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St. Patrick's Day Tasting
East Bay
Tasted March 18, 2012 by aagrawal with 536 views
Introduction
Lessons learned:
-I don't really like grenache.
-Aged cabernet is awesome.
-Well-aged vintage port is awesome.
-Moderately-priced pinot often compares very favorably to moderate-priced versions of other varietals. I reliably picked these as the ones I would drink over their competitors.
Flight 1 (19 notes)
Red
N.V. Eagle Rock Vineyards Rare Red 3 - Grape Blend
87 points
Red fruits, ripe, slight funk; palate is spicy, peppery, slightly smoky, palate has big read fruits. Very good. Actually, this is one of the few wines where I actually liked the palate much more than I liked the nose. 87-88
Red
2008 Henry's Drive Pillar Box Red
70 points
Funky nose; palate alcoholic and unbalanced, new world, Aussie was my guess. Frankly terrible.
Red
2007 BearBoat Pinot Noir
89 points
Grenache? Nose had sweet red fruits; palate showed good fruit, balanced, structured, moderate length. Very good. 89
Red
2007 Mazzoni Rosso Toscana IGT
86 points
Muted nose, structured palate. Enjoyable but simple and linear.
Red
2009 Bodegas Borsao Garnacha Campo de Borja
82 points
Red fruits, a bit hot, syrah/rhone blend?. A bit tannic, but good now. Red fruit without much else. 82
Red
Red
2002 Greenpoint Shiraz
75 points
Rotten fruit on the nose, unappetizing, sulfured?; palate showed red fruit, simple but pleasant. Nose=50. Palate=83
Red
2002 Cedarville Vineyard Zinfandel
83 points
Savory nose; insipid fruits, balanced, guessed a cab/merlot blend. Lacks the peppery qualities of zinfandel.
Red
2008 Santa Helena Cabernet Sauvignon Vernus
86 points
Young cab blend, black fruits, nice overall. 86-87
Red
1985 Tulocay Cabernet Sauvignon
90 points
Savory red fruit; palate has balance, acidity, and freshness, but most of the fruit has dropped out already; nice satisfying finish. This is certainly over the hill but still very enjoyable. 89-90
Red
1985 Smith & Hook Cabernet Sauvignon
93 points
Complex nose, spice, great remaining fruit; palate has great acidity and balance. One of my favorites of the night. At perfect maturity. 92-93
Red
Red
2008 McManis Family Vineyards Petite Sirah
88 points
Red fruits, hidden; structured but juicy, balanced. Decent.
Red
1999 Cline Cellars Zinfandel Big Break
90 points
Red sweet fruits; palate has great structure, good fruits. 90
Red
1999 Cline Cellars Zinfandel Live Oak Vineyard
88 points
More unbalanced than its counterpart, showing more EtOH, but great spicy fruit.
Red
Red
2009 Artazu Garnacha Navarra Artazuri
87 points
Sweet red fruit; decent palate, balanced, good structure. Grenache is not my favorite grape. 87
Red - Fortified
1985 Graham Porto Vintage
93 points
From a magnum. Light bricking, nose has lovely raisoned fruit; complex palate, just the right amount of sweetness, not overly hot, integrated tannins and structure, quite light and fresh on the palate (a good thing). Ready to drink now and excellent overall.