Important Update From the Founder
Read message >
ESTG Does '94 - '97 California Cab's
Roy's Place
Tasted March 27, 2006 by Tubbs with 861 views
Introduction
Yeah, I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a Francophile. However, I'm always looking to expand my knowledge and experience.
Flight 1 (1 note)
White
2004 Venge Vineyards Spettro
85 points
Interesting wine - I found the combination of Chardonnay, Sauv. Blanc, and Marsanne a bit odd and disjointed. I liked the acid but this wine is in the "not for me" category.
Flight 2 (2 notes)
White
2005 Scholium Project Naucratis Lost Slough Vineyards
90 points
Compared to the palate the nose on this wine was light with hints of nutmeg. The palate was a real kick in the pants with lots of citrus, tropical fruits, nice acid and a long peppery finish. A zippy wine indeed!
White
2001 Dehlinger Chardonnay
88 points
Hmm, a light and delicate nose with hints of toasty oak and mushroom. The palate started off light but filled out with a zippy lemon citrus flavor. I thought this had a decent amount of acid and zip, not as peppery as the Scholium though, (not as enjoyable either.)
Flight 3 (2 notes)
White
1998 Kistler Chardonnay Sonoma Coast
92 points
Lovely delicate toast on the nose. I liked this alot & didn't find it as buttery as most Cali. chard's I've had. The palate showed a decent balance of tropical fruits and a long, pleasant finish with a hint of caramel. I found this to be a smooth, elegant wine with pretty decent balance.
White
1992 Joseph Drouhin Chassagne-Montrachet
82 points
Umm... Blech... Very little on the nose of this and the palate just blew. Okay, there was a glimpse of tropical fruit amongst the funkiness but the squash notes just turned me off.
Flight 4 (3 notes)
Red
1997 Opus One
91 points
Blackberry - HUGE BLACKBERRY, mmm.... (and a hint of oak). The palate had loads of fruit with some earthy notes. The tannins were a bit drying - me lips were stickin' to me teeth.
Red
1997 Mount Veeder Winery Reserve
94 points
I didn't get much from this right out of the chute but after a bit in opened up with a nose that reminded me of grenache from the Rhone. I really loved the palate on this puppy - big plush fruit, some toast, a little brown sugar and a hint of antiseptic something. This had tons of moderately smooth tannins with a medium finish.
Red
1994 Beringer Vineyards Alluvium
89 points
It took a long time for me to get anything from the nose of this wine. Eventually I got some blackberry, oak and eucalyptus - (probably due to the hint of others at the table.) A few minutes into it, some note of vinyl and tar paper popped up. I thought the palate was smooth with nice silky tannins. The finish was a little clipped and oily for me. I'd have given this better props if it didn't have such a chemical nature.
Flight 5 (3 notes)
Red
1994 Dominus Estate Napanook Vineyard
95 points
Wow! I thought we were doing Cali' cab's! This has\d a classic Bordeaux nose - pencil, cigar box, wet earth, tobacco. The balance on this was fantastic - a very smooth, nicely integrated wine. The finish was super long.
Red
1994 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate
92 points
Maybe my sniffer wasn't working to well this night but again, very little on the nose. The palate was smooth with bluberry, plum, blackberry & what I thought was a hint of mint on the finish. Then someone said pine resin - yep, that was closer than mint.
Red
1995 Dalla Valle Cabernet Sauvignon
95 points
Yes! Wow! The nose on this baby was rockin'! - tons of blackberry and a touch of wood. A bit of a candied aspect to the palate, but not offensive, rather pleasant. The fruit here was very linear with tons of tannin and fantastic structure. This was a HUGE, very enjoyable wine!
Flight 6 (3 notes)
Red
1995 Dalla Valle Maya
95 points
Look out - more blueberry and blackberry, truckloads of it. Very similar to the regular Dalla Valle. A very refined mouth feel, with lovely tannins, perfectly integrated with the fruit. A very well balalnced wine. Mmm, mmm, mmmm.....
Red
1997 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select
96 points
Good grief! Does it get any better than this? Fantastic nose - gobs of fruit with a light touch of vanilla and oak. The palate mirrored the nose with, gobs of fruit, some chocolate, a hint of espresso. Another extremely well balanced wine with huge, yet very silky tannins. Great stuff!
Red
1996 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select
97 points
Color me purple 'cuz this stuff is just great! Blackberry, chocolate & a little creamed corn, (that's the oak son.) Big, huge, MONSTEROUS! This is a killer wine with tons of fruit, tons of tannin and everything oh... so... purrrfectly integrated. This sucker will last a long, loooong time.
Flight 7 (3 notes)
Red
1994 Joseph Phelps Insignia
90 points
Hmm... well, the nose on this was a bit off. The palate was smooth with silky fruit and some coffee. There's something a little wrong with this though.
Red
1997 Pride Mountain Vineyards Reserve Claret
91 points
Okay, my notes were getting sketchy at this point. There was a little VA on the nose here but the fruit was still evident. The palate showed vanilla and oak, a decent amount of fruit, with hints of cinnamon & pepper.
Closing
I tell ya - that ol' Cali. reputation of HUGE FRUIT is no rumor! But where's the shame in that when you can back it up with structure, finesse and balance! These were some damn good wines & I am completely screwed - I haven't the room to add California to my list! DANG YOU ROY & JUSTIN! (Oh, and thank you too.)