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California treasures in an unexpected place
Fulda
Tasted November 22, 2014 by mwanasheria with 534 views
Introduction
An ninety minute drive from home attracted by a formidable line-up of Californian wines. I thought that this was not a likely place to find such wines but they were stunning. Add this to the nice chaps we met and it became a memorable evening.
Flight 1 - Warm-up (1 note)
Red
1980 Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
92 points
From magnum. Fantastic nose of leather, underwood. Light on its feet but very elegant with some cedar, malt, herbs. Pretty cool.
Flight 2 - Race (14 notes)
Red
1975 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
91 points
Tannic and with some rough edges but certainly not without charme. Good acidity held this together and the tannins became more silky over the course of the evening.
Red
1975 Sebastiani Vineyards & Winery Barbera Proprietor's Reserve
90 points
Other people did not like it as much, but I thought that this was a very fine example of an old bottle of California Cabernet. Fat nose of blood, cassis. On the palate funky barnyard aromas, sweet malt, some earth.
Red
1985 Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon
86 points
Now this bottle was oxidized but I thought that there was a lot of substance and sweetness behind. May be worth looking for a better bottle?
Red
1985 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
90 points
Nose very attractive with nice herbs, thyme. On the palate somewhat rough-edged tannins but still pleasing. More of the same herbs, leather.
Red
1987 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red Caldwell Vineyard
92 points
Smoke, leather on the palate even though the acidity was a bit too obvious - this wine clearly needs drinking. And the nose was so leathery, with tobacco and underwood. I could not part with it.
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Comment
Red
1987 La Jota Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain
88 points
Slightly oxidized and pretty thin and washed out. Still ok with food but not great.
Red
1991 Grace Family Cabernet Sauvignon
92 points
Cool acidity, saddle, leather, underwood, loads of herbs. Very pretty.
Red
1991 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red Caldwell Vineyard
91 points
Nose slightly dusty. On the palate still attractive fruit of strawberry and cassis, some mint.
Red
1997 Philip Togni Cabernet Sauvignon
93 points
Very nice bottle, very complete and round with tobacco, herbs, thyme.
Red
1997 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Martha's Vineyard
94 points
Loads of cassis, milk chocolate, silky tannins and so mouth-filling and long.
Red
1998 Lokoya Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder
92 points
Very charming with dark fruit, brambles, cassis.
Red
1998 Viader
94 points
Tannins are still quite present, but silk and charme are all there. Crème de cassis, smoke, earth.
Red
2001 Grace Family Cabernet Sauvignon
96 points
This was a spectacular bottle that may go even higher with time. Vanilla, chocolate, malt, sweet cassis, cherries, herbs, leather. Great.
Red
2001 Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
93 points
Dark cherries, cedar, cassis, blackberries, pencil shavings. Very attractive.
Flight 3 - Celebration (2 notes)
Suddenly two one kilogram tins of caviar appeared on the scene and our party eight finished it in no time because there was still some white wine left to go with it.
White
1995 Pahlmeyer Chardonnay Napa Valley
95 points
From magnum. I could not believe this, I was totally unprepared. This magnum was so spectacular I had to go back for more many times. Loads of caramel, nuts, mango, papaya, some herbs. The viscosity seemed to be high and very chewy. Great great bottle of Chardonnay.
White - Off-dry
1994 Karthäuserhof Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Riesling Spätlese
92 points
I don't know where this came from but it was suddenly on the table at the end of a California tasting. A very nice bottle of Spätlese, which is in a very good place right now. So drinkable with some honey, Seville orange, petrol. Nice.
Closing
A memorable evening indeed with the last glasses drunk on the way home.