OC Blind Wine Crew Does Dinner and Italian (Again!)

Il Barone, Newport Beach CA
Tasted Saturday, February 19, 2011 by Frank Murray III with 771 views

Introduction

A bunch of us do this dinner every couple of months. Kind of a 'pay it forward' format, where of the 14 or so of us that attend, only 4 people provide all the wine, with each person of the 4 taking a flight. The rest of the group comes to enjoy the wine, which is all done blind, poured in bags and revealed towards the end of each flight. For this evening, Steve Nordhoff arranged the meal again, returning to Il Barone, who I thought for the price and quality again did a terrific job. Great evening. In the end, as always, the blind format is the enduring true test of palate ego and often humbling and level setting.

Flight 1 - Rob and Francine's Flight--poured from mag (1 Note)

Flight 2 - RdR's White Flight (3 Notes)

Flight 3 - Silk's Pinot Flight (4 Notes)

  • 2005 Ojai Pinot Noir Fe Ciega Vineyard

    USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills

    Not bad but to me is seemed a bit bland, enjoyed more by those next to me than I did. Sweet cherry and herb. I think the wine was fine but it was for me bested by a couple other wines in the flight, like the Skewis and Le Cadeau.

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  • 2004 Loring Wine Company Pinot Noir Brosseau Vineyard

    USA, California, Central Coast, Chalone

    I did not care for this, as both the wood and the vintage's ripe fruit dominated the wine. Seemed boozy and cologne-like, with blackberry, punch and caramel.

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  • 2005 Skewis Pinot Noir Reserve

    USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley

    This drank great and my first impression was "old bones", as the aromatics suggested a wine of older age, with the herb and spice box aromas. The fruit showed still fresh and zippy, with licorice and cranberry, along with some funk. Pretty distinctive and I enjoyed this.

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  • 2005 Le Cadeau Pinot Noir Rocheux

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

    Very nice. The aromatics showed smoke and what seemed like some whole cluster. Whether there is stems or not in the wine, the aromatics were terrific. Plump, with red fruit, cranberry, juicy and good acidity, along with a finishing note of loam/soil/earth, which really helped showcase and contrast the fruit. Delicious bottle, my WOTF.

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Flight 4 - My Syrah Flight (4 Notes)

  • 2007 Shane Syrah Valenti Ranch

    USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley

    Smells bloody. Tar, dark fruit, melted licorice, chalk and cherry with red vine and pepper. Will need more time.

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  • 2007 Jemrose Syrah Cardiac Hill Bennett Valley

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Bennett Valley

    This wine really showed a french profile, barnyardy in character but not off-putting, which I sometimes feel when I get this kind of note. Stable, saddle, leather and still young and youthful with dark fruit. This bottle did not show like the one I wrote up in August 2010, which lacked these nuances. Not sure why I found so much variation between the two but I preferred the funk and nuance of this one.

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  • 2007 Copain Syrah Hawks Butte Vineyard

    USA, California, North Coast, Yorkville Highlands

    Showed the balance and class of the past bottles I have chronicled. Olive, some tart fruit, liquid rocks and blueberry. I managed about 2 ounces and this was part of flight of syrah from my cellar so my notes are short but this wine really stood out for me nonetheless. My WOTF.

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  • 2007 Carlisle Syrah James Berry Vineyard

    USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

    The biggest wine of the flight. Dark with chalk and lots of dense and decadent dark fruit. Big and delicious.

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Flight 5 - Stev-o's Cab Flight (3 Notes)

  • 2007 Outpost Cabernet Sauvignon True Vineyard

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain

    Black fruit, currant and lots of grip. Nice and juicy and not over the top. Tasted along side the 07 Maybach and of the two, the True here seemed to me more ready to drink at this stage then the Maybach.

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  • 2007 Rivers-Marie Cabernet Sauvignon

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    This wine seemed over the edge to me tonight. I have good experiences with this wine, then other times I find it too big. The wine showed heat to me on the bouquet tonight and while I liked the fruit, it just seemed to be too big for my britches on this particular evening. I still own a bottle, will hang onto it or drink on a cold night when I want some decadence.

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  • 2007 Maybach Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Materium

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

    I am on the mailing list and looking forward to the release next week so it was a treat to try this wine again last night, tasted blind, no idea it was included. My only other experience with it was last November when I opened one without a decant and enjoyed with several friends. So this bottle last night, it seemed more oaky then I recall, very primary still. Tasted after the 2007 RM cab, which showed some heat, this Maybach did not. Coffee, red fruit, fleshy. Needs more time to settle in. BTW, this was the 16th wine of the night, having spit very little during the dinner so take my note here, my note previous on the RM Cab with the proper perspective!

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