Montagna Estate Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Montagna Estate Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

We've seen the Montagna Napa Valley label but didn't connect it to the property we passed on Long Ranch Road on our way up to David Arthur vineyards at 1100 feet high atop Pritchard Hill in the Vaca Mountain range overlooking Napa Valley from the east. Interesting that Montagna is the project of Bob Long, one of the founders of David Arthur with his brother David. These vineyards are part of the nine hundred acre parcel purchased by their parents back in the mid-sixties and seventies. We were already big fans of Pritchard Hill Cabernet and our visit to David Arthur was one of the highlights of our Napa Valley Wine Experience 2013. We visited Chappellet Vineyards during our Napa Wine Experience in 2009.

Bob and David Long grew up down on the peninsula in Palo Alto California and spending time working in the family's super market in nearby Portola Valley. Bob graduated from the University of Denver and attended law school at the University of the Pacific. After a short time practicing law and working in real estate development in Chicago, Bob and his brother David started David Arthur Vineyards in 1984.

The Montagna vineyards sit just a mile down Long Ranch Road from David Arthur amongst other notable Pritchard Hill producers such as Chappellet, Colgin Cellars, Continuum, David Arthur, Ovid Napa Valley and, BRAND.

Dr Dan picked up a case of this aged Montagna at auction and brought a bottle BYOB to our dinner at Folklore Argentine Grill steak house in Wicker Park in Chicago before the Hawks game.

Dark garnet colored, medium to full bodied, earth and leather predominate almost like a left bank Bordeaux, giving way to black cherry, black currant and black berry fruits accented by spice, cigar box and hints of cedar with firm lingering tannins. I took the remaining half bottle home and opened it the next evening to find even more pronounced fruits had taken over and the earth and leather were an after thought.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1641170

https://montagnanapavalley.com/

Killikanoon Clare Valley Blocks Road Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Killikanoon Clare Valley Blocks Road Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

I pulled this from the cellar for dinner thinking it was a Shiraz but realized it was a cab when I was trying to characterize its taste profile of firm, smoky berry fruits with firm tannin finish.

This was unbelievably delicious with Dove cherries dipped in dark chocolate. Better than the pairing with spaghetti and tomato meat sauce.

Inky black color with a dark garnet rim, medium to full bodied, firm vibrant bright complex brambly fruits of black cherry, blackberry and tones of smoky blackberry, hints of dark mocha chocolate, blueberry, vanilla and a layer of cedar on the long lingering floral and tangy dark cherry finish.

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=447123

http://www.kilikanoon.com.au/

Château La Couspaude St Emilion Grand Cru Classé with Hemingway's Oak Park French Fare

Château La Couspaude St Emilion Grand Cru Classé with Hemingway's Oak Park French Fare

For a dinner outing with friends Bob & Gloria we introduced them to Hemingway's Bistro in Oak Park for French influenced fare. I took along a CDP and a Bordeaux from which to choose to accompany my entree selection.

Bob and Linda chose the Halibut special with a roasted red pepper sauce while Gloria chose the Sea Scallops, all served on a bed a risotto, so we selected a Sancerre Domaine Villaudiere from the wine-list for them.

I chose the New York strip au Poivre with cream spinach and pomme au gratin and had them open my Château La Couspaude St Emilion Grand Cru Classé which I brought BYOB.

For starters, we had the Butternut Squash Bisque, French Onion soup, and I enjoyed the Trio Beet Salad and the superb Foie Gras du jour with raspberry coulee which was a perfect pairing with the La Couspaude.

Hemingway's atmosphere is very cordial and relaxing, the service attentive and professional making for an enjoyable dining experience. Its has the elegance of causal fine dining, is easy to access, just off the Ike midway between the city and the western suburbs, and lacks the crowds, bustle, noise and hassles of parking. And being close to the Frank Lloyd Wright 'district' allows for some historic architectural sight-seeing enroute or afterwards.

Domaine de la Villaudière Sancerre 2011

Straw colored, light bodied, bright, crisp, clean with high acidity, aromas and flavors of green apples predominate with tones of wet limestone, chalk and minerality and hint of citrus.

RM 87 points.

http://www.sancerre-lavillaudiere.com/

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1346511 








Château La Couspaude St Emilion Grand Cru Classé 2005

This is the flagship wine of the Aubert Family portfolio who have been producers in the St. Emilion appellation for almost two centuries. The family operation consists of three Aubert brothers, Alain, Daniel and Jean-Claude, along with their children, Vanessa, Heloïse and Yohann. The family operates several estates spread along the Right Bank in Bordeaux from St. Emilion all the way up to Cotes de Castillon.

The Chateau La Couspaude 7 hectare (14 acre) property with its unique terroir sitting on the limestone plateau on the outskirts of the village of Saint-Emilion is planted in 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon vines. The vineyard has been in place for close to 300 years! Today, the vines are planted to a density of 6,500 vines per hectare with the average age of the vines is about thirty years.

They family has worked to upgrade the property over the last several decades and Chateau La Couspaude was promoted to Grand Cru Classé distinction in the new classification of wines of Saint-Emilion in 1996.

Traditionally, the wines tended to show much new oak in the style their Bordeaux wine. Starting with 2006, the Aubert’s reduced the amount of new oak, changed the type of oak and further reduced the amount of oak in the 2011 vintage which allows the wine of La Couspaude to express more complexities. Malolactic fermentation takes place in new 100% new, French oak barrels. the wine is aged in 100% new, French oak barrels for between 18 and 20 months.

Today, Chateau La Couspaude is known for fleshy, flashy, low acid, sensuous, but oaky, early drinking style of St. Emilion wine. Production of Chateau La Couspaude ranges from 2,000 to 2,500 cases at the St. Emilion estate per vintage. They also produce a second wine, Junior de la Couspaude.

The  Château La Couspaude St Emilion Grand Cru Classé 2005 exhibits dark inky blackish garnet/purple with medium to full body. The firm, rather tight complex concentrated black berry fruits are over taken by mouthful of tea, tobacco, kirsch, tones of pain grille, smoky creosote and hints of sweet oak/spice notes with lingering big but fine tannins. This was a perfect complement to the grilled New York Steak as well as the foie gras. 

 

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=235727

http://www.aubert-vignobles.com/lacouspaude.php?specid=1&langid=2#!home-english/c1l8o

http://www.hemmingwaysbistro.com/ 

Favorite Aussie Shiraz - Flinders 2005 Aging Gracefully

Favorite Aussie Shiraz - Flinders 2005 Aging Gracefully

I raved about this wine when I discovered it several years ago and have featured it numerous times since in this blog. Like the recent experience where I discovered this wine downstate in a local wineshop, I then found and purchased more on-line. Then I convinced local mega-merchant Binny's to carry obtain some and we cleaned them out too. Happily, we still hold and continue to enjoy this big bold fruit filled Shiraz. Holding more than several bottles into their ninth year, one rightfully wonders how is it aging and how long will it last?

For a quiet causal evening at home, we opened an old favorite, Flinders Run Southern Flinders Ranges Shiraz 2005. Our Cellartracker inventory says we still hold about two cases of this vintage release, with a slightly lesser number of the '06 release remaining. I noted when we were opening this that it came on the scene with these two vintage releases and disappeared, not to be seen again. According to their website, it appears to still be in production, but its not to be found in distribution in Chicagoland, or in the on-line wine community.

Indeed, the Flinders Run website (http://www.flindersrun.com.au/) states, "We knew from the first trials of the 2001 and subsequent 2003 vintages that the Flinders Run wines were going to be something special, but nothing prepared us for the overwhelming success, we would experience with the release of the 2005 Vintage. Subsequent vintages have been crafted in the same careful manner exhibiting a consistency in flavour and style and most importantly capturing the elegance of region climate and above all varietal character."

Of course that 2005 vintage got a raving 95 point review from legendary wine critic Robert Parker. He wrote,"Purple/black in color, the wine exhibits a big, brooding bouquet of pain grille, pepper, Asian spices, blueberry, blackberry, and licorice. This leads to a full-bodied (15.2% alcohol), super-rich, plush wine with layers of spicy black fruit flavors, excellent balance, and a long, pure finish. For a wine of this size, it is remarkably light on its feet. Give it 2-3 years to more fully evolve and drink it through 2020. This is quite a debut for Flinders Run!"

I must admit, I do not recall knowing about this rating or having read his review. I did know he shared our love of big bold Aussie Shiraz's, even if we did think his enthusiasm was at times 'over the top' and even exceeded ours. That said, I am pleased to see his projected drinking window extending through 2020. That certainly seems to ring true with our experience tonight.

Flinders Run Southern Flinders Ranges Shiraz is the artwork of Emanuel Skorpos whose winemaking heritage goes back many generations to the Greek Island of Samos where his Grandfather Manoli Skorpos and his father attended to the olive grove and vineyard in the rugged mountainous region known as Morteri which they still farm to this day.

In 1991 Emanuel, after travelling to Samos to visit the Family Estate, set out to return to Australia to locate the perfect piece of land in which to establish the vineyard and olive grove in the Skorpos tradition. Emanual has been working in Viticulture/Horticulture  in the Riverland and Southern Flinders Ranges regions in South Australia since then. He worked with Ian Smith, Vineyard Manager and Vitticulturalist for Leasingham wines who identified the Southern Flinders Ranges as one of the best kept secrest in Australia’s wine industry. Emanuel manages the vineyards and olive grove and works closely with the Flinders Run winemaker to produce artisan boutique wines that emeplify the distinct  flavour and personality of the Southern Flinders Ranges. Emanuel’s wife, Laura manages the logistics and operations of winery business.

My recollection of these two vintages was that we liked the 2005 more than the 2006, being more approachable, more polished and balanced, while the '06 was bigger, more brooding and bold, but less polished or in no sense elegant. I selected the '05 tonight, dutifully to work off the older vintage, but also to test my recollection of it being my favored of the two, and to monitor its aging.

While more subdued than the bigger '06, it retains all the nuances and character it exhibited in its youth - nicely balanced, polished, and flavorful. While the fruit is not as big and bold as its follow on vintage, the '05 still holds full, dense, complex layers of blue and black berry fruits, accented by licorice, hints of black pepper, and tones of black tea and what Parker refers to as 'pain grillé' which is the French word for 'toast'.

RM 93 points. 

Our original plan was to grill a beef steak but after the spectacular starter course that Linda prepared, a grilled tuna tartare (above), we enjoyed the rest of the bottle with a selection of cheese and chocolates.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=421985

http://www.flindersrun.com.au/

Vintage Napa Reds vs Bold Barolo

Vintage Napa Reds vs Bold Barolo

For a spontaneous dinner on the patio at our neighborhood trattoria Angeli's Italian with friends Bill and Beth, I took BYOB two vintage 1996 Napa reds - Paradigm Oakville Cabernet and Liparita Howell Mountain Merlot. Bill brought a bruising Barolo that showed its muscle as a complement to the Italian sausage and pasta. This was an interesting contrast in new world and old world varietals as well as a nine year old vs eighteen year olds that one might think are nearing the end of their years.

We still hold almost a case of Paradigm Cabernet from several mid-nineties vintages so I am tracking their aging and drinkability with interest.

We visited Paradigm during our Napa Wine Experience back in 1999. I recall tasting the Liparita from barrel at the Oakville custom crush facility with then winemkaer Gove Celia during our Napa visit back in 1998. Both of these wines are showing their age, probably beyond their apex, or any chance for improvement, but still within their drinking window. Both show some diminution of fruit, giving way to non-fruit charcoal and earth tones. Yet, each revealed some of its native fruit character at some point during the evening.


Liparita Napa Valley Howell Mountain Merlot 1996

We know that to bear the Howell Mountain appellation that the fruit for this wine had to be sourced from vineyards above 1200 foot elevation, the level of the normal fog line. I don't recall, or perhaps never knew the source. This '96 surprisingly showed bright and vibrant red berry fruit after being open for about an hour.  As written in this blog, we tasted this wine from a magnum from our cellar last year and those notes indicated more stable and complexity in the fruit - another indicator of the enhanced aging of wine in a larger format bottle such as a magnum.

Notes from magnum tasting - Dark garnet colored - medium-full bodied - black cherry, black berry fruits still holding for this seventeen year old - perhaps aided by larger format magnum, tones of cedar, spicy oak, subtle leather and earth - moderate smooth well integrated tannins on a lingering finish. $66 at Dean & Deluca in Napa (upon release)

(Then) RM 89 points. Tonight this wine rated 88 points due to the slight diminution of fruit as noted above.

http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=219362

The current Liparita label is under different ownership from the label around the milenium. 

Paradigm Napa Valley Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 1996

Despite having a case of this wine in various vintages from this era, my only record of tasting this wine was during our Napa visit back in 1999. This was our last bottle from 1996, the remaining bottles are from 1994, 1995, and 2001-02. Ren & Marilyn Harris have owned the property since the eighties, producing wine under the Paradigm label since 1991. Today the winemaker for Paradigm is the legendary Heidi Barrett.

I opened, decanted and then rebottled and recorked this wine an hour before setting out for the restaurant. Upon decanting it released huge aroma's of berry fruits and some floral. After opening for serving the fruit was a bit muted for almost an hour before revealing black berry, black cherry and hints of sweet black raspberry, giving way to a layer of charcoal, anise and spice. Tannins were moderate on the lingering finish. This wine is still showing okay but should be consumed over the next few years.

RM 88 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=5876

http://www.paradigmwinery.com


Franco Molino Barolo Villero Riserva Nebbiolo 2005

From a country with a mind-boggling 600 different grape varietals, one of the better known and more popular is Nebbiolo which produces lightly-colored red wines which can be highly tannic in youth with scents of tar and roses, that soften and become more approachable with some age. Nebbiolo grapes are characteristically found in red wines from the Barolo DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) or appellation in the northern Italian region of Piedmont.

Bill's tasting notes from Cellartracker - "Big, bold and fruit forward. Took some time (about an hour) for the "heat" to blow off but when it did we were left with a nicely balanced Italian with notes of raspberry, cherry and a bit of pepper. Finish was medium in duration. Really delicious with a spicy sausage, pasta dish. An interesting comparison side by side with a pair of '96 Napa wines."

WCC 88 points. 

Bright dark ruby colored, full bodied, moderately complex, concentrated flavorful forward red and dark berry fruits with hints of spice, creosote and leather, finishing with firm structure and a smooth polished tannin backbone.

RM 89 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1288598

Clarendon Hills Astralis Shiraz 2005

Clarendon Hills Astralis McLaren Vale Shiraz 2005

Son Ryan opened this to celebrate the first week in their new home and his first day on the new job. And he invited Dad over for a taste. While this is the flagship of the extensive  Clarendon Hills line which includes eight different Shiraz labels, I prefer the style of their Piggott Range more. This has more of the tasting profile of the incredible Tanunda 100 Year Old Vines Shiraz we tasted last weekend, not surprising, since this too is sourced from old vines, from their first vineyard planted in 1920. Like the Tanunda, Astralis has limited production of only 150 cases.

At a release and market price of $180, this is in the super ultra-premium stratosphere, even more than the Tanunda at a release price of $125. This is a classic example where taste is in the eyes of the beholder and all that matters is one's personal pallet preference. I much prefer any one of several of my favorite Shiraz labels that are all in the $70 to $90 range and a select few at even less. Of course, as I often write in this blog, the thrill of the hunt and ultimate quest is to find that high QPR (Quality Price Ratio) wine that offers the same satisfaction at a fraction of the (premium) price.

This is the first bottle we have tasted from a case Ryan purchased and split with me recently. As part of its premium price-point, Astralis (like the Tanunda) comes with premium packaging in its own branded OWC, Original Wood Case (pictured left).

McLaren Vale is in south central Australia on the north-west of the Fleurieu Peninsula about 25 miles south of Adelaide. It is one of the oldest and highly regarded wine producing areas in the country. It was granted its appellation status, in Australia known as GI or Geographical Indication in 1997.

The climatic and geographical diversity of McLaren Vale is suitable for a wide array of grape varieties which are grown there including Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache and Mourvedre, which, together with Shiraz, make up some of the most acclaimed 'GSM' blends. Other varietals grown in the region in lesser amounts are Merlot, Zinfandel, Tempranillo,  Sangiovese and Viognier.
 
McLaren Vale is also the source of white wine varietals, most notably Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

Shiraz leads the region's list of award-winning wines with the best wines coming from very old vines, some planted more than 100 years ago.

This wine got huge reviews and scores from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (99 points) and Wine Spectator (96 points) and  Stephen Tanzer's IWC (95 points). Either our bottle was slightly tainted (which I don't believe), the cork showed ever so slight signs of seepage (shown right), or, at nine years old it is in a somewhat closed period in its aging profile. I found it a bit closed and its aromatics suppressed. Never-the-less, this is a big unctuous, tongue-coating complex wine, deep dark inky purple colored wine with layers of concentrated ripe black and blue berry fruits with a layer of graphite and mineral, which in my opinion detracts from the fruit and other complementary tones of expresso, tobacco and spice box, leading to a smooth silky polished tannin lingering finish. It did not seem to have a firm structure and backbone built for longer term aging.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=421401

http://www.clarendonhills.com.au/home.aspx

Culler Napa Valley Howell Mtn Cabernet 2005

Culler Wines Napa Valley Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 

At picturesque Ladera Winery on
Howell Mountain

This is the signature wine from Karen Culler who is the winemaker of Ladera Winery up on Howell Mountain. She produces this full throttle Howell Mountain cabernet and a cabernet syrah blend under the Culler label. We visited Ladera Winery up on Howell Mountain during our Ladera Napa Wine Experience 2008.

Dan Stotesberry, son of the Ladera owners, was marketing their wines and came and visited me here in Chicago several months later during one of his trips to the east. Traveling with him during that trip, I learned of the Karen Culler connection and I obtained these wines during our stops at Binny's here in Chicagoland as a result. 

Today, Dan works in sales and marketing for Pillow Road Vineyards up in Sonoma. We also tasted and acquired Pillow Road wines during our Ladera visits. Dan is no stranger to the midwest. He attended Depauw University in Greencastle, Indiana and then, after graduation, traded soybean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade. His passion for wine eventually lead him back to California and the family business at Ladera Winery and Pillow Road Vineyards. 

I pulled this from the cellar to enjoy with a grilled steak without forethought or thinking much about it.  Had I considered it further, I might have tasted this against the Ladera Howell Mountain Napa Cab from the same vintage. This might have revealed or suggested that they are the same wine. An intellectual exercise perhaps, I'll have to rely on my tasting notes and memory to compare the two when I eventually open the Ladera wine. We hold a collection of Ladera Cabernet Sauvignons from Napa Valley, Howell Mountain, Lone Canyon, and a label from 'Two Mountains'. We've heard they have sold off and discontinued the Lone Canyon production. 

Complicating the wine tasting comparison further will be the latency or delay between the two individual tastings which  will add another dimension of time or aging between the two specimens. 

Perhaps the comparison to Ladera may be errant or over-stated. The other dimension is to this wine compare this to other 'similarly situated' Howell Mountain Cabernets, those from the same terroir and like and similar vintages. That too may prove to be merely an intellectual exercise since there may be different components in the blend, different oak treatment, different harvest conditions, and so on. Never-the-less, these are the elements of tasting and comparing wines, hence the fun and fascination with the subject. 

 All that said, I have to say that I did not find this wine to strongly resemble any other Howell Mountain cabernets that I have tasted. The range of such wines that we hold in our cellar consist of Robert Craig, Cade, Beringer, Clark Claudon, Outpost, Lamborn, Viader and Oshaughnesy. Needless to say, we're huge fans of Howell Mountain Cabernets! Karen Culler may read this and be amused, or she may see her wine mentioned with list above and she'll see how off base I am, in which case, my 'miss' may be attributed to the differences cited above - time in bottle, oak treatment, aging, etc. In any event here is what I found in this wine tonight, the sport of tasting is all about discovering and diagnosing these comparisons and differences.

The Culler 2005 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon was dark purple colored, full bodied, complex, tight and a bit 'hard' or firm, which did tend to soften over the course of a couple hours over the evening. It presented black fruits with a layer of charcoal, slight hint of smoke, tones of anise and tobacco leaf, turning to a layer of  mocha sweetness on the moderate lingering tannin finish. I sense this would have been harder, more subdued and a bit closed had it been opened three to five years earlier, and in that same vein, will continue to soften and open and be more approachable over the next five years. 

 Regrettably, I don't have five or six more bottles to test this over time, but it does give me a benchmark to compare the aging profile of and effects of some other similar wines.

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=499128