2010 California Barrel Tasting
Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Washington DC
Tasted Saturday, April 17, 2010 by pizzler with 1,180 views
Introduction
This was the 25th annual California barrel tasting held at the luxurious Mandarin Oriental Hotel. The food was good, the winery representatives seemed more tired this year, but were still friendly and fired up about their wines. There were about 100 wines available to try, mostly from the 2008 vintage, but there were samples going back to 2006. We targeted the wineries that most interested us before we went to the tasting and barely got through them before the end of the evening.
I apologize for the brevity of the notes. I lacked sufficient paper to write on and the program proved to be impossible to write on, so the result was terse and a bit confusing interpreting my chicken scratches.
Flight 1 (29 Notes)
Closing
The 07 EMH Vineyard Black Cat was again one of our WOTN. It was beautiful last year and showed wonderfully again this year. The 08 August Briggs Two Moon Vineyard showed really well this year, edging out the Monte Rosso this year, the reverse of last year. The 07 Barnett Spring Mountain was another WOTN. In general, I would say that the 07's outperformed the 08's. They were richer, more intense, smoother and seemed to have greater aging potential.
2008 Morlet Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Cœur de Vallée 93 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
Burgundian style, Bing cherry taste, lots of fruit and structure, 93+
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2008 Morlet Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Mon Chevalier 92 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Knights Valley
light on its feet in a good way, yummy taste
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2008 Morlet Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Passionnément 91 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
softer tannins, silky taste, fruit wasn't as as intense as I anticipated, but it could be as much because it was so smooth
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2007 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
nice balance and structure, deep flavors, sophisticated,
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2007 Pahlmeyer Jayson Red Wine 89 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
very drinkable now, seemed light on structure for long term cellaring
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2008 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel 89 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
medium body, nice balance, lacks the intensity of other years, but is still nice drinking.
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2008 Temple Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
lovely nose, complex and intriguing; if the wine can ever approach the nose it will be outstanding, a big wine with lots of fruit, 92+
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2007 Vineyard 7 & 8 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District
similar notes to last year's tasting, lots of fruit, nice balance.
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2007 ZD Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Very tasty wine, caramel aftertaste, good soft tannins, silky, needs more time
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2007 August Briggs Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Rosso Vineyard 93 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley
Same rating as last year, yummy nose, caramel aftertaste, delicious
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2008 August Briggs Cabernet Sauvignon Two Moon Vineyard 94 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley
One of my WOTN, soft tannins, structured, lovely fruit
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2008 Barnett Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain District 93 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District
Smooth sweet, plenty of soft tannins
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2008 Barnett Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Rattlesnake Hill 93 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District
intense, caramel aftertaste, 93+
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2007 Barnett Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Rattlesnake Hill 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District
Didn't show quite as well as last year, perhaps in a dumb phase, but there is plenty of intense fruit and plenty of tannins for this to be long lived.
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2007 Barnett Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain District 94 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District
Another great showing of this wine, it is developing beautifully, smooth, sophisticated, Burgundian
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2007 Delectus Cuvée Julia 93 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Knights Valley
rock solid wine, much as I remember it from last year, good structure, tannins were softer this year
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2008 Delectus Cuvée Julia 93 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Knights Valley
very intense wine with tons of fruit, 93+
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2007 Karl Lawrence Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard 89 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
I didn't find that this wine held up like other 07's did. Good wine, but nothing remarkable
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2008 Karl Lawrence Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard 91 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
I preferred this to the re-taste of the 07, nicely made wine with good balance...it just didn't send me
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2008 Kobalt Cabernet Sauvignon 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
This had a really nice taste to it, I would have liked to sampled it again.
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2008 Ravenswood Merlot Sangiacomo Vineyard 88 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley
Pleasant tasting merlot, good structure, nice balance.
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2007 Ramey Cabernet Sauvignon Pedregal Vineyard 91 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
much the same notes as last year, good balance, vibrant fruit, has aging potential
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2007 Ramey Cabernet Sauvignon Annum 89 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
This wine had an extraordinarily seductive nose and if the wine matriculated in the direction of the nose, it will be a great wine, right now, the wine is very good, intense, balanced, age worthy, but could be in a slightly dumb phase.
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2008 Ramey Cabernet Sauvignon Annum 89 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Very similar the 07 without the extraordinary nose
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2007 Ridge Monte Bello 88 Points
USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains
same strong taste of cherries as last year and still not up to the Monte Bello quality level, two years in a dumb phase or just a good wine?
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2009 Ridge Monte Bello 90 Points
USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains
strong taste of cherry, intense, balanced, hard to judge this early
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2006 Three Clicks Petite Sirah 88 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
lots of tannin, but the fruit comes through, this has a good upside to it when the tannins subside.
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2007 EMH Cabernet Sauvignon Black Cat 95 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Just as fantastic as it was last year, a monumental wine with excellent structure and balance, tons of fruit and multiple nuances, again, one of our WOTN
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2008 EMH Cabernet Sauvignon Black Cat 93 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Not quite as good as the 07, the 08 has similar soft tannins and an abundance of fruit, a lovely showing.
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