Tasting Notes From August 2002

2208
James Creek Vineyards
1999 Zinfandel
Napa Valley
15% alcohol. Scott and Debby Brown - Proprietors, Pope Valley. Tawny appearance in the glass, looks like port. Tea, fennel/anise nose and black pepper on the nose - smells like port. Sweet on the palate with a touch of alcoholic burn. Tastes a little bit like port too. Not a bad Zinfandel, but I think we caught it beyond its prime. Also ridiculously expensive. 100 Cases. I don't know anything about this winery. $37.00

2209
Didier Dagueneau
1998 Silex
Pouilly Fume
Mineral, flint, earth, chalk and lime zest nose. Sweet and ripe on the palate, and suggestive of new world Sauvignon Blanc, save for the minerals and flint on the nose. But overall lacking concentration and tired. $50.00

2210
Parson's Flat
2000 Shiraz Cabernet
Pathadaway
65% Shiraz-35% Cabernet Sauvignon. Inky and thick in the glass. Vanilla chocolate malted menthol nose. Sweet milky creamy low acid chocolate milk fruit bomb. Hedonistic and delicious. 14.5% alcohol. Pretty sweet but loads of fun. Worked well with a toasted sandwich of prosciutto, pecorino toscano, slow roasted tomatoes and fresh basil and a side of pureed roasted cauliflower spiked with a touch of habanero. $40.00

2211
Domaine Vacheron
2000 Sancerre
Nice juice. Sharply spiked acidic lime zest with sweet lemon orange flavors and some slate. This is what I think of when I think of Sancerre. $20.00

2212
Beringer
2000 Chardonnay
Sbragia Limited Release Napa Valley
Toasted Coconut on the nose. Smells like high quality wood..and the label even notes the Nevers oak on the front. Tropical fruit on the palate with a nice, even-handed sweetness, good length and intensity. Whopping 15.1% alcohol but it carries it well. $30.00

2213
Carlisle
1999 Syrah
Sonoma County
A hard wine to describe for me. Liqueur nose with blue and black fruits, jam on toast, Syrah pepper. Creamy caramel syrup (but not particularly sweet) on the palate with more fruit. I went back for more to try and figure out the rest, but alas the decanter was dry. Okay, further research required, but impressively endowed and with tons of upside. $36.00

2214
Pride Mountain
1998 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Caramel toffee coffee nose with a sharp menthol component that gets in your nose. Ripe fruit on the palate with good acidity that prickles the tongue on the finish. Currant fruit on the palate with a caramel finish. Showing well and probably more accessible than the 1997, based on my most recent tasting of it. $48.00

2450
Glen Fiona
1999 Syrah
Bacchus Vineyard Columbia Valley
Deeply colored. Lovely Northern Rhone-like nose of warm rocks in a sauna, creosote, and pepper. Could pass for a rich Cornas, St. Joseph, or Croze Hermitage. Sweet ripe blackberry fruit. Nicely balanced. Like it. $27.00

2451
L'Eccosse
1997 Pinot Noir
Russian River Valley Rochioli Vineyard
Light translucent color with Rosy and tawny hues. Nose of balsa wood, dry herbs, excess alcohol and a bit of Pinot funk. Dry, full-bodied, bit alcoholic. Some modest strawberry and cherry fruit with sharp orange and cough syrup late. Harsh finish. Day 2: Well, a bit softer…more cherry cola. Showing more oak, too. Tastes lush compared to the Jade Mountain Syrah. $41.00

2452
Jade Mountain
1997 Syrah
Napa Valley
Medium ruby, some translucence and with about 1/8 clearing at the rim. The nose strongly suggests apricots and oranges with some mineral-laden soil and a bit of raspberries and plum. Medium bodied with ripe low acid orange and plum flavors. Hard tasting but the tannins don't feel rough or astringent. Really seems like it might have some Viognier blended in. $22.00

2453
Signorello
1996 Semillon
Napa Valley
Bright golden in the glass. Figs, butter, nutty oak on the nose. Medium-full bodied with good richness and concentration. Layers of pear, sweet nuts, spices. Moderate acidity. Oaky toasty nutty finish. Interesting. Occasional whiff of oxidation. I approached this wine with a lot of skepticism, but it won me over. Not bad. Must have been oaky as hell in its youth. $10.00

2454
Chateau Margaux
1996 Margaux
Deep purple color with no clearing. The nose shows a minty asparagus quality and a cedar slight must. Full-bodied with thick tannins. Shows some grace and potential, but the fruit is still a bit vacant. Hints at nuance underneath the blanket of tannin. $200.00

2455
Beringer
2000 Chardonnay
Sbragia Limited Release Napa Valley
The 2000 Sbragia was very much in the same style as the 1996, but side-by-side this tasted very tight and youthful. Lots of butterscotch and tropical fruit, but the French oak seems slightly raw and unintegrated. $40.00

2456
Beringer
1996 Chardonnay
Sbragia Limited Release Napa Valley
This wine was rockin'. Deeply golden in the glass. Loads of butterscotch and honeyed tropical fruit. Deftly oaked. Really delicious. $40.00

2457
Merry Edwards
1999 Pinot Noir
Russian River Valley
Medium red with moderate translucence. Cola, strawberry, sweet tomatoes on the nose with a hint of Pinot funk. Ripe on the palate with good concentration, but a bit one dimensional. Not showing well. $32.00

2458
Vacheron
2000 Sancerre
Lightly colored with a fairly intense grapefruit nose along with an edge of flint. Nice littls Sauvignon Blanc. Lots of puckery fruit on the palate with a moderate finish. $20.00

2459
Cloudy Bay
1998 Sauvignon Blanc
Marlborough
Bit unclean on the nose with key lime gooseberry and some late tropical flavors. Lots of ripe fruit compared to the Vacheron Sancerre. Good. $25.00

2460
Ramey
2000 Chardonnay
Russian River Valley
Initially closed and overoaked. After sitting around awhile the fruit resurfaced but it didn't really stand out as anything more than another Chardonnay $30.00

2461
Kistler
1999 Chardonnay
La Noissetier
Light French oak nose with some minerals, gravel, and nuts. Medium-full bodied with some restrained pear fruit on the palate. Finishes with toast and some more nuts. Pretty good but doesn't earn the hype. Other tasters likened this to a new-world Meursealt.

2497
Domaine des Cantarelles
2000 Cabernet Syrah
Vin de Pays du Gard
60% Syrah, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep color that approaches black in a full glass. Mostly opaque. Olives, salty seaweed, roasted/smoked meat, herbs, high toned with a hint of toasty oak. On the palate, olive, bit saline, savory. Fruit shows ripeness but expresses it in interesting ways. Fruit seems mostly like black cherry. Tightly wound. Touch tart in the finish. Good little value wine. 13% alcohol. $12.00

2498
Chateau Tahbilk
1999 Marsanne
South Australia
Lemony, waxy, grassy nose with a real or imagined hint of nut. Bit tart, but concentrated and good with food. Mona was quite fond of it. $14.00

2499
Lewis
1999 Cabernet Sauvignon
Reserve Napa Valley
Nose of crème de cassis with a touch of toasty oak and asian spices. Ripe, sweet fruit that is well delineated across the palate and very concentrated. Surprisingly light on its feet and seems to cut a narrow swathe down the tongue, rather than expanding and engaging the whole thing. Maybe what some would call good acids. Like this a lot, but the Syrah actually pleases me more. $70.00

2500
Kalin Cellars
1993 Semillon
Livermore Valley
Hazy yellow gold in the glass. Nose suggests some funk and oxidation along with brown butter. Ripe on the palate with a touch of zingy acidity and lemony fruit. Not bad, quite different. $5.00

2501
Titus
1999 Cabernet Franc
Napa Valley
Yum…Beautiful nose of lavender, blackberry, kool aid, vanilla, and a bit of chocolate. I might have though this was Australian tasted blind. Creamy mouthfeel with great blackberry and strawberry fruit. Fruit changes flavor at different places in the mouth, sometimes blackberry, sometimes black cherry, sometimes strawberry. Good length. Medium-bodied, low acid. Very tasty. 14.5% alcohol. $31.00

2502
Behrens and Hitchcock
1998 Merlot
Oakville Fortuna Vineyard Napa Valley
Decanted about an hour, based on past experiences with B&H juice. Translucent at the edges, garnet in the center. Smells of wet balsa wood, chemicals-like makeup, alcohol, and flowers. Medium-full bodied, hot finish (14.3% alcohol). Initially pretty disappointing. Left me wondering if my decanter wasn't rinsed well enough. Glad it's my last one (of two). Time has not done this much good. Did take on fruit (red berries) and sweetness with further time, and day two the palate seemed more balanced, but still overall a disappointment. $25.00

2503
Havens
1997 Syrah
Carneros
Deep opaque appearance. Initially closed, smelling tannic, with cinnamon and something suggestive of hard dirt. Later green peppercorn and blueberry. Red fruit and blueberry on the palate - little chunky. Medium-full bodied with a good acid spine a spicy finish. $25.00

2504
Chateau de la Gardine
1999 Chateaneuf du Pape
Good saturated color. Red velvet look in the dim light of Jeroboam in Dallas. Grenachey and vinous in some ways but with good strawberry, cranberry, raspberry fruits. Supple, low acidity for a CdP, sweet attack with a brief finish. Rather new world, and well made. $30.00

Cheers!
James

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