Arns, Rusbissow, Cantenac Brown Highlight Flemings Prime Beefsteak Dinner

Arns, Rusbissow, Cantenac Brown Highlight Flemings Prime Beefsteak Dinner

A gathering of the original 'pour boys'. Saturday night dinner in bustling Chicago following afternoon at the theatre for the ladies, was the setting for tasting this trio of fine wines. The ladies took in a musical at Lyric Opera and then we gathered at Lyle and Terry's at their nearby west loop pied-a-tere turned permanent residence for a pre-dinner tasting. Bill and Beth brought an Arn's Napa Valley Cabernet which we enjoyed with cheese, olives, proscuitto and crackers. We then proceeded to Flemings Prime Steakhouse Chicago for dinner.

To celebrate Bill and Beth's son Matt's recent engagement announcement to Molly, I took a birthyear Bordeaux befitting the occasion - Cantenac Brown Margaux 1989. We ordered from the winelist a Rubissow Mt Veeder Merlot to round out the pairing.

Arns Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

Bill brought this bottle which he acquired at the winery/estate during our Napa Valley Wine Experience in 2013 - Arns Estate (Blog post at http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/). As I write in that visit blogpost report, Arns Estate Vineyards and Winery is a small artisan boutique producer of handcrafted Arns Estate Grown Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

The estate consists of 160 acres of which just eleven are planted in vineyards situated on the lower tier of Howell Mountain on the eastern slope above the town of St. Helena.

Arns' wines bear a Napa Valley designation since the Howell Mountain appellation demarcation point is 1200 feet elevation, determined by the level the fog rises up the hill. Never-the-less, the Howell Mountain terroir is clearly evident in Arns Cabernet.

John Arns, Rick, Linda, Bill

We love this wine which I first discovered at Andy Bassin's MacArthur Wine Shop in WDC where I acquired this label over the years dating back to the 1996 vintage.

Bill's note from this CT - "Medium garnet color. A bit of a musty nose on opening but this blew off in 5 or 10 minutes. After 30 minutes, this opened to reveal bright red fruit, mocha and a bit of sweetness that I would typically associate with Mt Veeder. However this winery located on Howell Mtn below the fog line produces something much more layered and complex. A delicious bottle drinking very well right now."

WCC - 90 points.

I give it a 92, I love this ripe berry sweetness with tones of sweet mocha. This has an amazingly similar profile to the Merlot below with its elegant approachable Merlot like smooth softness. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1014194

http://arnswinery.com/

Rubissow Napa Valley Mount Veeder Merlot 2004

A rare find from the Fleming's winelist, since only 130 cases were produced of this wine. We discovered and acquired this wine during a winery/estate visit during our Napa Wine Experience Mt Veeder excursion in 2011 - Rubissow Mt Veeder Napa Valley Vineyards. 

The artisan boutique producer estate of 45 acres sits high atop the south end of Mt Veeder with views of San Pablo Bay in the distance. Eighteen acres are planted in Bordeaux varietals Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and some Syrah. 

Today the winery is operated by second generation, Peter Rubissow who has taken over the main operations duties from his father, founder and patriarch George Rubissow.

This is another favorite Napa Valley Bordeaux varietal that we've enjoyed visiting at the estate. We acquired later vintages of this wine during the visit and ordered more of this varietal and joined their wine club, but we have never heard anything more or received and further wines from the producer. Tasting this earlier vintage raises the anticipation of opening selections from our cellar, and raises the disappointment of not obtaining more (despite having placed hard orders.) 

Rick and Linda with George Rubissow

This was amazingly similar to the Arns Cabernet that we tasted earlier with its full body, bright vibrant sweet raspberry fruits and predominant layer of mocha accent. Even more amazing since the two wines come from opposite corners of Napa Valley, and one is a Merlot and the other a Cabernet Sauvignon! 

Never-the-less, this Estate Merlot could pass for a Cabernet in a blind tasting, raspberry fruits, smooth, polished, elegant, sweet, tones of mocha, sweet spicy oak, hints of dusty rose floral, and black tea on a smooth firm but silky smooth tannin finish. This must be at its prime right now - I can't imagine it being better in its youth or with more age. 

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=560552

http://www.rubissowwines.com/

Château Cantenac Brown Grand Cru Classe Margaux 1989

As I wrote above, Bill and Beth just announced the engagement of their son Matt to Molly, so I brought this birth year 1989 vintage Bordeaux which I have been holding for such an occasion, to highlight our dinner. 

Opened and decanted about an hour before we turned to this as part of the main course with our entrees. It needed this time to 'settle' and burn off an earthy leather essence and reveal its true fruit and floral character. 

The cork was moist and saturated but was intact and in good condition. Dark garnet color, classic nose of Margaux perfume with floral, hints of leather, earth and cassis. Medium bodied, nicely balanced concentrated black berry and black cherry fruits accented by earth, leather, tobacco leaf and hints of tea, turning to a smooth polished moderate tannin finish. This is likely at its apex or the end of its optimal drinking window and probably will start to diminish from here forward, so it was suitably aged and time to drink. 

RM 89 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=159186

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 'Pour boys', Lyle, Bill, and Rick with UCG Oliver Bernard
and Frank Kronthal at the UGC Tasting Chicago 2014

Mt Veeder Appellation Tasting Replays Napa Tour

Mt Veeder Appellation Tasting Replays Napa Tour

When Beth and Bill (joining later just off the late flight from LHR) joined us for dinner with sister Jan visiting from California, we pulled from the cellar a selection of Napa Mt Veeder wines to replay our wine tour there together. This was one of our numerous Napa trips where we focused on but one appellation and its wines to gain appreciation for the nuances of all the elements that represent that appellation and its distinctive terroir. Moreover, sticking to one appellation simplifies logistics and scheduling. This is especially useful or beneficial on Mt Veeder which is the largest and most geographically spread of all Napa appellations. 

Our Napa Valley Mt Veeder appellation trip with Bill and Beth and Jan and Bill featured visits to producers Godspeed, Yates and Rubissow, among others, so for our reunion gathering we selected those producers' wines to reminisce the trip. We tasted Yates Fleur de Veeder Merlot and Cheval 2007, Rubissow Merlot 2006, and Godspeed Trinity 2006. These were accompaniment to our dinner of grilled sirloin, sweet corn, fresh bruschetta and a medley of chocolates. 



Yates Family Vineyards Mt Veeder Fleur de Veeder Merlot 2007

We opened the dinner wine flight with this Merlot from Yates Family Vineyards which was also the first stop on our 2011 Napa Valley Mt Veeder weekend. What a nice surprise. This was dark inky purple colored and full bodied with full, forward, flavorful rich fruit of black raspberry, a layer of spice and dark mocha with a hint of cassis on a big long lingering finish. In a blind tasting this might have passed as a big Aussie shiraz!. What an opening! In retrospect we should've opened this last or next to last as it overpowered and overshadowed the wines to follow.

RM 90 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1092213

http://www.yatesfamilyvineyard.com/


Godspeed Vineyards Napa Valley Trinity 2006

We tasted this wine during our visit to Godspeed on our Mt Veeder Appellation trip.  This is listed in CellarTracker as a Bordeaux Blend but Trinity is a unique blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (42%), Shiraz (33%) and Malbec (25%). I am not aware of this combination blend from any wine producing region around the world. The 'old world' wine producers have been doing this for hundreds of years while the 'new world' producers in the emerging wine countries have been doing this for decades. Over five centuries, Bordeaux (producers) have become masterful at blending a primary varietal (Cabernet Sauvignon) and then complementing it with lesser amounts of other varietals to add breadth (Merlot), depth (Cabernet Franc), color and structure (Petiti Verdot) to the final blend. The result is a symphony of flavors that round out the wine. I don't see this becoming a popular blend of these three otherwise primary varietals listed above that typically are stand-alone or anchor varietals. Rather than being complementary and harmonious to each other, I sense they're competing to be the 'lead' or predominant varietal in this blend. 

This was medium to full bodied, moderately complex from black berry and black cherry fruit flavors that give way to a layer of cassis, tobacco leaf and charcoal on a moderate tannin finish.

Linda likes big bold full throttle wines and she liked this. I couldn't get my arms around it.
RM 88 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1540228

Rubissow Mt Veeder Merlot 2006

We tasted and procured this wine at Rubissow high atop Mt Veeder during our Mt Veeder Appellation tour. My recollection of this wine was the profile of the Yates Fleur de Veeder that we tasted next to this as reviewed above - full bodied with rich extracted fruit. Tonight this was leaner and lighter than I remembered and hence expected. I am looking ahead to trying this again as we still have a half case in the cellar.

Tonight this showed dark garnet purple color, medium body with black berry fruits, slightly tart black cherry with a hints of spice, tobacco, touch of mocha and coffee bean.

RM 87 points.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=872497






Yates Family Vineyards Cheval Mt Veeder Cabernet Franc 2007 

Another Yates selection that we tasted and obtained during our visit to the Yates Winery and Vineyards high atop Mt Veeder. This is 100% Cabernet Franc which in Bordeaux is used in the blend to add breadth and depth with its spicy tones. Standalone as a single varietal bottling this is very pleasant drinking.

Full bodied - forward black berry, black raspberry and spicy clove with a hint of cassis and bitter dark chocolate with a lingering tannin flavorful finish. 


RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1092208

http://www.yatesfamilyvineyard.com/

Aged Napa Cabs - Mondavi Reserve - Rubissow-Sargent

Aged Napa Valley Cabernets - Robert Mondavi Reserve 1992 - 1993 and Rubissow-Sargent Mt Veeder 1996

For a grilled sirloin steak dinner Bill & Beth showed up with a Robert Mondavi Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1993, so we trolled the cellar and pulled out a 1992 for a mini-vertical tasting. We'd already set aside a Rubissow-Sargent Mt Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 1996 which provided a good comparison tasting to the similarly aged Napa Cabs.

For an starter course Linda prepared grilled lobster tail medallions which we served with Penn Shore Lake Erie Diamond - a semi sweet varietal wine from the southeastern shore of Lake Erie at the New York Pennsylvania border appellation. This was a perfect complement pairing to the hearty lobster - standing up to the full bodied, chewy unctuous tangy Diamond with its essence and layers of peach, clove, vanilla, hints of honey, cinnamon and tangy citrus.  

We discovered and purchased this wine at the winery during our recent tour of the Lake Erie Appellation and featured the Penn Shore Diamond in a recent wine tasting.

RM 88 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1441210

We had already pulled and decanted the Rubissow-Sargent to commemorate our discovery with Bill and Beth, Eric & Cathy, and Jan & Bill during our winery visit on Mt Veeder during our Napa Valley Wine Experience last year.

To finish we open a  Herbert Triebaumer Ruster Ausbruch, Rust, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee-Hügelland,  Austria 1996/87. "Ruster" is the town where the grapes are grown in the appellation of Rust, while “Ausbruch” describes the method of selecting and picking the most perfectly shriveled & botrytized grapes. While at one time this was probably butter colored, this exhibited a bright reddish rust weak tea color with a medium body.  Gone are the layers of peach and apricot that have given way to smoke, quince, honey and tangy lemons with aromas of vanilla. 

RM 85 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1455246

Rubissow Sargent Napa Valley Mt Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 1996

This wine pays homage to the early years of Tony Sargent and George Rubissow producing hand crafted Bordeaux varietal wines from their mountaintop vineyard at the south end of Napa Mt Veeder. At sixteen years of age, this shows the aging potential of these early releases as this wine is still holding up albeit approaching the end of its prime drinking window.

Dark garnet and purple color, this was medium bodied with pleasant black cherry and black berry fruit aromas, and flavors with a layer of kirsch, anise, tobacco, leather and hint of cedar on a moderate tannin finish.

RM 86 points.

http://www.rubissowwines.com/

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=5125


Robert Mondavi Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1992 and 1993

Bills note from Cellartracker - "Medium garnet color, very restrained nose. Took about two hours for this to open up. Upon popping the cork, this showed signs of being well past prime. Seemed carmelized and thin although the color showed no bricking. Between 90 and 120 minutes, this opened to reveal anise, mocha and graphite and some remaining tannins. Nicely complemented by grilled marinated sirloin with peas and mushrooms and herbed rice with Rick and Linda. Rick provided a 1992 Mondavi Reserve, creating a mini vertical tasting opportunity. Fascinating experience.

The '92 was the better wine, opening earlier with more depth and complexity than the '93 and a deep indigo color. Still not much on the nose. However, as the two opened over a 2 hour period, it was very interesting to see the wines come together in similarity and style. The common heritage became quite evident."


My notes - These two aged vintage cabs both are starting to show their age almost begrudgingly revealing the subdued fruits of modest vintages. They both were a bit closed and tight tasting more like aged left bank Bordeaux than vibrant Napa cabs. Aromas and flavors of black cherry, slightly astringent cherry fruit give way to weak tea, tobacco, leather and graphite. Both were decanted and aerated on opening. The '92 was more full and expressive early on opening, with brighter fruit, albeit subdued, while the '93 was a bit thinner, taking over an hour to reveal its fruit at which time it also showed a layer of anise with hints of mocha and a soft floral essence on the finish.

92 - RM 86 points. 93 - RM 85 points.   


93 - https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=97829

93 - https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=8821 

My earlier notes on the 1992 reveal a rather short drinking window, from 3/28/2010 - rated 89 points at that time: Wow, I probably drank most of this case of this Reserve too young!, like I did too many of my 80's decade Bordeaux'. For a long time, this was rather closed and tight, only to now open up to truly reveal its complex, full bodied dark cherry, black berry fruits and long nicely integrated tannin finish. Slightly astringent on opening but softened over time. Needs decanting for aeration and to collect the sediment

This was the second to last bottle of a case purchased upon release. It'll be drinkable for another year or so but will be nearing the end of its drinking window by then.

Rubissow Mt Veeder Merlot 2006

Rubissow Mt Veeder Merlot 2006 

Another wine obtained during our Mt Veeder Appellation tour producer visit.
 

Full bodied, firm but smooth, elegant and polished. Black berry, black raspberry, ripe plum, layer of tobacco, layer of mocha and coffee bean.
RM 91 points.

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2011/03/mt-veeder-appellation-trail-rubissow-mt.html 

Mt Veeder Appellation Trail - Rubissow Mt Veeder Vineyards

Mt Veeder Appellation Trail - Rubissow Mt Veeder Vineyards

One of the highlights of our Napa Valley Mt Veeder appellation wine experience was our visit to Rubissow Vineyards. We also visited Yates Family Vineyards and Winery high atop Mt Veeder.

Rubisow, founded by George Rubissow and Tony Sargent, the Mt.Veeder estate is planted in Bordeaux varietals. George and Tony go back to the 1960's when George also struck up a friendship with, and gained invaluable advice from, the legendary winemaker Andre Tchelistcheff. Today, after twenty-five years, George has handed over operations to the next generation, Ariel and Peter Rubissow who are in their third year carrying on the family tradition of quality crafted mountain vineyard wines.

George Rubissow and the original Rubissow Sargent Label.

Rubissow Wine Flight

Wines tasted:

Rubissow Mt Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 - Complex, concentrated, full bodied - winemaker notes - deep brambly richness, black currant, graphite, clove, kirsch, raspberry jam, smoke, dark caramel. The Bordeaux blend is 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot , 3% Malbec, 1% Petit Verdot. RM 92 points.

Rubissow Mt Veeder Merlot 2006 - Soft, elegant, polished - flavorful - winemaker notes - rich flavors of brandied cherry, red raspberry, plum, herb, bay, cocoa nibs, coffee, roasted morels. RM 91 points.

Rubissow Trompettes 2005 - Medium bodied - subdued elegance - winemaker notes - Forward, perfumed aromatics of blueberry, coffee, and cocoa, amidst a rich floral background. Plush blueberry / vanilla flavors, balanced tannins, good acidity and soft minerality carry through the very long finish. The blend is Cabernet Franc 65% Merlot 25% Cabernet Sauvignon 10%. Less than 200 cases were produced. RM 90 points.

Rubissow-Sargent Reserve 2006 - Dark, full bodied, complex, rich and powerful - blackberry, blackcurrant, layer of vanilla bean turns to sweet, toasted oak and subtle herbal notes with balanced tannins on a long complex finish. RM 90 points.


The Rubissow hilltop vineyard looks to Carneros south with views in the distance of Mt Diablo to the west of San Francisco Bay and Mt Tamalpais in Marin to the north of the golden gate.

Rubissow Hilltop Vineyard looking out to San Pablo Bay

Bill C and Bill C Tasting With George Rubissow

George telling the Rubissow Story to porch tasters

Rick and Linda with George Rubissow

Rick and Bill with George Rubissow

Rubissow Hilltop Vineyard

Rubissow Road Vineyard

Tasting on the porch at Rubissow

Picturesque Mt Veeder Rubissow Vineyards

Rubissow's Barbara Jura leading estate grounds walk