From Cabernet Sauvignon with around 20-30% Petit Verdot (the stats he handed me often deviate, albeit ultimately insignificantly, from those on his web site) all from Red Mountain (which, he opines, “is the only place in Washington where this much power can be achieved”), Gorman’s 2009 Albatross saturates the palate with a meld of blackberry preserves, huckleberry, black olive, medicinal herbal-mineral extracts, crushed stone, machine oil and steel shavings. The term “industrial strength” leaps to my mind, which I suppose could also apply to certain heavy metal sounds. There is an odd juxtaposition here of a seemingly relatively polished mid-palate impression – perhaps just because so viscous and saturating? – followed by a raspy reverb of tannin in the finish. Certainly not for the faint of heart or enticing in this taster of the second sip though naturally I took several out of professional duty this is still one of the more persistent and complex wines I tasted from Gorman on the occasion of our first meeting.
With a background in sales and marketing, there’s little question that Chris Gorman’s high profile and reputation in the Washington wine community are partly due to his talents in those areas (his web site, for example, is a think to behold), but it’s obvious in conversation with this decade-long winemaker (since 2007 full-time) that the fewer than 3,000 cases he turns out each year reflect imagination, innovation, and determination. The results, though, simply don’t impress me to the extent they have so many of my and his colleagues. Gorman’s frequent rock ‘n roll points of reference are certainly apt (and I harbor no prejudice against that musical genre) but there is an abundance of tannic fuzz and feedback to nearly all of the eight reds I tasted with him that I thought tended to muddle or muddy their themes, and that left my palate rather ragged and numb. No doubt some will suggest it was that way beforehand By reading attentively and perhaps even between the lines of my tasting notes, hopefully those who will be more enthusiastic than I was about these powerful, tannic wines will recognize that fact.
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