2009 (Mostly) Napa & St. Julien Vintage Tasting
Lincoln Square Steaks, NYC
Tasted December 7, 2016 by SMHalps with 254 views
Introduction
Our group consisted of 8 people, and we drank 5 red Cabernet Sauvignon based wines. All from the 2009 vintage. All were opened and allowed to sit in the bottle for at least 30 minutes before we poured the first one. We all took small enough pours so that we could return for seconds. By the end of the night, the wines had been open for 2 hours or so. We had in order: Chateau Talbot, O'Shaughnessy Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain, Shafer One Point Five, Larkmead Cabernet Sauvignon (white label) and Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon.
Flight 1 (5 notes)
Red
2009 Château Talbot
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
My 3rd of 6 bottles, and its been almost a year since the previous bottle. I was really impressed with this, both immediately after opening, and later over the course of the evening as it evolved. Parker called this "almost slutty" and my wine group got a kick out of that, and agreed. I'm sure this will continue to age well, but its drinking great right now.
Red
2009 O'Shaughnessy Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain
USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain
My next to last bottle. I'm still loving it. I am grading it a point lower than my prior bottles because after about 90 minutes the nose gave up aromas of soy sauce. It still tasted great though.
Red
2009 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon One Point Five
USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District
I always love the "One Point Five" but I'm "only" giving it 91 points this time. It seemed a touch less impressive than 4 other 2009s my group had alongside it. I'm sure if it was the only wine of the night, I would have scored it higher.
Red
2009 Larkmead Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon
USA, California, Napa Valley
No hard edges, but I'm not sure anything especially distinctive about this bottle either. Had it alongside 4 other 2009s and it finished in the middle of the pack.
Closing
We all agreed that all the wines were great, or near great. We could not agree on a single WOTN, as the Talbot and the O'Shaughnessy tied for first place honors. The Larkmead and the Pride were a notch below, with the Pride possibly edging out the Larkmead for 3rd place. And of course something has to finish last, and it was the Shafer One Point Five. Not that it was a disappointment, but 3 people clearly felt it was the least impressive wine of the evening. Although everyone agreed that alone, it was have been a great wine to enjoy with dinner.
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