This year’s tasting season started Saturday, Jan 14, with Features Presentation (our monthly stockreport in a glass format.) A nice floral Sylvaner from Abbazia di Novacella, a slighlty cool edged Santa Cruz Pinot from Armitage and a juicy little Malbec from Andeluna are all worth a try. On Thursday, Jan 19, the French came in and poured for the Bordeaux Chateaux Tour – a condensed look at the surprisingly drinkable 2008′s and the more structured and critically hailed 2009′s. Clos Fourtet 2008 and 2009, Poujeaux Moulis 2009, and Saint Pierre 2009 were among the standouts. We had a packed house for Burgundy Corner on Saturday, Jan 21. There were two delicious whites, the Boisson-Vadot Bourgogne 2009 (declassified Meursault) and Moreau Naudet Chablis Valmur 2008 as well as strong showings from Jadot Beaune Pertuisots 2009 and Jadot Volnay Clos de la Barre 2009. The pair of Vosne-Romanée from Mongeard Mugneret, Les Suchots and Les Petits Monts were show stoppers and jaw droppers, as expected. On Thursday, Jan 26, we hosted a few winemakers and/or winery reps for the Pinot Days Preview, a lead up to the main event held in SaMo on the 28th. The spicy, savory Longplay Lia’s Vineyard from Oregon and juicy, bright Sonoma Pinots from Roessler, Red Label and Gap’s Crown, took top honors. We wrapped up January on Saturday the 28th with Faux ZAP South, our unabashed though abridged answer to the gargantuan Zinfandel Advocates and Producers shindig held in San Fran every year. Staring down the barrel of some questionable vintages the next couple of years might put this one on ice in the future but the peeps weren’t deterred for this one and in throngs they came. Brutocao Hopland Ranches 2007 from Mendocino and the Four Vines Maverick 2009 from Amador were great values. The Elyse Korte Ranch 2007 would be perfect for those of you, like me, that long for the leaner, more complex and piquant zins of yore. The Carlisle Papera Ranch 2009 was, well, Carlisle. Or, come get your jelly, the Opolo Mountain 2010 should appease the high test-big fruit folks out there.
Archive for the ‘Tasting Notes’ Category
Brother, could you please pass the pinot?
Looking back at the tastings we’ve hosted this year, a few categories stand out. Nearly a quarter of our events, so far, have been devoted to Spain, the Rhône or Pinot Noir. Is this mere coincidence or design? A bit of both. 2005, ’06 and ’07 are strong to exceptional vintages, so we buy and by extension, pour, what is relevant and what is drinking well. On a more selfish note, if you were to observe the wines that wet our glasses during our frequent After Hours Recreational Consumption Sessions(AHRCS), you would find that the aforementioned wines play prominent roles. Last Saturday (8/8) was the fifth installment featuring one of our favorite grapes, Pinot Noir.
A quick rundown…The 4 Bears label from King Estate/Renwood alum, Sean Minor, showed surprising balance and poise for such a moderate price tag. Waipara Springs, from the Canterbury area of New Zealand made a nice splash. Burgundian-styled Hamacher from the Willamette Valley, blossomed after enough air. Ketcham Estate from the Russian River, WM Michael Browne(Costa Browne) at the conn, was plush and spicy. Verging superstar, Anthill Farms’ Tina Marie from Green Valley was laced with vibrant cherries and rose petals, one of my new favs producers.
Finally, the Caymus connection…The polished, ripe, smoke tinged Belle Glos from the foggy Taylor Lane Vyd was made by William Wagner (son of Chuck, grandson of Charlie) with the assistance of John Bolta, the maestro of Conundrum. John Bolta, headed the now defunct Lorca label using fruit from the Garys. From a sales standpoint, Lorca stole the show. The 2003 Lorca Rosella’s and Lorca Pisoni Vineyards were fruit forward and in a very good place drinking wise. The Lorca Garys’ 2001; probably one of the earlier efforts from the iconic vineyard, it was planted in 1997; was herbaceous with hints of anise. A little piece of history in a bottle, it held up well against the younger and bigger kids on the block but keep in mind it is a drink now-drink today-drink tomorrow kind of wine.
A Cabernet Day
Fifty four people piled into our little tasting room last Saturday (8/1) for Silver Oak & Friends, making it one of our most well attended tastings since opening Winex Uncorked. Quite a contrast to two weeks earlier when we had to scrap an Aussie tasting for lack of interest. (Huh?)
We kicked off the show with some strong efforts in the ‘Value’ category with Christian Lazo, a small family outfit out of Paso Robles run by WM Steve Christian and his wife Lupe Lazo. (I love it when I call a winery for tech specs and the winemaker picks up the phone!) And a new face (to us), Egret, the second label of Bonneau using sourced fruit from Napa. The upper label, Bonneau, sourced from the Stagecoach and Kane Vyds also showed very well, more structured than its younger sibling.
The blends, a normal feature in our Cabernet tastings, were led off by the CF driven Justin ‘Justification’ and the CS laden Justin ‘Iscosceles’, two allocated wines that we normally wouldn’t have a chance to pour. The history rich Lail ‘Blueprint’, made by ‘Rockstar/Wine Stylist’ WM Phillipe Melka was a juicy beast, the best of the blends.
Some of the standouts from the ‘Bigs’….. Efestē ‘Big Papa’ (pronounced F S T) from Ciel du Cheval, Kiona & Sagemoor Vyds, top sites in Washington State. Emblem, from an old vyd in Rutherford; the new project from Michael Mondavi & son, Rob. Parallel, another Phillipe Melka stunner from the Conn Valley. And the show stoppers….Hewitt, the elegant, black fruit packed Cabernet made by Tom Rinaldi (longtime WM at Duckhorn) & Caymus Napa Cabernet 2007, a big wallop of chocolate caramel coffee cake in your face, in a bottle. I’m not sure what the Wagner’s were smoking in ’07 but it worked, what a wine!
