Dinner Features Judgement of Paris Wines

Dinner Features Judgement of Paris Wines to Commemorate the Tasting event's Anniversary

For a holiday weekend dinner, we selected wines that were featured in the famous Judgement of Paris tasting event on the week of its anniversary - Chateau Montelena Chardonnay and a pair of Freemark Abbey Bosché Cabernets,  contenders in the original tasting. That tasting event was chronicled in Time Magazine in the June 1976 issue.

Linda prepared grilled marinated flank steak and tuna steaks on the grill, served with roasted potatoes and vegetables and sweet corn on the cob.

Prior to dinner we served Sauvignon Blanc with the mixed greens salad brought by Bill & Beth, and with artisan cheese and spinach cheese puff hor d'oeuvres brought by Bob & Gloria.

After dinner I served a late harvest Sauvignon Blanc with Linda's desert, pound cake with creme fraiche and mixed berries.

John Anthony Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2012

John Anthony wines are the product of John Anthony Truchard, who has been exposed to the vineyards and wine production his whole life having growing up in Carneros immersed in the industry learning from many legends of the industry including his father Tony Truchard of the Napa Valley wine label of that name. 

The opening wine served with the cheese and hors d' ovres course. Butter/straw colored, light bodied, crisp balance of fruits and acidity - aromas and flavors of ripe green apples, ripe melon and hints of zesty citrus with a slight layer of smoke on the opening.

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1788034

http://www.johnanthonyvineyards.com/


Chateau Monetelena Napa Valley Chardonnay 2011

Aficionados of wine must watch the entertaining classic movie "Bottle Shock" that chronicles the early days of Napa Valley, early winemakers, and Chateau Montelena, and its legendary finishing first in the epic competition tasting between American and French wines back in 1976. This descendant of that winning wine is the fortieth anniversary release of the label.

Paying tribute to that legendary wine, this vintage release is a reflection of, but makes the best of a challenging vintage in Napa, its a bit disjointed lacking the balance and polish of better years, never-the-less, the heritage and potential is apparent.

Straw colored, medium bodied, mineral and stone fruit predominate over the citrus, pear and slightly tart apple tones, turning to the long crisp rounded finish.

RM 89 points.


https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1642398

http://montelena.com/

  The highlight of the evening tasting were these two showcase reds that were perfect accompaniment to the grilled marinated flank steak and roasted vegetables and potatoes. This is another memorable tasting of these wines that Bill and I have shared over the years, including our vist to Freemark Abbey Winery during our Napa 2009 wine experience. 
 

Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon Bosché Vineyard 1992 

I discovered this wine and acquired a case when I met the producer at a tasting in Binny's Naperville in the early nineties. At twenty-four years, this is our second to last bottle from that case. Only fitting that we open this on the anniversary of the famed blind tasting that put American and California wines on the map.

This tasting was consistent with similar to the previous tasting in 2012. Still vibrant with life left, while nearing the end of its drinking window this has a few years left and shows only slight signs of diminution with the fruit starting to give way to earthy leather tones, resulting in dropping a point in my rating of this wine. Dark garnet colored and medium bodied yet with distinctive 'legs' (or 'curtains' as my British friends call them), this exhibited polished and balanced concentrated black berry fruits with layer of spice, hint of smoke, earthy leather, tobacco and spice box on a moderate smooth, integrated moderate tannin finish.

RM 88 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=12605

To compliment the Bosche, Bill brought a decade younger vintage 2002 for a mini-horizontal comparison tasting.

Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon Bosché Vineyard 2002

Not surprising, this is similar to its older brother, and as the night wore on, the two vintages became more indistinguishable. with the same profile and characteristics, the fruit being slightly more bright and vibrant in the more recent release.

Like the earlier release, dark garnet colored and medium bodied yet with distinctive 'legs' (or 'curtains' as my British friends call them), this exhibited polished and balanced concentrated black berry fruits with layer of spice, hint of smoke, earthy leather, tobacco and spice box on a moderate smooth, integrated moderate tannin finish. The still bright and vibrant fruits warrants the higher rating.

RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1061464

http://www.freemarkabbey.com/


De Lorimier Sauvignon Blanc Late Harvest Lace 2002

For the after dinner dessert course I pulled from the cooler this Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc from the same 2002 vintage as the earlier tasted Montelena and the same varietal as the opening Sauv Blanc.

Part of the Ken and Diane Wilson, Wilson Artisan Wineries portfolio, this estate winery and vineyards specializes in Bordeaux varietals up in the Alexander Valley. The estate's dessert late harvest wines go back to the mid-eighties. Founded in 1986 by Al deLorimier the winery and vineyard were planted and developed into the Estate it is today. The production facility is set up for the blending and aging of many small lots. Ken and and co-owner/winemaker Diane Wilson, and winemaker Antoine Favero combine their talents to produce award winning artisan wines at deLorimier. 

In special years when the weather allows for a small harvest of Botrytised grapes late in the fall, they make dessert wine from Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, or a blend of the two. Botrytis Cineria, the "noble mold", creates a wine of naturally high sweetness and intensity of flavor, while maintaining the fresh fruit character.

This was weak tea colored, medium bodied, nicely balanced with sweet and smokey flavors of apricot, citrus and hints of brown sugar.

RM 87 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=327183

http://delorimierwinery.com/

Liparita Napa Valley Merlot 1997

Liparita Napa Valley Merlot 1997

We pulled this from the cellar for a perfect accompaniment with grilled steak and salmon dinner on the deck.

This is one of the last few remaining bottles from our collection that signals closing in on the end of an era... As written in these pages, back in the mid-late nineties, we met with then winemaker Gove Celia and tasted this wine at the custom crush facility in central Napa, either Rutherford or Oakville as I recall.

We've held numerous labels from that era, most notably Liparita Napa Valley and Howell Mountain Cabernets and this Napa Valley Merlot.

The brand and label disappeared from the market around the millennium until it was acquired under new ownership in 2006, bringing back the legendary name under new branding and packaging/labeling.

We're getting down to the last few remaining bottles of this label and the Cabernet. Consistent with tasting notes from earlier tastings in 2010 and most recently 2014, this is still holding its own and remains well within its drinking window, albeit it won't improve any further with age. This is notable since those were tasted from magnum and this from a standard 750 ml bottle.

Dark garnet coloured, earthiness bleeds off to reveal black cherry, ripe black raspberry and cassis with a hint of mocha blackberry and smoke on the finish.

RM 87 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=193067

http://www.liparita.com/

Robert Craig Amador County Zinfandel 2004

Robert Craig Amador County Zinfandel 2004 with BBQ After Family Day at Sox Park

I write often herein that BBQ ribs and Zinfandel are an ideal food-wine pairing. Everyone should keep a few bottles of hearty Zin in the cellar for such occasions.

After our annual family White Sox baseball outing, we brought home bar-be-cue ribs, served with baked potatoes and a caprese salad, along with Linda's decadent baked brie cheese in filo dough puffs with puree'd berries, toasted almonds and drizzled honey - a perfect setting for Zinfandel. So, we pulled from the cellar Robert Craig Amador County Zin.

We're huge fans of Robert Craig wines. His extensive portfolio provides quality wines for almost all occasions. While he's known for his broad selection of Napa Valley Cabernets, he typically also offers a hearty Zinfandel, whether it be from his estate domicile on Howell Mountain, from the Central Coast Paso Robles region, or from the notable Zinfandel appellation Amador County in the Sierra Foothills.
 
This is from the 24-acre Bowman Vineyard in the Shenandoah Valley of the Sierra Foothills, an area known for exceptional Zinfandel fruit. The rocky, well-drained soil stresses the vines to produce small, flavor-packed concentrated berries. Sitting at 1500-foot elevation provides ideal sun exposure, while the eastern mountains deliver cool evening breezes. This fruit is from 30-year-old vines. 

Winemaker Tasting Notes: The 2004 vintage produced an intense, robust Zinfandel with distinctive 'Amador' qualities of dusty spice, pepper and fresh, ripe berries. Picked in small lots, the berries were fully ripe and deeply flavored, creating a wine with generous mouthfeel. Aging in French oak added further complexity and layers of flavors.

This was dark garnet colored, up-front pepper and spice flavors lead with mouth-filling cherry and plum, turning to a zesty, broad-based finish of cherry-raspberry, interwoven with tobacco and cream. There was a layer of heat from the high alcohol content that detracted from the harmony of the fruit. 

RM 88 points.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=257574

http://www.robertcraigwine.com/

Family outing at the ballpark .... 

Del Dotto Napa Valley Cabernet Franc 1997

Del Dotto Napa Valley Cabernet Franc 1997

Dining at Angeli's Italian, our favorite neighborhood trattoria, we took a BYOB Del Dotto Napa Valley Cabernet Franc 1997 which went perfectly with their Portabella Mushroom Ravioli and its marsala wine cream sauce. Tonight they had a special beet salad and their spectacular customary Boston clam chowder.

Del Dotto were a featured producer from several of our wine producer dinners during that era. Today, the magnificent Del Dotto winey and cave facility on the edge of the Rutherford appellation at the south entry to St Helena is one of the highlights of visits to Napa Valley.

We have but a few remaining bottles of our case of the Del Dotto Cab Franc from the limited release of 240 cases produced.  I recall taking this to a holiday party back in the day and it was the highlight of the evening. At this stage, this is showing its age and reaching the last chapter of its drinking window.

The Del Dotto was dark garnet colored, starting to show a slight bit of a rust hue and haziness from its age, medium to full bodied, a bit tart cherry and black raspberry on opening, giving way to a layer of sweet berry turning to leather, tobacco leaf and damp earth on the slightly musty finish. As cited in tasting notes last year, time to drink up.

RM 86 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=35491

http://www.deldottovineyards.com/  

Edgewood Estate St Helena Triangle Premiere Lot 54 Napa Valley Malbec 2002

Edgewood Estate Vineyards St Helena Triangle Premiere Lot 54 Napa Valley Malbec 2002

With the kids and grandkids over for after church Sunday dinner, grand-daughter Lucy accompanied me down to the cellar to select the dinner wine. She chose this bottle sitting in the rack at her eye level, for its purple foil, her favorite color, and it turned out to be an excellent choice!

Purchased at auction, this Napa Valley Premiere label is a limited special release bottling for the famous Napa Valley charitable auction. This was ideally suited for our beef tenderloin Sunday dinner. Upon opening, the room filled with fruit and floral aromas. While initially a bit closed, the wine opened gradually, progressively over the course of the hour, and as it was being finished, we were all wishing we had more. This was even better than a previous bottle and recollections as per earlier tasting notes. At fourteen years of age, I sense this is drinking at the apex of its drinking window now, better than back in 2011, not likely to improve further with age, but certainly having several years of pleasurable drinking yet, if only we had more. This may have been the most memorable Malbec I've tasted to date.

This is a one of a kind - one time special selection Lot 54, from the 2002 vintage bottled for the 2004 Napa Valley Vintners annual Premiere wine tasting and auction. Its an eye opener to be on the lookout and pay attention to Napa Valley Malbec as a robust tasty food friendly wine.

One of the traditional “Bordeaux varietals”, Malbec has characteristics that fall somewhere between Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, used to add deep color and tannin based structure, backbone and complexity to the blend. These characteristics make for a delicious savoury and hearty wine that goes well with hearty cheeses and beef. This was delicious with our Sunday beef tenderloin dinner.

Full bodied - dark inky purple color. Big full fruit and floral aromas, huge full, nicely balanced and polished forward flavors of supple blackberry, black raspberry and ripe plum, accented by a layer of dark chocolate and spice turning to smooth tannins on the lingering finish.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=685671

Heartland Stickleback South Australia Red Blend 2006

Heartland Stickleback South Australia Red Blend 2006

An Australian blend of red varietals - Cabernet Sauvignon (52%), Shiraz (33%), and Grenache (15%) - from Ben Glaetzer wines. A $10 red blend that meets expectations and tastes like a $10 red. I would not cite this as having exceptional QPR (quality-price ratio) but rather okay drinking for an every day pizza wine, which is exactly what we were trying it as, but lacking any inspiration or excitement.

The Grenache seems to predominate over the Cabernet and Shiraz fruit flavors.

Dark ruby colored, medium-full bodied, lacking balance or polish with a hard edged tight backbone and layer of spicy black fruits - raspberry, currant and dark cherry with tones of pommegranate, leather, and tones of metallic graphite on a rather hard tannin finish.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=467199

http://heartlandwines.com.au/

Soléna Grande Cuvée Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2012

Soléna Grande Cuvée Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2012

Tasted from 375 half bottle with grilled burgers on the patio. Not enough meat on the bone of this lighter Pinot for beef-burgers. Should've saved this for a lighter fare, perhaps. Consistent with previous quests in search for a moderate priced high QPR (quality price ratio) Pinot Noir - the search continues. This is my first encounter with this producer who boasts a broad portfolio of labels.

Ruby colored, light medium body, a bit awkward flabby structure, black cherry, strawberry and cherry cola tones with slight tangental non fruit tones of herbs, grass and leather turning to a slightly acidic moderate tannin finish.

RM 87 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1755477

Clark Claudon Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

Clark Claudon Napa Valley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

For Mother's Day eve dinner, we took Clark Claudon Napa Cab BYOB to Wildwood Restaurant in Geneva with John and Kath McM... Wildwood has a Wine Spectator Award winning winelist for five years running with a broad selection of choices that include many favorites, several at good value prices. Still, the rewards of a deep cellar are to enjoy favorite wines at their prime on such occasions, aside sourcing a second wine from the list. Clark Claudon was a fitting selection for Mother's Day given their strong family centered wine business.

As I've written before in this blog about this wine, we've been collecting this Howell Mountain classic since our Napa Valley Wine Experience 1999 when we first met Tom Clark and Laurie Claudon-Clark and hosted them at one of our wine producer dinners.

Clark Claudon are located halfway up Howell Mountain, the northeastern pillar of the dual ranges that make Napa Valley. The mountain fruit produced from the steep terraces, rocky soil and warm dry climate is full, rich, concentrated and firm, our favorite style in a Cabernet. 

Clark-Claudon typifies the Howell Mountain terroir of its heritage and origins. Their vineyard sits back on the north east side a bit more than half way up Howell Mountain between 800 ft and 1,000 ft elevation. Vineyards above 1200 feet elevation are designated Howell Mountain appellation, while those below 1200 ft are designated Napa Valley. This is because the fog level rises up to that level thereby establishing two different terroir effects above and below that point. 

Clark-Claudon have 18 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and a bit of Petit Verdot vines, 'carved out', as they say, of their 117 acre hillside property. The shallow, rocky, mountain soils, consistent sun exposure tempered by the cool evening breezes just about level with the fog line hovering over the valley below provide ideal conditions to produce intense extracted mountain fruit with that characteristic Howell Mountain spice and firm solid core of smooth tannins.

The 2004 Napa growing season was condensed with early bud break, warm days, cool nights and one challenging heat spike. The result was a small harvest of intense, flavor packed fruit from an unusual, but exceptional year that is showing and drinking well and should last another decade.

Deep dark ruby colored - full bodied - explosive aromas of ripe dark berry fruits fill the room as the wine is being decanted, big mouth-full of forward complex but polished spicy black and edge of red berry fruits, violets, layers of mocha and oak with a long lingering tannin finish.


RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=229261

https://www.clarkclaudon.com

During our Napa Wine Experience visits of 1997 through 2000 we hosted gala tasting dinners with the 'Undisccovered Dozen', emerging new wine producers to watch, featured in an article in Wine Spectator Magazine. Many of these producers released their inaugural vintage releases in or about the 1994 vintage. Those producers and winery visits included Plumpjack, David Arthur, Clark-Claudon, Robert Craig, Del Dotto, Elan, Paradigm, Pride Vineyards, Snowden, Nils Venge and White Cottage and are featured on my winesite http://www.unwindwine.com. An complete index of my tasting notes of these wines over the years is on the site at this link to California Producers Index. These producers make up a foundation of our wine cellar collection even today. In many of these wines, we still have vertical selections of these wines, some dating back to those early release vintages. 

Hall Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2005

Hall Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2005

We hold close to a dozen vintages of this wine in our cellar dating back to their early releases back around the milenium.

We first visited Hall at their St Helena site during our Napa Wine Experience back in 2003. Then, a decade later, our tasting at the new spectacular Hall Rutherford Estate vineyards, winery and cellars (shown left) in 2013 was one of the highlights of that trip.

Hall have grown their portfolio of labels to several varietals and numerous single vineyard and other designated releases, many of which are only available at the winery or from their club. This label is their basic Napa estate release which has been a mainstay of the brand since the early days. At close to a dozen years of age, its holding well, but it certainly won't improve with further cellaring/aging.

This was the right accompaniment to grilled beefsteak with dinner, and was especially good with after dinner dark chocolate and dried cherries with dessert.

Similar tasting to earlier tasting notes in 2010, this was dark ruby colored, medium full bodied, with a tight backbone to the bright vivid red berry and black berry and cherry fruits that give way to tar, smoke, a hint of mocha on a firm, slightly hard edged finish with a subtle whiskey or cognac tone on the finish.

RM 87 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=489505

http://www.hallwines.com

Robert Craig Central Coast Syrah 2004

Robert Craig Central Coast Syrah 2004

We pulled this Robert Craig Syrah from the cellar for a casual sipper with mid-week light dinner. Readers of these pages know we have a significant collection of Robert Craig Cabernets from the range of labels across a wider range of vintages. We also hold a collection of various Craig labels of other varietals from a range of vintages such as this one.

Robert Craig is known for a range of Napa Cabernets, but he ventures off the reservation occasionally to source occasional fruit for smaller production labels from other areas such as Chardonnay from Sonoma, Zinfandel from the Sierra foothills, and this Syrah from the California Central Coast region - sourced from a 20 acre vineyard in Ranchita Canyon, north of Paso Robles. We've typically sourced these other wines from many visits to the winery as well as occasionally from auction.

I think the berry fruit flavors have been affected by age to reveal tones of metallic graphite and ripe raisiny fruits.

Dark blackish garnet colored, full-bodied, this Syrah offers a complex concentrated ultra ripe black and blue berry fruits that come across as raisin or dried cherries giving way to tones of graphite, licorice and creosote with hints of black pepper, cardamom and clove spice - the off-fruit flavors perhaps attributable to age.

This was best accompanied by dark chocolate and dried cherries. 

RM 87 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=341610

https://www.craigwines.com/

Hazyblur South Australia Baroota Shiraz 2003

Hazyblur South Australia Baroota Shiraz 2003

This is a repeat follow on to my blogpost of the other night last week when I brought home our shipment of recently purchased wines from the auction warehouse and popped one open for casual sipping with midweek leftover pasta dinner.

From that same lot, following our tasting of the fourteen year old 2002 Hazyblur Baroota Shiraz, tonight we opened a 2003 vintage of the same label for a comparison tasting.

Like the 2002, this vintage is also in the last chapter of its drinking window, hence it provides good value when picked up at auction, most likely released from someone who needs to thin their cellar if they have more bottles than they'll consume in the near term, or by someone who prefers younger wines for consumption earlier in their drinking profile.

Tonight, we picked up carry-out barbecue ribs and hoped for a full throttle, big, forward Shiraz accompaniment. Whereas the 2002, tasted the other night, that despite its age, was delicious, showing little diminution from aging, less than the other last bottles of that label consumed back in 2015 from our cellar, this 2003 did not show as well. The 2003 lacked the backbone and the full bodied forward flavorful fruits of the '02.

Dark blackish garnet color, medium-full bodied, a bit flabby in structure with moderate black berry and black raspberry fruit flavors that give way to tones of smoke, leather, hints of cedar and licorice with a moderate tannin finish.

RM 87 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=33499

Viader 'V' 2002 Proprietary Napa Red Blend

Viader 'V' 2002 Proprietary Napa Valley Red Blend for gala family dinner

With son Alec visiting home from NYC with g-friend Viviana to run the Naperville 1/2 Marathon on her birthday weekend, it seemed only fitting we pull out a bottle of 'V' for our gala family dinner celebration. This might be considered the flagship label of Viader. The 'V' has a double significance - it stands not only for Viader, but it also represents Petit Verdot, the core varietal in this Bordeaux blend. We featured this wine BYOB from a Magnum with our dinner at Angeli's Italian, our favorite neighborhood trattoria.

We discovered this limited release wine during our visit to the Viader Estate on lower Howell Mountain back in 2008. 

The “V” label is an exclusive Viader blend of Petit Verdot, to showcase the unique character of the the Petit Verdot varietal.  The fruit is sourced from a small three quarter acre vineyard plot in the northeast corner of the Viader Estate where the ground is particularly rocky resulting in especially small yields rendering highly concentrated fruit. Petit Verdot typically represents a miniscule percentage of a Bordeaux blend. It is included for its dark color and firm backbone to complement the other varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and or Cabernet Franc. 
 


Viader 'V' Napa Valley Red Blend 2002

The blend for the 2002 release was 72% Petit Verdot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 3% Cabernet Franc, almost upside down from a 'normal' Bordeaux blend.


This was dark garnet colored, medium-full bodied, bursting with bright vibrant black raspberry, ripe plum and currant fruits, accented by a layer of mocha, hints of leather and earth on a tangy bright silky smooth but firm tannin lingering finish.

RM 93 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=70507

http://www.viader.com/ 

Hazyblur South Australia Baroota Shiraz 2002

Hazyblur South Australia Baroota Shiraz 2002

I brought our shipment of recently purchased wines home from the auction warehouse and popped one open for casual sipping with midweek leftover pasta dinner. At fourteen years of age, this label is in the last chapter of its drinking window, hence it provides good value when picked up at auction, most likely released from someone who needs to thin their cellar if they have more bottles than they'll consume in the near term, or by someone who prefers younger wines for consumption earlier in their drinking profile.

Despite its age, this was delicious showing less diminution from aging than the other last bottles of this label consumed back in 2015 from our cellar. It tasted consistent with our previous, earlier tasting notes from back in 2009.

Full bodied, super ripe plum, blackberry and currants with mocha, vanilla, caramel and hint of cedar and licorice on the full firm lingering finish.

RM 90 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=25284

Venge Scout's Honor Napa Red 2014

Venge Vineyards "Scout's Honor" Napa Valley Red Blend 2014

We've been fans of Nil's Venge and his wines since the eighties and now son Kirk has taken over center stage in Venge Vineyard wines. We first met Kirk up at the Rossini Ranch estate during the time that they were actually digging the caves there. This label is a tribute to Scout, their yellow Lab that used to romp through the vineyards accompanying Nils and the workers. I had the chance to meet Scout and witness this during one of visits to the Family vineyards down in central Napa Valley during one of our visits back in the nineties. I recall owning this label from as early as 1995 and have owned several of the rebranded styles of it since. 

I think Nil's was one of the first to take Zinfandel seriously as a core lead varietal in this sophisticated Blend, as if it were a Bordeaux varietal. This version is 71% Zinfandel with 16%  Petite Sirah, 7% Charbono and 6% Syrah. We hold a half dozen vintages of the label and tasted and acquired this year's at the release unveiling tasting at Vin Chicago in Naperville. I write often that every cellar needs a few bottles of Zin for hearty foods and this begs for grilled meats, hearty cheese or my favorite with big sweet Zins, barbecue!

Dark blackish purple colored, full bodied, concentrated, tongue coating thick black raspberry and more subtle blue berry fruits are accented by a layer of sweet mocha with tones of anise and spicy oak with hints of coffee and vanilla bean on a firm tannin finish.

RM 92 points.



https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2304902

http://www.vengevineyards.com/


Coming next ..

Hartford Court "Four Hearts" Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2014

Fun with Small Bottles Chardonnay Tasting

Small is Better Offering Two Tastings in One - Fun with Small Bottles

Following the tasting of Rombauer Chardonnay at the Vin Chicago Rombauer Wine Dinner at Adelle's Restaurant the other night, I picked up a half bottle at Binny's to enjoy the following evening. I also picked up a half bottle of Ramey Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2013.

As I've written in these pages (screens) before, buying 375ml half bottles allows one to enjoy two wines with dinner rather than just one. Tonight, this provided the chance to do a comparison tasting of the just discovered/tasted Rombauer Chardonnay 2014, alongside another known brand and label, Ramey Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2013, also available in half bottle small format.

Or course, one could open two bottles of wine, but the half bottle provides an affordable, convenient comparison tasting.

Such comparison tastings provide not only a fun experience, but a more in-depth and revealing side-by-side comparison of one against the other. A selection of half bottles can be found at Binny's Beverage Depot, the wine mega-merchant super store (pictured below).

For a casual Friday night dinner and wine and cheese tasting, Linda prepared her delicious, decadent Baked Brie Cheese in Filo Dough with toasted almonds, whipped fresh berries, and honey.

Interesting, the tasting revealed our preference for the less expensive Rombauer over the Ramey. Both were awesome when paired with the berry fruit, nut cheese and honey plate.

Rombauer Carneros Chardonnay 2014  

We had this wine just last evening at the winemaker dinner, served with seared U12 scallop, vanilla bean butter sauce, and mango-pineapple salsa. The Chardonnay was one of the highlights of the dinner tasting flight of six wines across five courses. So it was, ideal to compare it against another similar Chardonnay.
 

From the 2014 vintage, another ideal growing season with warm, dry conditions that resulted in excellent fruit quality that resulted in wine with rich flavors and a creamy texture for great QPR - quality price ratio in a quality Napa Chardonnay.

Butter colored, medium bodied, pleasant aromas and rich bright flavors of citrus with tones of pear and creamy vanilla, with hints of mango, melon, spice and butter with nice acidity on the tangy finish. 

RM 90 points.  
 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2162560

Ramey Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2013 
 

This 2013 Russian River Chardonnay is 36% from four different Dutton ranches (Perry, Mengle, Sebastopol & Mill Station); 16% from Martinelli’s Laughlin Road Vineyard; 13% from King Vineyard; 13% from four Rochioli vineyards (Allen, Mid-40, River, Hill); 10% from Forchini Vineyard; 5% from Westside Farms; 4% Frostwatch; and 3% from Hudson Vineyard.

Clear, pale straw color, medium bodied, this is a complex cacaphony of flavors - fruits, toasted nuts, spices - perhaps revealing the broad multitude of sources in the blend. This is a contrasting style to the Rombauer - firmer, tighter and more structured and more complex, probably more suited to more complex and bigger food accompaniment, but less suited to the mild baked brie with berry fruit and honey, which set up well with the pear, vanilla, citrus tones of the Rombauer. Hold this for grilled Salmon entree.

A compendium of notes from the popular well known reviewers refer to this wine's power and elegance, rounder, weightier and richer with with flavors as diverse as apricot pit, mint, butter and dried flowers blossom, baking spices and honeysuckle, finishing with a mineral bite for some contrapuntal complexity....

A fun and revealing comparison and tasting none-the-less.

RM 88

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2251265

Vin Chicago Rombauer Wine Dinner at Adelle's Wheaton

Vin Chicago Hosts Rombauer Vineyards Wine Dinner at Adelle's Restaurant, Wheaton

Vin Chicago hosted a wine dinner at Adelle's Restaurant in nearby Wheaton, featuring Napa Valley Rombauer Vineyards' California Wines.

Six Rombauer wines complemented the five dinner courses crafted and presented by Adelle's Chef John Anderson and owner Debbie Fitzgerald Williams. On hand to present Rombauer wines was Clyde Gilbert, Rombauer National Sales Manager and Mike Baker and Kathleen from Vin Chicago, Naperville. Besides being manager of the Naperville store, Mike is also a lead buyer for Vin Chicago and is also an Advanced Sommelier in the Court of Master Sommeliers.

We'll look forward to picking up our Rombauer order, and visiting Adelle's Restaurant again, especially on Corkage Fee free Tuesdays!

The dinner and wine paring flight:

Rombauer Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2015 

 Served with passed canapes, parmesan gougeres, chilled red bliss potatoes, creme fraiche, chives, accented by caviar, and honeydew melon ball skewer. See comments of the tasting course pairing with the Chardonnay below. I wonder if the pairing detracted from the tasting score.

This is the second release of a Rombauer Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc. Their 2014 inaugural release was their first new nationally-released white wine from Rombauer since they launched their Chardonnay in 1982, and the first new varietal introduced since their Zinfandel in 1990.

They spent five years seeking out top-quality Sauvignon Blanc vineyards across Napa Valley to source the fruit for this label and they kept production low in the 2014 release to ensure they would meet their quality standards. 

Based on the success and response to the initial release, they increased production in this, their second vintage, 2015, to expand into select markets. Still, this Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc remains a limited release wine. This expands the Rombauer portfolio diversity and breadth for more choices in pairing foods with wine. 

Straw colored with a slight greenish hue, light-medium bodied, aromas and flavors of tropical fruits with hints of grapefruit citrus, pear and white nectarine with a subtle tones of what the winemaker calls fresh-cut grass, with somewhat flat acidic layer on the lingering finish.

RM 87 points.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2287301

Rombauer Carneros Chardonnay 2014  

Served as a complement to the seared U12 scallop, vanilla bean butter sauce, and mango-pineapple salsa. In retrospect, we felt the Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc would've best been switched, with the bigger fuller Chardonnay being served with the more obtuse forward caviar above, and the Sauvignon Blanc with the more moderate subtle scallop course. In any event, the Chardonnay was one of the highlights of the flight. 

From the 2014 vintage, another ideal growing season with warm, dry conditions that resulted in excellent fruit quality that resulted in wine with rich flavors and a creamy texture for great QPR - quality price ratio in a quality Napa Chardonnay.

Butter colored, medium bodied, pleasant aromas and rich bright flavors of citrus with tones of pear and creamy vanilla, with hints of mango, melon, spice and butter with nice acidity on the tangy finish. 

RM 90 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2162560

Rombauer Vineyards Carneros Merlot 2012

Served with seared pork tenderloin medallion, sweet potato mash, and cherry-herb demi-glace. The sweet potato was especially nice against the Merlot.

This Rombauer Vineyards Merlot has been produced since 1983. The Merlot fruit is sourced from Rombauer estate and select partner growers' vineyards in the Carneros region, at the top of San Francisco Bay where the Napa and Sonoma Valleys meet, at the bottom of the Mayacamas Range that separates and helps form the two. 

The Carneros Appellation has a cooler climate, moderated by the gentle breezes and fog that creep in off the bay. The area is more known for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay than Bordeaux varietals such as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The Blends of these wines indicate their profile and relative relative positioning as Merlot is used to soften the firmer tighter Cabernet Sauvignon, while Cabernet is used to provide a bit of backbone and structure to the softer Merlot. Petit Verdot is generally used to provide color and structure to both.

Dark ruby colored, medium bodied, complex, moderate soft tones of black raspberry, plum and cherry fruits with subdued tones of tobacco, floral, oak and spice turning to a smooth polished tannins on the finish. 

Blend of 92% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Petit Verdot, aged 16 months in French oak barrels.

RM 89 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1944166

Rombauer Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

Served with grilled hangar steak, red peppercorn-shallot maitre d’Hotel butter, oven roasted beets, and herb demi-glace. The peppercorns were a bit much for my preference as I feel they detract from the wine experience. Never-the-less a fine complement to the the flagship Rombauer labels, this Cabernet a consistent achiever with reasonable QPR - quality price ratio for Napa Cabernets.

Representing the ideal 2013 vintage where all boats rise with the tide - a near perfect growing season that should prove to be one of Napa's best in many years. 

Dark garnet colored, medium bodied, complex but nicely balanced, flavorful pleasant drinking black berry, black cherry fruit flavors highlighted by tones of cassis, mocha, vanilla and toasty oak on a smooth tannin finish. 

RM 90 points. 

89 rating from Wine Spectator

Blend of 87.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot, 3.5% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Merlot aged seventeen months in 70% new oak.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2188112

Rombauer "Diamond Selection" Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 

Served side by side the Cabernet with the grilled hangar steak, red peppercorn-shallot maitre d’Hotel butter, oven roasted beets, herb demi-glace.

This Diamond Selection is the Rombauer flagship signature reserve label featuring the select best representation of the finest lots from the harvest. This reserve bottling has been produced since the 1994 vintage, sourced from estate and top grower vineyards from the Stags Leap, Calistoga, Atlas Peak, St. Helena and Howell Mountain appellations (AVAs). 

This showcases the best from the near-perfect 2012 vintage with its long, warm growing season with consistent moderate temperatures that produced high-quality fruit that made for soft, rich wines with well-developed flavors. 

Dark purple garnet colored, medium bodied, elegantly balanced, smooth polished wine, aromas and flavors of black fruits - nicely integrated blackberry, black currant and black cherry fruits accented by subtle tones of mocha, tea, sweet oak and spice turning to smooth polished silky tannins on the lingering finish.
 

RM 91 points. This was the consensus favorite of our table.
 

Blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, and 6% Petit Verdot, aged 18 months in 100% new French oak.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2196444 

Rombauer California Zinfandel 2014

Served with el Cotijo Spanish Manchego, Don Juan Drunken Goat, Entrepinares Cured Iberico, house smoked thyme dusted walnuts, and dark fruit compote. A pleasant tasty finish course, but the sweetness of the Zinfandel screamed for dark mocha chocolate! 

As noted above, the ideal 2014 vintage growing season with warm, dry conditions resulted in excellent quality fruits.

Note its called a California Zinfandel, as opposed to Napa Valley or Sonoma or Amador County; that's because rather than being from one or more appellations within one region, this Zinfandel release is a blend from lots from select vineyards from several of the top growing regions known for Zinfandel: El Dorado (39%), Amador (35%), Lake (16%) and Napa (10%) counties. 

Dark purple ruby colored, medium full bodied, full forward complex concentrated black berry bramble fruits - sweet black berry and black raspberry with tones of mocha, anise, vanilla and spice with hints of pepper on the smooth chewy tannin lingering finish.

Right up there with the Chardonnay as one of the highlights of the evening,  it was actually too sweet for the rest of our group, but for me, this was delicious and cries for barbecue or dark chocolate.

I can't believe we've overlooked this label. This, or wine like it, should be a staple in every cellar for such pairing occasions! 

RM 91 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2346927

http://www.rombauer.com/

http://vinchicago.com/

http://adelles.com/

Vin Chicago Adelle's Wine Dinner   -
https://vinchicago.com/blog/entry/rombauer-wine-dinner-in-wheaton

 

Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1996

Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1996

Six liter Imperial
1990 Bonny's Vineyard
Silver Oak

After an intense workday, for our son Alec's birthday, we chose to celebrate with a grilled steak dinner and a favorite wine - Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon.

We hold several bottles of Silver Oak from Alec's birth year including two 6 liter bottles of the special Bonny's Vineyard select, that we're holding for a special occasion (shown right).

While we didn't open a bottle from his birth year, we did open a twenty year old from 1996, one of the fourteen vintages of this wine label that we hold in our cellar, as that was one vintage for which I do not have published tasting notes.  This does not count the many vintages of the Napa Valley and several vintages of the Bonny's Vineyard labels that we also hold.

Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1996

Dark blackish garnet colored, medium bodied, bright black cherry fruits predominate. At twenty years of age, this wine is starting to show its age a bit as the black cherry and black berry fruits, while predominant, are starting to give way to tones of tobacco leaf, hints of tea and dusty earth, yet, still accented by that legendary sweet oak flavor that is emblematic of the Silver Oak brand.

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2784




 

Elan Napa Cabernet 1997

Elan Vineyards Atlas Peak Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1997

For mid-week dinner of Italian beef and roasted potatoes, I pulled from the cellar this mature Napa Cabernet from Elan Vineyards. It was a perfect accompaniment and tasted even better the following evening.

We first met Elan winemaker/producer Richard and lovely wife-partner Linda Elliott-Smith back in the mid-nineties when we tasted their earliest releases of this wine.

They gained notoriety when Wine Spectator acclaimed Elan Vineyards as one of the "Undiscovered dozen,  new names in Cabernet to try before they are too hot!". Several of those featured producers' remain the mainstay of our cellar today including Elan, Robert Craig, Del Dotto, and Clark Claudon.

I don't remember what I don't remember, but I seem to recall that we met at Monticello Cellars which they were using as their crush facility. We became fans of their Napa Cabs then and collected them whenever and wherever we could find them. We still hold more than a mixed case of their wine back to that era plus running up to vintages post milenium which we've been able to pick up at auctions.

We hold a vertical of this label dating back to their '92 vintage which I believe was their inaugural release, in addition to several from '94 through '97 and then 2001, and beyond. Hence, its gratifying to see this aging and holding well, with only the beginning slight signs of diminution from aging.

This was dark garnet colored, medium bodied, complex, firm tight structure of black berry and black cherry fruits, tones of what prettydeceextrap of Cellartracker succinctly refers to as dried meat and soy; I was leaning towards spice, mineral and hints of creosote and anise but the other references are apt, with a smooth moderate tannin finish.
RM 89 points

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=5873

http://www.elanvineyards.com/

Birthyear Pichon Lalande Jaeger Merlot anchor Easter dinner

Classic Birthyear Pichon Lalande Bordeaux, Jaeger Merlot anchor Easter Surf & Turf dinner

For a gala family Easter dinner Linda prepared surf and turf - grilled lobster tails and sirloin beef steaks.

Celebrating the family gathering with daughter Erin and son Ryan and their families, we pulled a selection of wines to pair with the dinner.

In consideration of the family gathering, with 1981 being a more modest, less ageworthy vintage (than say Ryan's '82), Ryan chose from the cellar for Erin's birth year a classic Bordeaux to pair with the sirloin beef steaks, the 1981 vintage Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande.

To round out the tasting, for a mini-horizontal 1981 vintage tasting, I pulled another 1981, a Jaeger Napa Valley Merlot, which matches a large format 6 liter Imperial of the same wine that we served at Erin and son-in-law Johnny's wedding. The large format set is pictured here.

To complete the dinner flight, to pair with the lobster, I pulled a full bodied chardonnay - Morgan Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay 2009.

Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Pauillac Bordeaux 1981

This is the second to last bottle of this label from our 1981 horizontal collection commemorating daughter Erin's birth-year. The fill level, bottle, foil and cork were almost like new - a testament to the integrity of our wine cellar. The cork was starting to soften a bit at the end but was still holding its seal and pulled cleanly from the bottle using an ahso two prong puller. The remaining bottle also appears perfect and we already agreed we can/will wait another five years for her fortieth to open it.

This is also, a testament to the amazing longevity of this classic Bordeaux, this was still showing life left at thirty-five years old, especially considering this was a modest vintage year.

Incredible aromas of berry fruit, cigar box and classic Bordeaux earthy floral tones, dark garnet colored, medium bodied, the only sign of diminution from age was that the dark berry fruit flavors have given way to predominant cigar box and earthy floral flavors with tones of leather, tobacco leaf and hints of cedar, with lively, nicely balanced, polished, smooth tangy, lingering tannins on the finish.

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=18274

Horizontal collection of 1981 Bordeaux

Jaeger Inglewood Vineyard Napa Valley Merlot 1981

Part of the fun of collecting wine over an extended period of time is the stories and memories that accumulate related to certain bottles, vintages and labels. As mentioned above, this 1981 Merlot is part of a horizontal collection we hold for our daughter's birth year. It was acquired as part of a vertical collection of this wine that we hold commemorating the birth years of each of our kids, and their spouses. This particular vintage was served out of this large format six liter bottle at Erin's wedding, one of several large format bottles opened for that occasion.

The Jaeger family have a long rich heritage in Napa Valley and are known for Bordeaux varietal wines that they market under several family owned labels, and under several well known producers' who source fruit from Jaeger vineyards.

I met Jeff Jaeger, second generation proprietor of Jaeger Family Napa wine enterprises at a wine tasting at Binny's Beverage Depot in Naperville (or it may have been Standard Liquors at the time, predecessor to Binny's on Ogden). I can date the event by the fact that Jeff was pouring Freemark Abbey Cabernet, and had a bottle set aside from under the table from which we was pouring, the 1992 vintage of Bosche Vineyard single vineyard selection. From that tasting I acquired a case of the 1992 vintage Bosche. We have continued to acquire and enjoy Freemark cabs including the Estate, Bosche and other special selections ever since.

Over the course of the evening, I mentioned to Jeff my selection of large format bottles commemorating the birth years of our kids. Indeed, this collection was the basis of our feature in the Collector section of Wine Spectator Magazine back in June of 2001.

Large format 1981 wines served at daughter's wedding

We received the shipment of our 1992 Bosche, and a couple of weeks later, arrived this six liter Imperial of Jaeger Inglewood Vineyard Merlot, 1981, for daughter Erin's birth year. We served this bottle, along with several other large format bottles at her wedding, including a six liter Imperial of  Rutherford Hill, another Jaeger property, that I acquired separately.

I called Jaeger to pay for the Imperial and they didn't take credit cards, nor did they know how to charge me for the bottle. Jeff was away in France at the time. I called a couple more times over the ensuing months, and years, inquiring how much I owed for the special bottle so I could settle my account. In the end, I don't recall every being charged, or paying for that bottle. Thank you, Jeff and co. I still look forward to settling our account!

In any event, we still hold single bottles from this collection, including this 1981 Jaeger Merlot served today.

Although its not on par with the Pichon Lalande, like the Pichon, this Inglewood Vineyard Merlot also showed amazing longevity, resilience and vibrancy, at thirty five years of age. If the Pichon exceeded expectations, so too, even moreso, did the Jaeger.

The Jaeger showed dark garnet ruby color with a bit of brown setting in, medium body, still vibrant tangy black cherry fruits, accented by tones of leather, cedar, spice and clove, showing its age, turning to a bit of a funky layer of smoke, creosote and damp earth on the tangy lingering tannin finish.

RM 86 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=542092

http://www.jaegervineyards.com/

A history of the Jaeger Inglewood Vineyard and Jaeger ventures and accomplishments in the Napa wine scene.

• 1976: Rutherford Hill Winery founded. RHW becomes a leader and pioneer in the cultivation of Merlot grapes andproducer of world-class Merlot wine.
• 1979: Jaeger Inglewood Winery is founded.
• 1982: Jeff Jaeger becomes managing partner of Demptos Cooperage in Napa.
• 1989: Jeff founds Barrel Associates International and becomes managing partner of RHW.
• 1990: Chicago Herald Tribune names Bill, “The Godfather of Merlot in the Napa Valley.”
• 1992-1996: Jeff becomes a founding board member of Family Winemakers of California.
• 1993: Jeff is the chairman of the largest charity wine auction in the United States: The Napa Valley Wine Auction.
• 2000-2007: Jeff establishes, operates and sells Coopersmill, an American Oak Stave Mill in Southern Indiana.

Jeff - If/when you're back in Chicagoland, please look us up to settle our account, and to share come classic fine wine!


Morgan Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay 2009

To accompany the lobster course, as well as the salad ...

Straw colored, medium bodied, tones of mineral, wet stone and hints of pear, citrus and oak on the tangy finish.

RM 88 points.

 https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1118044
 

 http://www.morganwinery.com/