Vineyard Lunch Gand does Blind Cabs

Another lunch time addition of blind wines at a place of work. Bagged Cabs, at least 75%, was the latest edition. All wines tasted blind in flights of two. All reveals came after the entire lineup was tasted and time given for revisits. Nothing stood out as awesome to me but I liked a lot of the wines. Wine #9 did stand a hair above the pack for several of us and ended up winning which surprised me. The Louis Martini was just a throw in since I wanted to check out the hype on the bottle. My 91 Ridge was supposed to blow the competition off the table and not my 'extra' wine. Gotta love blind tastings. 2nd place overall was the Slingshot and 3rd was the Von Strasser. I voted 9/8/1 preferring the balance and older world characters of the Leeuwin for 2nd place.

• 2007 Biggio Hamina Cellars Melon de Bourgogne Deux Vert

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton

  Honey and flowers on the nose. Lean austere palate similar to a tight chard with some straw notes. Not going to replace Muscadet any time soon but an interesting expression with the nose the clearest departure from the French version.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1997 Von Strasser Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Diamond Mountain

  Nose like that of a Cab with some age on it. Thick, broad and a bit heavy but lingers on the palate giving a touch of green notes late and tons of tannin still. Guess it might have been a Bordeaux since I didn't notice and oakiness or overt ripeness. Nice wine.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1991 Ridge Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Aged traditional Cab nose with some minerals. Tinge of greenish notes. Balanced with still good acidity and plenty of tannin. The fruit wasn't as expressive as my last go around with this bottle. Decent but not memorable.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2004 Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Ripe raisiny with a touch of VA which grew bigger with time. Bit hot with a weak midpalate, chunky with late acting tannin. I doubt Mike is still making these.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2004 Cornerstone Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain

  Nose shows a lot of sweet oakiness in the way of vanilla and coconut. Thick soft palate with lots of char. Boysenberries pick through before some astringency. I guessed a Switchback.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2005 Starmont Cabernet Sauvignon

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Weird nose of salty fish and sweet cocoa. Chunky but light bodied with some sweetness. Finish seemed nice but somehow the oddness of this wine kinda worked. Wasn't wild about it but was surprised that I enjoyed it overall.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2005 Frei Brothers Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley

  Ripe nose of cocoa sprinkled prunes. Juicy palate of dark chocolate with a weak finish.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2002 Jones Family The Sisters

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Nose has some nice earth but is a bit hot. Has some sweetness but actually tastes like Cab which is always note worthy in its rare sitings from Napa. Well balanced but not particularly interesting. Weird I had never heard of this before last week and then had it twice in 7 days from the same vintage.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2001 Leeuwin Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Art Series

  Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

  Never would have guessed Aussie. Herbaceous nose of tobacco and green notes. Lean with late acting tannins this showed bell pepper in a very Cab Franc sort of way. Drank most similarly to a Loire Cab Franc from a lighter vintage like 2004. I enjoyed it for that reason. Nicely balanced wine that would be a great meal companion.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2006 Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County

  USA, California, Sonoma County

  Sweet vanilla and boysenberry nose. Broad balanced palate showing big bright boysenberry type fruits with some minerals. Modern styled but in check. Nothing stands out too much but nothing really lacks either. Nicely done and a terrific bargain at $11-12. Won our blind tasting of 10 Cabs as a surprise throw in let's try this out wine.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2005 Slingshot Cabernet Sauvignon

  USA, California, North Coast

  Ripe with some heat and minerals which is a note worthy combo. Note of oak that is complimentary rather than overt. Juicy and ripe. Overall this seemed like a very modern styled Cab but nicely made as it did show good balance. I liked it less on the revisit but this would be great for a non wine geek crowd.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No