Aged vintage wines for family birthday dinner
The family gathered at our house for a gala celebration dinner for my upcoming birthday.
We grilled out cowboy tomahawk ribeye steaks and bbq baby back ribs, and scallops, accompanied by salad, baked beans, mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus and Mac-n-cheese (for the kids).
The cooks, (above) Linda, master chef, and Ryan, griller and carver - naturally absent, missing from the family photo above, (as is Reid who was playing ball out in the yard with friends).
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| Grilled scallops on herb buttered toast points |
For a wine accompaniment I pulled from the cellar a Sauvignon Blanc and a Chardonnay for the whites and two aged vintage big reds wines for the beef and ribs, and an aged vintage dessert wine (also a birthyear vintage).
I also selected several younger Right Bank Bordeaux varietal wines, in the event we went through the open bottles, or needed a back-up if the first choice wines were not up to par, due to age or other conditions. Almost regrettably, we didn’t open those wines which I was looking forward to trying, hence they’ll be available for another day.
LaJota Napa Valley Howell Mtn Cabernet Sauvignon 1990
La Jota Vineyards in Napa Valley date back to 1888 when winemaking pioneer W.S. Keyes planted some of the first vines on Howell Mountain. Ten years later his contemporary, Fredrick Hess, built a stone winery and established La Jota Vineyard Co., named for its location on the Mexican parcel Rancho La Jota.
Both men won medals for their Howell Mountain wines in the Paris Exposition of 1900.
La Jota Vineyard Co. continues today as a boutique producer crafting small-production mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Chardonnay, sourced from the winery’s estate and from nearby W.S. Keyes Vineyard.
Today, Howell Mountain is known for Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa’s rugged northeastern hills with its volcanic ash soils deposited millenia ago by Mount Konocti. Howell Mountain itself is a weathered volcanic "knob" with two distinct soils: crumbly white decomposed volcanic ash known as rhyolitic tuff and red, iron-laden soils of clay and volcanic rock.
La Jota estate vines develop good root systems in these well-draining, porous, nutrient-lean soils, allowing them to self-regulate the amount of water they take in. And the nutrient lean soils force the vines to struggle to survive, forcing their energy to the fruit. The result is tiny berries and clusters with very high flavor concentration.
Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon was made famous by legendary wine maker Randy Dunn, who gained fame at Caymus in the 1970s and 1980s.
Turning his attention to Howell Mountain, it became officially recognized as the first sub-region of Napa Valley in 1983. We visited the Dunn Vineyards estate up at Angwin on Howell Mountain during our Napa Valley Howell Mountain Wine Experience back in 2008. We were hosted by Kristina Dunn that day but we had the privilege to meet winemaker, producer, patriarch and Napa Valley pioneer Randy Dunn.
The Howell Mountain AVA includes 1,000 acres of vineyards interspersed by forestlands at the north end of the Vaca Mountain range that forms the eastern wall or Napa Valley. With vineyards at 1,400 to 2,000 feet in elevation, they sit above the fog line. The days on Howell Mountain remain cooler than those in the heart of the valley, giving the grapes a bit more time on the vine.
The soils, shallow and infertile with good drainage, are volcanic ash and red clay and produce highly concentrated berries with thick skins. The resulting wines are full of structure and potential to age.
We tasted the recent release of La Jota Howel Mtn Cabernet at the SoWal (Southwest Walton Beaches) Wine Festival in Destin, (FL) last year was one of the highlights of that event and we acquired their current release of this label at that time - Pour Boys gather for SoWal Wine Festival weekend in Destin.
Notably, LaJota was acquired by and is now part of the vast portfolio of Jackson Family Wines, who amassed a vast Billion dollar wine empire that now comprises some of the most storied labels, such as this. It was being presented by Jackson Wines at the SoWal festival.
And, we’ve featured other vintages of this label in other notable tastings -Boy's Night Out Cellar Tours Wine Tasting, and Dad's Day Father Son Tasting Birthyear Wines.Today, La Jota’s winemaker is Chris Carpenter, a graduate from the University of Illinois with a BS in biology, who also earned an MBA in Chicago before working various roles in the food and beverages industry. During those years in Chicago he developed a love of food and wine, and a network of colleagues in the business.
After a visit to Napa Valley in 1993, he decided to pursue a career in wine and went on to earn a Masters in Viticulture and Enology from the University of California, Davis.
In 1998 he found himself working as the Assistant Winemaker at Cardinale where he learned making wines from mountain terroir. In 2005 he became the Winemaker for La Jota.
Tonight we opened this vintage 1990 release, a birthyear vintage wine of son Alec, celebrating my birthday, and he and wife Vivianna expecting (grand) baby number three.
This release was rated 92 points by Robert Parker back in 1993, when he wrote, this wine should “reach its apogee by the turn of the century and last 20 or more years”.
At 35 years, it has held up remarkably well, despite the tattered label, the fill level and cork were still in great condition, considering their age.
The wine showed no signs of diminution from aging and still well within its drinking window, albeit not likely to continue aging beyond a few more years.
Winemaker Notes - “Where rivers, creeks and property lines usually define an AVA, the Howell Mountain boundaries are defined by a 1,400 foot elevation contour line as the lowest point and the highest vineyards at 2,400 feet above sea level. The vines share the mountain with pines, oaks, madrone and the easternmost stand of the coastal redwoods.”
Opaque garnet/purple colored, medium to full bodied, rich, round concentrated black berry and black currant fruits with notes of minerals, cassis, and classic Howell Mtn spices, with firm but approachable tannins on the lingering, what Wine Spectator calls “fleshy” finish.
RM 92 points.
https://www.cellartracker.com/w?771991
https://www.lajotavineyardco.com/
Château du Domaine de l'Eglise Pomerol 1989
Château du Domaine de l'Eglise is a renowned producer of
Right Bank Bordeaux wine, located in the commune of
Pomerol, in the shadow of the church tower, and less than two kilometres, within walking distance, of notable producers Château Clinet (300m) and Château Petrus (900m).
The Pomerol AOC (Appellation Originale Controllee) is located in the Libourne region on the Right Bank of the Dordogne River, just upstream from its confluence with the Isle. The town of Libourne, has a port that was used for exporting wines as far back as 1269.
In the 1900s, winegrowers got together and made joint purchases. Working together, they set up a winegrowers’ and farmers’ union to improve their wine and protect the Pomerol appellation. The AOC area was defined in 1928, recognised in 1936 and revised in 2011.
Today, the Pomerol AOC is renowned for its great wines such as Pétrus, Trotanoy, Clinet, Petit Village and Gazin. The Pomerol appellation comprises around 800 hectares with 140 producers with an average of 6 hectares, producing 31,000 hectolitres of red wine a year.
The origins of the Château du Domaine de l’Église vineyard can be traced back to 1589, at the beginning of the reign of the Good King Henri (Henri IV). The estate was seized by authorities during the French Revolution and in 1793 it was sold to the Bertin family though a national property sale.
In 1893, the Bertin family produced ten barrels of wine, rising to twenty barrels by 1949. Simon Landard, Laure Bertin’s nephew, ran the estate a few years later. The estate was acquired in 1973 by Émile Castéja,
Château du Domaine de l’Eglise was owned by Philippe Castéja and his sister, Chantal Castéja Prében-Hansen. Philippe ran the estate and improved the quality of the wine over the years. The wine from Château du Domaine de l’Eglise is considered a Grand Vin. Today the estate is run by the firm of Borie-Manoux.
The 7-hectare vineyard of Château du Domaine de l’Église is mainly planted with Merlot (95%), with a touch of Cabernet Franc (5%). The vines have an average age of 40 years. The vineyard is situated on a plateau with classic Pomerol terroir, characterized by gravelly soil and clay subsoil, which imparts a distinct minerality to the wine.
At thirty six years, this wine was holding up remarkably well and still very much in its drinking window, but certainly not likely to improve with any further aging, and best to be consumed in the next couple years. The label and foil and most importantly the fill level was top of neck and the cork was still intact despite being partly saturated, it was holding its integrity. It was carefully extracted using an ‘Ahso’ two pronged cork puller (shown). It likely would have collapsed in the bottle if pressed by a traditional cork screw. I always use this method, especially with older wines (except for synthetic corks).
This release was awarded 90 points by Wine Advocate in 1993.
This was even better the following day, being more balanced and settled, after decades of aging in the cellar.
Dark blackish garnet colored, medium to full bodied, deep rich round ripe balanced blackberry, cherry and plum fruits with herbs and vibrant spice notes with soft fine tannins on a long sensuous finish.
RM 90 points, better, 91 points the following day.
We also opened a birthyear vintage aged sweet dessert wine which paired perfectly with the scallops as well as the salad and later, the dessert. I wrote about this in a follow on blogpost - Clos Fontindoule Monbazillac Dessert Wine.
