Over the weekend I visited John Webber and some friends in San Antonio. It was a great weekend and these are just two of the 20 or so amazing wines we consumed. I will work to hopefully get the others up as well.
Some other news to pass along to the TX berserkers, Le Reve is apparently closing and Il Cogno was very nice for lunch on the new section of the Riverwalk.
2005 Scarecrow - Nose of spearmint, cassis, and black fruits. The nose is very clean and linear with the mint really shining in the forefront (albeit not detracting). On the palate the wine shows profound depth in its black fruit and an immense finish. Perhaps the most amazing part is the roundness of the tannin, very pleasant. Everyone was pleasantly surprised by this wine, it was not the ooze monster we had all stereotyped it to be, but instead very well balanced, complex, and intriguing.
2005 Bevan Cellars Showket Vineyard - Why open one beutiful CA cab when you can open two. The Bevan was very similar on the nose to the Scarecrow showing slightly less mint and more pine notes with higher levels of zip/acid. Also a georgeous wine on the palate, perhaps being even slightly deeper than the Crow. The one defining characteristic for this wine was that it had slightly rougher edges and was just bit sharper (this is in the eyes of the taster as to wether it is a good or bad thing).
Too close to call in my opinion. The Scarecrow was much more seemless and probably offered up a bit more complexity, but I rather enjoyed the snappier Bevan…How can you lose really, both were great wines with great company.