Boy's Night Out Cellar Tours Wine Tasting

Boy's Night Out Cellar Tours Wine Tasting 

Son Ryan and neighbor Dave M hosted a wine tasting opening their two cellars and a flight of spectacular wines accompanied by artisan cheeses, smoked salmon, charcuterie and assorted eats.

Evening hosts, Ryan M and Dave M

Dave is the principle of Elements, the banquet meeting facility, wine and food service associated with Hotel Indigo in Naperville (IL). We recently hosted our global team summit there for a week, where we met,  and learned he was my son's neighbor and a fellow oenophile and serious wine collector, and hence the planning began for wine get-togethers such as this!

Dave's Cellar

Ryan anchored the tasting flight with a couple of ten year old labels and suggested I bring some vintage in five or ten year increments in light of my cellar collection spawning several decades. I pulled from my cellar two twenty-five year old labels from the 1997 vintage to round out the tasting.

What great fun and how special to share a father-son shared interest experience such as this.

Ryan started with three classic Napa Valley labels from his cellar, accompanied by a selection of artisan cheeses and charcuterie. 

• Dominus Napa Valley Proprietary Red 2012
• Vineyard 29 Napa Valley Aida Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
  
• LaJota Napa Valley Howell Mountain Cabernet Franc 2018

From my cellar we opened two vintage Napa Cabernets.

• Lokoya Napa Valley Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 1997
• Plumpjack Estate Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1997
  

My tasting notes of these labels appear in a separate blogpost here. 

We moved around the corner to Dave's house with his magnificent cellar from which he offered our choice of wines to open.  His home is full of wine themed artwork and artifacts besides the incredible rec room, wine room and cellar. The formal dining room features this spectacular wine art from famous wine paintings artist Eric Christensen. This rare Giclée oil print by America's Watercolor Master is a hyper-realistic oil featuring the Napa Valley producer Duckhorn and their Discussion bottle with many imaginative and intriguing reflections. 

Once down in the cellar - we focused on selecting the continuation of the evening's wine flight. Dave has set the tone having opened the legendary producer Scarecrow and their Napa Valley Red M Etain. 

Ryan pulling down an OWC
(original wood case) from Dave's
cellar collection

We pulled from Dave's extensive cellar collection and tasted a spectacular flight of extraordinary Napa Valley Cabernets.

• Scarecrow M Etain Napa Valley Red 2017
• Continuum Napa Valley Red 2014
  
• Realm 'The Tempest' Napa Valley Red 2014
• Hall Vineyards Kathryn Hall 2015  
  
  
  

  

And from Argentina, Nicolás Catena Zapata, Adrianna Vineyard in the Gualtallary District, Tupungato Alto Region, Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina this Malbec,

• Adrianna Vineyards River Stones Malbec 2015
  

To end the evening, late into the early morning, we retired to Dave's outdoor patio for closing out the remaining wines, some aperitifs and cigars. 

 

What a spectacular evening, looking forward to our next Caroline Crew wine event.

David Arthur Elevation 1147 and Estate Napa Cabernets 2003

 

David Arthur Elevation 1147 and Estate Napa Cabernet Sauvignons 2003

To celebrate brother Pat's visit, and to commemorate his wedding year, Bill C pulled a selection of vintage Napa Cabernet Sauvignons from the cellar including a special 2003 vintage David Arthur flagship Elevation 1147, a 1993 Vineyard 29 Estate from magnum, and a 1999 Freemark Abbey Sycamore Vineyard. I brought the David Arthur 2003 Estate Cabernet to compare against the Elevation.

To showcase the wines, Bill and Beth grilled New York strip steaks and barbecue ribs served with haricot verts and corn on the cob with mixed greens salad. Earlier we had artisan cheeses, crab stuffed champignons and after dinner accompaniments included chocolate caramels with sea salt.

Our visit to David Arthur at the end of Long Ranch Road high atop Pritchard Hill overlooking Napa Valley was one of the highlights of our Napa Wine Experience 2013.

Elevation 1147 is the vineyard named for the height at the mountaintop precipice and sources the fruit for this flagship vineyard designated label. The surrounding vineyards source the Cabernet fruit for the Estate label.

There are distinct similarities in the tasting profile of these two David Arthur wines that come from the site and reflect its terroir. The difference between them is their presentation.

David Arthur estate Cabernet Sauvignon is full bodied, complex, concentrated but nicely balanced. Full forward black berry fruits with essence of sweet spices, tobacco, leather and hints of cedar on the smooth tannin finish. As good as it is, its a shadow of its big brother, Elevation.

RM 91 points. 

Elevation is flawless, extraordinary in its refined elegance and harmonious balance. While full bodied it has no sense of weight in its symphony of seamlessly integrated flavors, silky smooth and polished balance of floral, dark fruit and accent tones from start to finish - lavender, sweet ripe black and blue berry fruits, whispers of cinnamon, clove, exotic spices and tobacco leaf on the soft lingering finish. At eleven years of age it seemed to be at its apex as I can't imagine it getting any better. It was delightful and delicious. I sense I drank my earlier Elevations too early to allow them to come together so nicely.

RM 95 points.

Bill's tasting notes from Cellartracker -

"Found this to be truly exceptional and the hit of the evening. Big, robust with cassis, blackberry and sour cherry on the front palate. Complex and layered revealing a hint of cedar and chocolate on the mid palate. We'll integrated tannins with a lingering finish. Quite elegant and balanced with a floral nose reminiscent of a Margaux though the wine itself is much bigger than a Margaux. A real treat. Friend and wine buddy Rick provided a 2003 David Arthur Estate Cab to taste side by side. Very interesting comparison. The common heritage was evident. Interestingly the estate seemed a bit thinner until it had been open over two hours at which point it really blossomed."


https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=85663

http://www.davidarthur.com/

Vineyard 29 Napa Valley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 1993

Bill's notes from last winter - Medium garnet in the glass. Still some fruit left. Nicely balanced with flavors of raspberry, sour cherry, mocha and a hint of cedar. This was the consensus favorite at "Open That Bottle Night" one year ago. A year later, it is still very tasty but tannins are fading and is not as vibrant as it was last year.

WCC 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=72837











Freemark Abbey Sycamore Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1999

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=81347 

















Freemark Abbey Napa Valley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

To round out the tasting Bill pulled this mid year vintage of Freemark Abbey Cabernet, a nice starter before dinner.

Bill's tasting notes from Cellartracker - "A nice way to kick off a gala evening with visiting family and friends. Robust and fruit forward. Deep indigo color. Will get better over the next couple of years but pretty tasty right now. Predominantly dark, black raspberry and cherry on the palate with a touch of oak. A tad smoky in a good way. Would have probably rated higher but had the misfortune of being compared to some really heavy hitters."

WCC 88 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=932071


My notes -
Dark purple, medium - full bodied, black cherry and black berry fruits, smoky cedar notes with hints of oak on a firm tannin finish.

This is a blend of fruit 79% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest mostly Merlot and fractions of Petit Verdot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc.
RM 89 points.