TN's: Houston's with the Boys - Futo, Ovid, SHS, Konsgaard

BIG CABS WITH THE BOYS - Houston’s (5/13/2009)

Five “Bad Boys”(goof balls?) got together for our semi-regular Houston’s drink-a-thon. The theme was Big Cabs which I own maybe one buried bottle of so in the hopes of including something that might actually work with dinner I brought a low end Bordeaux and a 30 year old classic Cali Cab. The Bordeaux had too much funk to be enjoyable and my Sterling was corked! Foiled again! All around a fun night as always even if the wines this time left me wanting.

• 2007 Sine Qua Non Stripes & Stars - USA, California, Central Coast
  Very dark in color and without the viscosity of the previous version. Leaner styled but big fruited and tart. Cranapple like character but short and with a touch of spritz. A let down from previous efforts.
• 2004 Kongsgaard Chardonnay The Judge - USA, California, Napa Valley
  Huge nose of spiced baked fruits. More baked fruit character on a thick ripe palate. Made me think of a dry dessert wine. Definitely on the cocktail end of the spectrum. Not of my favorite style but I know of lots of people this would appeal to.
• 2005 Mount Eden Vineyards Chardonnay Estate Bottled Santa Cruz Mountains - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Tight nose with an odd sulfury soapy smell. Lot’s of dense fruit and well balanced. Some butterscotch notes later on add some interest but this really seems to be screaming for age and the concentrated fruit should pay off some bottle time in spades.
  
  
  
• 2003 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select - USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District
  Bright fruity nose that smelled like a big styled Cali Pinot showing some ripe raspberries and chocolate. Light elegant palate feel with lot’s of chocolate and mocha. Seemed to lack concentration to me and had some lingering heat. A pretty cocktail wine but not what I think of as Cabernet.
• 2005 Futo OV - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
  Ripe nose showing some stewed fruits. Soft palate with mocha. Heat and late acting tannins. Lot’s of bottles like this for $8 but I guess they don’t use such expensive oak and vineyard properties.
• 2005 Futo - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
  Thick and soft with tons of grips. Plenty of concentration and showing lots of chocolate. There is signs of ripe fruits on the nose. This needs some time but not sure where it will end up. A big bruiser Napa wine that didn’t show us a lot today.
• 2005 Ovid Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley
  Sharp Zin like ripe nose. Tight palate with lots of grip. On the leaner side and soft. Needs some time to unwind but the ripeness says not a lot of time. Brutal for $175+.
• 1980 Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon Limited Cask Reserve Selection - USA, California, Napa Valley
  Old dusty nose with slight signs of oxidation. Somewhat flat but with good acids. Shows some straight forward cedar. Would have liked more complexity but is still well alive and drinking nicely. Better with dinner. Drink up.
• 1978 Sterling Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve - USA, California, Napa Valley
  Complex nose initially but clearly a note of TCA in the background that only grew with air. Crap. What a shame as there was clearly plenty of fruit left on the palate that was rapidly being crushed. NR (flawed) [suicide.gif]
• 2000 Château d’Escot Aux Sorbiers - France, Bordeaux, Médoc
  This held up very well over 3 days and could go longer. First night shows some barnyardy brett along with some meaty notes. Palate is lean and tight with strong acidity. Third day the brett has stepped aside leaving a cigar ash note on the nose with some strong dense cedary wood. Palate is straight forward traditional Can showing some cassis and redwood. Not much complexity but very reminiscent of an simpler older 80’s Cali Cab. Good wine for the price but lacks complexity. Should live for at least a few more years before fading.

Posted from CellarTracker

Cris, thanks for the great notes. Here is what I thought.

OVERPRICED CABS - Houston’s (5/13/2009)

After tasting these wines and for the most part enjoying them, I would say the word “overpriced” is a good term to describe them.

• 2005 Mount Eden Vineyards Chardonnay Estate Bottled Santa Cruz Mountains - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  I had this open for most of the day but that was no substitute for age. Very expressive. Somewhat toasty and a little bit of funk. Rich palate with white fruits and minerals. A fairly big chard but not sweet or buttery. Showing nice structure. I won’t be touching my other bottles for at least 4 years. (92 pts.)
• 2004 Kongsgaard Chardonnay The Judge - USA, California, Napa Valley
  Pricing aside, I ended up enjoying this wine. At first it was rather dull but by the end of the evening it became a tasty cocktail with just enough acidity to keep me awake. The biggest down side is its sweetness. Actually candy sweet so I would probably only be able to take 1 glass. I am very curious where this will be in 4 or 5 years.
  
  
  
• 1980 Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon Limited Cask Reserve Selection - USA, California, Napa Valley
  This is drinking very nicely. I smooth somewhat simple aged cab. Working well with food. The fruit is alive, well and youthful.
• 2003 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select - USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District
  Hah I thought this was a Mag when I saw the bottle. That thing is huge … I don’t mean nothin by it … I just sayin its big. In the end this was decanted about 3 hours. The wine is smooth, sweet and tasty. Not much tannin. A soft wine. I really liked the purity. I enjoyed this but again, the price is laughable.
• 2005 Futo OV - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
  This one I actually got to taste over 3 days. It probably drank best and softest on the second day. On the first 2 days there was wood, blue fruits and some flowers but overall just fairly dull. On the third day the wine was oxidized and smelled like VA. At least on the second day the wine was tasty. Rich and sweet but still incredibly strong tannins. The tannins never showed any balance with the rest of the wine. I like tannin but this was a bit over the top. With some short time aging this should drink well but does not seem to have characteristics to outlive the tannin. (87 pts.)
• 2005 Futo - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
  Not sure what to make of this. Tannins are hard as nails. Had elements of chewing on a toothpick. As the evening went on this showed some improvement. Lots of fruit but somewhat hidden at this stage. A bruiser but I didn’t find it opulent. The hope is that it will age but I don’t know. Seemed a bit dull to me. I have one bottle that I will hold. I would have liked to try this the next day, like I did with the OV.
• 2005 Ovid Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley
  This wine is bright and lively. Bright fruits and acid were made even more apparent when drank next to the Futo. Very tasty in a flashy sort of way.

Cheers,

Jason

Wow. I’ve had the 2003 Hillside exactly once and I thought it was great. It didn’t seem thin to me at all. I definitely got thick chewy chocolate notes from it. (Note: we had it alone and so didn’t compare it to any other cab’s which is perhaps the reason it didn’t seem thin.)

thanks for the notes

I would not call what I tasted thin.

Ah okay, I guess it was Chris’ Cali Pinot mention that got me thinkin’ that way.

Have you tasted the Cali Pinots that get drank in these parts

I have!

Well I never said “thin” and I wouldn’t. It just smelled like a big Pinot to me which surprised the hell out of me. Plus for such a young Cab it didn’t have ton of concentration on the palate. I’m sure some folks dig it but it’s very far from what I like about Cab.

I thought I was supposed to be the jerk. Nice title dude.

Oh yeah, this event. Yeah, I misplaced my invite - dang it.

Did you read the notes? You should be thankful.

I’m surprised such big CA names preformed so poorly…

Poorly for my palate but I’m not surprised in that regard. I’m sure one or two at the table might have disagreed though.

Is this the same Houston’s as we have here in our fine city?

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That’s the one. Their whole group of restaurants is corkage free.

Whoa, I’ll have to check it out in Boston and see if they do corkage.

LOVE their burgers.

Nope, not in MA they say.

They did mention the CA restos have BYO. ANNOYING!!

“…in the laaaaaa-nd of the FREE…and the hoooooo-me of theeeee braaaaaaave!” [rolleyes.gif]

Thanx for putting the notes up, guys. Interesting set of wines. My brief takes on them.

SQN Stripes and Stars: tasty, but what Rose isn’t? For the tariff, forgettaboutit. Thanx for sharing, Robo.

Kongsgaard Chard: I’m with Jason on this; started off as a big oaky mess, but by the end of the night, I was really enjoying it. Became more integrated, stylish, complex. Thanx, Robo, for this.

Mount Eden Chard: I really love these, but this needs some time… by the end of the evening, the Kongsgaard was wupping this.

Shafer HSS: this was outstanding. Not a fruit bomb at all, elegant and balanced, nothing angular about it. Just drank really nicely. Again, thanx, Robocop… you really outdid yourself that night!!!

Inglenook Cab: got this from Winebid for $15. Definitely has that old Cab nose with cedar and leather. Still lots of fruit and a gob of acidity. In fact, 4 days later, this wine had not deteriorated one bit. Kind of amazing how it held up. It was very good with my filet, cutting thru the fat nicely. And at lunch on Sunday, it was very good with grilled chicken tacos.

Futo: This was no doubt a huge wine, with lots of mocha. Still, I thought it was quite balanced, and that the future might be good for it. On Sunday, when the 1/2 glass left was tried, a ton of vanilla had materialized. I don’t like vanilla in my wine. How did it get there? Is this the future of this wine? I hope not.

OV: The baby Futo was not such a baby. But for the moment, I liked it a lot for what it was. Thanx, Jason.

Ovid: This was another big boy, with lots red fruit and the kind of acidity I like. Nicely balanced despite the lushness. Thanx, Dr. Lin.

I don’t remember the Bordeaux at all… I need to take notes …

A nice gathering, as usual, of the NOBBs. The food at Houston’s was better than ever… my filet was absolutely perfect. And how many places have zero corkage. As usual, we were the envy of the other diners with our large number of bottles in front of us… they are babe magnets, no doubt, but we are very disciplined.