My trip to Napa, Part 1: The Prelude

Today I flew into Oakland with Jason and Tracy Goldberger on our way to a brief weekend trip to Napa. We started with a pilgrimage to Premier Cru and K&L, and wow, stores like these make you awfully jealous. I like my Seattle retailers, but it was almost painful to see some of the treats just sitting on the shelves at these places!

At K&L we picked up a bottle to have to lunch and enjoyed the no-corkage special at Bizou where all three of us partook of a killer burger. While the 1993 Léoville Las Cases is not going to set the world on fire, it was an awfully nice wine to sip with lunch!

• 1993 Château Léoville Las Cases 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

  We grabbed at this at K&L to take to lunch at Bizou. (I split the bottle with Jason & Tracy.) The nose was the high point with an immediate attack of lead pencil and thick, black fruit wafting from the glass. The wine took a little while to open up (we never decanted, just popped and poured) and while largely resolved and mature it showed more and more structure as it stayed open. With time some sweet fruit emerged on the smooth front palate. This never really gained a ton of depth and throughout the finish was somewhat short and choppy, showing some astringency. Still, with a great burger it is hard to imagine a nicer wine to sip casually at lunch with no guilt.

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After that we met up with my friend Mark Jaremko and spent some more time at K&L, followed by a pilgrimage to The Wine Club. Wow!

We stopped at Whole Foods to pick up a few last supplies and the headed to Mark's house where he prepared a delicious dinner of: heirloom tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella with shredded basil and fresh basil oil; freshly made fettucini with brown butter and sage sauce; citrus and champagne sorbet (wow!); lamb chops grilled in rosemary and garlic, served with fresh jus; grilled peppers and fingerling potatoes; and we finish with freshly made mango ice cream. All in all, this was a terrific warmup for our Napa weekend. Mark had actually set aside a 1976 B.V. Georges De Latour for dinner, and I had a 1998 Pride Reserve Claret. Alas, we ended up opening the Bordeaux and packing the Napa for the trip.

• 2003 Weingut Josef Leitz Rüdesheimer Magdalenenkreuz Riesling Spätlese 88 Points

  Germany, Rheingau

  Jason grabbed a bottle at K&L so we could sip on it while Mark got dinner ready. The nose shows talc (I swear I didn't realize I wrote that 2 weeks ago) and sweet, almost tropical fruit. The palate shows a heavy dose of minerality, and while very ripe I don't find it clunky or overbearing. There is a bit of astringency and bitter lemon peel on the back of the palate.

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• 1992 Kistler Chardonnay Durell Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  At first this was way too oaky, but over the course in an hour this showed an amazing transformation. Gorgeous yellow, nearly glowing, slightly cloudy. The nose moved from overt oak to butter-brickle. The front palate shows citrus fruit with a lemon bias, excellent acidity. The mid-palate is spicy and lush, mouthcoating, very long and seamless. Wow, what a nice surprise!

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• 1986 Château Mouton Rothschild 98 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  I picked this up at Dee Vine Wines in the afternoon and thought, what the heck... We decanted this for four hours. It could have easily used twenty-four. At first this was dark, forbidding, and massive, very closed, but it slowly opened to reveal an alluring nose of spice cake, graphite and dense, dusty layers of fruit. Eventually mint and sweet plums started to peek out. The palate is intense, dense and massive with amazing structure and power. Dusty, stunningly powerful. Wow, this kept opening and gaining weight and complexity. By the final sips I was nearly speechless and my scribbled tasting notes had devolved to a series of profanities and exclamations. Wow! This is at 98 points now with so much potential for the future that it is scary. I have never tasted something so tightly wound and patiently waiting to pounce.

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• 2000 Château Monbousquet 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

  The nose shows initial notes of vanilla with layers of smoky, sultry espresso, deeply roasted. The palate is stunningly smooth and lush, an amazing match for grilled rack of lamb. The palate shows surprising depth and minerality. While this was initially very tannic and rough on the finish, over the course of 3 hours this just kept opening and showing long, sweet, silky tannins on the finish. Wow, good to the last drop and improving the whole time!

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