Yesterday enjoyed a nice picnic dinner with some friends. A decent selection of wines will be consumed.
2012 Sterling Vineyards Malvasia Bianca Cellar Club California. A fun wine with various cheeses, olives and grapes.
2010 Bodegas El Nido Jumilla Clio. A great wine. It went very well with typical holiday picnic food.
My wife setup quite the spread with four different cheeses, black olives, red grapes, crackers, and three different potato chips. The meal was made up of hamburgers, hotdogs, bratwurst, andouille sausage, baked beans, and potato salad. Desert was strawberry shortcake with homemade whipped cream.
We opened others but did not finish them. I will post those as I knock them off one by one.
With poker last night: An '05 Owen Roe Kilmore PN that I found hiding in the back of the cabinet. Was in a really good spot. Up against an '09 Kutch Savoy that my friend brought over, I went back to the Owen Roe several times.
Today will be some ‘07 Ridge East Bench and a rose if I can get by the wine shop today to pick up something before our friends’ BBQ.
We did the same last night.
Today with a few friends
1999 Jaboulet le Chevalier de Sterimberg Hermitage Blanc
2006 Aubert Pinot Noir UV Vineyard
2005 Ramey Syrah Rodgers Creek
2006 Cheval des Andes
Moet Chandon Dom Perignon 1996 - The was replaced at the last minute with a 1996 “La Grande Dame” from a maker that escapes me. Lovely and elegant Champagne with toasted caramel, honeysuckle and floral notes. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Aubert Reuling Vineyard Chardonnay 2008 - Finest expression of a California Chardonnay I think I’ve ever experienced. Parker rated it 99 pts. and it was all that and more. Just an stunning wine and paired beautifully with Lobster tail, scallops and a Lobster claw. Cannot speak more highly of this wine. It was my WOTF… yes, a white - very rare indeed for me.
E. Guigal Condrieu La Doriane 2006 - The floral notes were leaping out of the glass. We had it side-by-side with the Aubert during the first course and I loved every sip. Paired beautifully with the food and I thoroughly enjoyed the depth of both the aromas and flavor on my palate. The finish was long, the glycerin coated the mouth and it couldn’t have been any smoother. Terrific wine.
Mouton Rothschild 1985 - The bouquet was well pronounced and reminded me of walking through a winery with racks of aging oak barrels. The nose was strong on oak accompanied by red fruit, leather and some tar notes. On the palate I thought it was a bit one dimensional, not a lot of depth going on in this wine. It paired nicely with the wild mushroom dishes we had in the second course, but I was not blown away by this wine. It was however a great treat to sample a wine of this prominence and I did enjoy it.
Vineyard 29 Cab 2005
Hundred Acre Ca Ark Vineyard 2006
Pride Mountain Cab Reserve 2007
All three Cabs were served with the main course of lamb medallions. Each was poured into glasses side-by-side, so we could go back and forth between food and wine. Great way to compare and contrast… really enjoyed that approach. The Vineyard 29 burst from the glass and had by far the most pronounced aromas of black fruit, cherry, cocoa and signature Napa terroir. The finish was long and smooooooooth and all of the aroma characteristics translated to the palate. This was clearly the more fruit forward of the three Cabs. The Hundred Acre Ark Vineyard had the least appealing aroma and the best palate. This was clearly an old school Napa Cab modeled in the Bordeaux style. It really went well with the lamb and clicked on every cylinder - truly a fabulous California Cab and everyone thought it was the winner of the three. The Pride Mountain Reserve was gaining complexity and aroma depth the longer it was in the glass. I’d put it between the Hundred Acre and Vineyard 29 regarding the aroma and palate profiles… more Californian than the Hundred Acre, but less fruit forward than the Vineyard 29. My last sip of the Pride Mountain (about 2.5 hrs. after opening) was absolutely fantastic - a lot going on. Two more years in the bottle and this is easily a 97 pt. wine.
Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia 2006 - I remember thinking what a great nose this wine offered and it paired brilliantly with the cheese course. Plenty of red fruit, leather, tar, earthy flavors, but no sense of funkiness. It had that signature Euro backbone of acidity. The tannins gave it great structure and overall I thought it was properly integrated. This wine will only improve with age. I’d love to try it in 10 years, wow what a stunner.
Pieve Santa Testituta (Gaja) Brunello de Montalcino Sugarille 2004 - I enjoyed this wine too, but I think the Sassicaia over shadowed it. By this point end of the evening I was a bit , so I don’t recall all the details. I do remember it pairing extremely well with the Truffled Pecorino cheese and fig jam. Stunning combination.
The bottle was very good, but not great. My friend and I have enjoyed this wine for many years and have experienced some variation. Most examples have been great while a couple were slightly or completely corked. This bottle showed a bit more acidity than previous examples, but settled down after some time. Great aromatics too.
It’s possible that we should share in the blame for the less-than-perfect experience, though, because we drank it relatively quickly!
The Gonon was really good. It was my first time with the producer and it lived up to the board’s hype. Obviously it’s young, but it really showed well after 30+ minutes in the decanter. The wine’s complexity and slight funk (in a good way) impressed me.
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, so I don’t recall all the details. I do remember it pairing extremely well with the Truffled Pecorino cheese and fig jam. Stunning combination.