What a night!
I brought a mystery white. Well not a total mystery as everybody new it was a California Chardonnay that none of them had tried. My friend who is a Vineyard owner and life long wine geek immediately told his wife, “this is right up your alley, partial ML and not to much new oak". The wine has tons of juicy fruit and acidity straight from the start tot the finish. Not a lot of complexity but we all new it was very young and very primary. It was the 2005 Loring Chardonnay Clos Pepe Vineyard. 100% Malo & 100% New Oak! Not sure how this was achieved but my assumption (which is a total guess because I don’t know anything about picking times for Chardonnay) is that it was picked very very ripe. The Loring was an interesting contrast to the 2005 Clos Pepe Estate I had a few weeks ago. The Estate was lean, mean and full of stones. A chardonnay that needs some time and is built on elegance. This next statement is a compliment but the Estate “under whelms” you. I love when a wine leaves me thinking about it. It teases you. Thank God for variety.
2004 Pax Cuvee Moriah (Rhone field blend)
Enticing nose. Rich and ripe. I am also assuming stem inclusion. Delicious wine that is very smooth. With our appetizers the wine showed really nice acidity that didn’t jump out prior to the food. What a great quality. I have had very few Cali Rhone blends that are as intriguing as this. I thought it drank really well right now but I look forward to revisiting it in a few years…and another few years too!
Double Blinds
We played the multiple choice game (County, Grape, Appellation/area, Vintage).
Wine #1: First sniff…easy, USA/CA. Second sniff…hmmm I am thinking Syrah but there is something else going on…maybe Grenache. First drink…hmmm…that is Pinot. Ripe and lush pinot. Very good and although extremely ripe, there is zero heat. Very pure. But I am thinking it would be something unknown/odd considering the person pouring and I was pretty sure there was some Syrah in there. Nope…100% Pinot. Okay. Well I am pretty sure it is RRV and I know it is 04. San Luis Obispo was one of the choices I skipped over since there is so little that I have tasted. Bam… Carlson Pinot Noir “The Wedge” Talley Vineyards (Arroyo Grande Valley) Really nice stuff. I loved the balance and lushness. The finish was short but not unpleasant. First time I had seen or heard of this.
Wine #2: First sniff…easy again….in fact my mind is already made up. Santa Barbara Syrah! We go through the game, I am spot on until we get to the vintage…then it hits me…I know the wine. So I say 2005 because it is so young and primary…almost like a barrel sample (even though I know it has been bottled for a long time). Then the news comes. 2004…oops…I was sure this was the 2005 Dain White Hawk Vineyard Syrah. Dooh…I should have known. It was the 2004 Margerum Syrah Alondra de Los Prados. I should have known because the Vineyard owner was sitting right next to me. But I didn’t think someone else would pull out that bottle. The Vineyard owner’s wife guessed it…the Vineyard owner did not. I actually thought this wine was too massive. A big peppery and concentrated syrah. Again very nice balance for the style. I would drink young!
Time to wake up our palates with an absolute Killer! 1996 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne. Such an amazing wine. All kinds of secondary elements already going on but the wine is jumping out of the glass like a baby. It is awesome to try this now but it is major infanticide. This Champagne cries for food.
On to dinner:
1995 Philip Togni Cab Sav
One sniff … ooohhh Bell Peppers … Yum...NOT. Not sure what is going on here but I will skip this wine. Maybe flawed because I know Philip doesn’t make crap…but … Well I will re-visit in the middle of the meal. But for now I will enjoy the star of the evening.
2000 Henri Bonneau Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve des Celestins:
Wow. Still a baby but Wow! An absolute beauty. The aromatics are somehow delicate and bold at the same time. A perfect food wine. I love all the pretty red fruits but certainly not void of earthy meaty elements. I just kept going back to it as I looked at the Togni with scorn. My heart is with Pinot but a great CdP always brings me a huge amount of joy.
1990 De Suduiraut:
On to dessert. The Suduiraut seems to be fading. Showing slight oxidation on the nose but still very enjoyable. Nice on the attack but the wine is not showing much depth. May be heading backwards but drinking okay at this stage.
Cheers,
Jason
P.S. The Togni never worked for me.