New Years Eve Lobsterfest!

Roberts House, Philadelphia PA
Tasted Friday, December 31, 2010 by ews3 with 894 views

Introduction

The 3rd annual lobsterfest, with copious amounts of fresh Maine lobster, and even more copious amounts of wine -- Napa Cabs and Sparklers.

Flight 1 - Lunch wines (2 Notes)

I had a couple wines to "pre-party" with lunch.

  • 2007 Betz Family Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille 93 Points

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

    deep garnet color, opaque at center. showed smoke, black fruit, and olive on the nose. medium bodied palate does not show incredible concentration, but don't be fooled -- there is plenty of fruit on this. definitely on the darker curranty side, without juicy notes. more smoke and peppery steak also appear on the palate. medium(+) acidity. there is some heat that appears on this -- hopefully some bottle aging will help round that out. nice medium tannins that show that this has 10-20 years ahead of it. medium (+) finish is interesting -- light, but doesn't really fade.

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  • 2007 Rivers-Marie Chardonnay B. Thieriot Vineyard 91 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    medium gold color with some slight green tinge. medium intensity nose of honeydew melon, asian pear, honeycomb, and toffee ice cream (some toffee evident, but seems diluted). palate shows more of the melon with some tropical fruit and white pepper. medium (+) acidity is most prominent on the midpalate and leading into a well rounded medium length finish that adds citrus peel to the prior notes. I might be low on score -- the richness isnt quite there, but the melon flavors are delicious and it has a surprising complexity.

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Flight 2 - Starters (3 Notes)

A few lighter sparklers and a Rose from Scholium. Two were very drinkable, one was interesting but I did not fins it to my tastes.

  • 2009 Scholium Project Rhododactylos 85 Points

    USA, California, Central Valley, Lodi

    very faint rose color -- surprising glass to glass variance. nose smelled off to me -- very green but almost a faint chemical note on it. palate is more pleasant, with light strawberry notes. some heat appears late on the midpalate and carries through a med(-) finish.

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  • 2008 Domaine Barmes-Buecher Crémant d'Alsace 87 Points

    France, Alsace, Crémant d'Alsace

    nice light sparkler with notes of apple as well as some grapey notes. easy to drink by the gulp.

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  • NV Domaine Fabrice Gasnier La Cravantine 88 Points

    France, Loire Valley

    beautiful light salmon color. nose shows a brief hint of green right away which is quickly overwhelmed by strawberry. palate is nice and light -- again, an easy to drink wine. flavors include strawberry cheesecake, but also some darker fruit and an interesting spice note.

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Flight 3 - Napa Cabs (6 Notes)

The big guns of the evening... many of these were too young, yes -- but they all lived up to my high expectations and -- in a few cases -- surpassed them. The Schrader was my WOTN as an absolutely delicious wine.

  • 1997 Opus One 91 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    vigorously decanted, but only briefly. still has quite a bit of color, but some bricking evident in the decanter. nose shows some oxidation, as well as some caramel and earthy notes. palate still has some fruit, but it is restrained behind mainly secondary notes of caramel, tobacco, and leather. the attack is beautiful and you get some sweetness. it is a bit thin on the midpalate, with a medium(-) body. med(+) acidity really helps to bring this all together and it closes out with a medium finish that is tasty. overall, a quite nice example of aged Napa cab.

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  • 2007 Corra Cabernet Sauvignon 96 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    decanted 6 hours. nose was a little bit muted, with some dark fruit, but not too much showing. the palate is delicious, with black fruit, chocolate, and black pepper showing through. medium (+) acidity and medium tannins that are fine -- I think this will have a long life ahead. the medium(+) finish is delicious and remarkably shows no heat -- the alcohol is well integrated. I *loved* the finish on this. an extraordinary wine!

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  • 2004 BOND Pluribus 93 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    decanted about 4 hours. nose shows lots of dark berry fruit. there is a hint of bitterness on the attack, before the palate rounds out with flavors of black raspberry, some sweet spice, and creamy oak. lots of tannins on this, i expect it needs another decade to reach its peak and will last beyond that. medium(+) finish.

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  • 2007 Rudius Cabernet Sauvignon 95 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    decanted 6 hours. this had a very dark profile. the nose showed black pepper, black olive, and licorice. there is quite a bit of fruit, but it is more curranty and less juicy. this is likely starting to shut down and will go into a long slumber. the medium length finish brings the wine together with well balanced alcohol and medium tannins. in fact, the finish is probably where the most fruit shows.

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  • 2007 Pott Wine Cabernet Sauvignon The Arsenal Greer Vineyard 96 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford

    decanted 6 hours. impressive nose shows lots of dark fruit. well balanced, medium(+) bodied palate shows blackberry, licorice, and quite a bit of chocolate. very creamy mouthfeel, with powdery tannins. long finish continues the chocolaty notes. my first pott wine, and now very happy i bought!

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  • 2008 Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon GIII Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard 97 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford

    decanted 6 hours. very dark color with some purple tinges sneaking in. you can tell just by looking at it that this is going to be a young powerful wine. the nose has a lot of chocolate and black berry fruit, along with an interesting perfum-ish note. full bodied palate has lots of blackberry and gobs of milk chocolate. it reminded me in some ways of a chocolate milkshake. well integrated tannins that are not overpowering the wine. long, long finish. i continue to be impressed by every bottle of schrader i try.

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Flight 4 - Dom Perignon mini-Vertical (3 Notes)

3 vintages of Dom Perignon were our around midnight wines... The 96 and 02 are very similar in many regards. Interestingly, the 00 tasted older than the other two, a testament to the staying power of the '96.

Flight 5 - Dessert (2 Notes)

Mr. K, meet Mr. K... The Sine Qua Non dessert wines are named 'Mr.K' as an homage to the late Alois Kracher... so we tried it alongside the Kracher.

  • 1999 Sine Qua Non Sémillon Mr. K Vin De Paille 94 Points

    USA, California

    burnt orange color. very sweet, and not quite enough acidity in this to hold up to the intense sweetness. surprisingly, given the low ABV, this had a little heat on the midpalate -- perhaps it was just the intensity of the sweetness. honeyed apricot is most prominent flavor. long, long, long finish...

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  • 2007 Alois Kracher Scheurebe TBA #9 Zwischen den Seen 96 Points

    Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee

    amazing acidity -- these krachers have sucha delicious formula of intense sweetness but so much acidity that they stay fresh. incredibly youthful. tropical fruit, honey, and an interesting hint of nutmeg. extraordinarily long finish that is surprisingly light.

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