Important Update From the Founder
Read message >
"Cult Cali" Night at Garth's Apartment in Philly
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Tasted May 17, 2018 by oldwines with 453 views
Introduction
Our wine tasting group, largely organized by Steve, convened at Garth's apartment. We all brought at least 1 bottle of California "Cult" wine, mostly Cab's. Garth organized some appetizers and dinner, along with some wild venison I brought to serve along with the appetizers on a slice of baguette with goat cheese and a boysenberry, venison demi-glace sauce. With 7 of us in attendance and at least 15 bottles opened some of the details are a little "fuzzier" than usual. Thank goodness for written notes!
Flight 1 - Starters and Salad (3 notes)
Garth catered some nice food including a very tasty sesame crusted tuna as well as a duck crostini along with the venison I brought. Salad was also served.
White
2008 Stony Hill Chardonnay
94 points
This bottle seemed a bit different than the previous ones in that it was slightly oxidized such that it did exhibit different characteristics than before and may perhaps give a foreshadowing of the eventual aged condition of the wine some more years down the line. This was decanted and given 90 minutes to breathe in the cellar then re-bottled for taking to our "Cult Cali" night at Garth's in Philadelphia, about a 2 hour drive away. Then tasted by the group prior to and during the first course with dinner. The color is more light to medium gold than bright yellow. It has very high acidity and distinctive grilled apricot, caramel and minerals on both the nose and palate. The finish is long and honeyed suggesting a touch of residual sugar.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
White
2015 Kistler Chardonnay Kistler Vineyard
94 points
I had many Kistler Chards from the 1980's and 90's and found then over oaked and too buttery, lacking vibrancy and stopped drinking them. One of the attendee's (it may have been Garth??) at our "Cult Cali" night at Garth's in Philly brought this as a preamble and I tried one for the first time in well more than a decade. He indicated they had changed style some time ago and wow, they sure have! This wine was bright and energetic with medium+ acidity. The nose and palate had some butter but also good minerality and a lemon/citrus core with hints of pear and green apple. It was well balanced and had that mouth feel I love in great Chards wherever they come from that is both rich and vibrant at the same time. The finish was pleasantly long as well. Quite enjoyable and one of my favorite wines of the evening..
4 people found this helpful
Comment
White
2014 Staglin Family Chardonnay Estate
91 points
Brought by one of the attendees to our "Cult Cali" night at Garth's in Philly. This has a nice, bright lightly golden yellow color. It had medium+ to high acidity. Clearly a "New World/Cali" Style with plenty of oak, smoke and butter on the nose and palate along with a long caramel finish. Well done though not my favorite style personally.
Flight 2 - Main Course (8 notes)
Filet Mignon of Beef Tenderloin, the simple but perfect match to a big red wine.
There were 2 additional bottles that I thought we had opened since I had written them down but I saw I had no notes and the bottles were not in any pictures I took...they were a 2005 The Vineyardist and a 2005 Fourteen Appellations??? Perhaps they never were actually opened. p.s. I have confirmed they were not opened, which probably would have been a waste if they had been!
Red
1989 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
93 points
Decanted for 2 hours in mid-afternoon, then returned to bottle for transport to "Cult Cali" Night at Garth's in Philly and consumed from about 6-9pm. I chose to bring this along to this event because I view the late, Justin Meyer as a pre-cursor to the "Cult Cal" craze of the last 25 years or so. He was among the first to let the grapes ripen more to make the now typical, big, more fruit forward style. In my cellar since release, this bottle was pretty pristine. The wine was medium to dark, nearly opaque garnet with just a hint of bricking. The nose had lots of earth, a little barnyard, vanilla and black fruit. The mouth feel was soft, rich and creamy with some chocolate, blackberry, graphite, black plum and an elegant, feminine mildly earthy finish that was moderately long. My last and perhaps best bottle from the vintage.
Red
2004 Kapcsándy Family Winery Cabernet Sauvignon State Lane Vineyard
94 points
Decanted for 2 hours in mid-afternoon, then returned to bottle for transport to Philly and consumed from about 6-9pm. I brought this to our group "Cult Cali" Night at Garth's in Philly after polling some of the attendees and this was requested over 2001 Verite's, Hundred Acre and others. This vintage was the second for Kapcsándy, made by Helen Turley from the 3rd year grapes of the State Lane Vineyard replanted after purchase from Beringer. This was the second bottle I have had of this and clearly this one was better than the first. It was an opaque garnet-purple with no sign of any age, in a somewhat typical "Cult Cali" style. The nose was quite oaky with black fruit and graphite. Tannin was medium-high and slightly drying and the wine was quite dense and chewy. On the palate there was an herbal element the seemed like tarragon to me along with blackberry and some tobacco on the finish. I enjoyed this more than I expected given my experience with the previous bottle. This was one of my favorites tonight.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Red
2008 Opus One
91 points
One of the wines brought to the "Cult Cali" Night at Garth's in Philly. Medium to dark garnet with herbal, oaky nose. Palate was soft with fairly low tannin and moderate acidity and flavors of blackberry and blueberry. The finish seemed quite short to me. Some liked this a lot, I thought it good but was "non-plussed", given the price and 95+ ratings by some pro's.
Red
2004 Kelham Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
92 points
Brought by one of the attendees at our "Cult Cali" night at Garth's in Philly. The wine was opaque black-purple and very young in appearance and flavor. Nose had herbal and black fruit notes. Tannin was Medium+ and acidity was medium. Same black fruit and some minty, earthiness on the palate. The finish was a little short given the power of the wine. This is clearly in need of both more time in the cellar and in the decanter to reach it best and needs food as well, certainly at this point in its development.
Red
2006 Colgin Cariad
92 points
Brought by one of the Attendees (perhaps our organizer, Steve?) to the "Cult Cali" night at Garth's in Philly. I know this had gotten some air at some point but I don't remember how long. The wine was opaque dark garnet-purple. This seemed to me to be rather tannic and closed and in need of more air or perhaps still very young. I got blackberry, boysenberry, oak/vanilla and tar on the nose and palate. A very "masculine" and "powerful" wine. Some thought this among the best of the evening but for me was "middle of the pack".
2 people found this helpful
Comment
Red
1987 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve
94 points
One of Garth's contributions to our "Cult Cali" night in Philly. The wine had been decanted when I arrived and was medium garnet in color with an effusive nose that faded some as the evening wore on, but resurrected after a few hours in the decanter as the final sips were had. The nose and palate had tar, earthy forest floor, leather and dark red and black fruit. I think the only thing I thought disappointing was the finish which was just a bit short. Overall a lovely example of the wines made in CA in the 1970's and 1980's that continues to age well, especially the 1987's. This was one of my favorites tonight.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Red
2012 Hundred Acre Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Kayli Morgan
92 points
Brought by one of the attendees to our "Cult Cali" night at Garth's in Philly. This wine was a bit more elegant than I had expected with a translucent medium to dark garnet color, medium tannin and high acid. It had a plush mouth feel and flavors of boysenberry and vanilla with a moderately long finish. I think this needed more time in a decanter to show its best, as it was I found it a bit wanting in terms of complexity, though certainly not overdone in ripeness or alcohol. Also, clearly quite young in its development, perhaps even in a bit of a "dumb period" in its evolution which I find is often the case between 5 and 9 years old.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Red
2009 Paul Hobbs Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard
95 points
Another of Garth's contributions to our "Cult Cali" night at his apartment in Philly. This was opaque garnet-purple in color, very dense and saturated. Given its 15.2% ABV (which I view as excessive in Cab) it was surprisingly balanced and did not taste "hot". Oak, vanilla, blackberry, graphite and spice were the trademark flavors and smells. The mouth feel was big and chewy with tannins that were beginning to be integrated and a finish that was long. Great with the steak. I, like Garth, seem to consistently find I prefer the Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard bottlings from most producers over the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard. It just seems a bit more elegant and less ripe and overdone to me. This was one of my favorites tonight.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Flight 3 - Dessert (4 notes)
I do forget exactly what we had but I recall one as being chocolate and the other mostly fruit which worked well with what we ended up bringing
White - Sweet/Dessert
1997 Long Vineyards Johannisberg Riesling Botrytis
91 points
Brought for dessert to our "Cult Cali" night at Garth's in Philly. The wine was a light caramel color. Nose was honey, citrus and ripe, macintosh apple. Palate reflects the nose. I was a bit disappointed with this, it seemed to lack depth, richness and complexity. Pretty straightforward but not that memorable.
P.S. I found the last glass worth of this on my refrigerator door at the end of September and much to my surprise it was delicious. Perhaps better than originally.
P.S. I found the last glass worth of this on my refrigerator door at the end of September and much to my surprise it was delicious. Perhaps better than originally.
White - Sweet/Dessert
1991 Renaissance Riesling Estate Bottled Late Harvest
90 points
Brought to our group "Cult Cali" night at Garth's in Philly. A recent purchase direct from the winery. This was quite sherry-like with a good deal of nuttiness and definitely old tasting. This bottle hasn't quite held up as well as I had hoped.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2005 Château Rieussec
93 points
Brought by one of the attendees to our group "Cult Cali" night at Garth's apartment in Philly. It was so soft and inviting, honied with apricot and good depth and complexity. For me the only thing that kept this at below 95 pts was the finish which seemed a little short. I'm sure this will continue to improve in complexity with additional time in the cellar.
7 people found this helpful
Comment
Red - Fortified
1970 Sandeman Porto Vintage
94 points
Brought by one of the attendees to our group "Cult Cali" night at Garth's apartment in Philly. This was nearly fully mature with a light bricked ruby color. It was so elegant and easy to drink with a slightly smokey honey cherry flavor profile and a finish of dried fig/prune. Wow! was the expression of many who first tasted this.
Closing
We had a wonderful time exploring these wines. There was not a real conclusion or ranking done as in some past events, so, I know my rankings, ratings and comments may differ with others who I would encourage to add their own notes. For me one of the conclusions was pretty much as expected, I am not such a big fan of this style yet the best ones are certainly enjoyable in the right circumstances. Though that doesn't deal with the rather poor QPR in most if not all cases.