Event - Celebration - B-day

Coronado, San Diego, CA
Tasted Tuesday, June 10, 2014 by Wine Gent with 360 views

Introduction

Tasting event of 4 wines - Flight of 3 "Robust Red" wines, with Tawny Port added afterwards. Explored Tawny Port for the second time.

ENO - A wine tasting room and patio at the Hotel Del Coronado. Expensive prices, high end ocean front venue. All wines (except Port) and the paired foods had a prevalent earthy theme. Manager said this was due to focus on California and Italian themed wines.

Foods included:
- Meats - Angels black truffle salami, Suppessata salami
- Cheeses - Fscalini cheddar, Acappella goat, Point Reyes blue
- Sweets - honey comb, fig compote (jam)
- Chocolates (withPort) - dark, peanut toffee, lavender

Special experience - a "tame" red tail hawk patrolled the back patio and restaurant areas of the hotel, to keep pesky seagulls and other birds at bay. A hawk handler interacted with the hawk, adding some entertainment value to the venue, as the hawk glided in a stately manor above the guests.

Flight 1 - Robust Reds (3 Notes)

  • 2011 Turley Zinfandel Juvenile 89 Points

    USA, California

    Has potential. Bouquet sweet, fruity, earthy. Taste somewhat complex, moderate finish - berry, spices. Good by itself, but went best with truffle salami and fig compote jam. At $21 a bottle, it is a bit overpriced at this point in aging - would buy at $15 to $18.

    Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

  • 2012 Cultivar Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 84 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Average at best. Much better cabs out there. Bouquet earthy, some minor berry, spice. Taste simple, short finish - no pepper, earthy. Went best with blue cheese, goat cheese, and OK with truffle salami. Not good with cheddar cheese, suppessata salami, honey, or fig jam. At $21 a bottle, it is way overpriced at this point in aging.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2011 Pahlmeyer Cabernet Sauvignon Jayson Napa Valley 86 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Meritage - 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Cabernet franc, 12% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot. Usually I do like anything with Merlot in it, but this was a very rare exception. We'll balanced, and was OK by itself. Seems young, so may need more aging. Tasted with various meats, cheeses, and sweets - best with cheddar cheese and fig jam. Has more range than the Culvitar Cab we tasted in this flight. At $44 per bottle, extremely overpriced! Would buy at $12 to $15.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 2 - Tawny Port (1 Note)

  • NV Taylor (Fladgate) Porto 20 Year Old Tawny 90 Points

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    Enjoyable! Bouquet alcohol, perfume, raisin, caramel. Taste smooth, balanced, raisin, caramel, honey. Tasted with three chocolates - dark, peanut toffee, lavender. Best with peanut toffee. Second time tasting any tawny port - is best so far. However seems excessively overpriced at $24 per GLASS.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

×
×