Important Update From the Founder
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One More Time
Tasted December 30, 2010 by last chance with 599 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?
White - Sparkling
N.V. Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Cuvée de Réserve
90 points
From magnum. Great way to start out an evening.
White
2008 J. Rochioli Chardonnay Sweetwater Vineyard
94 points
This wine had nice pear, ripe apple and some tropical fruit like notes. The mouthfeel was the real outstanding thing about this wine though. One of the best Chardonnays that I have ever tasted.
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.
Red
2008 Shea Wine Cellars Pinot Noir Estate Shea Vineyard
91 points
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.
Red
2008 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Southing
93 points
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.
Red
1999 Gary Farrell Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
90 points
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.
Red
2006 Kongsgaard Grenache/Syrah
93 points
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.
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Comment
Red
2005 Clos Mogador Priorat
92 points
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.
Red
2003 Baer Winery Arctos
90 points
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.
Red
2008 Booker Vineyard Oublie
93 points
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.
Red
2005 Booker Vineyard Syrah Fracture
95 points
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.
Red
2001 Spring Valley Vineyard Frederick
90 points
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.
Red
2006 Hourglass Cabernet Sauvignon
96 points
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.
Red
2005 Ovid Red Wine
92 points
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.
Red
2000 Araujo Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard
93 points
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.
Red
2006 Mollydooker Shiraz Velvet Glove
92 points
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.
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.