Tom opened this thinking it was a white. He had apparently grabbed the wrong bottle. It was interesting, because I could not stand the first couple of sips of it. It was the first wine of the afternoon and it was so big and tasted over oaked. With air, food and time, this got better. I think it is still quite young and need five years to develop, but it is a lovely wine. With air, the nose showed raspberries, leather, scorched earth and some raspberry milk shake notes. The palate was lush, juicy raspberries and strawberry candy. Very tight layers. Long finish. Plenty of room for improvement, but not what I want for an afternoon aperitif. ;-)
I really liked this wine, more than the group. One caveat, while the other wines got better all afternoon, this one peaked at about 30 minutes and then somewhat fell apart. Earthy with raspberries and warm leather. On the palate, it is soft, mature with a nice bite of acidity. Very easy to drink. I wouldn't hold these much longer though.
Funny, I brought this and Tom had one of his own on the table to open. We opened mine. This has settled down a lot from its youth and a lot of the oak has integrated, but there is still plenty. Purple/ruby color looking youthful. A nose of fresh cut lumber, cassis and leather. On the palate, lots of cassis with a tinge of fresh shewn lumber. Lots of complexity. No hurry as this is still young. WIll the oak every fully integrate? We shall see. Still, this is a very nice Cal Cab for this style.
The oldest since vintage of this wine I have tried. It showed no signs of age and was outstanding. Still tight and in need of more cellar time before maturity. Lots of black raspberries, some leather, some earth. A bit of black pepper. Great texture and pin point acidity. Plenty of structure to allow it to mature out on. I need to let mine age more.
This reeked of VA on the nose and at the same time was way past prime. Don't know if this was a representative bottle or not. If I owned any, I would check in on it soon.
2007 Sine Qua Non Grenache Pictures 94 Points
USA, California
(8/22/2010)
Tom opened this thinking it was a white. He had apparently grabbed the wrong bottle. It was interesting, because I could not stand the first couple of sips of it. It was the first wine of the afternoon and it was so big and tasted over oaked. With air, food and time, this got better. I think it is still quite young and need five years to develop, but it is a lovely wine. With air, the nose showed raspberries, leather, scorched earth and some raspberry milk shake notes. The palate was lush, juicy raspberries and strawberry candy. Very tight layers. Long finish. Plenty of room for improvement, but not what I want for an afternoon aperitif. ;-)
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2001 Domaine de la Mordorée Lirac Cuvée de la Reine des Bois 90 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Lirac
(8/22/2010)
I really liked this wine, more than the group. One caveat, while the other wines got better all afternoon, this one peaked at about 30 minutes and then somewhat fell apart. Earthy with raspberries and warm leather. On the palate, it is soft, mature with a nice bite of acidity. Very easy to drink. I wouldn't hold these much longer though.
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2002 Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
(8/22/2010)
Funny, I brought this and Tom had one of his own on the table to open. We opened mine. This has settled down a lot from its youth and a lot of the oak has integrated, but there is still plenty. Purple/ruby color looking youthful. A nose of fresh cut lumber, cassis and leather. On the palate, lots of cassis with a tinge of fresh shewn lumber. Lots of complexity. No hurry as this is still young. WIll the oak every fully integrate? We shall see. Still, this is a very nice Cal Cab for this style.
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2002 Lagier Meredith Syrah 95 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Mt. Veeder
(8/22/2010)
The oldest since vintage of this wine I have tried. It showed no signs of age and was outstanding. Still tight and in need of more cellar time before maturity. Lots of black raspberries, some leather, some earth. A bit of black pepper. Great texture and pin point acidity. Plenty of structure to allow it to mature out on. I need to let mine age more.
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2001 Red Car Syrah The Stranger Flawed
USA, California, Central Coast
(8/23/2010)
This reeked of VA on the nose and at the same time was way past prime. Don't know if this was a representative bottle or not. If I owned any, I would check in on it soon.
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