A REALLY NICE TUESDAY NIGHT OF WINES - Somewhere on E. 4th street (12/2/2015)
Last night, my wife and I ventured out to meet another couple for dinner. Normally, we don’t go so crazy on a Tuesday, but finding a spot in our schedules to meet was difficult, so we settled on this. This was a relaxed dinner that took a couple of hours or more. The evening was mostly about conversations, catching up and food, but there was some wine as well.
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2014 Weingut Battenfeld-Spanier Am Schwarzen Herrgott Riesling GG - Germany, Rheinhessen
Light gold in color. Pop and pour, this took a while to open and the last sip was the best. I opened it to try and find a Riesling that our friend Renee would like. Sadly, this was not it. The rest of us seemed to really like it though. The nose has minerals, wet stones and a slight lemon quality. With air a bit of peach emerges. On the palate, this is dry. Great minerality. Nice, not piercing, acidity. The lemon quality carries thru but is in the background. Worked great with food. Nice full body but limber texture. It was baby killing and Renee did not end up liking Riesling, but it was worth the sacrifice. (A Fass Selection Wine) (93 pts.) -
2010 Rhys Chardonnay Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
My wife’s favorite white producer. Pop and pour. I took it out of the fridge about an hour ahead but it still needed a bit more time to warm up. golden in color. The nose has vanilla, peaches, slight grapefruit and lemon curd. Perhaps a bit of baking spice. On the palate, this has a great texture. Although it is dry, it almost has a dessert (in a good way) like feel to it. Lemon curd, vanilla and nutmeg. At 5 years it is slowly entering its adolescence. There is some complexity as it unwinds in the glass. Fresh and vibrant, it worked well with food that had some pretty strong flavors. Still some upside IMO to holding. (94 pts.)
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2006 Carlisle Syrah James Berry Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
A real treat to drink this now that it is finally showing (barely) some maturity. Purple in color. The nose has black raspberries, blueberries, a mineral streak, black pepper and some anise. I think the bottle had been open for a while, and it was open and singing. Great texture. Muscular yet flexible, like a middleweight fighter carrying a big punch. More Thomas Hearns than Sugar Ray Leonard. On the palate, just delicious. Great texture. Layered tightly. Black raspberries, kirsch, black pepper. Great with some spicy Cauliflower Vindaloo. My wife’s WOTN. (95 pts.) -
2010 Booker Vineyard Syrah Fracture - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
This is a big wine. Chris had opened it a few hours earlier which it needed every bit of. Inky purple in color. The nose has black raspberry jam, grilled meats, black pepper and slight black olive notes. Just gorgeous. full bodied and rich. The palate starts out monolithic but then one notices that there are other things going on. First, its a wave of juicy black raspberries, but then some anise, grilled herbs and licorice. More than enough acidity to carry thru to the food. Good finish. Still young but drinking great now. (96 pts.) -
2004 Saxum Broken Stones - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
My last bottle of this. I miss those old labels (still my favorite). As I was packing up, I realized this was an 04. Uh oh. I quickly opened it and checked. The nose was quite reduced and it seemed like a bit of fizz. I did not taste it. I poured it into a decanter and spend the better part of the next 30 minutes swirling it. Then I let it sit until it was time to go. Decanted back into the bottle and off we went. It sat on the table open for about an hour. By the time we got to it, I thought it was drinking great. Purple in color. The nose has black raspberries, slightly gamey meat, black pepper and slight dark chocolate. Full bodied. It still has the lightness of being that characterized Saxums of that era. It dances on the palate despite packing a ton of fruit and alcohol. On the palate, this is delicious. Showing a nice tightly layered complexity. o age at all at 11 years. Blind I would have probably guessed five years younger at least. Great balance. Very food friendly although I will admit my food was not delicately flavored. Long finish. Wish I had more. (94 pts.)
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1994 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve - USA, California, Napa Valley
We were still there, and I brought this for something a bit different. One of the older (in terms of residency) bottles in my cellar. Pop and decant for sediment, this probably could have used a bit more time to breathe. It did open nicely. It was a difficult transition from the big Syrahs for some, but I loved it. Dark ruby in color. The nose is really nice. Cassis, cigars, plums and spice. Medium to full bodied. On the palate, nice, not over powering cassis fruit. Not as complex as a 92 a couple of years ago, but I doubt at this point it ever gets there. At 21, there is a nice complexity, fresh and dried red fruits. There is some complexity and it deserves some contemplation. Always fun to drink a well cellared wine with good friends. (93 pts.)
A great night, not only of wines, but of friendship. Jane and I feel truly blessed to have such great friends.
Posted from CellarTracker