Saturday Night at Anton's with MacDonald and Friends

Just got back from a college visit to Chico with daughter and ex. I figured it was an opportunity to meet Anton in person and pull some corks. He offered to provide the wines. Knowing he had never had a MacDonald I offered to bring one. He accepted with no hesitation. I shipped a 2015 up to him 2 weeks before the trip so it could settle, and he could decant adequately.

Toured the beautiful campus which was a bloom in Springtime with the son (Joseph) of my one of close San Diego wine friends who went to school there, married a local girl he went to college with and lives there now.

We made no specific plans other than to share some wine and laughs. My ex and daughter thought I was nuts going over to drink with someone Id never met or even spoke to. I explained I’ve done it a bunch of times and it always turns into a great experience. They said to call if I needed a rescue operation.

I brought Joseph along to Anton’s as he has been drinking with his dad and I for a few years now. Anton asked how many we would be and if I preferred it just be us. I said the more the merrier and he embraced that. He came through with a great crowd of his wine friends. He also themed with 2015 cabernets and a great complimentary line up.

We arrived and to my surprise the wines were all in decanters labelled letters A – I to be served double blinded which is not something I usually do. I was looking forward to a new experience and hoping the wine I brought would show well. All wines were prepared similarly and decanted 10 to 12 hours.

2015 Roy Piper Cabernet Sauvignon
2015 Christopher Tynan Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Old Vines Meleagris Gallopavo
2015 Rivers Marie Lore Vineyard Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon
2015 Pott Wine Cabernet Sauvignon Turf War Bisagno Vineyard
2015 Alpha Omega Era
2015 A. Rafanelli Cabernet Sauvignon Terrace Select
2015 Peter Michael Les Pavots
2015 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon
2015 MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon

I was mostly trying to socialize with Anton and his friends so did not really take formal notes. Anton took some informal notes though nothing detailed as he was doing the same. It was an epic night of wine and friendship as it always seems to be. I had a great time as did my friends son.

Interestingly the first two wines were the most galvanizing highest and lowest ranked with unanimous agreement. The first was thinnest, most closed down and showed the least complexity. Everyone found it least interesting.

The second was just explosive with great fruit, complexity, firm tannins and finish that just went on and on. Everyone was gaga over this one and I thought this was a wine I’d look forward to drinking again in another 10 years. The other wines were less galvanizing and all exceptionally good but different. The one I was most certain I could identify was the Rafanelli (and I did). I thought the second wine could be mine but did not want to be that guy to try to claim the best as the one I brought only to look foolish. I figured I’d just wait for the reveal, then go back and re taste some of my favorites.

Reveal time. The first wine was Spottswoode which usually underperforms for my pallet so no surprise to me. I think these wines really need a lot more age to come around. The second wine was MacDonald. It stands out in a line up time and time again. This was the first time Id had it blind and up against a bunch of other exceptional wines for that matter. It really says something that it stood so clearly above the others when no one including Anton knew what any of the bottles were. All seemed to agree it was the class of the lineup.

Beyond that I enjoyed the Les Pavots, R-M Lore and to my surprise the Alpha Omega and the Pott to round out my top 5. The Piper was exceptionally good and reminded me of a fruit forward Mike Smith made wine. The Tynan was also particularly good and stood out because it was quite different than the others. The Rafanelli had a green pyrazine note that it always seems to which is not my personal favorite but lessens with lots of age. The Spottswoode underperformed as it always seems to for me.

After getting through the line up we went down to his basement cellar for a tour and to pick an encore. Needless to say, he has a similar affliction many of us share. Anton gave his guests the choice of what to open. After looking around and trying to decide on what to open I asked Joseph what year he was born, and he said 1996. So, we went with a 1996 Dunn H-M. It is a great wine and a treat for Joseph but could have used some air. But it was late in the night and was the sacrificial “one more bottle”. Joseph took the empty home as a souvenir of the night. I suspect his dad and him will find their way back to Anton’s in the future.

Hats off to Anton for putting together such a great line up and group of wine lovers to meet and share the night with. It was truly a great experience meeting likeminded wine lovers. He truly is a Prince!

And the MacDonald hype proves real once again.

Heck of an evening! Thanks for the notes.

Curious what made the Tynan stand out? What’s so different?

Awesome experience as they usually are- great lineup and the kid was in for a treat he never even knew how good it would be.

Not sure if you have had Tynan wines but they need a ton of time to come into its own (the ‘12 MG is just in its drinking window).

Sounds like an awesome event and no surprise on the winner- nicely done!

Great story - sounds epic!

The concern the loved ones have about “internet axe murderers” is always amusing, but of course well-intentioned and normally appropriate, given that they don’t understand that “never met in person” doesn’t mean I haven’t “known” the person in questions for a decade or three…

I don’t know about Chico any time soon, but I’ll likely be in San Diego this Fall, so I may knock on some proverbial doors…

What a night! I lived in Chico 2014 - 2016, wish I had been a Berserker back then

Really cool story and great notes. Some day I hope to try a Macdonald but can’t see paying retail for it. I haven’t noticed any other Iowa berserker’s here, but I’d bring as much heat as I can!

If you travel enough I’m sure you’ll run into some ppl with Mac. I’ve found wb ppl are usually willing to open whatever Covid nonwithstanding

Sounds like an amazing lineup, and delicious memories to treasure over great company. Wish there were more like minded folk in NE Ohio to do things like this with. Cheers.

I laugh at the ex and daughter showing concern. I made wine/dinner plans through WB back in 2019 with people in Sydney, AU during our vacation. The concern from the wife and kids quickly turned to amusement and making fun of me. They said I was going on a Winder date, like Tinder.

Now Winder is a constant source of amusement for them when I start talking wine.

I guess there is a reason why Spottswoode is sometimes referred to as the Margaux of Napa.

I’ve got a bunch of close friends I’ve met through online forums. Some of their wives refer to us as “strange men you met on the Internet”. The funny part is one of my closest friends in SD I met on a local real estate and economics forum. It’s an anonymous forum and we finally met after knowing each other eight years. He’s also an expert on all things cars. Whenever my ex has a car question she’s messages me to ask Fred. He’s a legend in our households and has helped her many times.

That’s one heck of a lineup and fun ending with the Dunn.

Curious how you thought Tynan was different? I’ve opened 2 (including the 2015) and absolutely loved them both but didn’t have anything side by side for comparison. I inventoried recently and discovered I have 3 more bottles of his cabs than I had logged

A couple of you asked about the Tynan and I’ll try to address that. I have a pretty extreme distaste for green bell peppers and correspondingly pyrazines notes in wines. It why the Rafanelli was identifiable to me. When I first tasted what was the Tynan I picked up a small hint of that but not like the Rafanelli. It wasnt off putting but it led me to focus more on the wines I was initially more drawn to. In the Tynan it was accompanied by some baking spices and maybe some slight minty/eucalyptus/pine needle notes. In retrospect it had more complexity than most of the wines. Had there been fewer wines and I been in a setting that I could focus more, its a wine I would have enjoyed spending more time with. It was a lovely elegant wine. Perhaps Anton could add something as we seemed to be in lock step on most of the wines

Let me know if you are headed our way. Im sure we could put together a nice event when you are in town

The only young CA cab I’ve had that beat Macdonald side-by-side is Maybach Materium, 2014.

Great story, huge lineup. Don’t invite me to tour next cab tasting. All I could muster would be the A.Raff and the RM Lore. It’s so nice to have this wine hobby to fall back on to aid/build new relationships and memories. Especially true with NFL fans who only have memories to fall back on because their teams blow now. ::shots fired::
What I really want yo know is if you got to spend any quality time with the Llamas. Followup report?

Loved this post, and these kind of events. Thanks for sharing.

Nice notes on some great wines, David. Sounds like a great trip, and Anton sounds like a very gracious host. Both my wife and son graduated from Chico State and really enjoyed their time up there.

Ed

The Lore was great too. Your name came up and we laughed about the hi jinx. Then I showed Anton the t shirt I wore under my sweatshirt in your honor. Eagles Super Bowl LII champions! Maybe you can help me with something. Will it be thread bare in 26 years or still wearable? You know in case that much time passes before I can get another

Wait! There were llamas?

That night sounds so neat and like so much fun! You guys are Rock Stars!

If I didn’t super-size during that span the stuff would still fit and look quite sharp! I may have a cap in a box in the garage somewhere but I think my head expanded too.