Dinner with Sierra Doc

Copperopolis, CA
Tasted Wednesday, May 16, 2012 by Kirk Grant with 602 views

Introduction

It’s hard to put words to an experience like the dinner I had with Glenn & Melinda. It was also great to have Abe & Eden there to share the wines and this experience. Any one of the wines we had that night could have been “special” unto itself. Yet as I crossed the threshold it took less than a minute before I was offered a Barolo older than myself. All of the dishes were stellar, the wines amazing…but everything was overshadowed by the chance to share the wines, food and company with a great group of people.

Flight 1 - Glenn's (3 Notes)

  • 1991 Lazy Creek Vineyards Gewürztraminer

    USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley

    Color: Light golden yellow
    Smell: Lychee, honey, bees wax, and floral tones
    Taste: Bright notes of yellow apple, poached pears, and star fruit
    Overall: Still alive and doing well. Probably still good for another 5+ years with good storage. Medium body, low acidity, Intense fruit, and a long finish.

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  • 2008 Didier Dagueneau Blanc Fumé de Pouilly

    France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Pouilly-Fumé

    Color: Pale Yellow
    Smell: Crushed stone, chalk, lemon zest, and sea breeze
    Taste: This wine is all about minerality with an underlying hint of lemon and saline
    Overall: Light body, medium+ acidity, medium fruit, and a medium long finish. I think Glenn hit it on the head when we talked about this being young. It’s enjoyable now, but it will improve with time. Louis Benjamin’s transition seems to be a good fit for me. Outstanding.

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  • 2003 Emmanuel Houillon (Maison Pierre Overnoy) Arbois Pupillin Vieux Savagnin ouillé

    France, Jura, Arbois Pupillin

    Color: Hazy golden/amber
    Smell: Oxidative notes with an underlying note of floral hints, and pear cider
    Taste: Oxidative on the palate with flavors of golden apple, honey, and dried apricot
    Overall: Medium+ body, medium+ acidity, medium fruit, and a long finish. This was a great wine with food, but without food it was missing something for me. Excellent.

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Flight 2 - Glenn's (1 Note)

  • 1967 E. Pira & Figli (Chiara Boschis) Barolo

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    Color: Brick with an orange meniscus
    Smell: Earth, black truffles, mushrooms, leather, dried birch, and a potpourri of dried red fruits, faint orange rind, the scents went on and on…this was one of those wines that was just never the same no matter how many times you went back to it.
    Taste: In the mouth this was one of the most elegant, delicate, and flavorful wines I’ve had in the last year or more. Notes of dried red fruits, orange rind, rose water, mushrooms, and other rustic notes that were hard to pin down over the course of the 60+ second finish.
    Overall: Light body, light fruit, medium + acidity, medium tannin. This seems like it could honestly still go longer in the cellar…Outstanding and my favorite wine of he night

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Flight 3 - Kirk's (2 Notes)

  • 1989 Chateau Musar

    Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

    Color: Ruby with light bricking meniscus
    Smell: Earth, cement floor, sweet notes of tobacco, clove, dried fruits, and floral notes that almost seemed slightly reductive initially with a hint of sage and other herbs, and cigar box.
    Taste: dried black and red fruit, spice box, gingerbread, and orange rind all blend in together making other earthy, and rustic flavors difficult to identify.
    Overall: This really needed about 2+ hours in the decanter to open up and start to show what it has to offer. Still youthful, and years ahead of it...I'm certain. light-medium body, medium acid, medium+ fruit, and a medium-long finish. Outstanding

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  • 2005 Bartlett Blueberry Winemaker's Reserve

    USA, Maine

    Another wonderfull bottle. I've droned on about this wine plenty in the past. I'm glad that I got to share this with some people that were really into the experience. Another outstanding bottle of wine.

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Flight 4 - Glenn's (2 Notes)

  • 1978 Niebaum-Coppola Rubicon

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford

    Color: Ruby with a brick meniscus
    Smell: Dark fruits, dark potting soil, funk, dried black berries, leather, and cigar box
    Taste: Dark fruits, blue fruits, leather, granite/graphite, and hints of dusted earth, like an older dusty cellar.
    Overall: Medium body, medium fruit, medium acid, and a long mid-palate and finish. This was one of the best reds I’ve ever had from California. It really shined as the night went on and it started to open up. It was such an elegant and beautiful wine. Truly a classic wine.

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  • 1979 Niebaum-Coppola Rubicon

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford

    Color: Ruby with a brick meniscus
    Smell: Dark fruits, dark potting soil, baby bella mushrooms, dehydrated blue berries, leather, and cigar box.
    Taste: Dark fruits, blue fruits, leather, granite/graphite, and hints of dusted earth, like an older dusty cellar.
    Overall: Medium body, medium fruit, medium acid, and a long mid-palate and finish. This was so close to the ’78, and I think initially I preferred this. However, in time I think the ’78 pulled ahead for me. Both of these were such elegant and beautiful wines. Truly a classic wine, but still standing in the shadow of the ‘78.

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Flight 5 - Abe's (1 Note)

  • 2010 Scholium Project Michael Faraday Matthiasson Family Vineyards

    USA, California, Sonoma County

    Color: Hazy golden yellow
    Smell: Slightly oxidative with a prominant note of Cherimoya on the nose.
    Taste: Golden yellow apples, jack fruit, and hints of lemon preserves
    Overall: A powerhouse of a wine. It's hard to describe this and do the experience justice. Full body, Medium+ fruit, Medium acid, and a long 30-45 second finish that ebbs and flows almost giving the sense that the wine is shifting from medium to a fuller body style in your mouth as you taste it. Excellent wine and an outstanding experience.

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Flight 6 - Sarah's (1 Note)

  • 2000 S. Anderson Blanc de Blancs

    USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros

    Color: Light golden
    Smell: Baguette, floral notes, ripe green apples, and hints of jicama
    Taste: golden apples, kiwi, bread
    Overall: A great mouthfeel with medium sized bubbles, medium+ fruit, medium+ acid, and a long finish. Better than many Champagnes I've had in the last year. Outstanding

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Flight 7 - Glenn's (1 Note)

  • 1961 Château Pape Clément

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Color: Brick with a pale orange brick meniscus
    Smell: Earth, faint bell pepper, dried black & blue fruits, faint smokiness, leather, and mild tobacco
    Taste: Elegant. Dried red and blue fruits with a rustic twist as mushrooms, earth, and faint hints of soy came through.
    Overall: Light-medium body, medium- fruit, medium-acidity, and mild almost completely resolved tannins with a medium- length finish. Outstanding.

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