Community Tasting Note

Jester wrote:

Monday, April 9, 2007 - This wine is just now beginning to come into its own. Tasted during dinner at Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse and paired with Creamy Escargot Bordelais with Bacon, Mushroom, and Fennel slaw and then with Filet Oscar. Pairing was beautiful. I had extensive notes filled with superlatives that I had taken on this wine, but somehow managed to lose them over the course of the evening. This is only the second wine I have ever rated 100 points, and it is, without a doubt, very deserving. I tasted this wine about 2 years ago and it has definitely evolved in that time. From memory.....Opaque beautiful ruby/maroon in color, this had amazingly pure cassis liquor, black cherry, and black raspberry, dark chocolate, and freshly chopped mint on the nose and palate......beautifully unctuous and rich.......Medium/Full body with perfect integration of acidity and sweet plump tannins. Delicate nuances of mocha espresso, dark chocolate, volcanic soil, and just tiny hints of mesquite, menthol, sage, cedar, and vanilla oak. Simply amazing. I only have two bottles in my cellar, but would love to have more, although I'd also like a few bottles of the '02 ( even though many people say that it is a completely different wine ) I'll probably pop my first bottle in another year or two and open my last bottle in 2011, although I feel that this wine will not even begin its downward stride until 2025 or so. I've had Harlan, Bryant, Screagle, Colgin, Araujo, Abreu and many others, and while Shafer is popular, I don't find that its garnered the cult status that those wines, deservedly, receive. However, in my mind, this wine is the epitome of what California Cabernet can achieve when great terroir meets passion, quality viticulture, and excellent winemaking.

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