Popped and poured. Black fruit on first pour but it quickly got redder as it opened. Med-full body with tasty sweet fruit and sweet-spicy cola finish. Commendably, nothing obviously 'Oz' about it. Drank like a perfectly middle aged bottle at first but matured dramatically in the glass, suggesting that these merit drinking sooner than later.
2007 Stephen Ross Pinot Noir Edna Valley
Extracted, monochromatic, sweet/heavy and alcoholic. Poor.
2004 Dunham Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Artist Series Lewis Vineyard, WA
Not sure if it's their intent, but the Artist Series Dunhams usually present more of a European style to my tastes, and this was no exception. Maturing blackberry and tobacco notes with some tell-tale gritty tannins, big and burly and without the obvious oak of the green labels.
2002 Five Star Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley, Washington
Light and mild raspberry fruit and some spice, but no tannins, plain and underwhelming, and past peak. WAY past peak. Probably started going downhill in 2004.
2004 Leonetti Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Walla Walla Valley
Developing nicely. Classic Leonetti cassis fruit and silky-smooth mouthfeel. Some green notes evident 18 months ago have mellowed and the wine drinks very well, though it's still young.
1999 Novy Family Wines Syrah Napa Valley
John & Annabelle's bottle. So black and opaque early in its life, this wine is now bright red with only secondary flavors and a warm, iron-rich minerality. Finish is sweet, long and comforting. Too bad I didn't save any of my bottles.
2011 J. Rochioli Chardonnay Estate Grown, Russian River Valley
Apple, lemon, and hazelnut, with a peachiness that verges on tropical but doesn't quite go over the edge. Good alone but almost epic with a wheel of Uplands Rush Creek Reserve cheese aged in spruce bark.
1994 Bodegas Alejandro Fernández Ribera del Duero Janus Gran Reserva Pesquera, Tempranillo
John & Annabelle's bottle (passive CA storage). Exceptionally complex with notes of dried plums and other red fruit, nutmeg, leather, touch of barnyard, roast duck, violets, fruitcake, vanilla, and candied orange. Fully mature and swoon-worthy, especially with a plate of Jamon Iberico. Dear god, was that good.
2010 Doisy Vedrines, Sauternes
Seriously lacks acid, overly sweet and dull.
Champagne tasting, three flights of four wines each, all blind:
First flight:
1) Betting French: Dry lemon, yeasty, very good and possibly better than that--but warmer than others in the flight so it's hard to judge it fairly. NV Bonnaire, B d B Grand Cru. (And my wine, so yes I can attest it should have shown better.) My third, group third.
2) Excellent rose, fruity yet taut, complex. NV Laurent Perrier Rose. My 2nd, Group 1st.
3) This can't be French. Odd vinyl nose, no mousse, Mountain Dew and swampwater. NV Navarro Vineyards Gewürztraminer Brut Methode Champenoise. No votes.
4) Another rose. Pale, super dry and precise, pin-prick bubbles, excellent mouthfeel. NV Pierre Morlet Brut Rose. Group 2nd, my 1st.
Second flight:
5) Straw gold color, bready, apple, lemon, old school, Jenise loves. NV Philipponat Royal Reserve. Group 2nd, my 2nd.
6) Can't be French. Sweet nose of shampoo and artificial almond flavor. Gross. But it is French after all: NV Vickery Park "Chardonnay Brut", Methode Traditionelle. No votes, last place all.
7) Beautiful nose, yeasty, baked apple, brioche, seems mature. It is: an NV that had been cellared for at least ten years, Laurent Perrier Brut. Group 1st, my 1st.
8 ) Very balanced rose with great mouthfeel. NV Veuve Cliquot Rose. Group 3rd, my 3rd.
Third flight:
9) Yeasty with red apples, deep gold. Seems more mature. NV Pommery. Group 1st, my 2st.
10) Chenin? Very nice but colorless, style seems French but flavors are unfamiliar. NV Serveaux Fils 'Cru Chardonnay'. Label hard to read but bright antifreeze green brocade design is gorgeous. Group 3rd, my 3rd.
11) Rose, too old?, swampy, odd. 2896 Langley Brut Rose, Michigan! No votes, last place all.
12) Also seems to have some maturity. Similar to 9, but brighter and drier. Group 2nd, my 1st. NV Pertois-Moriset Grande Reserve.
