While dining in San Francisco with dear friend, Mel Knox, who I had just seen a week or so ago at a COL for our mutual dear friend, Jim Clendenen:
1999 AU BON CLIMAT CUVEE ISABELLE CALIFORNIA PINOT NOIR- my last bottle of many and the perfect time and company to share it with; all I’d had before had been stupendous and this bottle was the best of all; IMHO, it was the best wine I’ve had in 2021 and Ive had a few stellar wines; Jim crafted wines for both his children {son Knox was named after Mel} and did so in the year they were conceived, in this case, 1994 for Isabelle; the 99 was a blend of the crème de la crème barrels from choice vineyard sources including Bien Nacido and Sanford & Benedict, but included other sources outside of Santa Barbara County; thus, the California notation on the label.
The color was a pure medium/ dark red with no signs of aging; the nose offered nice inviting cinnamon and spicy red and black fruit which on the palate translated into black raspberry and red and black cherry; it had a silky smooth mouthfeel, was in perfect balance and held a steady course throughout the entire evening; this was the whole package and I’m searching for more superlatives to give it it’s due honor; how about this? It’s the best wine I’ve had this year.
I am the guilty party who got Jim started out mega bottles back in the '90s. At first these bottles were cool. We weren’t thinking about carbon footprint. Jim used to use a lot of these bottles but now they are used for just two wines.
Blake, let’s not forget to mention the '09 Mt Eden Reserve Chardonnay. Jeffrey Patterson, who made the wine, came to Jim’s COL. That wine was equally wonderful.
Mel, I wanted to feature the Isabelle solely and agree, the 09` Mt. Eden was really good and your backup to the corked 2007 Ici-La- Bas Elke Vineyard Anderson Valley Chardonnay . Here’s my notes:
2009 MOUNT EDEN VINEYARDS SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS RESERVE CHARDONNAY- this was in a perfect place; it was full bodied, super rich and savory; following the yellow gold color came aromas of honeysuckle, golden delicious apple and orange zest which continued on to the back end while being delivered in a creamy textured medium; it was yummy and the perfect antidote to replace a flawed bottle.
Mel answered your question Chris, but I’ll add that the dark glass and its heavy weight has fooled many a person when thinking there was more to pour and it was empty. I kept holding up our bottle to the light to ensure there was more and thankfully, there was until there was not.
