California... The Good, The Bad, and The Really Good

Ok, for those of you who don't want to look through the list below, here are my highlites...

Best Bottles
2004 Sea Smoke "Southing" Pinot Noir - More structured and complete than the 2005 at this point, this wine was simply beautiful. Reminding me of a young La Tache from a great vintage, ripe seductive fruit with a healthy, but perfectly balanced, use of oak. The wine was all finesse - wrapped around a powerful, irresistable core. It was like drinking liquid silk. I could have smelled this wine all night and this was the wine of the trip for most of us.

2000 Gaja Conteisa (Barolo) - very young, but very beautiful. Very Gaja...

1995 Pahlmeyer Red Wine (Magnum) - still such a baby... so young and beautiful.

1991 Caymus Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon (Magnum) - mature and beautiful... fabulous stuff right here.

2005 Blackbird - not everyone liked this wine, but to me it was the closest thing to garagiste Pomerol I've ever tried from a California producer. Coffee, Graphite, leather, cocoa and black berries... could be one of the longest lived-wines in California produced right now, if I had to make a guess... needs 5-7 years at a minimum, then I have a feeling these will blossom...

1994 Beringer Private Reserve (Magnum) - this wine has always been great... still is. Young.

2003 Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon - a bit lighter in style than the last 2 years, this wine is still the best 03 I've had. Young and primary, but don't give it too much time....

As for the bad and the really good, I'll let you figure it out for yourselves... there was very little bad...