The Bad Boys of Cali Cabs

hmmm.... big guns tonight... 1997 Dunn Howell Mountain, 2003 Phelps Backus, 2003 Peter Michael Les Pavots, 1994 Bryant Family, and 1996 Dalla Valle "Premiere Napa Valley" Barrel #41 Cabernet... all huge, with the Dalle Valle being a huge suprise - absolutely gorgeous.... also had the 1999 Tirecoul "Cuvee Madame" Monbazillac... awesomely sweet candied nose... I'll eventually go into more depth...

The View From The Top Of The Cliff

Well... here I go... about to take the leap off the of tasting cliff... the process of not just learning, but mastering the art of blind tasting is a matter of several things... you must first have a very strong base in theory (for instance, knowing that the Southern Rhone generally uses larger oak barrells that impart a more neutral oak flavor into the wine, or that Rioja uses American Oak, what cool climate wines look like in a glass, etc. - and learning to identify all of the characteristics.) That part is finite - you can learn all you can learn, and then you are where you need to be. You also need to have a very strong- and accurate - perception of the different components of wine - acidity, alcohol, tannin, fruit characteristics, length, oak, body - moderate plus and high alcohols are two very different things - and can mean two very different things when trying to analyze a wine. All of these are things that can be learned - they are the parts of the blind tasting process that you have to master. The last part - the most important part - is not something that can be learned - it is more of an instinct - you have to learn to trust that you are correct in your descriptions - and that you can use all of you descriptions to help you get where you are going. That takes experience - and a faith in your abilities - analytical, theory, and the "x" factor. I'm about to try to take the leap of faith that I do in fact know what I'm talking about and that I do know what's going on... this is the single most critical point in my tasting career thus far... wish me luck.

More...

Another taste of the 1982 Chateau Latour... some 2004 Henri Boillot Montrachet (!)... some 1988 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Grands Echezeaux... and finally... 1995 Domaine Leroy Richebourg... not a bad 24 hours, huh? I'll comment later... but that Leroy Richebourg is something else...

Grand Vin

quite a few wines from Clos de Tart including the 2002 La Forge 1er Cru Morey-St.-Denis, 2003 Beaune "Greves" 1er Cru and 2003 Clos de Tart... Also tried one bottle of 1982 Chateau Latour... stunning. I'll write more when I have time...

Oh no... more Abacus, Hillside, and Musigny

Ho hum... The 2001 Opus One from Magnum was ok... very Bordeaux-like (at this very young age, even...) Classic, and a very good- Opus. The 1996 Edizione Pennino Zinfandel from Niebaum-Coppola was hot, spicy and powerful... a great Zinfandel that has aged as gracefully as Zin can... The ZD Abacus VII is as it was last week - exceptional. The 2002 Shafer Hillside Select, our last bottle - was as it was last week - slightly closed. The 1900 Irmes & Borges Colheita (1947 bottling date) was amazing... nutty and powerful. Still has a long, long way to go. The star of the night, and an amazing wine, was the 1998 Comte George de Vogue Musigny Vieilles Vignes. A classic example of the great Le Musigny vineyard, this mind-blowing wine had notes of clove, strawberries and rhubarb - and an unmistakable nose... the wine is silky-smoth, and is like satin on the tongue... a phenomenol baby. One of the great Burgundies of my life... of course I have often said I'd rather have a great Le Musigny than Romanee-Conti...

'Tis The Season

The 2004 Schloss Vollrads Riesling Spatlese, Rheingau is awesome. Displaying the vintage's super-high acidity with awesome minerality. Just starting to show petrol. The 2003 Ramey Chardonnay "Hyde Vineyard" is always one of my favorites - and in my mind, one of the best Chardonnay's in California. This vintage is showing almost a little too much oak... there is a tiny bit of wood tannin on the finish on this wine, and it's not flattering. The lush fruit is there, but the minerality is overpowered by oak. The 2001 Jadoot Pommard rocks... what a great, moderately priced Burgundy this is... showing pretty earth and a structured backbone. The 2001 Opus One does not rock... we tasted it after the 2003 Joseph Phelps Backus Cabernet Sauvignon (which does rock), so that might have had something to do with it.. but it came off thin. The Backus is intense and very, very powerful. Lots of fruit and spice. I don't think this will last all that long, but it sure is fun now. The 1995 Chateau Pichon-Baron was tightly wound and seems like it's ready to explode. The 1995s have had a very, very long sleep and are just starting to awaken. The length is impressive, and the pure fruit has been replaced by blackberries with cigar box, tobacco, and loads of graphite. Lots of tannin on this one, though. The 1990 Chateau Certan de May, Pomerol was not showing well in two bottles tonight. Lots of stewed fruit and earth with little of the great elegance the other bottles have shown. The star of the night, and a fabulous wine, was the 1986 Chateau Haut-Brion. Very, very cedary with tons of mushrooms and classic Haut-Brion bacon fat. A powerful wine, it's also very dirty - in a good way. All of that gravel comes through on the long finish. While not close to the great Haut-Brions I've had, this one is pretty good.

Power Trip

Two great nights... very different, but both very good. Lots of powerful wines here...

Wednesday night saw the last of the 1997 Gaja Costa Russi go out, and boy was it beautiful. Simply stunning stuff with layers of earth, clove, rose petals, blackcurrants and cherries. Very powerful and needs some time. The 1997 Heitz Martha's Vineyard was the best 1997 Cali Cab I've had in a long time. Most are fading, but this one is built for the long haul. Still showing considerable fruit (one of the few that actually) to go along with those massive tannins. I still think the tannins will win out in the end (they almost always do), but this wine has at least another 10 years left in it for improvement. Classic mint and eucalyptus nose... The 1990 Chateau Certan de May, Pomerol rocks... a bucket of cedar chips and tobacco leaves, this is classic gravelly Pomerol. Full of life. The 1995 Chateau Beychevelle was a bit underwhelming. A little fat and ripe. Certainly silky and smooth, but where's the acid? I know I'm forgetting a lot... hopefully I'll remember.

Last night was fabulous... The 2000 Trimbach Clos Ste. Hune Riesling is simply stunning. One of the great whites I've ever tried... as was a few weeks ago. The 2003 Paul Hobbs Cabernet Sauvignon showed big tonight. The tannins are powerful, but the layers of ripe, layered fruit make the wine very well balanced. Not incredible, but very good. The 2002 Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon was the weakest bottle of this I've had. Could be starting to shut. Lots of tannin, not a lot of the silky fruit that I'm used to with this wine. Could be the bottle, could be the wine. The ZD Abacus VII is a great wine. Tasted two separate bottles - both showing subtle dfferences. Bottle 1 was more cedary and evolved, bottle 2 was more fruit driven. Both are awesome. So powerful and beautiful. Tasted the ZD Abacus VIII the other day and while it was good, it's not great, and certainly not the VII. Had the 2001 Jarvis Cabernet Sauvignon, 1996 Jarvis Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2001 Jarvis Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. The 01's are stunning example... powerful with a long, tannic finish of black fruits. Great stuff - typical of the 2001 vintage. The 1996 showed green tannins and cedar and was not perfect. Very good - yes, but not stunning.

One of the great wine's I've ever tried, and certainly the best from this vineyard, the 1988 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Richebourg was simply without words. The nose was vibrant clove, truffles, black earth, cedar, sweet cherry, strawberry and rhubarb - a simply perfect Richebourg nose. At 19 years of age, this wine is till a youngster. On the palate, the flavors simply explode on the palate in a powerful wave. The clove and truffles come forward followed by cherries, rhubard and a hint more clove. A mind-blowing wine with amazing vibrancy and balance. Simply perfect in my mind.

A New One

Had a tasting with Jean Trimbach yesterday and tasted through some great wines... the 2003 Cuvee Frederick Emile was fat, plump, and full of citrus and seering minerality. Picked at 12.5% natural alcohol, this wine still has acidic freshness that most of the 03's lack. The 2000 Reserve Personell Pinot Gris is fat, ripe, fruit driven, and has a steely, mineraly backbone. Really good... the 2000 Gewurztraminer Vendages Tardive is round and opulent with beautiful acidity (picked at 180 g/l - the result after fementation is 55g/l rs - though it is so balanced you hardly taste the sweetness). Bravo!

Had the 1997 Comtes Georges de Vogue "Musigny" go out last night... while I wasn't blown away, this is an outstanding Burgundy. I think it needs time, as there was a strong mocha-toast element on the nose that should continue to integrate into the wine. A long, long, finish - but not as elegant as other Musigny I've had in the past. It just wasn't all that silky.

Ho Hum

It's so difficult... Had the 2002 Shafer Hillside Select, 1996 Beaucastel C-d-P and the 2001 Louis Jadot Pommard (which was really, really good - very typical Pommard - but I continue to be impressed by this vintage!) Saturday night...

The Top

Of The Heap... There was only one wine of note tonight, but I'm finding it very difficult to be anything but overjoyed at the 1994 Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. While this is the the 2nd time in the last month I've had the extreme joy of tasting this magnificent wine, I can not be anything but amazed. This is it. This is The One. When expectations are this high, it's tough to be anything but disappointed. Not in this case... this bottle was better. As I've written about in the past, the best wines have a certain texture and simply overwhelm the palate. This wine is more 1989 Romanee-Conti than 1982 Chateau Latour - it's soft and supple, though there is still a very impressive, and powerful, tannic structure. The nose is pure mint, eucalyptus, cedar, black fruit and earth. The palate is simply stunning... the wine hits your mouth and it's like "OK, this is good, but it's not... HOLY CRAP!!!"... and it just explodes - making all of your tastebuds scream at once (in a good way)... It's a silky, powerful wine with immense fruit (still, at 13 years of age!), and at the same time is so light and sexy... this is stunning stuff and while I'm not ready to proclaim this the best wine I've ever had, this now is in the Top 10... which I haven't recapped in a while... so, lets... 10. 1999 DRC Le Montrachet 9. 1990 Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne 8. 1955 Chateau Haut Brion 7. 1982 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild 6. 1990 Trimbach Clos Ste. Hune Riesling 5. 1994 Bryant Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 4. 1961 Chateau Latour 2. 1982 Chateau Latour & 2001 Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 1. 1990 Jacques Frederick Mugnier "Le Musigny" Vieilles Vignes - I'm not really sure what, if anything, can ever beat this wine for me... There are so many wines that come close - 1990 Margaux, 1982 Cheval Blanc, all of the DRCs that I get to try, Shafer Hillside Select (1994, 2001, 2002), old Spottswoode (1987, 1991, 1994, 1997 - all from Magnum), old Dominus (1987 from Magnum - I am a self-proclaimed Dominus hater, but this wine is incredible), 1990 d'Yquem, 1998 von Buhl Forster Ungeheuer TBA, 1964 Eitelsbacher BA, 1982 Pichon Baron, 1989 Jaboulet La Chapelle Hermitage, 1990 Guigal La Mouline Cote Rotie, 1975 Petrus... I could go on and on. All of these wines are legendary - but they're not the Le Musigny. By the way, the Anchor Porter I'm drinking right now rocks... awesome chocolaty-flavor!

Cool...

The 2002 Nicolas Joly "Les Clos Sacres" Savenierres rocks... a gold-colored wool-bomb... incredible minerals, very tightly wound with just a hint of RS. Amazing... could have saved it for a decade. The 2001 Las Rocas Garnacha Vieilles Vignes was finally ready to drink... Grenache changes so much as it ages... a rhubarb-fest when young, it turns into cherries and spice. A great wine - and the right price too!

Last night was the 1992 Opus One which isn't really bad, it's just bad... if you have it, I strongly encourage you to drink up while you still can. Green with no fruit. The 1989 Remoissenet Gevry-Chambertin "Les Caizerets" Premier Cru was fabulous... the 89s are still babies - if you get the right producer and the right wine. It took a good 4 hours to open up (!). Started out with clove and a wet leaf and heavy earth note and more of a black-berry fruit profile. Turned into tobacco leaves, cedar, earth, earth, and earth. Still fairly powerful, as a good Gevry should be. Beautiful!!! The 2002 Shafer Hillside continues to amaze... The 1996 Chateau Beaucastel is an awesome wine. I didn't think too much of it over a year ago, but it finally came around! (or I finally came around...). Showed the same as Saturday night, so I won't repeat.

Fun

What a fun two nights... Friday night was the 2004 Lewis Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon which has started to open... but remains a big, brooding wine. The 1982 Vieux Chateau Certan was beautiful... so cedary with lots of dusty clay. A very nice, long finish. Certainly time to drink, but a wonderful experience.

Saturday was more of a candy store... The 1994 Opus One continues to impress - the classic herbal note with black plums, cedar, and tobacco. More Bordeaux-like than California Cab. The 2001 Guigal Cote-Rotie (half-bottle) was pretty - very soft and minty. The 2000 Guigal Hermitage was a slightly-off bottle, but still wonderful - lots of earth and dirt. A great cheese wine. The 1996 Chateau Beaucastel is showing so pretty - notes of raspberry and spicy dirt. It's so barnyardy... great length. The 1999 Domaine Guyon Echezeaux was a great Echezeaux - very silky and actually somewhat reserved. A little a-typical for this vineyard in that it was missing (and this is a good thing) it's rusticity. The 1996 Edizione Pennino (Niebaum-Coppola's Rubicon Estate) Zinfandel was beautiful. It's not Ridge, and didn't age like a great Ridge, but it was darn good. Out of magnum, this was showing lots of bramble without the super-alcohol that most of today's zins have. I could actually drink a nice glass of this. The 1995 Mastrojianni Brunello di Montalcino was soft and approachable with incredibly dry fruit and tannin. The 1997 Dunn Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon rocks... a powerhouse with a chocolately dustiness that only Dunn Howell has. Lots of tannin with great balance though. This is still a baby and could easily go another 10 or 20 years, like all of the great Dunns from the past. Perhaps one of the few 1997s that is still young. Finally, 2 bottles of the 2002 Shafer Hillside Select. This is a monster and is starting to shut... bottle one was tasted after 5 hours and was beautiful. Lots of fruit and just perfect nose - powerful, extracted, but layers and layers of fruit and earth. Amazing... bottle 2 was closed and tight with forbodding tannins. If you are one of the fortunate few to have this in your cellar, don't open it for another 5 years at least... it needs the time.

Some Great Wines

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...

An Fabulous Quintet

First, from Friday... The 1995 Chateau Pape-Clement is just a classic earth-and-gravel Bordeaux from Pessac-Leognan. So rustic and pretty, this is still a baby. The 1996 Chateau Pichon-Lalande makes me wish I had one in my cellar... loads of mocha, coffee, tobacco, leather and black fruits. A long, elegant finish. The 1996 & 1997 Cain 5 tasted side by side... the 1996 is the superior wine. The 1997 has lost it's fruit and is all tannin... the 1996, while having hints of mint and a little green pepper, still has tons of fruit and is a wonderful wine...

Now, on to last night... started with the 2000 Trimbach Clos Ste. Hune Riesling (from the Grand Cru Rosacker in Hunawihr, Alsace)... wow. A stunner. Simply unbelieveable. So much petrol, but amazing depth of flavors - rose petals, crushed stones, pears, apricots - layer upon layer... it is a very difficult wine to really understand and express, because the wine is so subtle. One of the greats... The 2002 Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon continues to blow me away... nothing more needs to be said. The 1998 Penfold's Grange was showing a touch better last night than it did a week ago... this bottle was less developed and hadn't closed up yet. Raspberries!!! The 1900 Borges & Irmao Colheita Port (bottled 1947) was a mind-blowing experience. This wine went through so many phases in the 2 hours it was opened... The color was a very light brownish/ruby that was perfectly clear... the first taste was incredible - very powerful with caramel and citrus notes on a long, long finish of hazelnuts. As it opened up, the intense caramel flavors softened revealing an unappealing citrusy- overly acidic port... we had given up. After another hour, the wine had evolved... the citrus was there, but then the nutty finish came through offering balance to the acid... I love wine... Also had the 1998 Dom Perignon last night, which is nothing special.

Hmmmm

1995 Chateau Pape-Clement, 1996 Pichon-Lalande, 1996 Cain 5, 1997 Cain 5, 2000 Mommessin Pommard

Big Post - Saturday & 2004 Bordeaux

Ok, first Saturday night... The 1994 Opus One could be the finest example of this wine I've ever had (that's Opus One in general)... could this be the last of the quality, agable wines from this estate? Full of cedary spice with black plums and a freshness I've never experienced from Opus ever before. It has the classic anise quality to it as well. I wouldn't sit on this much more, but it's a great wine. Tasted side by side was the 2002 Opus One. This is a blockbuster, young, full-throttle 2002. I don't think it has a future after the next few years, but it's a good wine that was made to drink young. All black fruit and anise. Good, but not amazing. The 2000 Banfi Chianti Classico Riserva was good, but not special. I tasted this just to refresh my palate to Chianti Classico Riserva quality wines. Dry, dry, dried fruit... cranberries and cherries with dusty earthiness. A good example, but not a great wine. The 2000 Roumier Morey St.-Denis 1er Cru (the vineyard escapes me) is a wine that is ready to drink... black earth, mushrooms and rhubarb. Very good, but not the best. A nice food wine. On to the greats... The 1998 Penfold's Grange is amazing... the best Grange I've ever had, and it makes me glad I have it in my personal cellar. At 9 years old, this wine is just starting to unravel. After going through a bit of a dumb period, this wine has emerged with glorious cedar and raspberry notes with an earthiness not found in any other South Australian wine... this has always been a unique wine. I won't open mine for at least another 10-20 years when it really starts to show its stuff. After 4 hours of decanting, the wine shut completely again. I will bet that in another 3-4 years the 1998 Grange will go into another slumber - a very long slumber - and will come out of it with mind-blowing length, depth, and bredth. A stunner. Equally as stunning, and finally showing true character was the 1998 von Buhl Forster Ungeheuer Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese, Pfalz, Germany. It finally turned a dark-goldish brown color and has the intensity like no other sweet wine I've ever had. The finish of sweet apricots and honey lasts for minutes - I didn't eat or drink anything for 20 minutes after my last sip and I could still taste it. One of the great sweet wines I've ever tasted. Amazing... Also tasted the 2002 Veraison Stagecoach Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon - a great wine for the money and the mountain characteristics of this vineyard really came through with it's inky color and sweet-extracted fruit.

Had a whirlwind day yesterday. Went to the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove yesterday for a tasting of the release of the 2004 Bordeaux. While there were unfortunately no first-growths represented, there were some amazing wines and I came away with a good impression of the quality across all of the areas of Bordeaux in 2004. I won't go through them all (I tasted 70+ wines in 1 1/2 hours), but rather hit the highlites (and lowlites). The Graves whites were on the whole very good. It seemed like most producers toned the oak down a little bit on the whites and therefore the grassy-grapefruit of the Sauvignon was more clearly deliniated. The 2004 Chateau Smith-Haut-Lafite was the highlite with a complex, slightly cheesy nose. The reds were not my favorite. Though nice enough, there was not wow factor. I tasted quite a few wines from St.-Emilion, and in general, the quality was mediocre. The 2004 Ausone hadn't come together yet, but I can already tell this is not a great wine - a green note predominated the nose and palate. Pomerol fared better... the 2004 Chateau Clinet was pretty - had great color, a beautiful chocolatey-nose and a long, lingering finish. A winner. I also enjoyed the 2004 La Conseillante - this is a powerful Pomerol! On to Margaux, which I thought did very well in 2004. The 2004 Chateau Dufort-Vivens was marvelous... so sweet, silky and floral. Great wine. The 2004 Chateau Kirwan rocked... one of the best wines of the day, this has everything Margaux is supposed to offer. I thought the 2004 Chateau Lascombes was good - if you're not a fan of Bordeaux - more like California Cab than Bordeaux - you can have it. I was very interested to taste this wine as this has become a "Parker darling" since Michel Rolland took on a consulting role here... you can tell it's one of his wines. I didn't taste enough St.-Estephe to form a full opinion, but on the whole, they were ok, not great though. The 2004 St.-Juliens were very good... my favorite was the 2004 Chateau Gruaud-Larose. A powerful, tannin, classic example from this estate with one of the longer finishes... The 2004 Chateau Talbot was notable because it was a very poor example... green and lacking any real fruit and any real depth. The 2004 Pauillacs were a mixed bag- many were very good (Chateau Pichon-Baron - thick and powerful) and many were very bad (d'Armaillac & Clerc-Milon - neither had any depth and zero mid-palate.) The Sauternes, I thought, were generally good. The 2004 Chateau Coutet was outstanding. Some suffered from being unbalanced, others thin, but most were rich and wonderful.

So, I liked Margaux, Pauillac, and Sauternes - all in patches. It's a "be careful what you buy" vintage and don't buy anything you haven't tasted first...

Last night was the 1999 Antoine Rodet/ Jacques Prieur Volnay-Santenots Premier Cru. The nose on this wine is gorgeous... earth, rhubarb, strawberries - it's a silky, sexy wine that needs food and screams escargot. I wish I had some at home...

Ok... so... what?

The 1998 Frigalli Brunello di Montalcino is good, but this bottle had a bit of a volatile acidity problem last night. Dried fruits and power... ok for a 1998. The 2004 Lewis Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon is a big burly wine (as R said "I don't know how you can DRINK this stuff"... well, I can't... I have a lot of California Cabs in my cellar - which might suprise many of you - but they are there for a reason. My guys like them when we go on our wine trips...) Give it another 3 or 4 years and let it soften. The 1995 Chateau Leoville Las Cases was not a great example of this bottle. It was a bit rustic, and though the 1995s still need a lot more time, this didn't show any sense of Las Cases silkiness.

Went to a Spanish tasting yesterday morning and all I can say is WTF? I am all for modern winemaking techniques and all, but when you start aging the floral, clean, and crisp Albarino in barriques for 8 months and batonnage all the time, you end up with an oaky piece of shit. An expensive oaky piece of shit. Of the 35 wines I tasted, maybe three showed where they were from (one Albarino, one Verdejo from Rueda, and a vintage Cava). Everything else had Chardonnay or Sauvignon blended into it. It's a shame that the grapes of the region can not be respected for what they are. This tasting made me angry, especially after the Consejo Regulador for Rioja announced that Chardonnay and Sauvignon are now permitted varietals for white Rioja. That's one of the stupiest decisions I've ever heard of... but wait a few years and Cabernet Sauvginon and Syrah will be given the OK for red Rioja too. Rioja should taste like Rioja... not an extracted mass of crap. That's what the Vino de la Tierra system was created for... it's like a Super-Tuscan for Rioja. I'm ok with that. Just keep the integrity of the DOCa in tact, please?

Weekend Wines

A nice set of some really nice stuff... The 1997 Chalk Hill Cabernet Sauvingon from 3-Liter was very good. As a good number of the 97s are continuing to dye off, this wine is till drinking so well. Cedary black currants... The ZD Abacus is a great wine... a blend of every vintage made of ZD Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Its not a blockbuster wine, but rather a soft and silky Cabernet that shows grace and beauty. Expensive? Sure... but it's really good. The 1952 Chateau Margaux goes to show you what fill level really means to great wine... The fill was the lowest of 10 bottles we've opened and this was certainly the 2nd or 3rd best bottle of this. Amazing how that works... All cedary flowers... it's like walking into a great cigar store. The 2004 F.X. Pichler Riesling Smaragd Loibner Berg, Wachau, Austria is so pretty... a petroly, apple and pear driven youngster. Already showing that beautiful oiliness that defines riesling, this wine has a long way to develop, but was a joy to drink on its own. My favorite wine of the weekend though was the 2004 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Botella Vineyard, Santa Barbara... wow. This is about as great as SB Pinot gets... smokey rhubarb and strawberries with a sweet, earthy finish. Powerful but elegant... a beauty!

Yum

Some great wines yesterday... First, the 2004 Joseph Drouhin Chablis "Les Clos" Grand Cru is awesome... they stopped using new oak on any of their Chablis starting with the 2004 vintage and the result is a full, round, fabulous chardonnay with piercing acidity and laser-like minerality. A stunning example of this, the greatest of all Chablis Grand Crus. This will start to open and round in a few years and will eventually be a mature, beautiful Chablis (give it maybe 10 years or so). Far superior to the 2003 Les Clos... The 2003 Joseph Drouhin Clos des Mouches Blanc is fat and round with loads of hazelnut, popcorn and oaky richness. The 2003 Joseph Drouhin Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru is good, but I've never been blown away by this wine. I don't love Clos de Vougeot... never have, probably never will. The 2004 Joseph Drouhin Musigny Grand Cru however, is divine... if I could old have one wine in my cellar for the rest of my life, it would be without question Musigny. The most seductive, silkiest, and sexiest of all Grand Crus (even more so than La Tache and Romanee-Conti), the texture never fails to amaze. It's like drinking satin. Clove, cinnamon, strawberries, smoke and rhubarb are the dominant flavors, but this is a texture wine. I can't do it justice...

The 1996 Quintessa was good and certainly much better than I remember it to be... Just a hint of green steminess that I associate with older vintages of this wine. Will last a good while longer... The 1985 Domaine Leroy Volnay 1er Cru is so pretty... a very, very light wine that is still a decade away from maturity. Very soft earth notes with sweet cherry and strawberry fruit. Volnay tends to be powerful in its youth, then shed the power quickly... Pommard tends to keep its power.

Joseph Phelps

Had a nice dinner last night featuring the wines of Joseph Phelps - one of the most consistant, if not overly glamourous, wineries that have ever existed in California. The 2005 Sauvignon Blanc is nice and crisp with perhaps a little bit of maloactic fermentation and a little of of lees stirring (both promote a creaminess and a richer texture in wines). Nice fruitiness with a grapefruit punch. Really nice, not an in your face style. The 2004 Le Mistral was my least favorite wine of the night. To me, this syrah based wine, was a bit too "Pinotage" for me... tasted like there was a little too much sulphur and had a rubber-boot character to it. The 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley was a nice effort. Classic black currant and cinnamon with notes of anise and plums. This wine needs a little time to settle down, but the soft tannins and ripe finish make this a very nice wine. The 2003 Insignia was showing very well last night. I had tasted it before, but had never been overly impressed by it. It is quite a bit lighter than the 2001 and 2002, but it has an elegant streak that those wines don't show right now. Has a long, cedary finish with plums and violets. The 1996 Insignia (magnum) was pretty. The last 2 of the 3 magnums showed more fruit than the first. Plums, cherry candy, cedar with an elegant finish. The wine is very, very good, but I wouldn't be holding these wines any longer.