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cowan cellars

The more, the terrier

[cowan cellars]Cowan Cellars 2015 “Jack’s Rosé” (North Coast) — Poised between tension and fragility, yet in the end it’s much friendlier than either. Refreshment through a gauzy historical filter. Fun, too. Let’s not leave that out. (Disclaimer: the winemaker is a friend.) (4/16)

Florida via Sonoma

Cowan Cellars 2010 Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast) – Light fruit, low-impact. Gentle, simple, not very expressive. Closing? It’s the most likely explanation. (8/12)

Jar-Jar

Cowan Cellars 2010 “Isa” (Lake County) – Not, against the advice of the winemaker, decanted. And quite a journey, from attenuated beginnings to the near-absence of the embittering skin contact as the wine sort of settles into a low-lying pool of anonymous green-apple fruit, then coalescing again to something with a lot more confidence in its identity. The last sips are the most appealing, which I guess demonstrates the winemaker’s point. (5/12)

Jar-Jar

Cowan Cellars 2010 “Isa” (Lake County) – Airy pomegranate with a silky texture. Dense, long, and sandy, like drinking a desert wind. This is very accomplished. (11/11)

Fjords

Cowan Cellars 2008 Sauvignon Blanc Silver Pines (Sonoma Mountain) – Thick, with light apricot sweetness and a sorbet texture (which is not to imply residual sugar or the simulacrum thereof beyond that previously indicated). Frankly, this reminds me rather powerfully of Radikon’s early efforts. That’s a compliment. But it’s not an entirely complete wine. (11/11)