Stags Leap Napa Valley Petite Sirah 2011

22 Monday Sep 2014

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This is a varietal that I have fallen in love with.  Not a Sirah, nor is it petite.  The grape  is also known as Durif overseas and offers up hefty tannins with spice and plum being the main component flavors.  This particular bottle had a few years of mellowing time and it came across with black currants and plum on the nose with a nearly black complexion in the glass.  Licorice was very prominent along with black fruits and cola.  Sharp tannins and great acidity balanced each other beautifully on the mouthfeel and I really enjoyed the whole package.  I paid dearly for it at the Charlie Palmer Steak restaurant in Reno, but found it online for $30.  It was the final evening of my Reno adventure and was well suited to our Filet dinner.  91 points and 4 stars from me.  Salut….

stag leap petite sirah

Michael David Winery Earthquake Zinfandel 2011

22 Monday Sep 2014

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Continuing with our Reno weekend collection of wines, this Lodi Zin was a real treat.  However, I was starting to suffer ‘palate fatigue’ not to mention a slight buzz so my notes got shorter and less detailed.  The essence of this wine is as follows-

Black cherries
Purple plums and black currant mid
89 points
Good acidity and a mild tannic hint

That’s what it comes to at 2 am after a gut full of vino and good times.  I found it online for $22 and was surprised to see that it only got 84 points from WE yet my peers at cellartracker gave it 90.  Strange variation but I’m going with 3 stars for my 89 points and it’s 22 price.  Sorry for the brevity!  Salut….

earthquake zinfandel

Chateau La Cabanne 2003

22 Monday Sep 2014

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The disappointment of the weekend, and rightly so.  A Pomerol wine from the infamously hot 2003 that showed off all the downsides of that tricky Bordeaux vintage.  As I pulled it out of the cellar my instinct told me we were in for a stewed and gamey wine.  I wasn’t far off the mark.  I wrote two lines for this wine-

Burnt Plum.  Cooked Prunes.  Says it all really.  Back in the day it got 90 points from WS and currently sells for $50, good luck.  Avoiding wines from this vintage is sound advice.  If you have any in the cellar, drink up as they are falling of a cliff at a great speed.  Salut….

chateau la cabanne pomerol

Primus Signature Zinfandel 2006

22 Monday Sep 2014

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My friend ‘The Beave’ was hosting the Reno Air Race party this year and invited me to raid his cellar, which I took literally.  Out popped this beauty that was the highlight of the evening.  Beautifully aged Sierra Foothills Zinfandel that offered silky purple plums with beautiful acidity and restrained tannins.  Bottle aging has smoothed this wine out like a well worn pebble.  A sweet cherry finish was the capstone of this atypical Cali Zin that strayed from the high octane, jammy wines that Zin has a tendency to become.  No idea on pricing but this is a 91+ point wine that I would give 4 stars to if it was sub $30.  Salut….

primus signature zinfandel

Edna Valley Central Coast Cabernet Sauvignon 2012

22 Monday Sep 2014

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This was the first wine we opened at the Reno Air Races party last weekend.  Served with some Strip steaks on the grill it was perfect.  A dark purple glass revealed plum and meat on the nose.  Black currants and eucalyptus popped right out of the glass and jumped onto the palate of delicious tannins with a juicy acidity.  Dark plums on the mid-palate were accompanied by some slight oak which led to a nice finish.  A well balanced wine that was enjoyed by all and garnered 90 points from me.  I could not find pricing but I would imagine it to be sub $20 making it a great bargain and worthy of 3 stars from me.  Salut….

edna valley central coast cabernet sauvignon

Jean Balmont Cabernet Sauvignon 2012

22 Monday Sep 2014

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It’s been a whirlwind 10 days, starting with a trip to Reno for the annual Air Races followed by a night in Truckee with friends before my flight over to Asia.  I returned home for one night before heading to Florida for a memorial service for one of my best friends.  I am sitting at the airport waiting to go home now and have a few minutes to review the amazing wines that we drank over the course of the last two weeks.  This particular wine was on the United flight to Reno, so it doesn’t really count as airplane wine is about as good as airplane food.

From the newly renamed Pays D’Oc classification of the southwest of France this is a charming little wine that does the job it’s supposed to do.  It started out with no nose- airplane air can do that to a wine, especially if it’s served in a plastic cup.  No worries, I wasn’t expecting one.  Slight flavors yet interesting with a  melange of blue fruits and some crunchy cherry. Tart acidity and mellow subdued tannins show up in the composition of this wine that has a finish of herbs and yellow plum.  I can imagine this wine as a workday country lunch jug wine- very serviceable and getting a respectable 83 points from me.  I believe it can be had for about $5-6 per bottle, I happened to pay the trumped up $7 per 187.5 ml on the plane.  It’s hard for me to justify a 3 star rating for an 83 point wine yet I feel compelled to do so based on it’s quality price ratio.  Salut….

jean balmont cabernet sauvignon

La Croix-Barton 2009

08 Monday Sep 2014

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By far the most widely searched wine on my blog has been the La Croix-Barton 2008.  I did not particularly care for it, but apparently many people googled it and ended up reading my 2 cents worth.  When I saw the ’09 I did not hesitate.  Priced at around $14 it provides gratification with oak and mulberry on the nose to get things started.  Tart cherry and plums greet the palate but they are slightly thin right now.  Juicy acidity and young tannins make this an interesting wine to drink now yet I feel it could do with another 2 years in a cellar.  This wine is vibrant and lively but should settle down and gain some weight in short order.  It is interesting to taste wines from the same winery but from an average year versus a far superior one to see the nuances.  This particular example highlights just how much variation you can get between vintages.  I’m going with 88 points and 3 stars for this Merlot/Cab Sauvignon blend from Bordeaux.  Salut….
la croix barton

Sass Pinot Noir 2012

31 Sunday Aug 2014

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I took Moxie out for a late supper last night at our local Korean/Cajun fusion restaurant called Mokomandy.  We were deep in conversation when the drink order was up, so I asked the waiter what he would recommend and ended up with this Willamette Valley Pinot to go with our eclectic dinner.

It’s funny how some wines taste a certain way to some people, yet others have totally different opinions.  Here we go…

Pinot Purple in the glass, with the telltale see-through hues of a this fickle grape.  Red fruits and a straw component hit me on the nose, I was excited to discover what shade of ‘New World’ this wine would be.  I immediately got sour cherry, strawberry and cranberries on the initial attack, and when I say sour- yowsah….  This wine is most definitely Oregonian in style with some bracing acidity and melded tannins.  The finish was decent with a lingering note of forest floor and strawberry.  The acidity was a little too much for me, making the wine seem a tad off-balance.  I bet it will hold up well in the cellar though and perhaps come out strong in a few years.  Back to the differing of opinions- the winemaker’s website claims flavors of blackberry and black cherry with peppery notes.  I went the other direction with red fruits and certainly no pepper, interesting.  89 points from me for this tasty effort and 3 stars for it’s $22 price tag.  Salut….

sass pinot noir

Doisy-Vedrines Sauternes 2010

29 Friday Aug 2014

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Last weekend I had a big tasting night planned.  The Clarendon Hills Syrah was the opener.  I was then planning on doing a mini vertical of this wine with a 2011.  Problem is that I absolutely loved this bottle and ended up finishing it and saving the other one for another night.  I laid out two cheeses to go along with the sweet dessert wines.  They deserve their own blog posts- simply out of this world.The wine was poured into my Riedel dessert glass where it showed off a light golden color and had a nose of apricots, honey and almond chips. I made note of a classy smoothness with light botrytis in the initial attack. Honey and melon jam came to mind after letting the wine swirl a bit. The first sensation was of light acidity which became cutting on the mid palate. Apricot tart with a sweet minerality on the back end was a really nice way to tail it off but I was in for a surprise. I timed a rather long finish over 90 seconds which added some cloying sweetness and hazelnuts on the finale. Exquisite and worthy of 95 points from me. Here’s the bonus….. it’s only $20 and I’m buying all I can get in 375ml bottles. If you like sweet wines, this one is an absolute stunner. 5 stars for this sticky. Salut….

The original lineup, 2010 and 2011 Doisy-Vedrines

The original lineup, 2010 and 2011 Doisy-Vedrines

The cheese course, out the park with these two!

The cheese course, out the park with these two!

doisy vedrines

Clarendon Hills Bakers Gully Syrah 2007

29 Friday Aug 2014

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Yet another tremendous effort from Clarendon Hills that had me refilling my glass quicker than usual.  I planned a rather extravagant night last weekend before I left town.  This bottle was the opener, going up against some Hanger Steaks, a piece of Flat Iron Beef and some peppercorn sirloins.  The match was perfect.

Purple jam and tar sprung out of the blackish-purple glass that really intrigued me.  The Clarendons are usually slightly restrained and refined, not bombastic.  More on this later…  A plum core with blackberry and spice box introduced me to the wine where I then got some oak and leather notes with bramble on the mid palate.  Well masked 14.5% alcohol is a becoming a regular feature of this winery.  I made note of the smoothness with a racing acidity and well integrated tannins.  This particular cuvee has full extraction but is restrained in style.  The winemaker has really worked these grapes to achieve depth and character with tremendous complexity yet still sticking to their Rhone style of making Aussie Shiraz.  I gave it 93 points which aligns with the pro’s and would drink this wine between 2014-2018 with no problem.  Pricey at $70 or so bucks it will make you look a star on a big dinner date when paired with some grilled meats.  4 stars from me.  Salut….

bclarendon hills bakers gully syrah