We did a Cabernet tasting Friday night. Real brief highlights/comments follow:
2006 Havens Cabernet Sauvignon. Pretty dilute, koolaid-y. Not the varietal they should be remembered for. R.I.P.
2005 Clos Du Marquis (Second Wine for Leoville-Las-Casas) Approachable and open, but definitely dark and savory and meaty Bordeaux. I liked this.
2003 Beringer "Private Reserve" Pretty much utterly unremarkable. Not bad...just nothing special. The minty note on the nose was kinda nice.
2003 St. Superey Rutherford. Definitely more and better fruit than most SS wines that I've sampled, but the heavy, heavy oak confirms my opinion that this is a winery I will continue to actively avoid.
2004 Imagery Ashe Creek Vineyard (Alexander Valley). Much, much greener...in a bad way, than I remembered.
2004 Ramian Chapter IV Mount Veeder . A tiny vineyard source way at the top of Redwood Road. This was dark and meaty and savory and earthy and quite delicious in a darker, richer style. Seemed to be a group favorite.
2002 Phelan Atlas Peak. Like the Ramian in style, but perhaps even richer and more leathery and earthier. Quite delicious tiny production cab. Not sure I would drink a lot of this, as it is very rich, but...
2003 Atlas Peak Claret. Now this was a surprise of the evening. Has matured very nicely. More structured, higher acid, some pleasant herbaceous notes from a wine with surprising freshness and good red fruit. Probably my wine of the night! Has Antinori maintained/improved quality?
2004 William Harrison Rutherford Red. Moderately corked. Such a rich and powerful wine that one can almost drink it anyway, but definitely NOT the best bottle I've had from this Rutherford producer. My friend John is very TCA sensitive, and he couldn't drink it.
________________________
Saturday Night
2004 Pesquera Tinto Crianza Ribera del Duero. This was a very warm and rich and enjoyable wine...Quite different than my usual Lopez de H version of Tempranillo! Red cherry, warm plum earth earth earth and leather. Delicious!