Now that I finally have a little time, I will try to update everything that has gone on in my life in the last 3 weeks - wine wise anyway. First, a trip to Santa Rosa California for the finals of the Best Young Sommelier in America. But before the actual competition, there was wine to taste! An amazing experience at Kosta Browne started things off. Many, many barrel samples. Whole cluster fermentation vs. free-run juice, Hungarian Oak vs. French Oak, new vs used oak, Pinot Noir Clone 777 vs Clone 23 vs Pommard 5... one of the great winery experiences in my life. Did I mention that they are making KILLER Pinot Noir? While it's relatively high-octane stuff, it is balanced and the wines are amazing. Then on to Forman where we tasted the less-intense, but more rose-petals and wild strawberry than the jammy quality of the Kosta Browne. Two great producers. Great wines.
At dinner that night we had a vast array of Italian wines, but frankly, I was too anxious for the competition to get started to really write any of them down... did have my first Cersuolo di Vittoria from Sicily (a new DOCG), great stuff... made from Frapetto and Nero d'Avola.
The competition was very intense and very exhausting. Afterwards, had quite a few beers... The Old Tire Ale was awesome on draft... perfect for a HOT (101) afternoon! On to dinner, where I found out that I did not place, but I did finish in the top 5, which I was pretty happy with. Cheers to the winner... he certainly deserved it. Many Advanced Sommeliers and quite a few that had previously sat for the MS exam. After dinner, V grabbed me and took me out to get, well, hammered. All of the other competitiors were there and we all had a great time. New friends, great experience. Great time. Would do it again in a second if I could.
After that... a week at the lake!!! So, I went from Palm Beach > Las Vegas > Palm Beach (rest 1 day), Palm Beach> Sonoma>New Hampshire in a week... Lots of time on the airplane!!! My wife picked me up from the airport and drove the 45 minutes to the house... Our good friends joined us for a week of relaxation... all of the wines that we had were amazing... I can't think of one that was even mediocre. I'll just list them, then at the end, put my 5 favorites. Mumm Cordon Rouge (magnum), 2004 Kosta Browne Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, 1990 Herm Donnhoff Niederhauser Hermannshole Riesling Auslese (two bottles), 1983 Reichgraff von Kesselstadt Schwarzhofberger Riesling Auslese, 1976 Schloss Johannisberg Riesling Auslese, 1995 Nederberg Late Harvest Chenin Blanc, 1989 Chateau Montrose, 1990 M. Chapoutier Hermitage Sizeranne, 1985 Chateau Leoville Las Cases, 1982 Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou, 1988 Chateau Pichon-Baron, 1990 Chateau Pichon-Baron, 1986 Chateau Cos d'Estournel, 1989 Paul Jaboulet Aine Hermitage La Chapelle... that's not complete but I need to find my list to get everything correct. I'll come back and complete this section...
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