| | Fellow Board member Alan Rath came to town on Monday and a few of us managed to get together during the busy holiday season to share some wines with out fellow Oenophile. The venue was Triomphe in NYC and with the back private room to ourselves on 4 days notice - an offline materialized. There were 7 who turned up and the theme was California. The Oenophiles who attended were:
Alan Rath (Guest of honor)
Victor Hong (Wine Hunter)
Holt Goddard (Octavious)
Holt's Fiance (I am drawing a blank on her name - I appoligize)
Tim Fetter (Trader by day Wino by night)
Asher Rubenstein (Lawyer by day Wino by night)
Jamie Kutch (Narrator) Token German that was dead like Hitler Another bad bottle from Queens.. What a shame... - 1988 Wegeler-Deinhard Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Kabinett - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Dry Cork that broke as it was very brittle. Poor storage immediatly from the apple cidar color. Nose had a mulled cidar taste. Fruit was still evident but this bottle was a one sip wonder. Too bad as I poored the rest. (84 pts.)
Pinot's Here we go - right out of the gate these two wines performed beautifully. - 2003 A.P. Vin Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands
Ripping cherries soft and silky on the palate. Roses galore on the rim of the glass. Light earth tone with a grand overture of more - ripe binge cherries. Mid palate coxes you into not wanting to swallow just yet as the wine jumps happily around my tongue. The finish is delightful with a chocolate flare. No heat is apparent at all as this came from the cellar 45 minutes earlier and is slightly under room temp. This is a wine I have drank 4 of in the last 2 week. I have 2 left. I have practically been brushing my teeth with it - it's that good. (93 pts.)
- 2002 Radio-Coteau Pinot Noir Hellenthal - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Ruby Red. Not the typical fruity new world style Pinot I usually stick my nose into - this has a slightly older world style with softer fruit flavors and light velvet silk mouth feel. Subtle nuances of strawberry and earth. A delight I watch evolve over the evening into a real delicious Pinot I will be keeping my eyes open for. (93 pts.)
Pride Pride Pride I was itching for the combo for the last 2 days. Wonderful tasting them side-by-side. Whats your fancy? 01 Big Brawny Beast? or 02 The Beast's Little Brother? - 2001 Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley
Dark Opaque inky purple. Broodingly thick looking in the glass. Compared to the 02' this wine looks much meatier. Nose is black forest chocolate, blackberries, and some vanilla with sweet tannins. I decanted this for 2 and a half hours and what a difference it made from the bottle I opened a few months earlier. Open for business with gobs of red ripe fruit lush palate taste. Long pure fruit finish that goes on and on. A winner.. Someone mentioned Pavie like. (96 pts.)
- 2002 Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley
Totally Rockin.. Fat juicey nose of cassis and black berry / boysenberry flavors. Nuances jump from the dark glass. This compared to the 01 though in the glass is timid looking. Half as dark and half the beastly profile on the nose. Much tamer but still roaring to be drunk. Nice integration smooth wood and with a light white pepper spice to it. Entry is much sexier than its older beast brother. Sweet tannins once again with a finish like you just came on a super model. Divine. (95 pts.)
Barely legal California Califonians with a couple years under their belt. I think this was the first offline I have ever been to where Victor hasn't said "My wine I brought is my favorite" - 1995 Duckhorn Vineyards Merlot Napa Valley - USA, California, Napa Valley
Accelerated nose and palate this wine was not flawed but tasted 15 years older than its age. It was tired and the fruit was dried up. Upsetting. (86 pts.)
- 1997 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley
Ruby red with a typical cabernet nose of black currant fruit and some light toasted oak. Medium bodied and a descent, spicy finish. Slightly one dimensional. (90 pts.)
Washington vs. Napa The Dream team.. These two stacked up well against one another and when playing with the big boys its all about style. - 2000 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, Washington
Dark red. The nose had some vanilla bean and big oak flavors with fruit tones of boyesenberry, blackberries and some tar. A big wine with a big mouth feel. Smoking black fruit - pipe tobaco and licorice almost and expresso quality. I tasted this alongside the prides and Switchback and preferred the others over this mammoth.: (93 pts.)
- 1999 Switchback Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Peterson Family Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley
I practically build this tasting around this wine. WOW what a homerun finally tasting a switback cabernet as Kris Green has talked about how amazing this juice is since the 1999 vintage. Dark ruby red and loaded with flavors right from the get-go. Voluminous on the palate awash with flavors from chocolate to cherry - cassis to jammy red fruit... Crammed and stuffed with nuances and an obesity of ripe fruit flavors made it impossible to tear my glass from my mouth and nose. One of the pinnacle pure cabernets I have yet experienced and a finish like Lance Armstrong’s. Thanks Alan for bringing this across country for us to taste. (97 pts.)
Monster Garage Syrah Big Big Big - Go big or go home. This paired with the chocolate dessert perfectly. - 1999 Lagier Meredith Syrah - USA, California, Napa Valley, Mt. Veeder
As Syrah is not my grape of choice I will let others chime in on this one. Some felt it was the wine of the night. It was a great finish to a great night.
A big thank you to Alan for bringing along MY Wine Of The Night.
At the conclusion of the evening we took a vote and had a 3 way tie - the wines were
01 Pride
02 Pride
99 Switchback
Anyone have a Switchback they want to trade? :) |
