Berserkers,
Last night in Toronto, board member Dylan Provencher and his wife Chelsea hosted a large Toronto contingent with a perfect theme for a -15 Celsius evening with snow squall warnings in effect – California wine night potluck. Nothing like some big Cali reds and some fresh hot homemade food prepared with care and love to warm up the frigid night. While big reds naturally dominated, there were several whites including sparklers and even some dessert wines that made an appearance. Plus some awesome food. Let’s fill our glasses and dig in:
SCHRAMSBERG 2008 BLANC DE NOIRS – During the record-setting 117 email long thread organization leading up to the evening, fellow attendee, board member, diva and princess Jay Shampur noticed that there were no sparkling wine a mere couple of days before the event sending it into a tailspin and causing reorganization of contributions. I’m sad to say I am grateful to His Royal Highness because it ended up resulting in what was for me the easy runaway WOTN. Absolutely delicious sparkler with a rich creamy mouthfeel and nicely balanced red apple and brioche flavors. Very much the equal of any Blanc de Noirs Champagne I’ve ever had and certainly better than a few of them. I overheard many others commenting on their enjoyment.
2011 DOMAINE CARNEROS BY TATTINGER – 50% Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. In contrast, this had less fruit and much more brioche flavor. The fruit was definitely green apple and unripe pineapple indicating the presence of Chardonnay in the blend. Emulates the rich style of Champagne nicely. Tasty, but I was far more enamored of the Schramsberg.
RODNEY STRONG 2018 SAUVIGNON BLANC – Fruit forward with nice hints of white grapefruit pith and grassiness, this was a dense Sauvignon Blanc that I find typical of the Cali style. I much prefer the crisper New Zealand style myself but this was still pretty good. Just note it will be less acidic and more fruity than you might be used to if you prefer cold climate Sauvignon Blanc.
TALBOTT 1996 CHARDONNAY – I was lucky to get a glass of this because people blew right through this and rightfully so. My note to myself was a simple two words: creamy perfection. However you feel about Cali Chard, take all the typical notes – buttery, vanilla, big oak, baked apple – and then blend and age them to perfection and this is the wine you end up with. Stunning and gave the Schramsberg a run at WOTN and I’m betting it absolutely was for a lot of people. There was an empty bottle of 2013 I only noticed later on in the evening. Too bad I missed out, it would’ve been great to compare them against each other. Instead I had to settle for…
KISTLER 2001 HYDE VINEYARD CHARDONNAY – Very mild nose almost non-existent nose that completely contrasts with the super big brioche, butter and green apple flavors on the palate. Creamy body. Per Mike Grammer, this has seen lots of oak.
CHALK HILL 2010 CHARDONNAY – Smooth and buttery texture, baked green apple fruit, well integrated. Both this and the Kistler were delicious. For some reason, I was really digging what I call the “baked apple pie” style of California Chardonnay tonight. With this said, I can see why Burgundy purists scoff as I’m now experienced enough to see the marked difference between Cali Chard and crisp Chablis and bold Meursault which are my two personal go-tos for white Burgundy. Burghounds should definitely beware of these two.
TOM EDDY 1997 CABERNET SAUVIGNON – This was a trophy magnum bottle that showed seepage in the cork and caused great worry. So I made sure to try it promptly after it was opened. And honestly if I’d waited a few minutes longer, there would be no note because it descended into corked bad enough that Dylan simply took the bottle away.
There was definitely a slight corkiness on the nose but on the palate, at least at the time that I got to it, there were still quite strong tannins and the evolution from fruit to umami was just starting. Pairing this with smoothed it out and it was actually quite beautiful with our charcuterie appetizer. As it warmed up and the chill came off of the bottle, however, everyone told me that the cork taint magnified with it and it was toast. This isn’t the first time I’ve had a wine that is just barely passable but then ends up destroyed by taint before an evening is over. I wonder if a lower temperature holds some of the effects of cork taint at bay before it fully blooms and ruins a bottle.
RAMEY 2002 DIAMOND MOUNTAIN DISTRICT CABERNET SAUVIGNON – Second oldest cab of the night, this one has much less plum flavor than the younger cabs and is more savory, but has not yet started the transition over into umami territory yet. Very smooth texture.
2005 THE HATTRICK CABERNET SAUVIGNON – Rich purple plum nose and flavors with a nice undertone of coffee. In fact, that made it play a bit unusually more like a Cali Zin than a Cali cab. Nice wine.
2015 STAGS’ LEAP PETITE SYRAH – Young, still quite tannic but very fruit forward with cherry and raspberry flavors and surprisingly high acidity and a lighter body than you would expect. Delicious.
ALPHA OMEGA 2010 PROPIETARY RED – By far the biggest wine of the night, huge but delicious plum and cherry flavor with big tannins. You know exactly what you’re getting with an Alpha Omega and it delivers in spades.
RIVERS-MARIE VERTICAL
2007 SUMMA OLD VINES PINOT NOIR: And now we switch to the other big Cali red, of course the Pinots are up. Fragrant “pencil lead” nose with flavors of ripe red cherries and rosewater. A slight touch of salinity. Smooth completely integrated tannins. Very good structure.
2017 OCCIDENTAL RIDGE PINOT NOIR: Obviously this is quite younger than its predecessor, and it shows in the far more intense cherry fruit. Smooth texture as well, no detectable tannins.
KUTCH 2013 MACDOUGALL PINOT NOIR – Young and strong, typical pencil lead nose and intense fruit that leans slightly more towards plum than cherry. Interestingly the tannins are detectable despite being aged more than the Rivers-Marie 2017. Could use more time but this will be excellent for sure.
2014 TALBOTT PINOT NOIR – Easily the most delicate in body of the Pinots, almost but not quite approaching Burgundy structure. Besides that, strong cherry fruit and pencil lead nose and flavors.
CARLISLE 2016 ZINFANDEL – Sweet and fruity with tobacco accents. Tannin completely integrated. Interestingly, though, the fruit becomes lost when paired with food and even becomes a tad bitter. Much better on its own which indicates to me it needs some time to evolve.
LILLIAN 2011 NO 01 SYRAH – POWERhouse Syrah with Bing cherry, black pepper and sea salt flavor. Really young and strong and needs both time and food. Mike Grammer says it was much more approachable towards the end of the evening when it had a lot more air.
CAIN FIVE VERTICAL – The first of the evening’s double main event was a vertical of Cain Five, a well regarded California Meritage blend wine. We took on 96, 99, 09 and 10 vintages:
1996: Smooth body, a touch savory with rich blackberry, plum and black pepper flavor typical of Bordeaux. There seemed to be a little controversy as I have a note that Peter says it was corked but I didn’t really detect any taint. This is approachable but not mind blowing, I think it’s reached its peak.
1999: The 99 has a bit higher acidity than the previous bottle and is less savory but slightly fresher.
2009: Interestingly, I detected some pencil lead on the nose I usually detect with Cali Pinot. This was the most tannic of the vertical and I felt it was not approachable and needed more time. Actually, so did Walter who was doing the serving and he actually served the 2010 before this one.
2010: Despite being a year younger, this was much more approachable than the 09. Smoother in body, only a slightly sandy feel to the tannins and a noticeable hint of vanilla from the oak.
BERINGER NIGHTINGALE VERTICAL – The namesake wine of the late Myron and Alice Nightingale, who pioneered the use of botrytis in California and really brought it to the forefront when they joined Beringer in the 70’s. If you’re unaware, the method the Nightingale’s pioneered was to pick ripe California semillon and sauvignon blancs and lay them in trays. But instead of drying the grapes, they sprayed them with botrytis spores and placed them in a humid environment. This unique hybrid appasimento/botrytised method earned them acclaim, a rightful place in California’s wine history, and a famous namesake dessert wine. Walter generously provided the 94, 02 and 06 vintages.
1994: Dark brown color, obviously maderized quite a bit. Lots of burnt sugar toffee and dried pineapple and lemon flavors. A touch heavy on the palate due to the advanced maderization but saved by very high acidity that comes through on the finish.
2002: Much more toffee than fruit, far more advanced than it should be. Some nuttiness in there too, almost like a Vin Santo. The 96 is much better.
2006: This has the least maderization of all three bottles, but it’s still dark brown and is far ahead of where it should be. Toffee nose, toffee and dried pineapple on the palate. Acidity still very high. Actually surprisingly similar to the 94 but much fresher due to its youth. All three wines are surprisingly light on body compared to an equivalent aged Sauternes or TBA.
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. I didn’t, unfortunately, get to everything.