I don’t post around here that much but for those that know me I am a die hard high end cal cab fan. I am also a member of a Los Angeles based fine wine group that has met monthly for many years now. We are known as the X-pensive Winos.
Last night, our friend Jeff Nowak came to town and in his honor we held a pretty terrific Cult Cab dinner at Josie’s in Santa Monica featuring a number of high scoring collectibles and the results were interesting, significant and worth sharing.
First off, let me share the line up:
We started the night off with our welcome wine warm-up exercises and stretching
96 Salon Le Mesnil
03 Marcassin, Marcassin Vineyard
The first flight was served with a fantastically prepared quail wrapped in applewood smoked bacon and floated on a bed of beluga lentils mixed with Merguez sausage.
94 Dalla Valle Maya
95 Araujo
94 Bryant
94 Shafer Hillside
The second flight featured Mesquite-grilled prime New York Steak.
97 Colgin Herb Lamb Vineyard
97 Abreu
97 Pahlmeyer
97 Harlan
Our third flight was served with braised short ribs
01 Schrader Beckstoffer
01 Colgin Cariad
01 Harlan
01 Sloan
01 Matriarch
Dessert and a cheese course featured the following wines:
NV Jonata de Miel
05 Sine Qua Non Noble Man
01 Alban Rotten Luck
When the dinner was originally conceived, the idea was to taste some of these mythic, collectible wines and there was really only one caveat: they had to be at least 10 years old.
There is more than a casual theory that California Cabernets are best consumed in their first 5-8 years of age. Many people believe this theory and whether it is true really depends on so many variables and factors.
Within our group of 13 experienced tasters, this topic generates some heated debate so opinions vary even among the most tested palates.
For those who believe these wines should be opened in their youth, here are some interesting tidbits to chew on:
My favorite flight of the night was the first flight with the aged wines.
My least favorite flight of the night was surprisingly the 2001 flight and going into the dinner, I expected that flight to blow me away. It did, but for all the wrong reasons.
The consensus wines of the night were pretty evenly split between the 97 Colgin and the 95 Araujo.
The 97 Harlan sucked. Many in our group have tasted this wine repeatedly and it is the latest example of opening a pristine bottle that is severely flawed. To head off any questions, yes, it was impeccably sourced. It was purchased on release and stored in a temperature controlled cellar. It is the most recent example of this controversial wine showing strong VA and a heavy acetate/nail polish component.
The 2001 flight was for the most part underwhelming and unimpressive given the hype, scores, price and cult status of these wines. What was most remarkable about the line up was the similarity in taste and style. They were for the most part distinguished as being overripe, hot, and they shared the same stylistic DNA. This “sameness” is a sad state of affairs in California wines. Some would suggest this was the year where wines really started the grave turn towards being “Parkerized,” as owners, winemakers and consultants sought to create wines that conformed to one man’s taste and palate. I have no idea whether that is true. What does seem crystal clear is that these wines are all made to match a style as opposed to the flight of 94s (and one 95) or the 97s. In those flights, the wines really showed their distinctive profiles and terroir.
One of the most surprising wines of the night was the Matriarch. It showed very well against its flight mates but given the way the other wines were received, that is not saying all that much J
The 03 Marcassin Chardonnays are in their absolute prime. They are frickin’ glorious wines. I have enjoyed two bottles in the past few weeks and they are insanely good and you are lucky if you have these in your cellar. The Marcassin Marcassin and The Three Sisters are some of the finest California chardonnays I can recall ever drinking.
The Maya wines from the early to mid-90s were much better in their youth and, to my palate, are not wines that were meant for long-term aging.
As for the flights:
94 Maya – it had a compelling nose and some complexity, but the fruit faded fast in the glass. Was a bit better but still showed similarly to bottles i have had from the early 90s in the last few years. Pop and pour these bottles and drink em up.
95 Araujo – Loved it. My wine of the night. It was rich, had a great grip and mouthfeel, and good amount of dark cherry and plums, and sage. Still has good life in it and years of pleasurable drinking ahead. We had this wine 3 years ago at another similar dinner and it also towered back then.
94 Shafer Hillside – A fantastic bottle and was a close second for my wine of the flight. Great earthy characteristics, leather, tobacco, mushroom and a bit of that barnyardy taste that was just enough to make it add character and complexity but not so much that it was an overbearing distraction. Really, really liked it.
94 Bryant – A wine I liked a lot more in its early days when it was still a primal, blueberry infused baby. A good bottle that would have been fine standing alone with a slab of meat but in a lineup like this was a bit outgunned.
97 Harlan – A controversial mess. I have had only one good example of this wine and that was about 6 or 7 years ago. Ever since then, every single bottle we have tasted has been damaged. I wanted this wine in the line up with the hope of disproving the voices of the damned who are “simply wrong” but sadly, this bottle only added to our track record of dissatisfaction. Very frustrating.
97 Colgin Herb Lamb – Wow good. Still big, rich, and delicious. Lots of blackberry, blueberry, and trademark notes of dill. I thought it was in great shape and still had lots of gas in the tank. One Wine-O called this “the prototypical great Colgin.” Another said “this is a signature wine. If there is terroir, this has it.” Still another said of the flight” “I can’t understand anyone liking any other wine other than the Colgin.”
97 Abreu – One of our members remarked that these wines have always been more hype than drinking glory as they never live up to his expectation based on the love Parker and others shower upon them. I disagree. This was a very good bottle. It showed a nicely aged earthy characteristic that I love to see in the evolution of well made cal cabs that can stand up to some age.
97 Pahlmeyer – Showed pedigree but to me, was lacking just a wee bit. Really more of a medium mouthfeel and short finish but still all components were nicely integrated.
01 Harlan – I liked this wine plenty and believe of all the wines we tasted from 2001 last night, this one has probably the most potential to actually improve in 5-8 years. That said, others in the group thought the Matriarch was a better wine.
01 Sloan, 01 Colgin, 01 Schrader Beckstoffer: Let me share some of the voices from last night. “This is the vintage where I started collecting these wines seriously and I am very disappointed.” Another said “these were a hot ****ing mess.” One called the experience “like drinking Robitussin. They are almost undrinkable.” Still another expressed himself saying he was “confused and saddened.” One summed it best by saying “these are mythic wines we have chased for years and they are all trying to be the same.”
Will they ever even out and come around and be better drinking experiences? There was a lot of chatter about the long term viability of these wines relative to their scores, price point and drinking pleasure.
Time will tell. Most of the members of my group believe they are falling apart fast. Some believe they were never that great to begin with…
Many of us relied on Parker’s palate to discover the superstars in the first two flights and that same genius skill was at play in testing and tasting these other wines that we rejected so powerfully last night. That said, I do remember tasting and liking the wines of the early to mid 90s a helluva lot more through their evolution to today.
This is why tastings like this are so illuminating to me and the members of this community.
As for the members of the X-Pensive Winos…Thank you again for digging deep into your cellars… Great night. Great food. Great company, as always.
Really enjoyed re-connecting with Jeff Nowak and our merry band of wine brothers.