DQminiPalooza
Gainesville
Tasted Saturday, August 3, 2024 by Decanting Queen with 126 views
Introduction
We were overdue to exchange some bottles and schedules have been busy, so we decided to meet Mark1npt and Carol in Gainesville. Sort of halfway. I think real halway would have put us somewhere in the middle of nowhere GA so Gainesville was a good spot. And they have a 'Mark's steakhouse' which seemed appropriate. (Mark's Steakhouse in Gainesville turned out to be very wine friendly, great food, would reco if you find yourself in the area)
Flight 1 - Pre-Game DQ's hotel (3 Notes)
This was meant to be a comparison of the two Tierra Roja's. But we tasted a few others as well including a bit of the Patel that we took to dinner
The two TR's were so different but both very good. I do suspect it is a later drinking terroir vs some of the other Napa sites.
Flight 2 - Dinner--Mark's Steakhouse Gainesville (3 Notes)
All 3 wines were fanstastic with food (steak)
Flight 3 - The afterparty--Mark's hotel (1 Note)
We saved half of the Fait Main and TOR TR wines to finish after dinner (notes shown in flight 1) . Then Mark opened a few more but we were overindulged at this point. I think we made the most of our minipalooza time!
Closing
As always, too much wine, too much fun. Well worth the drive.
WOTN Verite La Muse '99
2021 Fait-Main Cabernet Sauvignon Tierra Roja Vineyard 94 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
2 hour decant and 2 hours of drinking on day 1.
This was different than the other FM wines I have tried--which is good to see some variation. A very berry nose, at first almost that immature fruity pebbles nose, but transformed into blueberries and black cherry over the evening. Very structured with some grippy tannins, not surprisingly, this one needs time, at least 5 yrs I would say.
Day 3 notes (I took some in a small bottle back to ATL) A tannic blueberry explosion, mouth filling with a big finish.
94 for now, with patience will get better
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2019 TOR Cabernet Sauvignon Tierra Roja 95 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
Double decant at 6 a.m. 1p.m. decanted until 1st taste at 3p.m.
Started out red fruited, great acidity, butterscotch, oaky vanilla still needs to integrate. Long finish
Later in the evening really opened up, the fruit was jucier, like juicy pink grapefuit and cherries. More complexity than the FM of the same vineyard, but this had 2 years of maturity.
Like most TOR wines, this needs a long sleep in the cellar. For me this will be better 10 years post
Although make no mistake, it was very enjoyable and score is for now
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1996 Château Pontet-Canet 94 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
This was a pristine bottle from a reliable source, and as such was drinking a bit young. Slow ox'd for 8 hrs but woukd have benefitted from the full decant and probably a 96 with the right prep.
Still pretty amazing, especially the nose--mature red fruits, leather, farmyard (in a good way), long finish, great acidity and smooth tannins. We drank without but will be better with food.
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