One More Time

Tasted Thursday, December 30, 2010 by last chance with 598 views

Introduction

One last big wine tasting for 2010. The theme was to just open great wines and party like it's 2099.

Flight 1 - Starter Whites (3 Notes)

A couple whites to get things going. A magnum of Pierre Peters is a great way to start things off. The Rochioli Chardonnay is probably one of the best Chardonnays that I have ever tasted. And who doesn't love Donnhoff?

Flight 2 - The Reds (13 Notes)

We tasted the Kongsgaard, Spring Valley, Baer and Araujo as blind wines. The others were just out there on the table.

  • 2008 Shea Wine Cellars Pinot Noir Estate Shea Vineyard 91 Points

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

    This wine had great candied cherry flavors. I didn't enjoy the 07 Shea wines that I tasted, but 08 was obviously much kinder to the vineyard.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2008 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Southing 93 Points

    USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills

    This was the second time that I got to taste this wine in the last 2 weeks. This is really excellent Pinot. These sure are approachable right now! Haven't tasted any of the other bottlings from 08 yet, but others said that they were even better than this.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 1999 Gary Farrell Pinot Noir Russian River Valley 90 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

    This wine had red fruit flavors that were slightly medicinal along with some licorice notes. I have had several Gary Farrell Pinots before, but they were all very young compared to this one.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2006 Kongsgaard Grenache/Syrah 93 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Tasted blind. I thought this was a Syrah with 6 or 7 years of age on it when tasting it blind. At least there was 50% Syrah in this... This was my 3rd favorite wine of the night behind the Hourglass and the Booker Fracture. I loved the cherry flavors and the sikly mouthfeel was just wonderful. I'm not a huge Grenache fan, but I would sure enjoy drinking more examples of a Grenache blend like this.

    Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2005 Clos Mogador Priorat 92 Points

    Spain, Catalunya, Priorat

    Nice roasted flavors in this Priorat. I had only had a Clos Mogador once before, and based off this tasting, the previous one was an off bottle.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2003 Baer Winery Arctos 90 Points

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

    Tasted blind. After a little discussion about vineyard sources and Cab Franc, we had zeroed in on Baer for this wine. Several in the group really enjoyed this bottle.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2008 Booker Vineyard Oublie 93 Points

    USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

    This bottle was opened well into the evening once the blind bottles started coming out. We didn't taste this one blind, but I don't think that any of us really knew what to expect from a wine that had so much Counoise in the blend. This was another great wine from Booker.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2005 Booker Vineyard Syrah Fracture 95 Points

    USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

    My second favorite wine of the night, and the group's as well. Only the Hourglass Cab was enjoyed more by the group. This was really a great bottle of Syrah. I had tasted a Saxum Booker Syrah previously and really enjoyed it, but I think that I may have even enjoyed this one more than the Saxum.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2001 Spring Valley Vineyard Frederick 90 Points

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley

    Tasted blind. A couple tasters in the group thought this had enough VA to call it undrinkable. There may have been some volatility to the nose, but it wasn't overly distracting to me.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2006 Hourglass Cabernet Sauvignon 96 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    My WOTN, and the group's as well. Yes, there was a lot of new oak on this, but it wasn't overdone. This was just a terrific bottle of CA Cabernet made in a modern style. I loved this.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2005 Ovid Red Wine 92 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    This bottle was decanted for about 8 hours before the tasting. It was very smooth and approachable, but it was just lacking depth in the mid-palate. It didn't help that this bottle followed the Hourglass. It was still a very nice wine, but it just didn't deliver as expected.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2000 Araujo Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard 93 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Tasted blind. I think almost everyone that tasted this blind thought it was a CA Cab with a bit of age on it. I really enjoyed it and it showed very, very well for a 2000 Napa Cab.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2006 Mollydooker Shiraz Velvet Glove 92 Points

    Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

    This was just a very different style wine than almost all the other bottles we were tasting. It was massive and I could actually feel the alcohol content on this one. The wine was built for the high alcohol % though, and would probably have fared better in the tasting if we had just been tasting Syrahs. It was fun to finally get to try a Velvet Glove though.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Flight 3 - Dessert wine (1 Note)

A half bottle of Sauternes just to round the evening out. We didn't get to the Kracher this time - but we probably didn't need another sweet wine at this point.

Closing

The Hourglass and Booker Fracture were two of the group's favorites, with the Hourglass taking the group WOTN. There wasn't a consensus for the group's 3rd favorite wine of the night, but the Hourglass and Booker were mentioned by almost everyone when picking a Top 3.

×
×