2000 Ch. La Roque Cupa Numismae. Stored in 60 degree controlled cellar. Still very primary. Opened with boisenberry and leather and developed old leather, cocoa and black fruit after an hour. Very nice, but still a bit rustic, with integrating tannins not fully there yet. All the stuffings to be a fabulous wine, and I am sorry I opened it a couple of years early.
Soquel Cabernet Sauvignon 2001. I bought this at the suggestion of my local merchant who apparently got a deal on it. He said it was good because the tannins were resolving and it was just entering the prime drinking window. The label says that Soquel is a botique vineyard in the santa cruz mountains that emphasizes balance. The wine says it could have been bottled in a Ridge Monte Bello bottle and sold for 70 bucks (instead of 16), and no one would have known. This was just beautiful, clean, pure mountain cab fruit, medium bodied, fully in balance. Not the kind of wine I usually like, since it had none of that dirty stuff, but I did. I went back for five more bottles, the last he had.
Of the two, at least right now, I'd take the Soquel.
