Jayson Neiman Mini-Horizontal Comparison Tasting Flight
Dear friends, 'brother' Bob and Gloria visiting from South Florida, Linda prepared grilled tenderloin steaks and roasted potatoes and asparagus spears. I pulled from the cellar two special wines, Pahlmeyer Jayson Napa Valley 2004 and an accompanying horizontal Neiman Cellars Napa Valley Red Blend.
We often serve Jayson label wine with Bob and Gloria in tribute to their oldest namesake son. This afforded the opportunity for a mini-horizontal comparison tasting of two similar wines, each with distinctive terroir and styles. Indeed, the last time we served this wine was with Bob and Gloria during our 'last supper' together on the eve of them moving to Florida last winter.
This was an interesting comparison of two wines where the Pahlmeyer overshadowed the Neiman by a fairly wide margin. I am not sure the disparity would have been as apparent if they weren't tasted side by side. Too bad for the Neiman, which against the Jayson, didn't live up to my recollections or expectations.
Pahlmayer Jayson Red Wine 2004
The Cellartracker tasting window lists the wine tasting window for this wine through 2013. While we often tend to hold and drink our wines long into or even past their tasting window, in this case, this wine seemed still be at its apex, while not likely to improve further with more age. I updated Cellartracker to 2018.
Like the previous tasting, "Upon opening, sweet floral and berry aromas burst forth and filled the room. Dark garnet purple colored, medium full bodied, bright vibrant full forward flavors of black raspberry with tones of blueberry, sweet currants, tangy spice and hints of sweet caramel and whisper of tobacco leaf with nicely integrated sweet tangy oak on the lingering finish."
RM 93 points.
This is Pahlmeyer's Right Bank Bordeaux style Blend (meaning predominantly Merlot over Cabernet Sauvignon) - 60% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. Perhaps the predominant Merlot in the mix attributed to the softer more approachable style.
https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2016/11/pahlmeyer-jason-napa-valley-red-wine.html
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=296642
Neiman Cellars Red Wine 2004
Similar to my earlier tasting notes, this tasted more like a Bordeaux than a Napa Red Blend, with slightly more subdued fruit with more non-fruit accents such as leather, cedar and tobacco. As written earlier, "This tasted like a vibrant expressive Bordeaux, full forward complex
berry fruits accented by floral, leather, tobacco leaf, some slightly
earthy tones and long lingering notes of cedar with a smooth polished
tannin finish that resonates with silky floral cedar mouthfeel long
after tasting."
Tonight I gave this 91 points, one less than the previous 'stand-alone' tasting, perhaps due to the positioning vis a vis the bigger,brighter, more robust and sweeter Jayson. Notably, this wine is 1/3 less expensive than the Pahlmeyer, thereby perhaps delivering equivalent QPR (quality price ratio).
RM 91 points.
According to the rear label, only 230 cases were produced of this release.
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=914199
http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2015/05/eyrie-robert-morris-special-dinner-and.html
We often serve Jayson label wine with Bob and Gloria in tribute to their oldest namesake son. This afforded the opportunity for a mini-horizontal comparison tasting of two similar wines, each with distinctive terroir and styles. Indeed, the last time we served this wine was with Bob and Gloria during our 'last supper' together on the eve of them moving to Florida last winter.
This was an interesting comparison of two wines where the Pahlmeyer overshadowed the Neiman by a fairly wide margin. I am not sure the disparity would have been as apparent if they weren't tasted side by side. Too bad for the Neiman, which against the Jayson, didn't live up to my recollections or expectations.
Pahlmayer Jayson Red Wine 2004
Like the previous tasting, "Upon opening, sweet floral and berry aromas burst forth and filled the room. Dark garnet purple colored, medium full bodied, bright vibrant full forward flavors of black raspberry with tones of blueberry, sweet currants, tangy spice and hints of sweet caramel and whisper of tobacco leaf with nicely integrated sweet tangy oak on the lingering finish."
RM 93 points.
This is Pahlmeyer's Right Bank Bordeaux style Blend (meaning predominantly Merlot over Cabernet Sauvignon) - 60% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. Perhaps the predominant Merlot in the mix attributed to the softer more approachable style.
https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2016/11/pahlmeyer-jason-napa-valley-red-wine.html
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=296642
Neiman Cellars Red Wine 2004
Tonight I gave this 91 points, one less than the previous 'stand-alone' tasting, perhaps due to the positioning vis a vis the bigger,brighter, more robust and sweeter Jayson. Notably, this wine is 1/3 less expensive than the Pahlmeyer, thereby perhaps delivering equivalent QPR (quality price ratio).
RM 91 points.
According to the rear label, only 230 cases were produced of this release.
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=914199
http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2015/05/eyrie-robert-morris-special-dinner-and.html
