Quilceda Creek Robert Craig Affinity Cabernet 1997

Quilceda Creek and Robert Craig Affinity Cabernet Sauvignon 1997

For a family gathering summer dinner on the deck I pulled two 1997 vintage Cabernets - Quilceda Creek and Robert Craig Affinity. We prepared grilled sockeye salmon and filets of beef.

Quilceda Creek Washington Cabernet Sauvignon 1997

I know our cellar is ideal for long term storage and aging when I pull a bottle like this that we've held for close to twenty years and the fill level and cork are perfect. The cork looked liked it was pulled from a brand new bottle to which son Ryan noted this premium label likely uses highest quality corks.

Dark garnet colored, medium bodied. full dark berry and floral bouquet, smooth silky texture, nicely balanced, black berry fruit accented by tones of oak, spice and tobacco leaf with a long smooth soft tannin polished finish.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=379






 Robert Craig Affinity Cabernet Sauvignon 1997


We hold over twenty vintages of this wine dating back to the inaugural 1993 vintage. This is one of last bottles of a case of the 1997 vintage we acquired from the winery upon release. We have visited Robert Craig on several of our trips to Napa Valley and Robert has been featured at several of or wine producer dinners and other tasting events.

The brand has been recently taken over by new leadership and one of their moves has been to raise the price point of this legendary label. Robert was always proud of the QPR - Quality Price Ratio he maintained for this blend of fruit from what he called 'three mountains and a valley'. It is now selling for $65 per bottle and its previous price point of $50 has been taken over by a Napa Valley Cabernet. Of course these older vintage bottles were acquired back in the nineties for less than $40.

My last tasting note entry from last fall is below.

While it likely will not improve further with age, it seems to still stand at the apex of its drinking window and shows no sign of diminution whatsoever. This was slow to open and reveal its fruit and needed about of hour to unwind from its tight closed opening.

My previous tasting note back in 2012 cited 'this wine is more expressive than early in life showing lingering fruit and staying power'. According to those notes, this showed even better tonight with more balance and polish than that tasting. At this stage of life, that could be an indication of bottle variation but no so likely since the bottles share the same provenance.

Dark purple garnet colored, medium bodied, forward bright vibrant black berry and black raspberry fruits to tones of black tea and hints of cassis and smoke on a smooth moderate lingering tannin finish.

My previous tasting note from 2012 - Rich medium full bodied. A bit tight, fruit filled with black currant, black berry, raspberry, cassis with a slight bit of astringency, hints of black pepper and smoke with silky tannins on the finish. (82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc). This wine is more expressive than early in life showing lingering fruit and staying power.

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=29715

Gala Celebration Dinner features classic Birthyear Vintage Napa Cabs

Gala Celebration Dinner features classic Birthyear Vintage Napa Cabs


I've written often in these pages about special wines for special occasions. One of the ultimate wine vintage events is pouring birth year wines for a life event such as a wedding. So it was that wine buddy and fellow 'Pour Boy' Bill C. featured 1989 vintage wines for son Matt's wedding rehearsal dinner. Bill selected two classic premium vineyard designated Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons - Diamond Creek Lake Vineyard and Silver Oak Bonny's Vineyard, that each reflected diverse terrior, styles and characteristics. Each with its own style complemented perfectly the salmon and filet of beef dinner and chocolate dessert. Both were served from large format magnums.

Our visit to Diamond Creek winery up on Diamond Mountain above Calistoga was one of the highlights of our Napa Valley Wine Experience in 2008.

The stylish tasting room (left) overlooking the three vineyards is one of the most magnificent settings in Napa Valley and is one of the Valley's premiere tasting experiences.

The winery was founded in 1968 by Boots (shown left) and the late Al Brounstein who defied conventional practice of the times and planted California's first exclusively Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Vineyards on secluded Diamond Mountain.

The three vineyard designated select labels each represented their distinctive micro-climates and terroirs and became legendary in their long lived quality complex, deep and rich Cabernets.

Then there is also the Lake Vineyard (shown left), a tiny ¾ acre vineyard nestled adjacent to a lake that sits on the property, It is the coolest of the property's micro-climates because of the cool Pacific breezes that travel down the Russian River corridor each afternoon. 

The Lake Vineyard grapes require a long hang time to ripen, and when they do ripen, they make an exceptional wine.

Lake Vineyard wines are only produced in exceptional vintage years. In fact, they have been produced only 16 times since 1972.

Diamond Creek Lake Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1989

Showing its age at 27 years, the color was starting to show a bit of brownish rust hue on the garnet medium bodied base. The black cherry fruit flavors have given way to tones of leather, tobacco leaf and anise on the slightly astringent core that gives way to moderate clinging lingering tannins.

RM 87 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=136257

More to come ..





Silver Oak Bonny's Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1989

Bonny's Vineyard was the site adjacent to the proprietor's residence and named for his wife. It was the only vineyard designated label from this classic popular producer. The label was discontinued two vintages later, the 1991 vintage being the last.

The trademark character and taste profile of this wine is the oak tones infused into the wine from aging in oak barrels. Even after several hours of having tasted this wine, that predominant oak flavor still lingers in my mouth and even on my breath, like the taste of a fine cigar. This was dark garnet colored, medium to full bodied with complex berry fruit flavors that had been overtaken by the layer of oak, with hints of dill notes attributable to the oak and not the fruit. Firm but smooth tannins lingered on the long finish.

RM 90 points.

Italian Village appoints Jared Gelband Wine Director

Italian Village appoints Jared Gelband Wine Director ... to restore cellar to historic eminence ...

The historic Italian Village restaurant, a Chicago landmark since 1927 has appointed Jared Gelband as its new Wine Director. Jared has worked the Chicago fine dining and wine scene for more than a dozen years for such well known establishments as Chicago Prime, Del Frisco's and others.

The Italian Village wine cellar holds a Best of Excellence Award from Wine Spectator Magazine, one of the most esteemed benchmarks in the restaurant market, with over thirty thousand bottles of more than a thousand different wine selections.

Italian Village actually consists of three different restaurants in one site and the wine cellar serves all three restaurants at its location at 71 West Monroe opposite the Chase Bank Tower plaza in the center of loop.

The three restaurants each have their own chef, kitchen and waitstaff. Italian Village continues to be operated by the founding Capitanini family, who today are represented by the second and third generation descendants of the founder Alfredo Capitanini and is the oldest continuously operating Italian restaurant in Chicago.  The three dining rooms that make up Italian Village represent three different cuisines and dining experiences - the flagship Italian Village with its classic traditional Northern Italian cuisine within the quaint atmosphere of an Italian village. The trendy chic Vivere showcases a start-to-finish approach to everything on the menu, from house- and hand-made pasta in a modern Chicago landmark contemporary dining room designed by Jordan Moser, full of unique shapes and angles in a stylish feel ideally suited for the forward-thinking haute cuisine, while La Cantina, features the classic menu, hospitable ambience and service at The Village.

Jared, a native of suburban Chicago sees this as a break through opportunity to build on the solid foundation of the wine program, and to restore it to its earlier eminence when it held the highest Grand Award. He intends to capitalize on the extensive inventory investment in Italian, Bordeaux and selective American wines, expand its global coverage, modernize the operations, and adopt social media and other promotions to showcase the world class selection, great values, and rare wines, all complementing great authentic food in a setting for all occasions.

Jared loves life in the cellar which serves as his office where he spends his days researching new wines, managing the inventory, and updating the extensive wine list to pair wines to showcase the cuisine and menu's of each of the three restaurants while offering wines for all tastes and budgets.

Dining hours and evenings are then devoted to promotion, serving as Sommelier and assisting the dining and bar staff in the property's three restaurants. While each restaurant boasts in own kitchen, chef and waitstaff, the cellar serves all three dining operations.

See the updated Wine Cellar feature on the updated Italian Village website.

On this day, we were meeting Todd Alexander, Winemaker from Force Majeure Vineyard and Winery in Red Mountain, Yakima/Columbia Valley Washington. Visiting Chicago with his wife Carrie, Marketing Director for Force Majeure on a promotion tour, we met at Italian Village to bring together two emerging voices and forces in wine and fine dining to share offerings, visions, plans, and to explore synergies and opportunities for collaboration.

Jared gave all of us a tour of the Italian Village cellar and uncovered and showcased from its extensive thirty thousand bottle collection of deep selections in classic Italian's, rare Bordeaux, as well as several premier wine's from Todd's previous endeavors such as Bryant Family wines in Napa Valley.

Watch for upcoming wine and dine tasting journal reports on Italian Village.

http://www.italianvillage-chicago.com/

Jared with Force Majeure winemaker
Todd Alexander

Showing wine treasure vintage Chateau Petrus.

Todd Alexander and Bryant Family selection
from Italian Village cellar.

A day at the office for Jared Gelband, in Italian Village
cellar with Todd and Carrie Alexander and author.

Italian Village appoints Jared Gelband Wine Director

Italian Village appoints Jared Gelband Wine Director ... to restore cellar to historic eminence ...

The historic Italian Village restaurant, a Chicago landmark since 1927 has appointed Jared Gelband as its new Wine Director. Jared has worked the Chicago fine dining and wine scene for more than a dozen years for such well known establishments as Chicago Prime, Del Frisco's and others.

The Italian Village wine cellar holds a Best of Excellence Award from Wine Spectator Magazine, one of the most esteemed benchmarks in the restaurant market, with over thirty thousand bottles of more than a thousand different wine selections.

Italian Village actually consists of three different restaurants in one site and the wine cellar serves all three restaurants at its location at 71 West Monroe opposite the Chase Bank Tower plaza in the center of loop.

The three restaurants each have their own chef, kitchen and waitstaff. Italian Village continues to be operated by the founding Capitanini family, who today are represented by the second and third generation descendants of the founder Alfredo Capitanini and is the oldest continuously operating Italian restaurant in Chicago.  The three dining rooms that make up Italian Village represent three different cuisines and dining experiences - the flagship Italian Village with its classic traditional Northern Italian cuisine within the quaint atmosphere of an Italian village. The trendy chic Vivere showcases a start-to-finish approach to everything on the menu, from house- and hand-made pasta in a modern Chicago landmark contemporary dining room designed by Jordan Moser, full of unique shapes and angles in a stylish feel ideally suited for the forward-thinking haute cuisine, while La Cantina, features the classic menu, hospitable ambience and service at The Village.

Jared, a native of suburban Chicago sees this as a break through opportunity to build on the solid foundation of the wine program, and to restore it to its earlier eminence when it held the highest Grand Award. He intends to capitalize on the extensive inventory investment in Italian, Bordeaux and selective American wines, expand its global coverage, modernize the operations, and adopt social media and other promotions to showcase the world class selection, great values, and rare wines, all complementing great authentic food in a setting for all occasions.

Jared loves life in the cellar which serves as his office where he spends his days researching new wines, managing the inventory, and updating the extensive wine list to pair wines to showcase the cuisine and menu's of each of the three restaurants while offering wines for all tastes and budgets.

Dining hours and evenings are then devoted to promotion, serving as Sommelier and assisting the dining and bar staff in the property's three restaurants. While each restaurant boasts in own kitchen, chef and waitstaff, the cellar serves all three dining operations.

On this day, we were meeting Todd Alexander, Winemaker from Force Majeure Vineyard and Winery in Red Mountain, Yakima/Columbia Valley Washington. Visiting Chicago with his wife Carrie, Marketing Director for Force Majeure on a promotion tour, we met at Italian Village to bring together two emerging voices and forces in wine and fine dining to share offerings, visions, plans, and to explore synergies and opportunities for collaboration.

Jared gave all of us a tour of the Italian Village cellar and uncovered and showcased from its extensive thirty thousand bottle collection of deep selections in classic Italian's, rare Bordeaux, as well as several premier wine's from Todd's previous endeavors such as Bryant Family wines in Napa Valley.

Watch for upcoming wine and dine tasting journal reports on Italian Village.

http://www.italianvillage-chicago.com/

Jared with Force Majeure winemaker
Todd Alexander

Showing wine treasure vintage Chateau Petrus.

Todd Alexander and Bryant Family selection
from Italian Village cellar.

A day at the office for Jared Gelband, in Italian Village
cellar with Todd and Carrie Alexander and author.

Ladera Howell Mountain Malbec 2006

Ladera Howell Mountain Malbec 2006

We discovered and acquired this wine during our visit to the winery back in 2008. Ladera specialize in Bordeaux varietal wines, most notably Cabernet Sauvignon, but they also offer this lesser known, more obscure Malbec varietal based wine. In Bordeaux Malbec is blended to introduce dark color and full body into the wine.

The Malbec grape is a thin-skinned grape that requires more sun and heat than the leading Bordeaux varietals Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot to mature. Hence it is well suited to the more consistent, warm and sunny climate of Napa Valley. It is used in the blend to introduce deep color, full body associated with ample tannin, and a fruity plum-like flavor to add complexity to Bordeaux based blends.

We took this to Angeli's, our favorite local Italian trattoria, BYOB for a mid-week dinner.

Tonights tasting was consistent with an earlier tasting note when I wrote, "Dark color - full bodied - full firm forward fruits - a bit flabby on opening but overcame the funkiness to reveal black berry and cherry fruit flavors, a layer of spice, hints of leather and a touch of cedar on a long finish." This was a good complement to our hearty Italian fare.

RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=523712

http://www.laderavineyards.com/

Todd Alexander joins Force Majeure Winery

Force Majeure Red Mountain Vineyard and Winery - An emerging tour de force in premium Washington State Columbia Valley wines ...

We had the pleasure of meeting Todd Alexander, Head Winemaker and General Manager of Force Majeure, the highly-acclaimed winery from Washington State’s Red Mountain AVA, and his wife Carrie, during their recent marketing trip to Chicago. 

We met with Todd and Carrie to learn about Force Majeure and their work there to produce and market highest quality wines representing the rich and diverse terroir of the Red Mountain appellation. Todd gained notoriety at cult winery Bryant on Pritchard Hill in Napa Valley where his wines earned high ratings and critical praise. There he learned the craft under legendary viticulturist David Abreu and winemaking consultant Michel Rolland, following in the footsteps there of such notable producers such as Peter Melka. He also spent time learning the craft at Plumpjack/Cade. Joining Todd was wife Carrie, who will be working in marketing of Force Majeure.

They join proprietors Susan and Paul McBride, who purchased the undeveloped land, that is now Force Majeure Vineyard, in 2004, and since then have developed the Force Majeure brand with their devotion and commitment to meticulous viticulture and exemplary winemaking. They have been sourcing Red Mountain fruit from the finest lots from the well known Ciel du Cheval vineyard, marketing under the branding Grand Reve Vintners. During this time they have been increasingly shifting focus to Force Majeure, highlighting fruit from the estate Force Majeure Vineyard as more and more plots come online. Up to now they produced the Collaboration Series featuring Washington’s leading winemakers and one of Red Mountain’s greatest vineyards, Ciel du Cheval. Now, with Todd at the healm of winemaking duties, they will focus on their estate vineyards starting with the Force Majeure vineyard.

Todd and Carrie moved with their their family from Napa Valley to the Columbia Valley to purse this extraordinary opportunity. Todd joined Force Majeure in 2014 so this year's release will be the first reflecting his craftmanship from the vineyards to the glass.

Force Majeure is growing production from 2,000 cases per year to 4,000 cases as their second 20-acre parcel comes into production. The winery’s focus has been on red Bordeaux varietals with acreage planted in Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot and Rhone varietals Syrah, Grenache and Mouvedre with new plantings in Cinsault, Counoise, Viognier and others. This will allow Todd to explore developing product with both Northern and Southern Rhone style wines as well those reflecting the Bordeaux Left and Right Banks. Such is the diversity and of the terroir of the property.

The Force Majeure estate vineyard is in Washington state's Red Mountain AVA (appellation - agriculture viticulturual area. The original vineyard was planted in 13 acres, and an additional 10 acres planted in 2015. Force Majeure Vineyard is up against the hillside abutting Red Mountain.

Todd seeks to emulate the great labels of Pomerol, St Julien, Hermitage, Priorat, Côte-Rôtie and Chateauneuf-du-Pape - such labels as Lalande-de-Pomerol, Chateau Latour, La Ladone, and Chateau Beaucastel as benchmark wines. We're excited to watch the evolution and growth of his work as Force Majeure as he seeks to pursue his vision and realize the potential of this great property, and for him to express and develop his capabilities in a broad portfolio of premium wines.

Todd told of us the unique diversity, and superior terroir and great potential of the property, in the foothill butted up against the Red Mountain range overlooking the Yakima River basin. The diverse property has nine different soil types in a change of elevation from 900 to 1200 feet. The rocky upper part of the property has as much as a 40% slope, well-suited for the Rhone varietals, while the lower elevations of the vineyard's well-drained soils are more ideally suited to Bordeaux varietals, all with a Southwestern exposure to capture the afternoon sun, ideal for ripening the grapes.

The Yakima Valley AVA was the first AVA created in Washington State in 1983. The valley covers 600,000 acres in south central Washington, twice the size of the greater Bordeaux region, and fifteen times the size of Napa Valley. Yakima Valley is home to the largest concentration of vineyards and wineries in the state with more than 60 wineries and 16,000 vineyard acres. Nearly 40% of Washington wines are made with Yakima Valley grapes.

In 1984 Columbia Valley was given AVA status, and Yakima Valley was enclosed within the Columbia Valley AVA. Since that time, several new appellations have been added including Red Mountain AVA and Horse Heaven Hills AVA, which are both contained within Yakima Valley.

Force Majeure currently has a winery facility in Woodinville, WA but will also be developing their own world class winery facility, renovating a historic rustic 11,000 schoolhouse from around 1900. 

Todd left us the Force Majeure Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 and Force Majeure Red Mountain Syrah 2013, both sourced from the Force Majeure vineyard. Watch for my update with our upcoming tasting of these wines.

We met with Todd and Carrie at the famous Chicago landmark Italian Village Restaurant with their historic award winning wine cellar, now run by Wine Director Sommelier Jared Gelband who gave us a tour of the cellar featuring in my separate blogpost.

https://forcemajeurevineyards.com/

Del Dotto Napa Valley Cabernet Franc 2002

Del Dotto Napa Valley Cabernet Franc 2002

For a casual mid-week dinner at Angeli's Italian, our favorite neighborhood Italian trattoria, we took BYOB this limited release bottle of Del Dotto Napa Valley Cabernet Franc 2002. This follows our recent tasting of the 1997 vintage release of this same label. The 2002 vintage was much more presentable lacking the diminution of the fruit in the older vintage, a surprising difference considering only five years separation, and the much heralded reputation of the '97.

This showed similarly to my previous tasting notes for this label from six years earlier when I wrote: "Dark garnet color, full bodied, bright cinnamon spice, raspberry, hint of cedar and mocha on a big, long silky smooth tannin finish."

The only difference (from my earlier 93 point rating) might be the reduction of a couple points for slightly expressive and less vibrant fruits, but still exceptional and impressive at 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=19187

http://www.deldottovineyards.com/

d'Arenberg Cabernet Sauvignon The Coppermine Road 2002

 d'Arenberg South Australia McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon The Coppermine Road 2002

Saturday evening dinner at home watching Copa America Soccer on TV, Linda prepared grilled steak and baked potatoes with peas and corn. I pulled from the cellar an older big Cabernet that I felt was ready to drink or needing to be consumed, and one of which I had multiple bottles - hence this d'Arenberg Coppermine Road Cabernet Sauvignon 2002. This also was selected since we drank an older similar aged d'Arenberg shiraz last weekend for our special dinner. We have several vintages of this wine including a couple older single bottles, yet, I don't recall drinking this label before so tonight's tasting was a new discovery adventure.

The Coppermine Road by d'Arenberg is named for the road that runs parallel to the winery's top Cabernet vineyard which sourced the fruit for this vintage release. The 2002 Cabernet season was a warm vintage which resulted in this super ripe concentrated fruit. 

d'Arenberg were riding high during this period, as noted on the supplemental labels (shown left), they had just been awarded Australia’s Winery Of The Year, and the Most Successful Winery in 2003. 


Dark blackish garnet colored, full bodied with classic 'legs' coating the sides of the glass. Upon opening, aromas of black fruits filled the room. On tasting they were accented by ripe raisin and floral violets. Slightly musty, concentrated, firm structured firm black fruits were accented by tobacco, leathery creosote, raisin eucalyptus notes with mouth puckering tongue coating tannins on the ripe black cherry fruit laced finish.

After dinner I tasted this with moderately dark, then dark chocolates and the darker the better to complement the raisin laced earthy black fruits. 

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/notes.asp?iWine=17760

http://www.darenberg.com.au/

Allegrini Palazzo della Torre 2011

Allegrini Palazzo della Torre 2011 

Traveling, I picked up this everyday wine for carry out dinner back at the hotel. This provides great QPR - quality price ratio, affordable for every day drinking, but well rounded for many occasions. Would be suitable for parties where you need to serve many and not break the bank, and provide a easy drinking wine that will appeal to many. A great pizza wine.

This wine is produced using an innovative Ripasso method. The grapes Corvina Veronese (70%), Rondinella (25%), and Sangiovese (5%) are from the Palazzo della Torre vineyard in the town of Fumane near Verona. They are harvested and then vinified in two different methods: 70% of the grapes are vinified immediately after the harvest, the remaining percentage is dried until the end of December to a raisin characteristic. At this point, the wine ferments again with the dried grapes.

While not complex, this is nicely balanced for smooth easy sipping, supple with deep ruby red in colour, a berry perfume, ripe black berry and black cherry fruits with an underlying tone of leather, mocha, hints of vanilla and oak with modest finish.

RM 88 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1785136

Château Larmande St Emilion Grand Cru Classé 2005

Château Larmande St Emilion Grand Cru Classé 2005

Tasted with a mid-week dinner of leftover grilled steak, baked potato, green beans, sweet corn and brussel sprouts. Tasted from a 375 ml half bottle. At eleven years of age, I sense this is approaching the end of its prime drinking window as the fruits seem to have given way slightly to the emergence of the non-fruit flavors based on earlier tasting notes from three and five years ago.  Knowing the small format half bottle will age less gracefully that full size or larger bottles makes me wonder if that affected this tasting - will find out when I open a standard format bottle of this label.

Château Larmande lies north of the town of St. Emilion, close to Soutard and Cadet-Piola. It consists of 25 hectares of vineyards planted with Merlot (65%), Cabernet Franc (25%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (10%). In 1991 Larmande was sold to the French insurance conglomerate, La Mondiale.

Dark garnet colored, medium bodied, aromatic blackberry and black cherry fruits accented by tones of tar, smoke, earthy leather, hints of cedar, spice and whisper of mocha on a firm lingering tongue puckering tannin finish.

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=351693 

http://www.chateau-soutard.com/chateau-larmande-.aspx

Backus Sassicaia Dead Arm Highlight Grilled Steak Dinner

Backus, Sassicaia, Dead Arm - Diverse Big Reds Highlight Grilled Steak Dinner

Dr Dan hosted us for grilled steak dinner and opened a diverse pair of premium Bordeaux varietal reds - Joseph Phelps Napa Backus and Super Tuscan Sassicaia. I brought a Dead Arm and Shafer premium Chardonnay to round out the dinner wine flight.

Before dinner Dan served shrimp cocktail and a cheese course of swiss and sharp cheddar with an assortment of olives. For this course I brought and served Shafer Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay as a starter.
 
With grilled New York Strip steaks, Dan served twice baked potatoes, grilled asparagus and portabello mushrooms.

The diverse Reds each complimented features of the meal. The grilled steak were an ideal highlight with the Backus while the portabello mushrooms were a perfect match to the Sassicaia.




Shafer Napa Valley Carneros Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay 2011

This single vineyard grown Chardonnay is from Red Shoulder Ranch vineyard, located on 68 acres in the Carneros district at the top of San Fransisco Bay where Napa and Sonoma come together at the bottom of Mt Veeder at the foot of the Mayacamas Range that separates Napa from Sonoma. Unlike Napa Valley which is known for its Bordeaux varietal wines, the Carneros appellation, with its cool breezes and fog that rolls in off the Bay, is more suited to Burgundian varietals of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

The vineyard is named for the the Red-shouldered Hawks who, along with other birds of prey, help protect the vineyard from vine damaging gophers who feed upon the rootstock of the vines.

This was straw colored, medium bodied, subtle lemon and citrus accented by tones of apple and pear with nice, well balanced crisp acidity and a clean structured lingering finish.

RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1446015

http://shafervineyards.com/ 

With grilled New York Strip steaks, Dan served twice baked potatoes, grilled asparagus and portabello mushrooms. The diverse Reds each complimented features of the meal. The grilled steak were an ideal highlight with the Bachus while the portabello mushrooms were a perfect match to the Sassicaia.


Joseph Phelps Backus Napa Valley Red Wine 2007

Notably, Joseph Phelps premium labels were the highlight feature wines of Dan's father of the bride celebration dinner - Backus and a vertical selection of Phelps Insignia. This wine is from the single designated Backus Vineyard in the Napa Oakville appellation, located south of Oakville Cross Road on the east side of Silverado Trail. The vineyard is planted in 20 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, 1 acre of Petit Verdot, and 1 acre of Malbec.

Elegant, silky smooth, polished, a symphony of perfectly balanced flavors, this was the ideal opening red for the dinner course. Dark garnet/purple colored, medium-full bodied, aromatic nose and flavors of a medley of sweet ripe berry fruits accented by slight subtle tones of vanilla, and sweet oak with a whisper of cassis and mocha that are so nicely integrated they're almost indistinguishable in isolation, turning to supple full but silky smooth tannins.

RM 94 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=687176

http://www.josephphelps.com/


Tenuta San Guido Bolgheri Sassicaia Super Tuscan Red Wine 2006

Despite being an Italian wine, this Super Tuscan is a Bordeaux Blend - 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc. In fact, the rootstock for the Cabernet was actually sourced from vines from the innumerable Chateau Lafite Rothschild.

A very different character and style in contrast to the silky smooth smooth polished Backus. This wine begged for hearty food to balance its firm forward concentrated taste profile. It was best paired with the grilled portabello mushrooms.

This was dark garnet colored, full bodied, firm, tight, complex and concentrated black berry fruits accented by a layer of cassis, graphite, smokey creosote and dark expresso, turning to firm tannins on the firm, long, lingering finish.

RM 93 points.

 https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=592899


d'Arenberg Dead Arm Shiraz 2000

We hold close to a dozen vintages of this label and this vintage is one of the bigger, more vibrant and expressive of many our vintages of Dead Arm.

Dark garnet colored, full bodied, rich, thick concentrated, almost chewy, floral, spicy tones of ripe blackberry, black raspberry, with more subtle blueberries and plums, with hints of black pepper and spices turning to structured nicely balanced tannins on a long full finish.

RM 92 points. 

While this could stood in for any course of the dinner, the bright vibrant expressive fruit was best suited for the dessert course that Linda brought with dark chocolates, dried cherries, and fruit tarts with kiwi, strawberry, and grapes. 
 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=7545

Robert Craig Napa Mt Veeder Cabernet 1999

Robert Craig Napa Valley Mt Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 1999

Robert Craig is known for his portfolio of  Napa Valley Cabernets representing "three mountains and a valley" - from Mt Veeder, Howell Mtn and Spring Mtn, three corners of Napa Valley.

Robert Craig has special affection for Mt Veeder being the place where he started his storied career producing fine wines. We've heard him say more than once that Mt Veeder is his favorite of his various labels. With that backdrop, I considered several Robert Craig labels for an intimate steak and rib dinner before settling on this one. We focused on the Mt Veeder appellation during out Napa Valley Wine Experience - Mt Veeder back in 2011.

These pages of full of reviews of his wines and remembrances of numerous visits to the Howell Mountain Estate, and other locations dating back to the early nineties. We hold more than a dozen vintages of several of his labels - one vertical dates back to his inaugural 1993 vintage, perhaps the most deeply held producer in our cellar.

Upon opening, pop and pouring, the room filled with aromas of bright berry fruit. Initial tastes were a bit funky with musty earthiness overtaking the fruit, but this burned off over the course of a half hour or so to reveal bright expressive black and red berry fruits, slightly tart but full bodied, dark garnet colored with a hint of brownish rust color starting to show on the edges, the most apparent indication of its 17 years of age.

The wine eventually revealed itself similar to our last tasting of this release six years ago, the fruit accented by tones of spice and hints of tobacco, tea, earthy leather and cedar, the lingering slight tartness overtaking the residual mocha sweetness of earlier, turning to moderate tannins on the lingering finish.

RM 90 points. This is a point less than my previous tasting review in 2010.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=6531

http://www.robertcraigwine.com 

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 ....