So a few weeks back I got word that we were going to be having our national sales summit in none other than Mil-U-Wa-Kay (que Wane’s World references here), so naturally my first thought was, I’ve got to see if my man Alex Stewart is around to pop some bottles! Alex was just getting back from a huge conference himself but since we’ve never had the chance to meet in person and we were long overdue to drink some wine together, he agreed to suck it up and connect pretty much straight from the airport.
Being that Alex is my Bedrock Brother from another mother, the theme for the night pretty much went without saying. I squeezed a couple special bottles into my suitcase and Alex, being the kinda guys he is (take that however you want , brought 3. 5 killer bottles of Bedrock for the 2 of us? Yeah…that sounds about right.
Alex suggested Odd Duck restaurant and it did not disappoint. Crazy good food, friendly staff…and apparantley one of the few places in town that allows corkage. Win/Win. What’s even better, is that literally every single bottle showed incredibly well. This was definitely an instance of where the company/environment elevated the wine to another level…but damn…this was easily the strongest lineup of Bedrock wines I’ll probbaly ever see again in a single sitting. My notes are limited as we were having too much fun shooting the shit/enjoying the wines…but Alex is WAY better at tasting notes than me anyway so you can go off of his comments. Another example of this board creating friendships, and bringing like-minded people together in the pursuit of great wine and good times. Cheers!
2009 cuvee caritas
Note the C as opposed to the K (pre-lawsuit). What a treat, as I cant imagine there’s too many of these gems around anymore. I had a 2012 Karatas not long ago and swore I would wait a long time before opening another. This 09, on the other hand, was in an absolutely perfect spot. The Semillon really shines here, with a beautiful foral nose, and on the palate, a bit of honey and some fig to round things out. No rush at all, but damn is this tasty now. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Most Bedrock (and Carlisle) whites show soooo much better with some age. Perfect way to kick things off - thanks Alex!
2008 Bedrock #2 (Merlot/Cab Blend)
My wine. Solid…but in this company…easily my least favorite. No rush on this, but it opened up quickly, and had a nice soft/plushness to it (probably thanks to the Merlot), but the cab adds some structure. Violets and plums. Tannins are present but not harsh. Alex said chalky, which is spot on. Really good wine, but simply outshined by the rest of the lineup.
2011 Puccini Vineyard Zinfandel
Good God. This smells like Smurfs running on rainbows! Absolutely explosive on the nose. Wow! So much going on it’s hard to nail down. Spicy…but not the typical zinfandel baking spice. Dark purple and black fruits on the palate. Delicious and incredibly complex. After 45 minutes the tannins kick in and the wine shuts down some, hinting at years of enjoyment still to come. I was fortunate to have this at the Bedrock vineyard last year with Brian Tuite, Andrew Johnstone, and Chris Cotrell (thanks again Brian for bringing this) and it was WOTD then, and proved yet again to be my favorite of the night amongst VERY stiff competition. Alex’s wine. Another super limited bottle.
2007 Bedrock Heirloom
Mmmm. This is awesome. In an ideal place right now, with the acidity playing perfectly with the fruit. High toned citrus with purple fruits. Drinking so well, but theres still some tannin left on the finish hinting at 5+ years more of development. Later in the night this opened up even further with an awesome and very distinct note of menthol. Alex said fresh pack of Newports, which being a Newport smoker back in high school (#BadChoices), I completely agreed with. A very close 2nd place for WOTN, and an absolutle home run considering this was Morgan’s first vintage. My bottle. 1 left that I’ll hold for some time, as these are pretty much impossible to find.
2012 Weil #3
Last bottle of the night, so super limited notes. All I can say is that this was an absolutely delicious. I was shocked at how well it was drinking, but it will obviously hold/improve for many years to come. Purple fruits and just a slight bit of meat, but not to the point of being overwhelming (which is a very good thing for me). Would be nice to open another one of these with fresh eyes/palate, but very thankful I was able to try this as I have a couple in the cellar. Feel like Morgan nailed exactly what he was shooting for here. Alex’s bottle.