2000 Cali Cab Dinner

Tommy O' and I are conduct regular wine dinners and tonight was 2000 California Cabernet. Since BYOB is not legal in our silly Province the venue shall remain nameless suffice it was one of the better dining establishments in Vancouver. They prepared an outstanding eight course meal for us.

Ten of us convened at 7:30 with Tommy, Ray Signorello, D.A., Irv, J.P., Rob Feenie, Anthony Gismondi, Terry, Sean and myself in attendance. The bulk of the wines came from Tommy or my cellar so provenance was not an issue as all were purchased on release. The wines were decanted between 5:30 and 6:00. The Cabs were all served blind and everyone would rate the wines and take their own notes.

After the usual ribbing with everyone wondering if Ray would be able to pick out his Padrone, or if Rob won his episode of Iron Chef America and what the secret ingredient was - he was sworn to secrecy. We sat down to 13 California Cabs and one mystery wine. It was quite a sight and we have pictures of what 140 glasses looks like on one round table. We never did lay odds on who was going to be the first to topple the dominos.

The thirteen wines were:

Harlan Estate
Bressler
Karl Lawrence
Shafer HSS
Caymus Special Selection
Signorello Padrone
Paul Hobbs Beckstoffer To-Kalon
Sloan Estate
Verite La Joie
Rudd Jericho Canyon
Jones Family
Clark Claudon
Pride

We had wanted to add the Hundred Acre, but Tommy seems to have misplaced his wooden 3 pack. Although he did find the mag, but that would have been overkill, wouldn't it?

We started with:

• 1985 Veuve Clicquot Champagne Brut Rosé Vintage 89 Points

  France, Champagne

  Served at the start of the 2000 Cali Cab dinner and I threw it in at the last minute after realizing we didn't have a starter wine. Deep salmon color with almost no effervescent and I found it slightly oxidized. I thought it might have been dead, but others at the table enjoyed it, with Anthony noting that the Brits love a wine like this.

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Then onto the main event:

• 2000 Harlan Estate 92 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  My first thought after drinking this deep purple colored wine was wow nice teeth coating tannins. I found the wine very well balanced showing better finish than the other 2000's served at dinner. Overall not as good as past vintages, but I could immediately pick this out of the crowd of 13. Really lacked the big caramel and fruit nose of past vintages.

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• 2000 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection 80 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  A wine that I had advised Ray not to bring to the tasting. I have really enjoyed past vintages of Caymus SS from the mid 90's back, but something has happened at Caymus and this wine is a shadow of it's former self. My notes included lightweight, no fruit and I'd rather have a REALLY bad case of the clap than a case of this wine.

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• 2000 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select 91 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  At our past '99 Cali Cab dinner I noted that I just didn't get Shafer HSS and lamented having several bottles and two magnums of '99 in my cellar. Well tonight I got this wine and it was very lovely and one of the more full bodied wines of the night. One of the bigger noses of the night and a nice mouth coating finish. In comparison to how some of the other 2000's fared tonight it's no wonder there's a wait for this list.

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• 2000 Karl Lawrence Cabernet Sauvignon 89 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  The first wine poured at our recent 2000 dinner and it had a big nose right off the bat. I really enjoyed this and resisted Ray's urging to remove it from the dinner. I'm glad I kept it in. This wine was well balanced and did not show the light, weedy, vegetal notes of some of the other 2000's served tonight.

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• 2000 Jones Family Cabernet Sauvignon 90 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  The surprise of the dinner, I had brought this and it was my first taste of this wine. The color was a deep dark purple and it had for me a muted nose. On the palate you could tell that this was a well made wine and the tannins had integrated nicely. Very smooth mouthfeel and a medium length finish. Others really liked this more than I did with one commenting that you could build a house on the structure of this wine.

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• 2000 Bressler Cabernet Sauvignon 89 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena

  This was another wine that Ray had wanted me to remove from the dinner, but I persisted and it showed quite well. It was middle of the pack in comparison to the other 2000's, but it was nicely balanced with smooth tannins, but a short to medium finish held it back for me.

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• 2000 Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 89 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  From the first sniff this screamed Pride, even given the characteristics of the vintage this style is very toasty oak and caramel. If only the palate had fullfilled the nose this wine would have been on my list for top spot. A medium bodied wine with well integrated tannins, but the short finish and lack of mid palate disappointed me.

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• 2000 Vérité La Joie 82 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County

  My second worse wine of the night and a real light weight short finish wine. My notes read weedy, vegetal and stinky. A controversial wine as some had it as their top wine. Not sure what they were drinking, but they won't be invited back LOL.

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• 2000 Clark-Claudon Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Grown 84 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  I really did not enjoy this wine and found it light weight and short. Not a bad wine like the Caymus SS just nothing to get overly excited about.

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• 2000 Sloan 90 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford

  I wasn't sure what to make of this wine. I was really hoping that this would stand out like a Harlan as I had brought this and just purchased a six pack of '01. While my notes say I enjoyed this wine, it did not really stand head and shoulders above the rest of the cabs and to me was mid pack. Considering the tariff, I was expecting more from this medium bodied wine. Maybe I was expecting too much, even going back to it after the wines were revealed left me wanting more. A very nice mouthfeel followed by a mid-length finish.

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• 2000 Signorello Estate Padrone 88 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  I wasn't sure what to make of this wine. I have had several vintages of this wine and have always felt that it was not my style. I like my Cali Cab for the ripeness that Bordeaux rarely gets. Ray likes to produce his wine in a Bordeaux style that seems counter to California. The Padrone's are very well made wines and finely balanced. I think his style is more conducive to this vintage and this showed through as it was one of the best Padrone's I have had.
  
  As an aside, we opened a 2001 Padrone at Ray's place for Super Bowl and it appears he may be moving to more of a style I would equate to California. His comment was he works with what the vintage gives him, but there was a sly smile on his face.

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• 2000 Rudd Jericho Canyon 86 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Not an overly complex wine of medium body and mid-length finish. I found it somewhat typical for the vintage with notes of weediness but with smooth tannins. Some others really liked this and placed it higher than me.

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• 2000 Paul Hobbs Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard 91 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

  Ray wanted to bring this and I had not heard good things about it. It surprised me as it showed big fruit and smooth juicy tannins. Great mouthfeel and a lenghty finish. This was a controversial wine as some rated it highly and others rated it low.

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The mystery wine revealed:

Everyone was asked to show how they would have rated this wine had it been part of the tasting and the concensus was fourth place.

• 2000 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 90 Points

  USA, Washington

  This was not how I remember my last bottles of 2000 Quilceda Creek. This one did not exhibit the tell tale blueberry of Quilceda and was not open for business. Terry seated beside me had one taste and immediately said it was his worse wine of the night. I waited for it to open and then rated it fourth. Still I would not be opening any of mine for 4-5 years.

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Served with dessert:

• 1976 Château Rieussec 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  I thought this might have been oxidized as I did not find as much botrytis that others in the group found. I initially did not find this very appealing, but with time it started to show aspects of caramel and almonds. Not the best aged Sauternes I have had, but enjoyable and I thank Anthony for bringing this.

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• 2000 Gunderloch Niersteiner Ölberg Riesling Eiswein 95 Points

  Germany, Rheinhessen

  Graciously brought by Rob Feenie, this showed wonderfully and I enjoyed this much more than the '76 Rieussec. It was unctuous with tart acidity and showing notes of lemon and orange. Very creamy it was very well balanced and I was wishing for more.

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The wine of the night was the Jones Family Cabernet with 39 points. The Shafer HSS had 50 points for second followed by the Harlan Estate with 51 points. The Sloan Estate for those wondering if this is the next Screagle was scored Sixth on the night with only Tommy scoring it Number 1.

Rob commented on how interesting it was to see the diverse palates at this dinner. Some were very Bordeaux driven and you could see that in their selections. To me though the event really showed that their is a quality gap and that the most highly regarded wineries of Harlan and Shafer shine through even in off vintages. The surprise of the night had to be the run away showing of the Jones Family Cabernet. Not only did it best Harlan and Shafer et al, but by a large margin.