Aged Washington Cabs/Blends

Anna's, Mpls
Tasted Saturday, March 16, 2013 by rocknroller with 479 views

Introduction

The theme was Washington wines, cabs and blends, with some age. It was very educational to say the least. The wines were not very good. We had had several of these wines in the past when they were outstanding, but that was clearly not the case tonight for many of the wines.

Flight 1 - Bonus starter wine (1 Note)

Flight 2 - Event Wines (7 Notes)

  • 2005 Meek Family Estate Inherit 88 Points

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley

    Very dark purple color. PNP with aeration. Followed 1 glass over 1.5hrs. Nose has fairly deep black fruits still, blackberry, earth comes out well, blackberry liqueur. The palate while good initially, faded very fast. The fruit was there on initial evaluation but rapidly became tart and spcy. There is ample glycerin, some menthol, spice, blackberry and blackberry liqueur with a tart finish. Past drinking window, drink up, no decant or prep recommended.

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  • 2005 Col Solare 92 Points

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

    Very dark/purple red color. Aerated and decanted for 1 hour. Drank 1 glass over 2 hours. Dark and brooding on the nose initially, opens over about 20 minutes to a lovely nose of blackberries and black currant, smoke, charcoal, violets and spice. The palate is quite round and lush, black currant, blackberry, spices, velvety, long finish. Balanced. My and group WOTN. 92+pts.

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  • 2007 Andrew Will Champoux Vineyard 87 Points

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Horse Heaven Hills

    Very dark purple color. Aerated and decanted for 2 hours. Followed 1 glass over 3 hours. I loved the nose, damp forest floor dominating, black cherry, violets, blackberry liqueur. If I had only smelled it, I would have loved it. Unfortunately I did taste it and the palate was a mess, completely unbalanced with over the top oak and spice, blackberry cough syrup, dried berry, underbrush, medium-full body, tannins seem controlled. Sadly this is what I have often come to expect from this producer. These are wines that appear to need age, but always seem overly oaked and alcoholic.

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  • 2002 Columbia Crest Walter Clore Private Reserve 88 Points

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

    Very dark red/purple color. Drank 1 glass over 2+ hours. Nose is nice with tar, scorched earth, vanilla, earth, meaty, black fruits. The palate is similar with scorched earth and tar up front followed by cassis, blackberry, tart fruit, full body. This too was showing a fair bit of oak and some alcohol was coming through too. Spicy on the finish. This appears to be past its prime as well. Drink'em if you got 'em.

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  • 2004 Dunham Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Lewis Vineyard 90 Points

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

    Very dark red/purple color. Aerated and decanted 1 hour. Drank 1 glass over 2+hrs. Very good nose, damp and pungent forest floor, blackberry, spices, vanilla. The palate offers tart cherry, plum, full bodied, soft tannins, spice and oak. This was fairly well balanced on the whole and in comparison to some of the others was restrained. My and group #2 WOTN.

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  • 2002 Betz Family Cabernet Sauvignon Père de Famille 89 Points

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

    Very dark red/purple color. Decanted for 15 minutes. Drank 1 glass over 1+hrs. The nose again far surpasses the palate here. Nice and earthy, flroals, graphite, tobacco, briary, black fruits. The palate is deep, black fruits, layered, spicy, camphor, somewhat green tannins, alcohol coming through.

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  • 2003 Owen Roe Cabernet Sauvignon DuBrul Vineyard 87 Points

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley

    Purple red color. Aerated and 15 minute decant. Followed 1 glass over an hour. Meaty, scorched earth, blackberry. The palate is out of balance with fruit fading and alcohol and oak in your face. As I had suspected several years ago, this was on the decline. Over the hill.

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Flight 3 - Bonus Dessert Wine (1 Note)

  • 2005 Clos Jean Loupiac 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Entre-Deux-Mers, Loupiac

    Very deep golden color. PNP, Drank 1 glass over 30 minutes. Had this twice over 2 days and it impressed both times. The first time was in store with importer Jean Calvet and it was superb, really showing apricots, honey, and botrytis notes. Good depth on the palate with a long botrytis infused finish. This bottle was getting a bit too warm at 62.5 degrees when served, but it still showed well. 92+pts.

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Closing

It would appear that many of these wines just don't have the stuffing to make it 10 years and still drink well. Some will, but one must be very cautious in drinking these older. All in all, a fun an interesting experiment.

WOTN was the 2005 Col Solare with 24pts
#2 WOTN was the 2004 Dunham with 21pts.
The Betz had 8pts and everything else was 1-3pts.

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