Tasting Notes From September 2002

Pride Mountain
1997 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Double decanted and then returned to the bottle to sit open for about 3 hours. Deep, inpenetrable color with no sign of clearing at the rim. Strong toasty oak character on the nose with additions of cedar, yeast, and black currants. Full bodied with a strong spine of acid but great fruit on hanging on the branches. High intensity, somewhat low complexity. The tannins in this have finally softened enough to make enjoyment possible. Prior tastings were more like experiments. Long finish. This stuff rocks. $40.00

Rochioli
1997 Sauvignon Blanc
Russian River Valley
Tasted outside on the porch by the lake, so the breeze may have gotten in the way. Intially as a buttery grassy tropical nose. Some obvious oak. On the palate the wine is richly fruited with passion fruit and sweet limes. Viscous given the obvious and inherent acidity of Sauvignon Blanc. Nice. $20.00

La Corte
1998 Zinfandel
Tarantino Italy
15% alcohol, which is pretty unusual for an old world dry red in my experience. Bottled by Poggio il Pino in Montevarchi. Overall this is a nicely made wine for the price. The nose has a peppery, spicy, tea quality that is unmistakably Zinfandel, but it also has an earthy component that seems to root it in a foreign land. Full-bodied with good concentration. Not much complexity, some perceived sweetness from the alcohol. $12.00

Lang and Reed
1998 Cabernet Franc
Premier Etage Napa Valley
Medium color with some translucence. Exciting nose of strawberries, honey, flowers, leaves, and raspberries, along with a zesty, peppery aspect. Has an herbal funk a bit reminiscent of Pinot Noir. Medium-bodied with moderate acidity. $34.00

Tom Eddy
1994 Cabernet Sauvignon
VSR
This was a leftover half-bottle that I froze after a tasting in mid-August. After a gentle thawing this wine showed heavy caramel and vanilla toffee on the nose and in the finish. Full-bodied, fairly good fruit, but seems overoaked. Held up well in the freezer I suppose, I remember from the tasting this wine seemed quite oaky.

Kenwood
1994 Cabernet Sauvignon
Jack London Vineyard Sonoma Valley
Doesn't quite cut the mustard. Harsh green and mentholy. $30.00

Mona and I got together with our friend Christine at MoMo's a little hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant that has a $2 corkage fee. Here are the wines we chose to try out.

Byrd Cooper
1999 Syrah
Napa Valley
Captivating nose of violets, shoe polish, black fruits. Lush on the palate with good length and concentration. Pleasing. $24.00

Karl Lawrence
1999 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
Nose of mint, ,eucalyptus, shoe polish. Medium-full bodied, well made Cabernet Sauvignon. Good length, but a bit angular mouthfeel. Nice, but not very compelling. $40.00

We also had a great Cantarelles Viognier and a Chamber's Tokay to start and end the meal with, respectively.

Havens
1997 Bourriquot
Napa Valley
Harmonious - this wine has really come together. Presents a beautiful chocolate covered cherry flavor from the nose to the finish. Doesn't jump out of the glass and scream at you, but seduces you in. $40.00

Geyser Peak
1997 Zinfandel
De Ambrogio Ranch Cucamong Valley
100 year old vines. 15.2% alcohol. This wine was holding up better than I expected. An awesome clove nose jumps out of the glass, along with some dry tea nuances. Sweet and rich. Yum. $30.00

Galleron
1998 Zinfandel
Aves Vineyard Napa Valley
Vanilla asian spice and cedar bit high toned. Blueberry cream fruit. Some brambly character. Medium bodied. Translucent deep red in the glass with some minor clearing at the rim. 14.2% alcohol. Reasonable QPR but I bought at a heavy discount. $17.00

Domaine de Saint Antoine
2001 Syrah
Deep red color, no clearing or translucence. Nose flirts with black cherries and black olives along with an austere mineral and bark? Quality. Intense and needing time to my palate. Just not settling down. My dad tasted this with me and found it underripe. $10.00

On this Saturday night, Christine invited us to join her and some other wine geeks, Traci, John, and Lori, at Traci's house to sample Pinot Noir. Traci made Salmon, John and Lori made a white bean dish and a rice salad, and I made some homemade bread. Festivities inevitably ensued.

Selene
2000 Sauvignon Blanc
Hyde Vineyard Carneros
Subdued nose, predominantly passion fruit and sweet citrus with a hint of flint. Very rich with no sharp edges, particularly for a Sauvignon Blanc. $20.00

Serge Mathieu
NV Bland de Noir
Cuvee Tradition
Bread dough nose with a rich mouthfeel.

Chauvenet Chopin
1995 Nuits St. George
Aux Argillas
Deep red with a slight tawny hue. Musty mushroom, hard candy, meat on the nose. Some subtle black cherry underneath. On the palate this wine is very savory with meat and blood flavors. Prickly acid. Mostly about the nose. Probably on its way down, based on the absence of fruit.

Domaine Joblot
1999 Givry
Clos de la Servoisine
Lime zest, red berry, ripe and fruity. Liqueur and red candy. Nicely made. This was several tasters favorite. Nice expression of Pinot Noir. Could use a touch more length. $30.00

Rochioli
1999 Pinot Noir
Russian River Valley
Cloudy appearance, but overall a deep and bright red with moderate translucence. Barnyard, smoke, meaty nose. Bit simple and like soft orange juice. Medium-bodied. Off bottle?$30.00

Loring
2000 Pinot Noir
Clos Pepe Vineyard Santa Rita Hills
Sweet blackberry nose - very pretty. Rich, medium-full bodied with great purity of fruit. Acid spine. Just lovely fruit. A couple tasters found this one a bit too confectionary, but I thought it rocked. $40.00

Martinelli
2000 Pinot Noir
3 Colts Russian River Valley
Cinnamon and plummy fruit on the nose. Dark Fruit and lots of it. Similar to the Loring but a bit more structured. Nice. $30.00

Martinelli
1999 Pinot Noir
Martinelli Vineyard Reserve
15.5% alcohol and it wears it on its sleeve like a badge. Sweet - alcohol sweet. Shows lots of underlying fruit but quite disjointed. $40.00

Le Clos Paulilles
1998 Banyuls
Ringe
Mostly Grenache. Fortified, Port-like nose with some minor oxidation. Rich raisins and dried figs. Bit simple but tasty. $17.00

Martinelli

1999 Zinfandel
Jackass Vineyard Russian River Valley
White pepper, full-bodied and spicy. Syrup. Opens some (it was right out of the cellar) to show some asian spices and sweet syrupy flavors with a menthol and eucaplyptus finish. Bit hot at the end (15.9%).

Chateau Grande Cassagne
2001 Costieres de Nimes
Hippolyte Blanc
13.5% alcohol. Essentially a mineral-nut-light stonefruit profile. Slightly elevated acidity and some bitter qualities. Reminds me of a Rhone interpretation of Sauvignon Blanc. $10.00

Dalla Valle Vineyards
2000 Sangiovese
Napa Valley Pietre Rosso
Nice dried cherry, cranberry, dusty soil nose that merges into whisky barrel a bit with time. Nice Sangiovese fruit. Medium-full bodied on the palate with lots of stuffing. Does a nice job of showing off the variety's hallmarks and wrapping it up in a new world package of sweet fruit and fairly low acidity. $35.00

Abadia Retuerta
2000 Rivola
Sardon de Duero
Subdued classy nose of raspberries, toast, touch of light forest floor, and seeds. Medium-full bodied with silky tannins. Nice raspberry and blackberry fruit that cut an elegant, low acid swathe down the tongue and finishes with chocolate fudge. Nice little wine. $10.00

Avignonesi
1998 Vino Nobile di Montelpuciano
Day one: Good Sangiovese dusty dried cherry cranberry nose with an element of floral?. Good plush fruit on the palate with silky mouthfeel. Day two: Took on a strong note of oxidation on the nose while the palate remained essentially unchanged. Long finish where the acids show up more. $20.00

Andrew Murray
2000 Syrah
Tours les Jours California
Fantastic nose of white pepper, shoe polish, lavender, cinnamon spices. Full bodied with good richness and sweetness to the fruit. Great value. $15.00

Mason
2001 Sauvignon Blanc
Napa Valley
Mason is back in top form! Tropical fruit - melon, passionfruit, green herbs - like a mix of basil and tarragon? With a hint of cat's pee, petrol, and flint. Zippy smelling. Rich palate with juicy citrus fruit. For the most part the "hint of oak" is lost on me save for some roundness and creaminess on the palate. Decent with proscuitto wrapped figs. Probably the last figs of the season :(. $17.00

Etim
2000 Tarragona-Falset
Grenache-Cabernet
85% Grenache and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon. 50 year-old vines according to the label. Cherry Grenache nose with toasty sesame seed quality a bit like raw wood. White pepper and a whiff of currants. Smells powdery. Cottony tannins in the finish. I attribute the Cabernet to the currant quality. I though this had lost some of the negative Grenachey qualities the third day after vacu-vinning and leaving it in the fridge for a couple days. Might shame some Chateauneuf du Pape. $11.00

Fox Creek
2000 Shiraz
Short Row McLaren Vale
14.5% alcohol. Impenetrable color in the center with deep crimson edges. Brooding nose of toast, cassis and blackberries, that had me imagining the wine was sizing me up. Light charcoal. Rich, full-bodied palate with lots of blackberry fruit. Tannin, vanilla, and a pretty hefty wallop of oak as well. Low acidity. Grape popsicle. Admirable for its purity of blackberry fruit. $30.00

Carlisle
2000 Zinfandel
Alexander Valley
16.9% alcohol. Slightly translucent ruby red appearance. Classic Zinfandel nose that mixes clove, asian spice, and anise with coffee and tea notes. Super-ripe (sheesh - look at the alcohol!) full-bodied with sweet zinberry fruit on the palate. Sweetness is only from the alcohol - otherwise dry. Bit hot in the finish. Nice. I would have guessed Amador County or Dry Creek Valley, or some combination thereof, as the appellation. Includes a bit of Carignane. $24.00

Kalin Cellars
1993 Chardonnay
Cuvee LV Sonoma County
I really wanted to like this, as I like it when someone has the courage to march to the beat of a different drummer, but this wine was just to oxidized for my tastes. Despite having enjoyed some previous Kalin wines, this one rates a near DNPIM. $12.00

Kosta Browne
1999 Sauvignon Blanc
Lake County Roumiguiere Vineyard
The nose is quite herbal and green with some underlying minerality. Mona said "it tastes French." I tend to agree somewhat as it is lean on fruit. Mostly lemony flavors. Quite tart - excessively so at times. Lots more interesting than many domestic Sauvignon Blancs, but still a wine with faults. $14.00

Artadi
1995 Rioja
Vinas de Gain
Medium red color - mostly opaque. Nose of vanilla and tobacco. Strawberry fruit, medium-bodied, lots of vanilla and silky tannins. Pleasant. Worked well with our meal of grilled chicken, roasted cauliflower, and quinoa with grape tomatoes and roasted yellow pepper. $18.00

Spelletich Cellars
1998 Bodog Red
Napa Valley
Complex nose with mint, chocolate, earth, lavender, red fruit. Ripe palate with good length with more red fruit and chocolate. Pretty nice. Interesting mouthfeel that gives the wine a softness and a sharp streak of tannin. Reputedly a blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. $30.00

Cheers!
James

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