splitters. Example: 3 splitters, 3 surprise bottles, 4 splitters, 4 surprise bottles etc.2018 “Fliegend Zauberpilz” Saignee of Alicante Bouschet, Hill of Graceland
The name is Deutsche for ‘flying magic mushroom’ but the 'splainin can wait. Drawn from the fermenter the day of harvest, with a small (15%) addition of early picked AB, this is a savagely atypical Rosé: not crisp but wildly acidic, not dry but explosively fruity, not still but as frizzante as Ginger Baker’s hair. The carbonation is natural and relatively high (>1400ppm) as it had not stopped fermentation until just before bottling. To put the sugar content in perspective, were it Champagne it would be just above Brut, in what I would call Low Extra Dry, and the gendarmes would be apres moi. Le deluge of “white” Zinfandel one sees is typically twice that, around 3%. I’ve made pink Zins, keg size and bone dry, and they’re lovely, but die Zauberpilz is a greater beast indeed: it’s stunning. I can’t wait to pour some for Joseph Franzia, of $2 Chuck fame, at an upcoming annual & venerable wine judging in the OC. (Implausibly enough, we are not completely dissimilar.) That’s me on the label, flying off a NM gypsum dune (sans magic or mushrooms, I just like way FZ sounds). Age >21, speed >18, time 1.0 sec.
2018 “Chateau Abalone” Estate Vermentino, Willow Creek District, Paso Robles
The last vintage to carry this name, as our coastal neighbors are shutting the farm and crossing the mighty Pacific to retire in the lap of - hmmm, I better not say. (The pictured shells aren’t California Red Abalone anyway.) Our Vermentino is to the Sardinian standard as abalone are to sardines: much richer and cleaner, though continuing the comparison would reek like a Pony Express rider carrying news of Fort Sumter’s capitulation after being shot at with arrows by pissed-off Paiutes. Besides, they used cannon, though not of the grade of fine stainless steel I fermented and aged the wine in. Light natural carbonation was preserved, appx 1g/L not as high as the FZSofAB, above. (This is pro winemaker stuff.)
2018 Colossus Viognier, Hill of Graceland, Willow Creek District, Paso Robles
Almost a killer wine - not lacking in quality, but what I went through last winter in the process of chaperoning this wine certainly made me stronger. That is to say, and I’ve said it often, I felt like a member of a failed Antarctic expedition. Picked at almost 30 brix, adjusted a la Jesus (though his dad calls him Chuy), and fermented in one new though moderately rinsed 70 gallon Russian oak barrel and a couple of kegs, it is Colossal in flavor if not in ethanol. Maybe one of the Clustermates can try it and fling some words of wino here: FLORAL, CAUCASIAN VANILLA, LEMON, MOAB APPLE WIT- okay, that’s enough!
2018 Red Zeppelin Counoise, Adelaida District, Paso Robles
Same vineyard as the above wine - in all, there are only a dozen producing acres spread over hundreds of feet up and down and up, but only half a mile north to south - but a different appellation, which is rather less important than the steep southeast exposure and lack of rrigation. Counoise has an immoderately difficult reputation, and is one of the lightest of the red Rhone varieties. I must mention that the previous vintages of this wine have been scored very high at the California State Fair, where judges are actually tested before and during the competition. 99 and 97 points, scores I would mock, but perhaps I should attempt a description instead. Okay: it smells like Counoise would if it was a first-class variety, and is surprisingly (!) big.
2017 Colossus Syrah, Paso Robles
All Westside fruit, mainly from what I see when I lift my gaze from this damn laptop, the Hill of Graceland, all clone 877. However, about 20% was, er, gleaned at over 30 brix from a Famous Vineyard more than a biodynamic potato cannon’s range from here: it had the wrong aura, someone thought. (Someone who was a marketer, not a grower or winemaker.) All open-top box fermented, labouriously punched out - er, down. Cthulhu-deep ripe black fruit, Romanian oak, and a very full palate with not mean, but moderate tannins. The high alcohol is balanced by the fruit, tannin, and acidity as well as naturally produced glycerol and unfermentable sugars. Yes, it will age: the 2012, for example, is better than it was upon release, and it was Monumental then.
Price Comparison
Not for sale online, at least $468/case MSRP
About The Winery
Winery: Zeppelin Winery
Authorized in subordination a mere decade ago by consulting winemaker, cellar monkey, and rock band mismanager Stillman Brown of Red Zeppelin infamy, and his late but still insufficiently silent partner Dan Lewis of Jory Winery, Zeppelin Winery makes wines that at least one of them believes are at least more than good enough to have pretty much anything on the label. Over the last several years, most of the wines have been from grapes grown by our infamous client (redacted) and located in two hilariously concocted subappellations of west Paso Robles that split the hidden Hill of Graceland vineyard. Visitors are generally discouraged; if they find us they often become despondent… Sales are almost exclusively to our email list - there is no club to join or quit, just an invitation to a FREE party when the one who isn’t dead yet has a ‘major birthday’.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Friday, June 7th - Tuesday, June 11th
Stillman Brown Surprise Mixed Reds & Whites
4 bottles for $99.99 $25/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $259.99 $21.67/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
So what is this so2 you speak of?
@losthighwayz Sulfur dioxide, generally referring to ‘free’ (not bound to other molecules, aldehydes for example) SO2, and measured in parts per million, ppm. The lower the pH for a given level (30 ppm is a common benchmaark) the more effective it is in antibacterial and antioxidative action, as molecular, SO2, will be an increasing if small fraction of free SO2. But too much and it’ll rip your nose right off.
2018 Chateau Abalone Estate Vermentino:
The bottle- Not a winery or grape I’ve heard of, though I know Paso Robles. There was a little yellow drop of wax on the cork top, which I took off just so I didn’t knock it everywhere when I uncorked it. Looks a bit simple, design wise, which is usually a good sign to me. It’s hard to tell which part is the varietal, and what precisely is going on here though, as the fonts aren’t set apart cleanly. I can’t say, looking at the bottle, I would take much of a risk on it if I saw it at the store. It kinda looks like it was made in Word 95. (Sorry!!)
Initial tasting-Grabbed this from my building’s desk around 10:30am, let it chill until just after 5 in the fridge, since I work from home and had work to do. Finished up and gave it a try. It’s a very light, thin looking wine. It tastes very rounded, almost like the butteriness you get from Chardonnay, but with a touch of sweetness. Not enough to pull it into fully sweet, it’s no Riesling, but just enough to balance the acidity. I’m guessing before looking anything up about this wine, but I’d say it’s close to a 3.3 on the acidity. It has a bit of tang on the backend, in a very summery way, as it starts to warm up, and smells a bit more strongly of citrus, and almost like honey. I almost wonder if it’s related to a chenin blanc style at all, as that’s the closest I can think to compare it. My roomie thought the same, except less sweet than the Chenin Blanc we tend to get. We both REALLY like this one. If you like the North by Northwest white and rose, or the recent Pedroncelli rose, you will probably like this. It has a similar balance of acidity to body.
Didn’t get a chance to pair with food because I was waiting for my SO to get home, and we finished it off before he got home. Drat. I bet it would have been delicious with the chicken tacos we had, though.
I tried to find more information about this, but I wasn’t able to find much similar to this. I’d really like to find more of this grape/style specifically. If it were a case of just that, I’d be all in even at this price point. I can’t say I’m entirely inclined to risk with the randomness in there, I’ll wait and see what other rats thought about the other ones as I’ve been on a bit of a spending spree lately.
(Also, Thank you for letting me rat!)
Also, thing I didn’t think to add until I just went back to the main page-My bottle looked TOTALLY different than on the site-
Also, have a pic of the wine in my glass too.
@Jamileigh17 I changed the label since I sent the sample bottle you got to Chateau Clustermate - I thought the old one was nice but a bit boring AND THAT’S MICROSOFT PUBLISHER 2010 but whatever font I used was probably in Word 95 so, guilty. (I was the only guy in my typewriter class in high school, and had to write my college papers with one. On papyrus, with Anubis watching.)
@Jamileigh17 There’s a big abalone farm just up the beach that’s winding down production, and our friend that’s worked there for decades as manager/mollusk wrangler won’t be trading with us any more, so I thought I’d turn the conservative label in and replace it with something horridly garish for the Last Hurrah. Thanks for the review! and very glad you liked it, and also that you were discreet enough to not refer to its obvious aroma of elephant seal farts.
@ZeppelinWinery LOL! At least you have a sense of humor about it! I first met a computer via an Apple IIe in 2nd grade, but I have a fondness for typewriters too. They’re just lovely to type on! But I’m an editor, and one of my professional skills is looking at the overall package. I actually like the new label a lot. It’s got a lot more personality, and a certain funky spark to it!
And I wouldn’t say elephant seal farts. I’ve smelled seal farts before, when I worked at an aquarium in my misspent youth. Fetid fish is NOT a scent I’d associate with this delicious wine!
@Jamileigh17 Ah, you have a reference point!
‘Harbor’ no illusions, elephant seals are worse.
And thank you for grading the label on the curve - I usually commission art rather than attempt design myself.
I ran amok with the mystery bottle labels, and of course you can see the Colossi, Red Zeppelin, and that pinkish thing with the flying primate in the pics here. Working 20-30 hour days solo during and after harvest makes for all sorts of ideas…
I wrote all that? It’ll be a wonder if there are any questions other than WHAT ARE YOU ON, FOOL?
I’m on the beach, Baja Cayucos CA, and I could hear the surf if I hadn’t mismanaged punk and metal bands. Alexis, (my better 2/5 by volume) took her headphones off for a few seconds to verify that the surf is in fact audible. She’s watching a Hugh Grant / Drew Barrymore movie on netflix…a romance, no doubt, with Hugh Grant as Tamerlane and Drew Barrymore as Clare Boothe Luce.
@ZeppelinWinery SO2? I’m really curious what it is and how it relates to PH, TA, and all that winemaker stuff
@losthighwayz
Oh skunk in the flashlight at midnight! I seem to have I rattled on about it in an above reply in answer to you without mentioning TA, which it doesn’t relate to. Period . . . . um . . . except that higher acid wine will usually have lower pH and so less free SO2 is needed for a given level of molecular, which ‘does the work’. I’d rather have a relatively ‘clean’ (few or no bacteria or bad yeast) high pH wine with low (not enough) SO2, than a ‘dirty’ low pH wine that might ‘need’ high SO2 to kill Kill KILL bad bugs but then burns your nose off if I don’t bring it down before bottling. Maybe once every three years I’ll do that - up with KMBS, ‘agitate and wait to abate’, then down with H202.
Been to Denver lately?
@rjquillin no, damnit, I only had a few days free at the Right Time and so it was Chicago,, to see Mott the Hoople (westmost show of the tour, and they hadn’t toured the US since . . . 1974) Tried to get 3 of my most dangerous friends to go to the show but only one could make it.
@rjquillin @ZeppelinWinery Was hoping to see that show but it didn’t work out. Bummer for us. Plus that is our favorite Chicago venue.
@kaolis @rjquillin
I really went to Chicago to see three friends, one of whom I hadn’t seen in almost five years. And Mott, though only wanted to hear the greatest, and funniest, short-short guitar solo in rock history, Ariel Bender’s 13.6 seconds of hysterical looniness in “The Golden Age of Rock and Roll”. I had to endure Hunter’s cringeworthy intro (“American Pie”, FFS) and his inability to belt out “Golden Age” (though it’s not his age: he couldn’t do it live 45 years ago either, the studio version is unique) but at least that’s first on the set list. Chicago Theater is awesome, though I was in the youngest 10% of the audience, and I told my friend that I’d have bet $10K that she was the only person in the hall that woke up that morning thinking she might be pregnant…
POKER! JOKER! NOT MEDIOCRE! AWESOME!
@kaolis @rjquillin
Hmmm, 40 mb mov file…email me?
These are one of those deals I wish popped up in late fall. This is a definite want. We still have not grabbed any Stillman Brown wines to try, I hear they’re good.
@TechnoViking at the risk of appearing to be my own sales tool, some of these are ‘summer wines’
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
Stillman Brown Surprise Mixed Reds & Whites - $40 = 11.75%
saving my sanity, 0%
One of these days, I will open your Counise and Tannat with the other unnamed wineries ones I bought to compare them with!
In for a case!
/giphy undersized-immaculate-plantation
@MarkDaSpark Mark, is this unnamed winery a short or long drive from my unapproachable one?
Ten minutes in a Scion vs a hundred in a Ferrari, say?
@ZeppelinWinery
Short, and long both, IIRC!
2018 Colossus Viognier
2018 Red Zeppelin Counoise
Rhone review a la Camus:
The wine arrived today. Or yesterday maybe. I don’t know. I got an email from the coast: “Wine coming. Review Saturday. Faithfully yours.” There was no golden ticket. Maybe it was yesterday.
I chilled the first bottle. Viognier. Colossus. 2018. I chilled it for a bit. Everyone was jealous of me. My wine buddy said, “You only have one shot at a Stillman Brown pair.” When I pulled the cork, it was too cold. There was a dot of yellow wax on the seal. It was a solid cork. No foil. I let it warm up.
It was a very smooth, round-bodied Viognier. I breathed in the smell of fresh tangerines. Tangerines without the sharpness of the peel, just the orange flesh. At the same time cool and warm. The vague sensation of bananas and vanilla. Like chardonnay. Not chardonnay – not oaked.
I sat on the porch overlooking the street. The trolleys were arriving with the evening crowd. They all looked happy. I sipped Viognier. The Jarlsberg sparked the wine to flares of acidity. The sun began to set. My tongue tingled vaguely at the tip. For that moment, I was happy.
Later after dinner. Red Zeppelin. Counoise. 2018. Pizza done and dinner dishes around us. Lamp rays illumined the brilliant cherry color. Pink cherry red. Fresh breezes swept in from the night – strawberry wafted from the glass, dissipating into cough syrup. The smells that should please, then don’t. I sniffed.
I swirled. Legs in the glass. Metaphor of humanity. Slowly creeping down the glass. But leisurely. I sipped and was met with sharp attack. Such light body. Such peppery show. And dry - dry as if cherried fruits of spring had dried under the withering Algerian sun.
Another sip. Another sharp attack. Another paradox of candied apple. The sweet sourness of chilled cranberry juice. This then was complexity. This then was harsh sweetness. Joy and pain in a glass. This then was life in a bottle.
As I sipped, I knew that I had shattered the harmony of the day, the exceptional silence of an evening where I’d been happy, was happy.
(Homage to Albert Camus’ The Stranger. )
@ejrunion Marveilleux! (sp?)
Stranger and stranger!
In the '90s I made wine with the son of a pied noir - Albuquerque stood in for Algeria - but I didn’t murder anyone after my mother’s funeral last year.
Thanks for the review
And see what I do
If someone asks me tomorrow
(Camuscat with doggerel chaser? sorry!)
@ejrunion epic!
Had to go in on it with the white supply nonexistent, and I can’t remember the last time I got these wines, just have the Elvis poster to show for it
La Mort du Roi, non? Probably twice as long as my first guess…
Anyone’s from socal want to split a case with me?
@CorTot Tempted, but decreased consumption here makes the storage issue worse. I’ll think on it.
@CorTot ill split 50/50
@losthighwayz 3 ways good for you?
@CorTot yup!
No NH again
Needless to say if anyone in CT wants to split…I think I might be down in the Vernon area in a month or two…
Tasting notes are classic Swilly. Well worth the read.
If anyone in Chicago is interested I got a case and am willing to share a few.
@jshaver I’m down for 2 bottles if you got them.
I’ve been hanging on to some long ago wine.woot! offerings of Stillman’s, so it’s time to add to the collection. And since delivery is estimated right before my birthday, I say Happy Birthday to me and thank you Stillman!
Cheers!
@cynthylee If it’s not before that it won’t be my fault! I’m threatening to drive it to the Facilitators myself (a mere four hours, on the 4 days of the year the Traffic Gods nod off).
@ZeppelinWinery Well “they” have until the 9th. And some Viognier would be nice.
You are the kookiest best (that is a compliment)!
Cheers!
Anyone in (preferably central) OH want to split a case?
@banner
Hey Stranger! I was just thinking about you the other day. Going to a work-related conference in Columbus next month, hoping to make it to Brew Dog!
@chipgreen
You close enough to Columbus to join me for dinner when I’m there early September?
@chipgreen Give me a heads up when you’ll be at BrewDog and hopefully I can come out and say hello! (There are 2 bars downtown, but I work at the production facility – which also has an amazing bar AND A HOTEL!! – in Canal Winchester.)
And how about a case split…?
Swilly,
you, man!
I
In for a case.
/giphy motley-woolly-view
@chipgreen hmmm wonder if I can get a short video up on this platform (shoe ‘nuff)
The magic message of “Wine coming your way!”. Thursday afternoon the package arrived; when I got home from work I opened it and immediately saw not one, but TWO bottles! Interesting that both bottles have a little bit of wax on the top of them.
First up, the bottle of Colossus.
Deep, fruity smell from the bottle. Pouring it, it’s a dark purple of almost blackberries. It’s been a stressful week, so swirl it around my ![Stitch stemless wine glass][1]. Legs last for quite a while. I smell again and this time smell… vanilla? marshmallows? This is interesting.
Taking my first sip, not knowing what to expect… I’m blown away. This is incredible. I drink more and I’m certainly picking up a fruity, light bodied taste. It’s almost creamy and soft on my pallet. It’s not dry, but it’s not sweet either. This is not a very in your face red wine; super easy to drink and enjoyable. Glass two, and then three and I’m still loving it. A very fresh finish that makes you want more. I love the smell too, I still am picking up vanilla. I look closer at the bottle and realize it’s 17% (!!!). No wonder why I’m feeling so good right now, but you would have -no- idea it’s 17%. Dangerously good stuff. I seriously love this wine. Unfortunately I don’t drink enough water and Saturday morning is a bit rough
Saturday night and time for Bottle #2! The Fleijgjetej Anaeirekrke Siagnenjrej 2018 Hill of Graceland (Fliegend Zauberpilz Saignee of Alicante Bouschet 2018 Hill of Graceland). What in the world is this?
First pour, oh, it’s a Rose! Probably should have chilled it a bit, but too late now! Color of strawberry. Almost no legs it seems. Trying to figure out what I’m smelling, aside from alcohol and it’s a bit hard for me. I don’t know if I could really identify a smell from it. First sip it’s a bit fruity with light tannins. Light and pleasant on the tongue. Soft to medium finish, can taste the acidity but it’s nicely balanced. I’m not normally a Rose drinker, but I could certainly see busting this out for a nice summer BBQ.
Both are great bottles of wine, and I really love the Colossus. It’s one of the best bottles I’ve had the privilege of tasting. Knowing now that it’s from Stillman Brown, this makes a lot of sense. I’ve always been a fan.
Why thank you! I might point out that I need to stop opening bottles that - no, opening paragraphs that might contain pointed information about bottles that are pointed out as - oh scheisse, I’ll just make a separate post to point out what - yeah, see below!
Many of the Mystery Bottles that will be included in case shipments are the Cousins of the Colossus - components that I bottle 20 or so 750s of from distinctive barrels just before Final Assembly, then put unlabeled in plain cases which I mark in Linear A, or not at all, so I then have to open one. Mainly Syrah, some Syrah/Alicante. Some have a wax dot that means or once meant something, but I figured I should put a label on them for this occasion. Some are a variation of the TNT, 5/6th Tannat rather than 50/50 with Tempranillo. And there’s also a Alicante / PS that doesn’t state the %s, or mention PS at all.
I expect I’ll be hearing from some of you next month…don’t forget to mention the color of the wax drops!
Zeppelin Winery has some of my favorite everyday drinking reds… I haven’t had any of their Rose… but BBQ season is… well it’s snowing on Mother’s day, so not sure when BBQ season will actually start, but hey, I’ll have a case of wine ready to go… unless anyone in/around Southern Vermont would like to split?
I keep coming back to this deal due to my love of mysteries but am full up on whites & roses. Will continue to ponder breaking the W(ife)IWBM
After all this time on… um, well, the OTHER site and Casemates, how can this possibly be our first Stillman case? Rock on, Stillman- look forward to solving the mystery when it shows up and a having formal ceremonial unboxing rite for the event. Feel free to stop by!
/giphy passe-enormous-tarzan
Love me some surprises and especially obscure varietals!
Also I guess it’s a spending-kind-of-day since I just bought an OLED TV at Costco I didn’t plan to buy, but it was one of those prices ending in .00 where it was one of two left and they give it a massive discount (the other one was a floor model but I got one in a sealed box.) So adding a case of wine to the day’s expenses seems logical. (maybe not advisable, but apparently inevitable.)
/giphy neurotic-infamous-bed
/giphy skilled-unwritten-lip
In for a four pack! My first Stillman purchase on casemates. Really looking forward to trying your new creations. And wanted to let you know your white label 2010 PS is in my top three bottles of wine I’ve ever tried. Excited for more!
@CruelMelody thank you! I haven’t seen one in years - somebody must have one - but I just found an 09 white label ‘red wine’ (screwcap). I haven’t opened one in at least 6 years. It’s time!
Shit, it’s beautiful. Little dent at the edge of the screwcap didn’t break seal.
This was a blend of Monterey Syrah, Monterey PS, and an ‘accidentally’ misvintaged ‘10 Colossus. So, Arroyo Seco, Hames/Lockwood, and Paso. 09 was a cool year around here, 10 hot.
No more cases! Oh, well. I’ll take what I can get.
/giphy wearisome-just-dime
The surprise arrived early! In the mix:
3 - Chateau Abalone 2018 Vermentino (green wax)
2 - Colossus 2017 Paso Robles Syrah (black wax)
1 - Colossus 2018 Paso Robles Viognier (yellow wax)
2 - Fliegend Zauberpilz 2018 Saignee of Alicante Bouschet (purple wax)
2 - Red Zeppelin 2018 Counoise (red wax)
1 - Infidel Zeppelin 2017 Alicante Bouschet (white wax)
1 - Unknown ‘no name, man’ (purple wax)
Anxiously awaiting the opportunity to savor each and every one over the next 10 years or so. Or Memorial Day weekend.
Thanks, winedavid and Stillman!
@benguin986
Hmm, I don’t even have a tracking number yet…
@benguin986 @chipgreen Mine showed up today with no prior shipping notice, a true surpise case! Try tracking by reference with the order number, mine showed up then, after the fact.
@benguin986 @catcoland
I tried using Track by Reference with the order number and it showed me my case of Slingshot Cab instead which I already knew arrived at a pickup location today whereas I have not had the option to HAL for the Swilly Swill since there is no tracking number with which to do so!
@chipgreen I never tried tracking by reference till after delivery but if I’d needed to HAL I wouldn’t be happy!
@catcoland @chipgreen Mine didn’t have a tracking number for my order either- but it was showing up on my Fed Ex ‘manage my deliveries’ view. It was a pleasant surprise, as well as a mystery.
I stopped at my office to pick up something else today and this case had arrived by surprise:
3 - Chateau Abalone 2018 Vermentino (green wax)
2 - Colossus 2018 Paso Robles Viognier (yellow wax)
1 - Fliegend Zauberpilz 2018 Saignee of Alicante Bouschet (purple wax)
1 - Colossus 2017 Paso Robles Syrah (black wax)
3 - Red Zeppelin 2018 Counoise (red wax)
1 - Stillman Brown 2017 TNT, 84% Tannat 16% Not Tannat, Hill of Graceland, 15% abv (yellow wax)
1 - Unknown “No Name, Man” 2015, 2016 or 2017, Syrah, Alicante, and\or Tannat (purple wax)
We received the same case today. Fedex was kind enough to let me know that the case had shipped, so it was safely diverted to a Walgreens for safe keeping & easy pickup.
@sndg @benguin986 @catcoland
Turns out that I had already diverted my case for HAL as well. I received a text from FedEx last week and chose where to hold the package on my phone. When I looked at my orders on my home PC a few days later, I noticed a tracking number for Slingshot and not for Stillman so assumed that I had placed a HAL on the Slingshot, which is actually still enroute!
Just received:
3 - Chateau Abalone 2018 Vermentino (green wax)
2 - Colossus 2018 Paso Robles Viognier (yellow wax)
1 - Fliegend Zauberpilz 2018 Saignee of Alicante Bouschet (purple wax)
2 - Red Zeppelin 2018 Counoise (red wax)
2 - Colossus 2017 Paso Robles Syrah (black wax)
1 - Infidel Zeppelin 2017 Alicante Bouschet (white wax)
1 - Unknown, “No Name, Man” 2015, 2016, or 2017 Syrah, Alicante and/or Tannat (purple wax)
Case arrived today! Its contents are:
3 - Chateau Abalone 2018 Vermentino (green wax)
2 - Fliegend Zuberpilz 2018 Siagnee of Alicante Bouschet (purple wax)
1 - Colossus 2018 Paso Robles Viognier (yellow wax)
2 - Red Zeppelin 2018 Counoise (red wax)
2 - Colossus 2017 Paso Robles Syrah (black wax)
1 - Unknown “No Name, Man” 2015, 2016, or 2017 Syrah, Alicante, and/or Tannat (pink wax)
1 - TNT 2017 84% Tannat 16% Not Tannat (brown wax)
Not sure what to expect of the two “surprise” bottles. I’ll probably just have to pour them together into a large bucket and work my way through that…
My case contents;
3 - Chateau Abalone 2018 Vermentino (green wax)
2 - Fliegend Zuberpilz 2018 Saignee of Alicante Bouschet (purple wax)
1 - Colossus 2018 Paso Robles Viognier (yellow wax)
3 - Red Zeppelin 2018 Counoise (red wax)
1 - Colossus 2017 Paso Robles Syrah (black wax)
1 - Unknown “No Name, Man” 2015, 2016, or 2017 Syrah, Alicante, and/or Tannat (purple wax)
1 - TNT 2017 84% Tannat 16% Not Tannat (yellow wax)
@chipgreen would live to know how the Tannat is.
My Unknown is 2 dots, black and red. 2 dots be better than one?