Covid forces virtual OTBN for 2021
OTBN - Open That Bottle Night, 2021 - the annual wine tasting extravaganza was held according to custom, on the last Saturday night in February.
Every year since 2000, on the last Saturday night in February, Open That Bottle Night (OTBN) has been celebrated - the time to uncork and enjoy that cherished but here-to-for elusive bottle. Gaiter and Brecher realized they weren't alone - having that special bottle set aside for an occasion that just never happens. On this night, you don't need an excuse or a reason - just do it! Take advantage of OTBN to open that bottle and enjoy it! Enjoy it by yourself, or better yet, enjoy it with someone special, or even better, with a group of special friends. Have everyone bring such a bottle and let the story telling begin, because so often, every OTBN bottle has a story or some meaning, or not.
Covid protection protocols dictated a whole new paradigm for social gatherings this year and as such, we met virtually via an internet network collaboration app with our fellow Pour Boys wine group.
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| Pour Boys Wine Group OTBN 2021 |
Needless to say, the remote virtual gathering undermined the ability to share and taste a broad selection of wines. Unlike previous years where the group brought a broad and deep selection of wines that allowed for multiple flights of different wine tastings - champagne or sparkling wine to start, a white flight with the pre-dinner starter course, a red or blend flight with the dinner course (s), and a dessert flight with the final course, tonight's selection was subdued and more singularly focused based on a limited selection appropriate for two couples.
Both were bright, vibrant and expressive and the group was mixed on which was bigger or more fruit forward - each bold with sprites of bright fruits and accents.
Golden colored, medium bodied, complex, rich and dense with citrus, apples, pear and floral notes with a subdued notes of oak on the moderate finish.
RM 91 points.
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1022272In those days children worked from a young age, and so Tom's grandfather, Joe, still only 10-years old, labored alongside his father on a farm called Wohler Ranch, in the Russian River Valley.
In 1934 Tom's grandmother Neoma gave birth to a son, Joe Rochioli Jr. Shortly after, they moved to a 125-acre property nearby called Fenton Acres, the site and same location where Rochioli Vineyards is today.In 1959, Tom's father, Joe Jr, and grandfather, Joe Sr, planted Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc grape vines. The Cabernet did not grow well and was pulled out in the 1970's. Sauvignon Blanc, at the time, was a strange new white grape that nobody wanted and was used mainly for blends. It was soon discovered by a few famed wineries and became desirable as a high quality grape. Today, these same vines are still in production and are considered some of the oldest Sauvignon Blanc vines in California.
The Rochioli's passion for fine wine and high quality grape growing began in 1968 when Joe Jr. began planting Pinot Noir. He had his own ideas as to what would grow best here and planted fine Pinot Noir clones from France. This was revolutionary as there was very little known about the grape in the US and he was considered a pioneer at the time for doing this. Rochioli had the foresight to know that the soil and microclimates of this unique spot in the Russian River Valley were very special and would one day produce some of the world's greatest wines. Shortly after growing Pinot Noir successfully, he planted Chardonnay.
I have written often in these pages about another American Pinot Noir pioneer, Josh Jenson of Calera Winery, and the chronicles of his endeavors to plant Pinot Noir that was featured in a book on the subject, the Heartbreak Grape.
By the early 1970's, Rochioli were selling Pinot Noir grapes to Davis Bynum Winery and shortly thereafter they started producing wine under their own Fenton Acres label. In the early 1980’s they began selling to Williams Selyem Winery, and others.
Tom Rochioli went to college and worked at a major financial institution for a year, then returned to the family farm with a new idea. Based on the quality of the grapes they were selling, they knew their grapes were very good and were making great wines, so they set upon producing their own wines under the Rochioli name. In 1983, they changed the name of the property from Fenton Acres to Rochioli Vineyards. At that time Tom took over the family business operations and soon after became the winemaker.
In 1987, they release their first estate wine with the 1985 Rochioli Pinot Noir. It topped Wine Spectator’s list of Pinot Noir and was named ‘The Best Pinot Noir in America’. The Rochioli brand struck gold and was validated as a premier label. With three generations of dedication to the land, Rochioli Vineyards and Winery earned the reputation as one of Sonoma County's finest wineries.
This 2016 Rochioli Estate Chardonnay was awarded 94 points and 'Editors Choice' by Wine Enthusiast , 92 points by Vinous, 91 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, and 90 points by Jeb Dunnuck.
Straw colored, medium bodied, notes of stone fruit and lemon curd citrus, hints of peach, honeydew melon and finishes with a sense of bright pineapple and a hint of what I might call cotton candy.
RM 91 points.
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2817007
In the true spirit of OTBN, Dan pulled from the cellar this classic very limited release and highly allocated 100 year old vine shiraz from Chateau Tanunda.
We discovered this wine together with the other Pour Boys at the Wine Spectator Grand Tour in Chicago when it was being poured by Chateau Tanunda's Dagmar O'Neill.
Only 100 cases were produced that year and only a few were allocated to be shipped to America, a portion of which to the Midwest. We orchestrated a purchase of the entire allocation, nine three
packs in OWC's (shown below) which we split amongst the 'pour boys' wine team, pictured below. This was Dan's last bottle, and at this time, I am holding my last bottle as well.
The Barossa is home to some of the world’s oldest Shiraz vines and the
grapes for this wine come from hundred year old vines from a high
altitude, one acre single vineyard in the Eden Valley.
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| The 'pour boys' sighted at WS Grand Tour |
Full bodied, complex, concentrated, full lingering tannins predominate
the dense, black and blue berry fruits with hints of licorice, plum, spice and spicy oak.
RM 93 points.
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=937673
http://www.chateautanunda.com/
Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 1995
Furthering the spirit of OTBN, I brought a bottle of 1995 Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet. This particular label and release have some significance to Dan and me. I gifted him a magnum of this wine for his (second) wedding dinner. It was a fun label as the producer Jim Pride, like Dan was also a specialty dentist. Alas, as we started down the Shiraz path for the evening, and with but a limited number of reveler participants, the Pride was set aside to be held in Dan's cellar for another time.
d'Arenberg "Dead Arm" Shiraz McLaren Vale South Australia 2010
Dan also opened this Australian Shiraz, Dead Arm from d'Arenberg, another label with which we've had much fun over going on three decades. We first discovered this label with the 1994 vintage and have shared a dozen vintages together since.
We've had great fun gifting or sharing this label with several folks, playing on the name 'Dead Arm', most notably perhaps, with a former major league baseball catcher who went on to be a noted manager. I sourced this for his personal cellar, to share with some of his battery mates, major league pitchers, in jest!
As I have written in these pages, the label 'Dead Arm' is named for the vines that survived a grape
vine disease that afflicted the vineyard back at the turn of the last
century. Typically a grower would pull out and replace the afflicted vines with new plantings. D'Arenberg kept the vineyard intact and found
that one half, or an ‘arm’ of the vines slowly
died, but, leaving the surviving remaining half of the vine. The resulting vine
produced rich intense fruit due to the vibrant roots delivering
nutrients to but half the vine with the resulting low yielding fruit
achieving amazing amplified
intensity.
d’Arenberg is one of the most significant
wineries in McLaren Vale South Australia. It dates back to 1912 when
Joseph Osborn, a teetotaller and director of Thomas
Hardy and Sons, purchased 25
hectares (54 acres) of well established Milton Vineyards in the hills
just north of the townships of Gloucester and
Bellevue, (now known as McLaren Vale).
Joseph’s son Frank Osborn left medical school,
trading in scalpel for pruning shears to manage the property. He
increased
the vineyards to 78 hectares. Fruit was initially sold to local
wineries until the construction of a winery and cellars was completed in
1928.
In 1943 Frank’s son Francis d’Arenberg Osborn, universally known as
“d’Arry”, returned from school at age 16 to help his ill father run the
business. He took over management responsibility in 1957. In 1959 d’Arry launched the d’Arenberg label, named in honour of his
mother, Frances Helena d’Arenberg.
d'Arenberg wines gained cult
status when the 1968 Cabernet Sauvignon won the 1969 Royal Melbourne Wine Show and the 1967
Red Burgundy (Grenache based) was awarded 7 trophies and 29 gold medals
in Australian capital city wine shows.
By the 1970’s d’Arenberg wines
had gained a significant national and
international profile. The fourth generation, d’Arry’s son Chester d’Arenberg Osborn continued his family’s
winemaking tradition. having grown up helping
his father in both the vineyards and the cellar.
d'Arenberg was named Winery of the Year in 2003. In June 2004 Chester’s father, d’Arry was awarded a Medal of the Order
of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for his contributions to
the wine industry and to the McLaren Vale region. After more than 65
consecutive vintages, d’Arry continues to create an internationally recognized wine brand commonly known as the
‘Red Stripe’ due to the distinctive diagonal red stripe that adorns the
label.
d'Arenberg "Dead Arm" Shiraz McLaren Vale South Australia 2010
This is one of our favorite big full throttle but elegant Australian Shiraz'. This vintage release was awarded 96 points by James Halliday, 93 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and by Vinous, and 90 points by Wine Enthusiast.
Deep garnet-purple colored, medium to full-bodied with bright vibrant black berry and black currant fruits with spices, smoky minerals, licorice, cola, bittersweet mocha and hints of pepper turning to firm powdery tannins, refreshing acid and a long finish.
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1676261https://twitter.com/darenbergwine
@darenbergwine
Violetta, Late Harvest, Napa Valley Dessert Wine 2003
To close out the evening, Dan pulled from the cellar this Violette dessert wine from Grgich Hills, named for the legendary winemaker producer Mike Grigich's daughter Violet who is also President of Grigh Hills winery and vineyards.
The whole story is told manificently in the class based on history fictional movie "Bottle Shock".
This is the Grgich classic late harvest dessert wine, produced from the result of Botrytis cinerea, a beneficial mold that evaporates moisture while concentrating the flavor in the berry but yielding very little juice from which to yield from the grapes. The thick, rich juice is aged in French oak to develop subtle flavors and textures.
Winemakers notes: Luscious, ripe fruit aromas of sweet pear, candied pineapple and ripe honeydew melon follow through on the palate with undertones of white flowers melded with balsamic notes and a hint of petrol. Accentuated by uplifting acidity, these dense, ripe fruit flavors beautifully balance the residual sugar. The finish is creamy and complex with a refreshing, lingering minerality.
Whisky colored, medium bodied, sweet, dense ripe fruits, apricot accented with an exotic layer smoke and fig and what I can only describe as an essence of cognac.
This is a blend of 60% Chardonnay and 40% Riesling.
RM 92 points.
This can almost be a whole meal course in of itself, it was ideal served with decadent chocolate bunt cake to celebrate Linda's belated birthday!
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=220923
https://twitter.com/GrgichHills
@GrgichHills
Here's a compendium of our previous Pour Boy's OTBN galas.
Pour Boys OTBN 2019 - Open That Bottle Night
Pour Boys OTBN 2018 - Open That Bottle Night
Pour Boys OTBN 2016 - Open That Bottle Night
Pour Boys OTBN 2015 - Open That Bottle Night - Bordeaux Anchors OTBN 2015
Pour Boys OTBN - Open That Bottle Night 2014
Pour Boys OTBN 2013 - Open That Bottle Night 2013
Pour Boys OTBN 2012 - Open That Bottle Night
