A big BIG thanks to everyone for their generosity. What started out as concern about the budget turned into a lineup that holds its own with any in the Boston Poker history, IMO.
pregame
1991 Oakford Cabernet
2006 Kim Crawford SpitFire Sauv Blanc
starter sparkler
1996 Charles Ellner Champagne Brut “Seduction”
starter whites
2007 Matthiasson White Wine
2007 Scholium Project The Prince In His Caves Farina
1997 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate
1996 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve
1997 Gallo of Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon Stefani
1996 Spring Mountain Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
2007 Substance Merlot
2005 Clos de los Siete (Michel Rolland) Clos de Los Siete
2003 Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon
2005 Sojourn Cabernet Sauvignon
1998 Turley Petite Sirah Hayne Vineyard
2004 Turley Petite Sirah Hayne Vineyard
2005 Alban Vineyards Syrah Reva Alban Estate Vineyard
postgame
1999 Vérité La Muse
2003 Domaine le Murmurium Côtes du Ventoux Opera
Zach’s photos reminded me that, in addition to all the wine, we also had 2 excellent Sake’s that Tom generously brought to enjoy with the Korean cuisine we all enjoyed. I know nothing about the finer points of Sake but preferred the 'green" bottle over the “brown”
The 96 / 97 flight was to compare the two vintages, and I have to tell you I liked all four of the wines. The 97 Montelena was probably my favorite, but i;m still up in the air as to which vintage over all I like better
Thanks for all of the great wine selections yesterday. It was a fascinating line-up.
All the wines were served blind. In that setting, I really felt that the '97 Montelena stood out as wine of the day (though I had the wine pegged as a '96–indeed, I only guessed correctly on 2 of the 4 wines in that '96 vs. '97 Cali Cab flight!). That was followed for me by the '96 Spring Mountain Reserve and the 2003 Pride Cabernet (of which I was seduced by the enveloping texture as much as anything else) as my next two favorites.
A few boasting points: There was no doubt in my mind that the wine that turned out to be the '05 Clos de los Siete was our one Non-US wine. I would never have guessed it to be this producer or from this terroir, however, as I have previously pooh-poohed the last several vintages of this wine as boring and flat. But this was very good. It was also easy in my opinion to pick out the “cheapie” as the '07 Substance Merlot, though I was sure it was a low-end Cali Syrah.
Other favorites were the '05 Sojourn Cabernet and definitely the after-hours '99 Verite La Muse. In fact, that Verite would have been in my top 3 had it been in the official line-up.
Another wine that stood out was the '05 Alban Reva–that wine had a really unique bouquet of bacon fat, grilled meat, hard plastic, beef jerky, roast beef jus, black pepper and blackberry fruit that was pretty intriguing. But it had the texture and weight of a milkshake in the mouth, and that was just a bit too tough to handle, especially after 20 other wines…
Perhaps in a similar vein, the Scholium Project wine was an absolute hoot to taste. I am pretty sure none of us could recall ever tasting (or smelling) any wine quite like it before. It was so far off the reservation that it had no reference point, and that made it both exciting and dubious at the same time. The crazy hazy appearance, the wild pina colada nose, the intensely exotic tropical fruit profile–all were fascinating but ultimately hard to imagine drinking with anything other than a bananas foster dessert or something. I like unique and different (see the '96 Kalin Semillon I served at the last poker at my house), so I am glad for wines of its ilk.
How was the '97 Stefani? I always thought that wine was a pretty amazing effort from Gallo and after having many bottles over a period from '99 to '04, it did not seem be a wine that would fade quickly.
Zach how did the '05 Clos de Los Siete compare to the '06 we had in Dallas?
Any additional thoughts on the Sojourn cabenet? I love the pinots, but never tried the cabernet. What style would you say they are in? Mountainside or valley floor? More subtle or up-front? Thank you.
Matthiasson White is a blend… 75% Sauvigonon Blanc, 20% Semillon, 5% Ribolla Gialla. Early picked SB from Ryan’s vineyard.
Late picked Semillon from Oro Puro Vineyard and Ribolla from Vare Vineyard. Only 40 cases made
Thanks again to Kyle for organizing and to Tom for the outstanding Korean food! Some brief notes I scribbled. All wines, except champagne, tasted blind.
1996 Charles Ellner Champagne Brut “Seduction” - This is the second bottle of 96 from my cellar that has shown great potential, but was marred by singificant oxidation. Hazelnuts, strong yeasty bread and lemons on the nose, but signifcantly masked with a strong sherry note. Good balance of sweet and dry on the palate.
2007 Matthiasson White Wine - Crisp limestone and honeysuckle on the nose. Quite tart and acidic on the palate. Nicely constructed, but just lacking a little bit in depth and texture - like a very nicely constructed Cali chard without any oak.
2007 Scholium Project The Prince In His Caves Farina -Cloudy golden appearance - looks like a wine still going through fermentation and actually tasted that way a little bit. Very exotic nose of peaches, mangoes, grapefruit and coconut. Like a fermented Tropicana Twister. Very different on the palate - grassy sauvignon blanc like on the attack with a weird herbal note on a very dry finish. The only consistency between nose and palate was grapefruit. This was my first Scholium and I can see why Abe has the mad scientist reputation! Really interesting intellectually, but not a iwne I could see sitting down to enjoy with a meal.
2006 Pali Wine Co. Pinot Noir Keefer Ranch Vineyard - Menthol, cherry cola and burnt caramel on the nose -screams new world pinot. Tight black cherry fruit on the palate with a nice structure - a twinge of herbal/medicinal on the finish which I personally liked but some found offputting.
2006 Pali Wine Co. Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard - My star of this flight. Bright black cherry, clove and smoky earth. Bright red fruit and a litlle meatiness on the palate.
2006 Pali Wine Co. Pinot Noir Inman Olivet Vineyard - Sweet floral perfumed cola on the nose. A little sweet and simple compared to the Shea, but a nice crisp cranberry note on the finish.
1997 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate - My WOTN and I beleive the group’s favorite as well. Leather, juniper and bright red fruit dominate on the nose with a nice undercurrent of dark loamy earth. Beautifully balanced and structured on the palate with rich red fruit nicely set off with roasted coffee and elegant mineral structure. Long, lively youthful finish. A gorgeous bottle.
1996 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve - Eucalyptus, nice ripe black fruit with a strong mineral backbone. Nice rich earthy black fruit on the palate. Very nice bottle of wine, suffered from following the Montelena.
1997 Gallo of Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon Stefani - Still very young. Menthol, eucalyptus and leather on the nose, but still a little closed and brooding. Very tight blackberry bramble on the palate with significant tannins still present and a quite tannic finish. May open up with some more time, but I’m not sure.
1996 Spring Mountain Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve - Nice purity of blackberry fruit on the nose with a lovely clean light earthiness behind it. Purely constructed, richly testured with seamless blacberry fruit from attack to finish. My second favorite wine of the flight and the night. What a great flight!
2007 Substance Merlot - Sweet simple, cloying fruit. I did not like it.
2005 Clos de los Siete (Michel Rolland) Clos de Los Siete - Nasty, something really offputting about it that is hard to put my finger on.
2003 Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon - Sweeeeet wine, a little over the top on sweetness, but nice black raspberry and licorice flavors througout. Some acidity to keep it from going completely over the top.
2005 Sojourn Cabernet Sauvignon - Much more balanced and restrained. Nice blackberry and limestone notes on the nose with a definite sense of mountain fruit (is it actually mountain fruit?). Strong black and blue fruit on the palate, still young , but not overly tannic and again very balanced and harmonious.
We agree on a lot of things. But as usual, let’s focus on the differences of opinion!
I actually thought the '97 Gallo of Sonoma Stefani was the most ready to drink of the 4 Cali Cabs–it had the least tannic nature and I did not find it brooding at all. Maybe the fact again that I drank it an hour later than everybody else?
I was a fan of the Matthiasson White blend and definitely found more depth and character there than you. My guess all along with Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, but what the hell is Ribolla Gialla doing in there?
I really don’t know why I liked the Clos de los Siete on Sunday. I never have liked it before and nobody else seemed at that jazzed about it. Yet, I look at my notes on tasting it blind and I was taken by how much it stood out from the rest with its cool, salty minerality and bitter chocolate edges–I figured it was French and I have to admit it was in my upper half of wines tasted there. Go figure.
I liked both the Pride and the Sojourn, even though they could not have been more different. As you say, the Pride has some sweet syrupy elements, but it was just so warm and embracingly-textured that I found it to be a perfect sort of cocktail Cabernet. The Sojourn was much more tightly coiled, cool and lithe, with tensile balance. I’d much rather drink a whole bottle of the Sojourn but I really liked sipping on the Pride during a poker match. Know what I mean?
Salty is what was offputting about the Clos De La Siete - great on popcorn, not so much in my wine - just seemed really disjointed to me. To each his own - after all you like that Kalin that smelled like a bus station men’s room!
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