The Dallas Blur Tasting
August 17, 2002, about 2 dozen wine geeks gathered at Casa Vineyard for a big time wine fest. Everyone brought great wine, as the list suggests, and some great food was on hand too. Of course, the food kinda gets overlooked at an event such as this. Next year, we’re going to arrange things to get the wine and food into the same room, and hopefully make sure the air conditioning keeps up. Of course, maybe August, isn’t the best month to hold this…
The Wines that showed up
The Torbreck, Beringer 87 PV, and Amarone wound up being my favorites of the night. I think after tasting through some of these monsters, the oak sort of built up on my tongue and kept me from tasting the underlying fruit in some of these. Pity.
Pride 1997 Viognier Sonoma County– Buttery apricots. Still has decent fruit and varietal character, but its probably time to drink up.
Martinelli 2000 Pinot Noir 3 Colts – Cola. Tight ripe strawberry fruit. Nice, but a bit straightforward. Touch of funk. Funk increased on the second day. Loring Wine Company 2000 Pinot Noir Garys’ Vineyard – Didn’t taste initially, but on day 2 it blew away the Martinelli with its intensity of fruit and depth. Nice.
Gaja 1978 Barbaresco – Fantastic violets nose. Orange-rose in the glass. Very translucent. Fading quickly. Licorice and cinnamon on the nose. Still has some cherry and plum fruit, but a bit short.
Gaja 1988 Barbaresco – Bit funky, woody nose. Some floral aspects? Turning. Drinkable, but not as interesting or compelling as its 10 year older sibling.
Sean Thackrey NV Roussanne – Waxy honey apricot nose. Full-bodied with good balance. Day 2 the color struck me as looking like golden ale/beer in the glass. Getting oxidized quickly and tasting a bit watery. Tasty with figs wrapped in proscuitto.
Araujo 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley – At the tasting, this was not interesting and mostly dominated by oak. Day two the nose took on some dill and parsley aspects and became a bit more accessible, but still had strong soy sauce and roasted nuts nose. Some underlying sweetness in the fruit. Okay.
Leonetti 1985 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Columbia Valley – Forest floor and old wood nose. Touch of cinnamon. Ready to go, bit beyond peak. Throwing loads of sediment. Cherry koolaid?
Zind Humbrecht 1997 Riesling – wood pencils, wax, resin, spices. Sweet and rich with a great dose of edgy acid. Day two and three this was still nice.
Vega Sicilia 1970 Unico – Healthy color doesn’t belie its age. American oak on the nose. Bit of oxidation. Silky low acid texture. Cigar box. Cedar. Another taster thought this was over the hill. Apparently this wasn’t released until 1995!
Torbreck 1998 Run Rig Barossa Valley – Inky appearance. High toast oak, chocolate milk touch of floral. Tight creamy then acid and tannin. Wow. Youthful, but fruity and showing much potential. Christine who contributed this noted that the 1999 vintage of this wine was much more enjoyable and accessible now. Despite that, this is really nice.
Dehlinger 1983 Cabernet Sauvignon Russian River Valley – Dead
Dal Forno Romano 1996 Amarone – Raisins – bit of oxidation? – burlap whiff of alcohol. On the palate this wine was inspiring…impressively rich and long. Full-bodied. Bit of heat and sweet. Could probably serve as a dessert wine. Also a bit like a really good high-octane Zinfandel.
Paloma 1999 Merlot – served as a mystery wine – Yeast, raspberry, whisky barrel – rich, with a texture that reminds me of the Amarone. Tannins. Tasted again later, this seemed heavily dominated by the oak. Tasted day two it opened up again with lots of caramel, toasted oak, soy, graphite. Inky. Scary-big Merlot. Bit surprised it wasn’t showing more fruit.
Carlisle 2000 Zinfandel Tom Feeney Russian River Valley – Reminded me initially of a spicy Dry Creek Zin with spicy dusty peppery Zinberry profile. Brambly and jammy with plenty of acidity to carry it. No obvious excess of alcohol. Tasted two days later this wine’s nose was outrageously good. Pinon and spearmint flavors just jumped out of the glass. Could have sat around smelling this one for hours. The palate is still sweet and jammy, bit sharp in the finish. Nice. The two days of sitting made this wine more distinctive.
Chateau de la Gardine 1996 Cuvee des Generations CdP – Nothing obviously wrong with it, but tasting a bit flat.
Robert Foley 1999 Claret Napa Valley – Complex smelling with lots of high-toast oak that comes across like real charcoal wood and graphite. Sweet fruit and a boatload of tannin. Lavender. Good balance. This seems like it could really get complex and interesting in a few years. None left over to retaste later though.
Beringer 1987 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve – One of the bigger surprises for me this night. Don’t remember much about the nose – some candied cherries mostly but the palate and texture of this one were outstanding. Supple, silky, “velvety”. Loads of fruit. Very nice. Drinking absolutely beautifully.
Araujo 1998 Syrah Napa Valley – Apricot stonefruit nose suggestive of some Viognier blended in. Good, but not exactly riveting.
Lagier Meredith 1999 Syrah Mt. Veeder – Controversial wine. Had an unusual nose that struck me as banana-like, but another taster as buttery. Cream, red fruit, oak. Tasting it two days later it still had a banana nose along with Coconut and plenty of fruit. Not changed substantially. Has a characteristic mouthfeel that reminds me of Beaujolais. LBV thought it seemed Australian in style but a bit rough around the edges.
Spring Mountain 1997 Reserve – this started off as a mystery wine and initially it made me think it was a Bordeaux wine made in a new world style. Well, close – the other way around. Two days later, we poured one glass for LBV and then a glass for me. His glass showed a decent, cigar box cedar nose along with some red fruit. My glass, poured from the same bottle immediately after his was funky and oxidized and pretty much gone.
Ducru Beaucaillou 1993 St. Julien – no notes from day of tasting. Two days later it seems to have held up okay, but the nose is heavily laden with bellpepper and red bell pepper. Underlying fruit with a touch of cinnamon. Good food wine. Soft and approachable. Pleasant.
Barnett 1997 Peacock Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon – No notes from tasting, and I didn’t hear many comments on it, but two days later this wine really hit its stride. Singing sweet candied cherry nose. Loads of fruit. Really nice. Best of the leftover reds.
Vineyard 29 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon – Still inky and oaky. Shows some underlying fruit. Overall this one needs serious time to let the oak integrate. Thought maybe the fruit from 1997 would have been powerful enough to handle it better.
Rafanelli 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon - At the tasting, this wine seemed excessively oaky and tight. Two days later it showed star anise, cherry, strawberry, white pepper, kool aid, baby powder and liqueur flavors on the nose…whew! The palate is now flat and lost, but the nose is great.
Il Futuro 1997 – Not tasted at the tasting – two days later – Cherries with a woody, inky component. Moderate acid, showing some alcohol. Not dead, but just okay. Bit backwards.
Inglenook Reunion 1986 – Two days later showing lots more life than it ought to. Smells like wet, clean laundry and bell pepper mostly over some modest fruit. Pleasant, light, bit flat. Not showing much oxidation.
Avignonesi and Capannelle 1993 50&50 – Bell pepper. Acidic. Deteriorating, but drinkable if you want. This one is a mystery to me. Apparently a joint wine with 50% Sangiovese from Avignonesi and 50% Merlot from Capannelle.
Philip Tognis – the 1999 seemed the most approachable of the three. All however need serious time.
Martin Ray – Don’t get these wines at all.
Albala PX – Both are great dessert wines, but the palate of the NV is much better balance and pleasing than the freaky 1972 at this point. Have to wonder what might happen to these with time in the cellar.
Elyse 1993 Cabernet Sauvignon Morisoli – I remember thinking that this was drinking quite nicely. Better than I might have expected from a 1993.
Cheers!
James
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© 2002, James Vineyard