But all in all, it's been a slow week... started out Monday with Doug Shafer going through the current releases. The 2005 Shafer Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay is a departure in style from their previous efforts... There is no malo and it appears they reduced the % of new oak on the wine, leaving a clean, crisp - yet powerful - Chardonnay. Really good... The 2004 Shafer Merlot rocks... this is one of the great Merlot's year in and year out. Spicy, chocolately and full of tannic power, this drinks more like a restrained Cab than a Merlot. Really nice. The 2004 Shafer One-Five Cabernet Sauvignon is a new label for them (they are no longer making the regular Cabernet Sauvignon) and I was frankly not terribly impressed. It seemed much lighter than the blockbuster Merlot and was not terribly appealing. The 2003 Shafer Relentless (80% Syrah, 20% Petite Sirah) is mammoth... one of the best they've ever made of this wine. Always a favorite, this is powerful and spicy, but elegant. More like a powerful Hermitage than a finesse-driven Cote Rotie. The 1994 Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon was showing like it has been... very cedary and powerful. A great wine. The 2002 was showing superbly on Monday... It showed a silky side that I hadn't experienced before. Goosebumps...
Tuesday was awful, Wednesday was spent studying, and today was ok. The 2004 Lewis Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon continues to get better and better... The cocoa powder was showing tonight!!! Thick and rich... I'd wait on my bottles. The 1993 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Richebourg was good - if not a tad on the light side. It was quite powerful for the first 5 minutes, then opened a little, then slowly died an awful death... Cedar, underbrush, truffles, clove and cherries - the classic Richebourg nose. Finesse with power. Beauty with hints of braun. And then, it was gone...
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