Holidays 2017
Tasted Sunday, December 31, 2017 by pgb67 with 291 views
Flight 1 - PortParty 2017 (6 Notes)
We once again hosted a wine-tasting party during the holidays, which was originally started over 5 years ago as a port tasting (hence the name). This time I set the lineup to showcase one of my favorite regions (Tuscany) and two of my favorite mailing list wineries (Carlisle & Saxum).
Flight 2 - Christmas Eve 2017 (5 Notes)
We went all-French this year.
Flight 3 - Other holiday wines (5 Notes)
In between office parties and neighborhood get-togethers, here were some other highlights.
2013 Casaloste Inversus Toscana IGT 94 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
I need to drink more merlot-based Super Tuscans (if I could afford it!). This one was “reasonably” priced and shined at the tasting. Elegant with refined flavors of plum, currant, and bell pepper supplemented by sophisticated cedar and rosemary notes.
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2009 Lisini Brunello di Montalcino 93 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
A crowd pleaser, especially for the folks with an Italian wine orientation – very classic sangiovese with notes of smoky cherry & cherries in syrup, with accents of fig, tobacco, leather. More earthy than fruity which I considered a nice thing.
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2007 Bodegas y Viñedos San Roman Toro Viña San Román 94 Points
Spain, Castilla y León, Toro
A very polarizing bottle (but not wine, this brand has a following I’ve come to learn - I thought it was a discovery of mine alone!) – it opened wonderfully with a perfumed bouquet of violet, a long, elegant mouth, and a satisfying palate of cherry and tobacco. But over time it became denser and even picked up a cardboard nose (more apparent to the sensitive tasters (corked?)), yet hours later it returned to its original form. I will rate it on its good hours and forget about the bad times.
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2014 Carlisle Zinfandel Saitone Ranch 91 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
This was a very pleasing Carlisle, as always. This bottling was heavy on the savory notes – sage, Asian spice, black olive – along with the usual nice berry components. Structured, flavorful, balanced. One criticism, although always good when alone, Carlisles don't ever stand out for me in broader tastings.
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2007 Saxum Broken Stones 89 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Served late in the game on a boozy night and seemed a bit tired and lacking pop. Maybe circa 5 years is the best window for the brawny Saxums.
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2007 Penfolds Shiraz St. Henri 89 Points
Australia, South Australia
The last bottle in the lineup and thus suffered from tasters’ palate fatigue. I chose it to anchor the lineup because I think it might be potent and special but alas it was fairly mundane and slightly overextraced. Maybe should have polished it off a few years ago.
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