9/6/08 OC Wine Dinner

Nesai In Newport Beach, CA
Tasted Saturday, September 6, 2008 by Frank Murray III with 595 views

Introduction

12 of us pulled together 4 flights of CA wine. We intended originally to pay tribute to the 2005 vintage but made some modifications along the way, given the Cab entries. Thus, we ened up with 2005 Carneros Chard (of which half of the flight was 2004 Kistler), 2005 SLH Syrah, 2005 RRV Pinot Noir (of which me dorking it and bringing the Miron, which was Sonoma Coast--DOH!), and 2002 Napa Cabernet. Being the only vegetarian-type diner in the group, we'll have to hear from the rest of the gang as to their liking the menu of meat entrees.

Flight 1 - A Bubbly And The 2005 Carneros Chardonnays (well, almost save the Kistler 04s!) (5 Notes)

Flight 2 - 2005 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir (well, almost save my Miron that I mistakenly put into the lineup--that's Sonoma Coast....duh) (4 Notes)

Flight 3 - 2005 Santa Lucia Highlands Syrah (4 Notes)

  • 2005 Novy Family Wines Syrah Rosella's Vineyard

    USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands

    Man, in the last six months, this wine has really evolved. The nose still shows the classic Rosella's of pepper, smoke and some stink. But where the wine has evolved is the palate, which is generous with pure dark berry, silk, coffee and dark chocolate. If this wine gets any better, well then, it will be stunning as good as I found it to be last night.

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  • 2005 Lucia Syrah Susan's Hill

    USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands

    My WOTN for sure. Exotic nose of stone fruit pit and hint of stem. More stone fruit on the palate, silky blackberry, blueberry and the finish shows some additional structure of some chalky tannin. I retried this wine again at the end of the evening and my notes say 'opulent' and 'sexy'. I dare say now that the SH is drinking better than the Lucia Garys', which will probably show better later with age, as opposed to this SH which will hit peak I'd say in 2 years and then cruise for several more. For me, a smashing example of why I like CA syrah.

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  • 2005 Lucia Syrah Garys' Vineyard

    USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands

    Nose reminds me of Garys', showing the bbq meat/sauce and loam component that I usually find from this vineyard. As opposed to the Susan's Hill, the Garys' here is much tighter and less expressive at this stage. Shows for me even a bit of heat and with the structure, would say leave this alone for another 2 years or decant it well. Having tasted this wine now 4-5 times since release over the past 16 months, this showing was the tightest yet.

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  • 2005 Copain Syrah Garys' Vineyard

    USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands

    Of the 4 syrahs tried in the flight (Lucia and Novy, the SLH flight), this one showed the least well. I'm not concerned over that, however, given the copious amount of whole cluster this wine saw. Paul called the nose "ash", which was a great spot on descriptor. I'll add graphite and stemmy/herbal, as well. Some dark fruit lies in the palate, but it fell off a bit quickly. I did retry at the end of dinner to see if another hour or so helped and it did seem a bit more open but this bottle was decanted at 11AM and we drank it from about 6-9PM so there's the math. Suggest a 1-2 day decant or let this rest another 2-3 years.

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Flight 4 - 2002 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (4 Notes)

  • 2002 Larkmead Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Bit of cedar of nose. Palate is richer than the nose would suggest. I liked it but the wine was more herbal then I would normally drive towards.

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  • 2002 Von Strasser Cabernet Sauvignon Post Vineyard Diamond Mountain

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Diamond Mountain

    Open textuerd. Black cherry with some riper tones. Finished a bit astringent for me and was less interesting that for sure the Karl Lawrence and Schrader.

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  • 2002 Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

    Between this wine and the 02 Karl Lawrence Herb Lamb, a tough call for best cab of the flight. The nose was loaded with pencil shavings and what I want to say graphite or metallic. Not offputting but interesting and attracting for me. Big currant and chocolate with chalky tannin on the finish. My notes say "3-5 more years"? We killed this too early but what lies in the bottle suggests a terrific cab later on.

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  • 2002 Karl Lawrence Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Herb Lamb

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    I've had KL wines now twice, courtesy of Dietz--both times I thought the wine was amazing. No surprise, same experience last night. Delicious stuff. Thick and packed with flavor. Currant and cedar, black cherry. I don'r own much cab but if I was to seek a cab that does it for me, this wine would be a great template. Best cab of the 4 within the flight and aside from the 2005 Lucia Susan's Hill, was close to it for WOTN.

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