Father's Day Grilled Steak Wine Dinner

 Early Father's Day Grilled Steak Wine Dinner 

Son Alec and Vivianna will be out of town this weekend so we were invited over for an early Father's Day dinner. 

Alec prepared grilled rib-eye steaks and sweet corn and Viv prepared fabulous sour mashed potatoes. Alec pulled from his cellar a Napa Bordeaux Blend for the occasion. 

To celebrate family events including Alec and Viv returning to Illinois from New York, and Father's Day, I brought an Alec birthyear vintage bottle of Champagne.


Charles Heidsieck Brut Millésimé Champagne 1990

It is a bit frustrating that I have no inventory record of this bottle in my cellar data, especially for a designated birthyear vintage collector's bottle (s). I have no less than six bottles of this label in the cellar and no record of acquiring them, or drinking any either. The bottles are not marked as having come from an auction. This does not happen often but indicates perhaps that my acquisition of these bottles predates my electronic record keeping. Indeed, they are 31 years old! 

Sharing and enjoying this bottle tonight with son Alec, was especially memorable as he was with us when we visited the Champagne wine region in northeast France back in 2006, shown adjacent, and below at Champagne house Moet Chandon.

This vintage release was awarded 97 points from Wine Spectator and 94 points from Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar. 

The last time I opened an aged vintage bottle of Champagne, it was a magnum of 1976 Moët & Chandon Dom Perignon Champagne. Regretably, the cork of that bottle had failed earlier and the bottle was corked, due to an aged and failing cork. 

Tonight, this was a delightful surprise showing and drinking well, meeting all my expectations for this bottle. I was a bit concerned when upon opening and releasing the cork under pressure, the seeming pressure and resulting 'pop' were less than expected. Never-the-less, as hoped, the foil, cork, label, fill level and resulting wine were all ideal, showing no signs of diminution from aging. 

Amazing, impressive life left in this 31 year old vintage Champagne. 

The color was dark gold colored with intense, complex, dry, finely integrated layers of zesty citrus fruits accented by notes of roasted almonds and paine grille with hints of fresh dough, smoke, and pineapple with a long bright vibrant finish. 

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2894

https://charlesheidsieck.com/en

@CHChampagne 

With the grilled steak dinner, Alec served this Napa Valley Red Blend. 

Hill Family Red Door Estate Napa Valley Red Wine 2017

This is a special limited release premium label available to Hill Family Diamond Club members that Alec acquired as part of his club allocation. Alec and Vivianna tasted and subsequently acquired this wine during their visit to the Hill Family estate winery and tasting room in downtown Yountville during their fire shortened honeymoon trip to Napa Valley. I wrote about their Hill Family visit and in an earlier blogpost.

This is the Hill Family premium label red blend comprised of Bordeaux, Rhone and Napa varietals from across the Napa Valley. 

It is a blend of  78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Malbec, 7% Petit Verdot, 3% Petite Sirah and 2% Merlot. 

It is sourced from Hill Family Estate vineyards across the Napa Valley AVA:  Windy Flats, Baker, Apallas, Beau Terroir & Knubis Vineyards.

This label release was awarded 94 Points by Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate.

The winemaker's notes for this label from an earlier vintage release: Winemaker’s Notes, "Red Door is a wine blended to take advantage of our best small lots that work together in the most rich and flavorful way, regardless of variety or appellation.'

 

"In 2013, Cabernet Sauvignon was once again rich and elegant, with the new Windy Flats vineyard pulling in the intense flavors, and Baker (vineyard) providing the mountain structure. But Apallas, Beau Terroir, and Knubis (vineyards) have wonderful individuality that would be lost in a big blend, so the Red Door can give them a place to show off. “Inky bluish/purple with notes of blueberry liqueur, black raspberry, licorice and incense, this full-bodied opulent wine hits all the sweet spots on the palate, but is dry and full bodied with voluptuous texture, terrific palate presence and complexity.” - Winemaker Alison Doran

Robert Parker's Wine Advocated wrote, “The 2013 Proprietary Red Estate is another big-time winner, tipping the scales at 15.5% alcohol. This is the blockbuster of the entire portfolio and a sensational effort. Yes, it’s the most expensive, but is also the most promising for long-term development of, say 10-12 years. This is a beauty and another top-flight effort. The color is opaque purple and the wine is just explosive in the mouth with its richness.”

This was dark inky purple garnet colored, full bodied, bold, rich concentrated, bright, vibrant, ripe black berry and black raspberry fruits with sweet floral, notes of perfume and a layer of cassis on a lingering tongue puckering tangy acidity silky tannin laced finish. 

RM 93 points. 

A perfect complement to the grilled rib-eye beefsteak and grilled corn.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3611931

https://hillfamilyestate.com/

https://twitter.com/HFEWine

@HFEWine

Father Son wine dinner

Father and my three son's celebrate Dad's b-day wine dinner

With the ladies on the east coast for a wedding shower, I got to dine with my three sons as the men got together for a grilled steak and wine dinner. 

Son Alec hosted and broke in his new grill preparing rib-eye steaks, roasted corn, squash, grilled marinated mushrooms and carmelized grilled onions. 

We each brought an interesting bottle to share and compare. 

Beforehand, Alec served the selection of Murray's artisan cheeses as he did the other evening when we dined there christening their new townhouse. 

 

 

Son Ryan was bringing one of my historically most memorable Syrahs, Kongsgaard Napa from 2002, (which we drank at my birthday two years earlier). So, I looked for a comparative bottle from a near vintage, and pulled from our cellar a 2001 Noon Eclipse. 

 The wines were a spectacular accompaniment to the steaks, corn, mushrooms, onions, squash and chocolate - a fabulous dinner! 

For the dinner entree course, Alec opened a Corley Reserve Napa Cabernet. 

Noon Vineyards Eclipse McLaren Vale Grenache Syrah blend 2001 

This is produced by Drew Noon and his wife Raegan who carry on to the next generation this family owned small vineyard and winery in McLaren Vale, South Australia. 

Drew grew up on this property that his father David established as a family wine business in 1976. Drew took over winemaking duties from his Dad with the 1996 vintage. 

Drew writes about the vines that surround the house, "They are like old friends. I have pruned and tended them since I was a child and so the appearance of the vines themselves, the leaves and the bunches as they develop, is very familiar. I feel like I share a life experience with them and so they are close to my heart."

The Noon vineyards like many in South Australia are unique, with the old vines growing on their own roots (not grafted onto rootstocks necessitated by the presence of phylloxera like most of the rest of the world). Their native, natural 'old' vines more readily reflect their terroir and produce wines with a ‘sense of place’. This circumstance is quite rare in the world sense and gives Noon a unique advantage.

Noon specializes in limited production red wines, hand crafted to be full bodied, sourced from their estate from small vineyard blocks. They employ a minimalist approach to craft wines that optimally reflect the grapes and the site terroir.

When I pulled this from the cellar it was still wrapped in the tissue from the original release. I initially thought it was the Noon Syrah until we unwrapped it for opening at dinner. I seem to recall buying this at Gary's in Scottsdale, during one of my frequent trips there during that era.

Noon "Eclipse" Langhorne Creek South Australia Grenache-Shiraz 2001 

The 2001 Eclipse is a blend of 65% Grenache and 35% Shiraz, from 56-65 year old vines from three vineyards surrounding and adjacent to the producer's homestead house and winery in McLaren Vale. From the Winery Block they grow Grenache bush vines planted in 1934; from the Almond Block they  grow Shiraz and Graciano (bush vines) that were planted between 1998 and 2001, and from BJ’s Block, they grow another Grenache bush vine vineyard, planted in 1943.

This was rated 94 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and 93 points by Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

At twenty years, despite perfect cork, fill level and label, this is at the end of its prime drinking window and will start to diminish here forward, time to drink. 

Lighter than expected. Dark garnet color with opaque purple hues, medium bodied,  blackberry fruit accented by charcoal, smoke, bacon fat, some pepper, licorice, black tea, hints of floral and spice. 

RM 90 points.

https://noonwinery.com.au/noon-eclipse.html

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=30300

Kongsgaard Hudson Ranch Vineyard Napa Valley Syrah 2002

For my second birthday dinner in three years, Ryan opened this Kongsgaard Napa Valley Hudson Ranch Vineyard Syrah. I first tasted this label, the 2007 release, at Grange Restaurant in Sacramento. I wrote in my blogpost at the time that it was the most memorable Shiraz I had ever tasted. 

This is sourced from the Hudson Vineyard down in Carneros at the bottom of Napa Valley near the San Pablo Bay. 

Kongsgaard Hudson Ranch Vineyard Syrah 2002

Consistent with that earlier tastings, this was dark garnet colored, full bodied, complex and concentrated with notes of what Robert Parker refers to as soy, beef jerky and smoked game tones. There is a layer of bacon fat and graphite overlaying the more subdued flavors of black blackberry and raspberry with accents of of licorice and pepper. 

This was a great pairing with the Noon and a perfect complement to the artisan cheese and grilled steaks, as well as chocolate cake for dessert.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=18009

Corley Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

This is produced by the Corley family who are long time grape growers in Napa Valley that produce a small limited amount of wine of their own label, only in extraordinary vintages. 

They produced this wine at Monticello Winery on Big Ranch Road in the Oak Knoll District of south Napa Valley. We visited this winery estate back in the late nineties when it was operating as a custom crush facility and we did a tasting of boutique producer Elan Wines with producers Patrick and Linda Elliott-Smith. 

This was a special bottle as the boys know and are friends with one of the members of the Corley family and were able to source this special limited release bottling. 

This is a blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Merlot.

Ken's Wine Guide Tasting Panel summed this up perfectly when they wrote about this label, "This very dark garnet colored Cabernet Sauvignon from Corley opens with a mild black currant and black licorice bouquet. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, slightly acidic and savory. The flavor profile is a fruit forward fruit bomb featuring stewed plum and black currant with notes of graphite and toasted oak. We also detected a hint of blackberry. The finish is dry and its moderate tannins show very nice length. The Panel suggested pairing this Cab with a New York strip steak. Enjoy - KWGTP"

I echo their tasting experience and give this 92 points. Dark garnet color, medium-full body, nicely balanced and integrated blackberry and black currant fruits with notes of anise, hints of graphite and toasted oak with smooth polished moderate tannins on a lingering finish.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?Label=46&iWine=3237704

As the time of this writing, the Corley Wine website is not operating.  

Fine De Châteauneuf-du-Pape Château La Nerthe 1988 

We finished the dinner with chocolate cake and  this special aperitif. 

This is another very special bottle we tasted. We opened and christened this bottle during a special dinner at Alec and Vivianna's apartment in NYC. 

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2019/10/parents-son-dinner-features-birth-year.html

We discovered, tasted, and Alec acquired this wine during our visit to the Château La Nerthe estate two summers ago.

La Fine de Château La Nerthe comes exclusively from the distillation of white wine in bottles of the Château. White wine is aged in bottles in the cellars before being tasted and distilled.

Château La Nerthe perform a triple distillation to obtain the finest and delicate aromas possible. They seek the spirit of their old white wines that make the reputation of Château La Nerthe. By its origin, its extraction, its requirement and its refinement of 10 years minimum in oak casks, the Fine of the Castle La Nerthe is the expression of the exceptional finest spirit of their wines.

Château La Nerthe have been producing these fine wines in the true tradition of fine wine distillation in Châteauneuf du Pape since this, their first vintage, 1988.

Tea honey colored, full bodied, delicious, smooth, harmonious, nicely balanced.

RM 93 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3330760

http://www.chateaulanerthe.fr/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Valley 2013 Blends - Uriah vs Frederick

Spring Valley Vineyard 2013 Walla Walla Valley Red Wine Bordeaux Blends - Uriah vs Frederick 

Alec bach'ing it for the weekend joined us for dinner with friend AJ in from FLL for a golf weekend. Linda grilled beef tenderloin with scalloped potatoes and asparagus. I sought a red wine blend for the occasion and pulled from the cellar this interesting pair of related wines. Two red wine blends from Spring Valley Vineyards in Walla Walla from the same vintage, this provided a comparative tasting of different blends of the same fruit in a mini-horizontal tasting.

Spring Valley Vineyard Uriah is a Right Bank Bordeaux Blend, meaning it is Merlot based like those from the northeastern or right bank of the Gironde River. Spring Valley Frederick is a Left Bank Bordeaux Blend in the style of wines from the left bank or from the south west of the river based primarily on the Cabernet Sauvignon grape. 

This release of Uriah is 46% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit Verdot, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Malbec while the Frederick is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc & 10% Merlot. Being from the same producer from the same vintage, they are comprised of the same fruits with different formulations of Bordeaux varietals. 

We tasted and acquired these wines during our visit to the tasting room and vineyards during our Spring Valley Vineyards Tasting and Vineyard Visit as part of our appellation visit to the Walla Walla (Washington) wine region in 2018. There we had the privilege of meeting Dean Derby, husband of Sharilee Corkrum Derby, who is daughter of Frederick and grand-daughter of Uriah Corkrum who are featured on these labels. 

I've featured in these pages the portfolio of Spring Valley wines with each label featuring a member of three generations of the Corkrum family reaching back to first generation founding producers Uriah and wife Nina Lee. 

Hiding in plain sight ... interesting that in all the years we've been collecting the complete portfolio of Spring Valley wines, I've never noticed that on the capsule, there is a letter designating which label it is, 'U' for Uriah, 'F' for Frederick and so on . 

Only when I was pulling bottles with the distinctive Spring Valley foil to determine their version did I suddenly notice and realize this is the case. While not seeming to be a big deal, it is when one has a half dozen vintages of six different labels - U-Uriah, F-Frederick, N-NinaLee (Syrah), M-Muleskinner Merlot, D-Derby (Cabernet Sauvignon), K-Katherine (Cabernet Franc), and S-Sherrilee (Petit Verdot).

 With dinner,  Linda also served Ceasar Salad, a selection of artisan cheeses and medley of Greek olives. The black Greek olives were an amazing pairing with these wines, especially the Uriah.

Spring Valley Vineyard Uriah Walla Walla Valley Red Wine 2013

So, there is some irony of this being a play on a father-son wine as it has some extra significance besides those featured on the two labels. When the 2010 vintage received a Top 100 #27 in the Wine Spect0ator Top 100 ranking for the year, it suddenly disappeared from merchant stocks. Son Alec picked up a half case on the east coast and brought it home for Christmas that year. 

 

Several years later, tonight, this 2013 vintage is the oldest release we hold in our cellar of these two wines so we pulled them as part of cellar management, drinking the oldest vintages as we cycle through the half dozen vintage releases in our cellar, replacing the oldest with the newest. 

Being a blend of five Bordeaux varietals, this was more complex than the 'simpler' Frederick with only three. I often compare the profile of blended wines to their width and depth - imagine a bar chart with five bars vs one with three.

This release was awarded 93 points by Wine Spectator,  92 points Vinous and Wine Enthusiast. 

Vinous in their review also mentioned both labels in their review,  "Incidentally, this wine and the Frederick are Spring Valley's most important bottlings, with about 3,000 cases of each produced.

The Merlot base exudes smoothness while the Cabernet Franc spiciness shines through. This was dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, Wine Spectator called it 'broad and expressive', black berry and black raspberry fruits accented by pepper, spice, black olive and notes of black olive, expresso and green herbs turning to fine grained tannins on a lingering finish. 

RM 90 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2296582

Spring Valley Vineyard Frederick Walla Walla Valley Red Wine 2013

As noted above, this label features a member of the Corkrum family, farmers and growers of Spring Valley Vineyards. Frederick was second generation son of Uriah and father of Sharilee Corkrum, current Matriarch of the family. 

As noted above, this is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon which provided a much more expressive, brighter, deeper and bolder fruit profile, while deeper, its not as 'wide' or complex as the Uriah above. 

Similar tasting profile to the above wine, as expected considering the similarities of the core fruits - Cabernet Sauvignon and the Merlot. 

Same dark garnet color and medium full body, bright expressive black berry and black currant fruits are accented by some red fruits, herb notes and hints of black olive tapenade. 

RM 91 points for its brighter more vibrant fruits.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2318936

http://www.springvalleyvineyard.com/

Birthyear Vintage Wine for Family Birthday Dinner

 Birthyear Vintage Wine for Family Birthday Dinner

We joined son Ryan and his family in celebrating his birthday with a gala dinner featuring grilled tenderloin steaks, twice baked potatoes and haricots verts, and ceasar salad. Ryan opened from his cellar a Robert Foley Napa Valley Claret and I took from our cellar a classic historic label Napa Cab. 

Shafer Hillside Select is a classic Napa Valley premium label dating back to 1983. The prior year, 1982, was Ryan's birthyear, and for that vintage, Shafer produced this hillside vineyards Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon which thereafter would be known as Shafer Hillside Select. 

Hillside Select is sourced from a collection of rugged, arid vineyard blocks that surround the winery in the Stags Leap District in Southeast Napa Valley. 

Founder John Shafer was a native of Chicago, hailed from northern suburb Glencoe, and lived for a time in nearby Hinsdale, Illinois. He moved to Napa Valley in 1972 when the Shafer family purchased a 209-acre property including 30 acres of Scansi’s vineyards. In 1973-74 Shafer planted Cabernet Sauvignon, creating small hillside vineyard blocks such as Sunspot and John’s Upper Seven.

 In 1978, John produced his first Shafer Vineyards wine, a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from fruit sourced from John’s Upper Seven vineyard, a precursor to Hillside Select.

Doug Shafer joined his father John as winemaker in 1983. When he tasted the 1982 lot from the Sunspot vineyard block he was so impressed he talked John into keeping it separate from the others. With the Sunspot lot, Doug created this label, Shafer’s one and only Reserve Cabernet. Starting with the 1983 vintage, in 1984, the Reserve was rebranded as the first release of Hillside Select.

That inaugural release of Hillside Select, and those since, are sourced from the collection of 14 small vineyard blocks planted within an eons-old amphitheater-like structure of rock and volcanic soil that surrounds the winery. With scant soil nutrients and moisture, yields at harvest are meager and the berries are small, producing lush Cabernet Sauvignon fruit with dark color and intense, classic flavor.

Shafer Reserve hillside vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1982

Looking back on my records and published tasting notes, we last served/tasted this label at Ryan's birthday family dinner fifteen years ago on Nov 6, 2005 when I wrote, "Shafer Reserve Hillside Cabernet Sauvignon 1982 - RM 92 $49 - Final vintage before this wine was re-labeled the legendary Shafer Hillside Select - Full forward fruit of black cherry, plum, leather and cedar thru to the end. Amazing fruit and life in this 23 year old Napa from a modest vintage - birth-year of Ryan - tasted on his family birthday dinner."

 

My records also show we tasted this wine back on Jan 15 2003 when I published essentially the same tasting note. That bottle was consumed at Capital Grill in Tysons corner, VA. I actually remember that trip and dinner, but not necessarily that bottle tasting. 

 

The Shafer Hillside Select tasting notes date back to the 1983 vintage. They write, "Fully mature color and aromas. Nice acidity complements mature flavors and resolved tannins." Their 1984 release notes speak of 'herbal aromas'. These notes could also describe this release.

 

Tonight, this bottle showed amazing life for a 38 year old vintage bottle, exceeding our expectations. The color was ever so slightly tinged with a minor brownish hue and the slightest bit of cloudiness, still nicely structured and bodied with black cherry fruits offset by a slight layer of funky mustiness of dusty earthy leather with sprites of aromatic perfume and notes of herbs and cedar. A fun and intriguing tasting of a historic label, ready to drink as it is in decline approaching the end of its drinking window. It was remarkable for its age, never-the-less. 

RM 87 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=353028

 

https://shafervineyards.com/index.php

 

@ShaferVineyards - https://twitter.com/ShaferVineyards

For son Ryan's birthday, I also presented him with this limited release premium label Fantesca King Richards Pinot Noir 2008. 

 

This is fitting in that Ryan is actually my namesake, Richard, and this bottle was crafted and produced in limited quantities for the patriarch father of wine producer/ower Susan Hoff and husband Duane. 

 

We'll look forward to sharing this bottle at some point in the future. 

Ryan opened from his cellar this Robert Foley Napa Valley Claret.

 

Robert Foley Napa Valley Claret 2004

 

Robert Foley Vineyards is on Howell Mountain, in northeast Napa Valley. It was founded in 1998 when Napa Valley winemaker Robert Foley started making his own wine.

Robert (Bob) Foley began his wine making career in the Napa Valley in 1977, having just graduated from UC Davis with degrees in both Viticulture and Enology. He spent his first year working for Heitz Cellars, followed by 15 years as the founding winemaker for Markham Vineyards.

In 1992, Foley began another 15 years as the founding winemaker for Pride Mountain Vineyards. During this period, he also crafted wines for Switchback Ridge, Hourglass, Paloma, and School House wines. 

Primarily focused on Robert Foley Vineyards wines, he also works with Shelter, Padis Vineyards, Engel Family, Herson Family Vineyards, and Jenna Marise in the Napa Valley.

Foley’s first wine was this signature Claret, the term the British used to describe a French wines based on Bordeaux Blended varietals. He progressed to expand the portfolio with Petite Sirah, Merlot, Charbono and most recently a blend called 'The Griffin'. Robert M. Parker Jr. has called Foley “one of California’s most talented winemakers…(His) are consistently top-notch efforts with impressive personalities.” 

 

This is the Foley flagship, a Napa Valley appellation left-bank Bordeaux blend comprised of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot.

 

This label release was awarded 94 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 92 points by Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar and 91 points by Wine Spectator.

Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, nicely balanced with well integrated bright vibrant ripe black cherry and black berry fruits with sprites of cherry cola, notes of vanilla, sweet oak, creme de cassis and spice with slight astringent bright acidity, moderate tangy tannins on the lingering finish. 

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=229008

https://www.robertfoleyvineyards.com/  

@RobertFoleyWine - https://twitter.com/RobertFoleyWine

 

 

 

Wedding Wines - Birthyear and Big Bottle Extravaganza Continues

Wines for a Wedding Celebration - Birthyear and Big Bottle Extravaganza Continues with Quivira Cabernet Cuvee' Imperial, Pahlmayer and Pieper Heidseick Magnums - and Top Rated Birthyear Vintage Wines

The family gathered in Conneticut for son Alec and Vivianna's gala wedding weekend; we started off the festivities with a dinner with the wedding party, generously hosted by the B's, our new in-laws. 

The Big Green Truck with its on-board Pizza oven was on-site and prepared a broad selection of custom hand-made pizzas made with the finest ingredients and toppings. 

It was a perfect food-wine pairing with the California Cabernet Cuvee' Bordeaux Blend from Alec’s birthyear vintage, served from a 6 liter large format Imperial bottle I brought from our cellar collection for the occasion, as well as several other wines served.

As I presented the big bottle, I discussed the irony of it being one of our 'V' wines, this one also featuring a boat on the gold painted bottle, in light of the fact that I acquired this bottle decades ago in anticipation of this event. 

Frank B, father of the bride is an avid boater and the wedding party men spent the afternoon on his boat cruising the Westport and Southport Conneticut coast of Long Island Sound (below).

The special limited release commemorative bottle was signed by Quivira Vineyards and Winery founders and then owners, Henry and Holly Wendt. It came packaged in its own OWC, Original Wood Case. 

 

Quivira Vineyards has a long history of significance in the evolution of grape growing and winemaking in Dry Creek Valley. 

 

Founders Henry and Holly Wendt sold the property in 2006 to current owners Pete and Terri Knight. They were struck by Henry’s vision for better wine through innovative vineyard management using biodynamic and organic farming techniques. 

 

Since purchasing the winery and vineyards in the summer of 2006, Pete and Terri rallied the Quivira team around a strong sense of purpose and focus on a ‘sustainable, holistic approach’ to growing grapes in the quest of producing distinctive wines. 

 

Today, Quivira’s philosophy is driven by the mission and vision of quality shared between winemaker Hugh Chappelle and owners, Pete and Terri Knight. Together, they have invested in the vineyards and winery with the intent of growing wines based upon the ‘thoughtful commitment to sustainable and organic farming’. 

 

Quivira Vineyards, today, is a leading producer of terroir driven Zinfandel, Sauvignon Blanc, and Rhone varietals.

Quivira Dry Creek Cabernet Cuvee' 1990

This 1990 Cabernet Cuvee' was sourced from select grapes from the Quivira estate vineyards in Dry Creek Valley at the confluence of Wine Creek and Dry Creek in Healdsburg, Sonoma County. It is a blend of Bordeaux varietals, 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc and 21% Merlot. Cellartracker records show this label was produced in the years 1987 through 1992.  

 

I've written in these pages about the impact a large format bottle has on the aging of wine, extending the life and drinking window of a wine due to the larger vessel and its reduced air to wine surface area and greater volume for increased stability for more graceful and consistent aging. 

 

This wine exceeded my expectations with its drinkability, still showing vibrant fruits and showing little sign of diminution from aging. This is most certainly attributable to the large bottle and to the quality of the 1990 vintage harvest. 

 

Sons Alec and Ryan, the groom and co-best man, carefully removed the wax capsule seal and extracted the cork, in near perfect condition, using a Ahso, two pronged cork puller. Shown below with our host, father of the bride, Frank B, and the boys, the 6 liter Quivira.

Thus was dark inky purple garnet colored, medium-full bodied with vibrant black berry fruits accented by notes of mushroom, smoke, oak and hints of black tea and cassis with a nice smooth integrated tannin laced finish. 

RM 89 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=606516

https://quivirawine.com/

https://twitter.com/QuiviraVineyard

The wines continued the following evening for the wedding banquet served in a magnificent setting on the lawn under the tent in the yard overlooking the Sound. 

 

Following the Quivira, we opened another large format bottle, a magnum of Pahlmeyer Napa Valley Caldwell Vineyard Red Blend, also from the same birthyear vintage year 1990.  

Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red is a classic Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec, all sourced from the Estate Caldwell Vineyard. 

 

I wrote about this wine when I served a companion magnum of this bottle and label during a family gathering earlier this summer, the week of the original planned wedding event before being postponed due to the Covid Pandemic. 

To round out the flight of wines for the evening, Alec served his namesake signature wine, Alec’s Blend Napa Valley Red Wine from Lewis Cellars. This is another family favorite label from a favorite producer, featured often in these pages.

Son/brother Ryan gifted six bottles of recent releases of this label to Alec, and I swapped them with a vertical tasting flight from our cellar from the ‘99, ‘01, ‘03, ‘05, ‘07 and 2009 vintages. These were served alongside the current 2017 release. 

 

Following the wedding weekend, the bride and groom headed off to Napa to pay homage to the vines and visit several family favorite producers including Lewis, Del Dotto and several others, firestorm permitting. Alec and Vivianna have a planned visit to the Lewis Cellars Winery in Napa on their re-planned Honeymoon to Napa Valley.  

 

We also served for the weekend another bold vibrant proprietary red blend from Venge Cellars. Venge Scout’s Honor features a prominent ‘V’ on the label, a fun whimsical play on the initials for the bride Vivianna and a testament to the vineyard dog Scout of the Venge family, and a tribute to Alec and Vivianna’s new dog, Camella. 

  

Venge is another popular label and a family favorite. We have known and collected wines crafted by Nils Venge, the first California producer to craft a 100 point wine from the pundits, since his early days as a producer, and when he was consulting winemaker to several popular labels including Plumpjack, Del Dotto, Fantesca and others. 

Following the wedding ceremony, Frank and Mary-lisa, Vivianna's parents, hosted a magnificent gala celebration dinner in a tent on the lawn at their home overlooking Sherwood Island and Cob Cove on the Long Island Sound. 

 

The spectacular dinner featured prime filets of beefsteak and salmon entrees. This was a much abbreviated scaled down celebration from the originally intended and planned banquet at their club, which will now be rescheduled for another time. 

 

To contribute and join in the celebration dinner, I brought from our cellar a flight of very special wines I have collected over the decades and held for this occasion, from the birthyear vintages of the bride and the groom.

 

Three of the wines were each awarded #1 Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator Magazine as part of their annual Top 100 Wines of the Year, all from the 1990 vintage. A testament to the global success of the vintage, one was from California, one from Bordeaux and one from South Australia, a further testament to the amazing spectacular 1990 vintage. 

 

All these wines were acquired upon their release back in the early nineties, in some cases, even before being so recognized and heralded. 

 

Three #1 Wine Spectator Top
100 Wines from 1990 vintage

I blogged about these wines and big bottles in a preview to this weekend's gala festivities. 

Chateau Grand Vin Latour Pauillac Bordeaux 1990 

This 1990 vintage release was the Wine Spectator Top 100 #1 Wine of the Year for 1993 and was awarded a perfect 100 points. We also served this wine from a six liter Imperial from daughter Erin's 1981 birthyear vintage, at her and son-in-law Johnny's wedding celebration.

Erin, Johnny and Fort family
at Sean & Michelle's wedding

Penfold’s Grange (Hermitage) McLaren Vale Shiraz 1990

This 1990 vintage release of this label was the Wine Spectator Top 100 #1 Wine of the Year for 1995. This was the concensus WOTN - Wine of the Night by many in the group, especially the younger generation. I acquired an OWC - Original Wood Case of his wine back on release. I remember obtaining it at Berry Brothers and Rudd in London and hand carrying back on the flight, back in the days when such activity was allowed. 

 

We opened a bottle from this case with Alec and Vivianna when we visited them in New York to celebrate their engagement.   

 

My notes from that previous tasting earlier: Dark garnet colored, medium-full bodied, flawless, elegant, polished, harmonious, perfectly balanced, silky smooth flavors of concentrated black berry and black raspberry fruits with notes of vanilla, licorice, spice, black truffles and oak with hints of spice and cedar turning to fine grained tongue puckering tannins on the long lingering finish.

RM 96 points.

Caymus Special Select Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1990 and 1991

This 1990 vintage release was Wine Spectator Top 100 #1 Wine of the Year for 1994. The 1990 vintage was so successful that nine of the Top Ten Wines of the Year in 1994 were from the 1990 vintage.  

To further celebrate the nuptials, I also brought several wines that we happen to hold in our cellar from the birthyear vintage of the bride including the Caymus Special Select 1991, in addition to the heralded #1 1990 vintage. Testament to this producer and their run of great releases, the 1991 was awarded the #2 wine of the Top 100 Wine Spectator Wines of the Year 1995. So, this mini-vertical duo of back to back vintages were #1 and #2 respectively in the Top 100, likely the first and only time that I can find that this has happened. 

  

 

 

I also brought back-to-back '90 and '91 vintages of Silver Oak Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon. Had the Coronavirus pandemic not derailed the couple’s original wedding plans, I was prepared to serve Silver Oak Bonny’s Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1990 from six liter bottles, (serial numbers 41 and 44). They remain stored in our cellar in their OWC - Original Wood Cases (shown below). We will hold these for (a) future celebration occasion (s). 

 

We served the 1982 vintage of Bonny's Vineyard from son Ryan's birthyear vintage at his and daughter-in-law Michelle's (below) wedding celebration, along with a horizontal collection of other birthyear vintage wines, several from large format bottles. 

 

 

We also served 1990 and '91 vintage Flora Springs Trilogy Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. 

 

We also brought along and were prepared to open but didn't get to them, bottles of Dunn Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, 1990 and 1991. 

 

In all of these comparison tastings, the 1990 vintage showed significantly better than its 1991 counterpart, evidence that vintages matter. I've written in these pages that often, off-year vintages can out-perform, and, that in top exceptional years, all boats rise with the tide, and second and lesser labels can also be exceptional, often providing great QPR (quality price ratio) values. Tonight, though, we were fortunate enough to serve and partake of the best of the best - best wines of the best vintages!

 

We are still holding and looking forward to opening from our cellar collection birthyear vintage bottles of our kids and our anniversary years from our horizontal and vertical collections of several favorite Bordeaux producers including Chateaux Leoville Las Cases, Ducru Beaucaillou, Palmer, Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Gruaud Larose, Chateau d'Yquem and a few others. We're still holding many of these as they appear to have longer drinking windows and hence can be held a bit longer. We visited several of these Chateaux during our Bordeaux region trip last year. We'll look forward to featuring them in future family celebration tastings.  

 

Author, Rick & Linda,
groom's parents

After dinner, with the wedding cake, we served from our cellar Chateau Lafaurie Peyraguay and Chateau Suideraut Grand Cru 1990. We're fortunate to hold some Chateau d'Yquem 1990 as well, but will hold this for appropriate celebrations in the future due to its extraordinary long aging and drinking window. We were also prepared to open and will also hold for future events a Warre's and a Dow’s Quinta de Cavadhina Ports from 1990.

 

 

Prior to dinner, and throughout the evening, we served large format magnum bottles of Pieper Heidseick Special Edition Champagne (above). 

Lastly and notably, this follows by just three weeks the wedding celebration and serving of other large format and birthyear wines at son Sean's and daughter-in-law Michelle's wedding earlier this month. 

Michelle and Sean, newlyweds of
three weeks at A-V's wedding