Marilyn Remark
Salinas
Joel Burnstein, owner and winemaker of Marilyn Remark Wines took me
through his
wines.
2005
Roussanne, Lockwood Valley
Vineyard, Monterey County, Marilyn Remark Wines, 14.5%
Lemon zest and air freshener on the nose.
Lightly flavoured in the mouth, with a neat, fragrant
citrussy
palate. Very Good
Indeed. 89/100
2005
Marsanne, Loma Pacific
Vineyard, Monterey County, Marilyn Remark Wines, 15%
Peachy and very minerally on the nose.
Light and very fresh on the attack, but it then fills out
nicely. There’s
good balance with a nice acidity
especially noticeable on the finish.
Excellent length. Very
Good
Indeed/Excellent. 93/100
2006
Viognier, tank sample,
Marilyn Remark Wines
This had a really powerful golden delicious nose – ripe
golden delicious
apples. Quite full
on the palate with
lots of malic flavours and a real peachiness.
Very round and a touch fat.
Joel
stressed that this was an unfinished wine and that in his view it
needed more
acidity. To make
his point he reached
for a bag of citric acid and added a fair dollop.
The wine, with the added citric acid, still
had apples on the nose, though the apple fruit was now more muted. It was just a little
crisper on the palate with
more peach flavours coming through.
A
bit more work was needed to get the right balance, but I thought this
promised
well.
2005
Rosé de Saignée, Monterey
County, Marilyn Remark Wines, 15%
This was made from 55% grenache and 45% syrah, evidently with a fair
degree of
skin contact, given the deepish garnet pink colour.
There’s red fruit and blackberries on the
nose, which is quite soft and integrated.
Good, clean palate, with quite deep flavours and a good
fruit
character. Quite
persistent in the mouth
with great length. Very
Good
Indeed. 90/100
2004
Grenache, Wild Horse Vineyard,
Monterey County, Marilyn Remark Wines, 15.8%
There are perfumed black fruits on the nose, which is very attractive
– quite
gorgeous even – and I could sniff it forever.
The palate is really lovely: this is a very impressive
wine with lots of
elegant black cherry fruit. It
has quite
a refined feel to it. Finishes
with
exceptional length. Excellent. 94/100
2004 Syrah,
Arroyo Loma Vineyard,
Monterey County, Marilyn Remark Wines, 14.5%
The nose has sweet, meaty, slightly gamey black fruit with some
nutmeggy
spice. It’s
not quite as impressive on
the palate as on the nose, but it is very nicely rounded with good full
fruit. There’s
a good meaty feel on the
palate and it has good balance. Having
not been utterly impressed initially, I find it’s now growing
on me, and
there’s plenty of interest here, as it unfolds in the glass,
and I think it
works very well. It
probably just needs
a couple of years. Very
Good
Indeed+. 92/100
2004 Petite
Sirah, Road’s End
Vineyard, Monterey County, Marilyn Remark Wines, 15.5%
The nose has very sweet berry fruit tending towards jamminess, possibly
with
some of the sweetness coming from vanilla oak overtones. Good palate, with sweetish
black fruit, but
fair balance. Nicely
made, but
ultimately unexciting. Very
Good. 86/100
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Last updated: 1 January 2008