Pour Boys - Winers and Diners Fall Cityscape Dinner 2024
The Winers and Diners contingent of our Pour Boys wine group met for another CityScape dinner hosted by Terry and Lyle F. This is the group traditionally hosted by Lyle and Terry at their West Loop Chicago pede-a-tere turned luxury flat.
We had the extended group of regulars for the wonderful evening of dinner and fine wines.
The gala dinner main course dry rub ribs cooked on the grill, fingerling potatoes, cole slaw, corn bread, and a southwest bean combo.
Prior to dinner the appetizer course included gezpacho, an extensive selection of artisan cheeses, shrimp, and deviled eggs, charcuterie, pickles and olives.
For the appetizer course there was a broad selection of sparkling and still white wines.
Dan assisted Lyle in set-up and the dinner preparation including grilling of the ribs.
Moving to the dinner course we had an extensive selection of red wines to complement the extensive dinner courses.
The wine flight included several memorable labels from visits to the producer estate by members or combinations of members of the group.
The red flight, in serving/tasting order:
- Domaine Grand Veneur “Les Origines” Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2006
- Chateau de Vaudieu Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2016
- Peter Michael Les Pavots 2008
- Joseph Phelps Backus Oakville Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2003
- Rubissow Reserve Mt Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
- Hall Winery Napa Valley Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon 2015
- Clarendon Hills Clarendon Moritz Shiraz 2011
- Lagier-Meredith “Tribidrag” Mt Veeder Red Wine 2019
- Seghezio Rockpile Zinfandel 2016
- Honig Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
Highlights -
Peter Michael "Les Pavots" Knights Valley Bordeaux Blend 2008
It would be easy to say this was my WOTN - WINE OF THE NIGHT with its sophisticated Bordeaux Blend although when taking into account the food and wine pairing, this might be best suited for a grilled beef tenderloin, and some of the other bolder wines better suited to the grilled ribs. In any event, this is a spectacular wine.
This is Peter Michael’s flagship with every attention to detail such as single berry selection, Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Cabernet Franc and 11% Merlot.
The 2008 Peter Michael "Les Pavots" was awarded a near perfect 98 points, “Top 100 of 2011, Collectible” by WS, 97 by James Suckling, 95 by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate and 94 by ST of Int'l Wine Cellar.
Dark ruby colored, full bodied, smooth, elegant, polished, seamlessly integrated and balanced black currant blackberry and plum fruits with notes of tobacco, mocha chocolate, licorice and hint of cedar and truffles with silky smooth firm tannins on a lingering finish.
RM 95 points.
Hall Winery Stag’s Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon 2015
My WOTN - Wine of the Night candidate would be this Stag’s Leap District Napa Cab, a label we know well.
During our many tastings and visits to the magnificent Hall Cellars together over the years, we’ve tasted this amongst the broad portfolio of highly rated ultra-premium Hall wines. Bill acquired this as part of his wine club allocation.
Records show we tasted and acquired this wine during our visits there and as part of our Club allocations. Bill beat me to the draw and brought one first to one of our (joint) tastings, while I still hold this label in our cellar.
This was rated 97+ points by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, 95-97 points by Jeb Dunnuck and 93 by Vinous.
Bill’s notes on this wine as posted in CellarTracker -
WConnolly Likes This Wine and gave it 94 points - “Needs two hour decant for the heat to blow off but this is spectacular. Dark black and blue fruit with cinnamon and pepper on the palate. Very full bodied and brooding. Grippy tannins and plenty of backbone. After a couple of hours of air, some subtle herbal notes emerge but this is very fruit forward. Lingering finish. This was one of my offerings for a barbecue dinner and this was spicy enough to stand up to the grilled ribs, beans and cornbread.
Dark inky blue-purple-black colored, full bodied, firmly structured but elegant, smooth and polished, concentrated, rich layers of ripe blackberry, black raspberry and cherry fruits with notes of lavender, earth, cinnamon spice, crème de cassis hints of cigar box, with ripe, firm, grainy tannins on a long deep finish.
RM 95 points.
https://www.cellartracker.com/w?2639918
Joseph Phelps Backus 2003
This other ultra-premium Napa Cabernet likely would’ve been a candidate for WOTN if only I hadn’t missed it in the tasting as it was depleted before I had a chance to sample it.
This is from another favorite producer. We all visited the Joseph Phelps Napa Valley Winery for a Private Tasting during that same trip to Napa. Ernie brought this special bottle as well, both he and Dan hold a vertical collection in their cellars that they acquire as part of their wine club allocations.
Rubissow Special Reserve Mt Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
Several of us also visited the Rubissow Mt Veeder estate and vineyards during our Napa Valley Mt Veeder Wine Experience back in 2011. We featured that visit in these pages in this post - https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2011/03/mt-veeder-appellation-trail-rubissow-mt.html.
While several of us, Eric, Bill and I, all placed orders for wine during that trip, and opted-in on joining their wine club, only Eric got their newsletter and solicitations and offers on new wine releases. He acquired this limited release special bottling as part of those offerings.
While this was the best Rubissow I’ve ever tasted, it lacked the power, opulence, elegance and finess of the aforementioned bottles. It was very good none-the-less.
While we each acquired Rubissow wines over the years, at the winery and at auction, none of have this label in our cellars, so we won’t likely see it again for a follow on comparison tasting - especially since Rubissow discontinued production under their own label and this was their final vintage release.
This release was crafted by Tim Milos of Opus One, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, and Cliff Lede fame. It was packaged in a heavy oversized bottle with painted logo on the front and label info on the rear.
True to Mt Veeder profile, this was big and powerful jammy black fruits with accents of cassis, spice and black tea notes, with fresh acidity and a long, spicy, toasty finish.
RM 93 points.
In the spirit of BBQ Ribs being the theme for the evening, several of the labels were targeted at, to be paired with, and ideally suited for this focus - most notably the Zinfandels and the Chateauneuf-du-Papes. In that regard, one of the more interesting and unique wines of the evening was a Zinfandel ‘cousin’ - as noted by Carol Lagier -
another producer we visited together on our Mt Veeder appellation tour.
Lagier-Meredith “Tribidrag” Mt Veeder Red Wine 2019
This is a classic wine to take to a blind tasting for fun and folly - a real challenge. We learned during our visit to Lagier Meredith back in 2011 that Carol was a Research Geneticist who studied the DNA of wine varietals. We were intrigued to learn of her findings determining the shared lineage of Syrah and Shiraz.
For 23 years Carol Meredith was a professor in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California at Davis, commenting daily between Napa and Davis with the aid of audio books and Starbucks.
In addition to teaching courses, she conducted research in grape genetics. Her research group used DNA profiling methods to discover the origins of some of the greatest old wine varieties, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Syrah, and Zinfandel.
In partnership with Steve Lagier, in 1986, they bought a property back a steep, bumpy, rutted 1.5 mile dirt road high up on Mt Veeder. Steve worked at Mondavi for 14 years before leaving in 1999 to devote all his time to their own vineyard and wine. Carole Meredith left her ‘day job’ in 2003.
Because they both had day jobs, it took several years to prepare the land for their first vines that were planted in 1994. The vineyard occupied only a small part of the 84-acre property - the rest remaining in its natural state., Their first release was in 2000.
Lagier Meredith focused on Rhône varietals, and some other unique and interesting 'varietals such as this Tribidrag.
In her studies at Davis, and then for a period while working at Mondavi, Carole had been in charge of the project that ultimately determined the origin of Zinfandel to be the ancient Croatian variety, Tribidrag. Though it had long been thought to be Primitivo (which it is), Carole's groundbreaking work with DNA profiling led to the discovery of its Croatian origin.
Bill discovered this unique label during that visit to the estate back in 2011 and acquired it as part of their wine club allocation in the following years.
This Trbidrag was uniquely smooth and polished, yet full and round with vibrant fruit akin a ‘traditional’ or typical Zinfandel.
Bill posted his tasting notes for this in CellarTracker and wrote - “
WConnolly Likes This Wine” and gave it 92 Points.
“Dark, inky color in the glass. Blackberry, Raspberry, pepper and a hint of sweetness on the finish. Full bodied with plenty of tannins, this will last until 2030 at least. a nice accompaniment to our barbecue dinner.”
Steve and Carroll sold their vineyard in 2022 to winemaker Aaron Pott, with whom they had worked for many years. They sold it for the sum of $0 in an agreement in which they would continue to live on the property and work in the vines for as long as they wished.
Then, Terry served her delectable signature dessert course - Cheesecake bites and chocolate petit-fours prior to desert, her famous Mandarin Orange Cake with whipped cream and Cherry Chocolate Fudge Cake with fresh fruits and whipped cream.
With the dessert course Lyle served a vintage port.
Grahams Vintage Port 2000
It is customary in these events that Lyle brings a vintage port from his collection. In recent years he has been disappointed by the showing of several labels, although the rest of us were not. Tonights selection was wonderful and met the highest expectations for the brand and the vintage. This may have been the best showing and best representation of a port in all our years of tasting together.
At twenty years this was clearly at its prime but is perhaps only half way through its drinking window. What fun it will be to monitor this label as it ages, if you're fortunate enough to have acquired several bottles.
This iconic release got 98 points from James Suckling and Wine Spectator and was “Ranked #9 Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines of 2003”
, 96 from Decanter, and
94 from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and International Wine Cellar,
James Suckling of Wine Spectator said, "This is the greatest glass of Graham I have ever tasted, young or old." It was recognized in the Top 100 of 2003 at No. 9, Collectibles.
The 2000 vintage produced a very tiny crop, just 650 g per vine on average (they usually harvest 850 g per vine from Malvedos – their lowest yielding, most consistently cropping quinta). That said, the fruit was rich and concentrated. Wine Spectator summed it up saying, “ The 2000 growing season is known for quality over quantity.
Saturated black-ruby colored, full-bodied, superripe, powerful, huge, dense and rich black fruits, yet balanced and smooth, opulent yet elegant, notes of mocha bitter chocolate and licorice and cassis, the finish lasts for minutes going on and on on your palate.
This is what a vintage port is supposed to taste like and this is a benchmark standard bearer.
RM 97 points.
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=192
See postings of our other earlier group gatherings under OTBN - Open That Bottle Night, which traditionally occurs the last Saturday in February.
Previous Pour Boys OTBN Events
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