i have to give credit to jared wagner and dale mcclaren who’s disparate views on these wines inspired the side by side comparison. this is my first time with cayuse (who’s wines i was planning to hold, until their separate thread inspired me to open).
06 - damn! this is good wine. not what i was expecting. i was expecting sweet and this was opulent and lush with many variable savory elements. garrigue on turbo. coagulating blood with a bloody mineral component too. sexy funk. this wine is oozing enormous potential but teasing right now (i only figured it was teasing after i tasted the 07). there are angles here that still need to be resolved and when they do, god help me. 96+
07 - holy mother. i see what jared means by more approachable but this is just not more approachable… this is just more. the 07 en chamberlain is one of the most exquisite wines i have tasted in a long time! there are no angles here. everything is seamless. lush. opulent. no sweetness. light on the palate, rolling across my tongue like a hovercraft. what am i tasting? a wild boar rutting and madly in love slaughtered over a pool of warm molasses on a sage strewn hill. too much? nah, i’ll take more! 99
side notes:
i think it’s important to list what you were eating, if anything, on a tasting note: 48 oz bone-in rib eye pan grilled while slow basted in butter and duck fat.
nearly a full moon. i do believe all liquids are moved by lunar cycles and these two wines are pretty exquisite right now.
Nice notes. I think it is much more fun to enjoy them over a meal and a few hours to watch them develop, but you now know what it is like to go to the Release Party/Barrel Samples and be going from station to station wondering “can I get any more impressed?” … then you get to the next wine in line and see “oh yeah!”
The TN posted on CT for the 2005 Bionic Frog are enough to make me want to go carnal for a month with nothing but medium-rare beef and BF.
BTW - En Chamberlin is one of my fav’s, some years I like it as much as the Armada.
Great notes! I usually enjoy the En Cham with a few years of cellar dust on them, so I haven’t popped any 06 or 07s. Very tempted after your fun notes. Thanks for the reference points.
I just opened the '07 En Chamberlin last night. I loved it! Totally agree that the palate was seamless and smooth. I was worried that opening this wine so young the tannins were going to beat my tongue with a baseball bat…but they were extremely well hidden. The nose almost defies description…it’s intriguing more than it is delicious. When I scan through the cellartracker notes the power of suggestion leads me to believe that I was smelling “wet dog fur” or “smoked meats” or “bacon fat”…and now I can even imagine that it was “a wild boar rutting and madly in love slaughtered over a pool of warm molasses on a sage strewn hill”. Whatever the nose of this wine is built on…it’s fascinating. The finish goes on forever. Fantastic wine! 96 pts. for me.
By the way…decanted for two hours…and had this with a mustard crusted rack of lamb…awesome match.
yup, it is one crazy nose. i only decanted for about 45mins thinking it might need a lot more but i don’t even think it needed that. darren, i agree on holding the 06 - it is amazing now but only going to get better. the 07 on the other hand…if you open one now it is going to embroider your SOUL!
Damn it. I am so pissed I waited this long to join their mailing list. The 2 bottles of 2003 En Chamberlin I was fortunate enought to drink last year were stunning, amazing wines. In my Top 3 of all wines I had last year.
Thanks for the notes, and reminding what a dork I was for missing this opportunity 2-3 years ago when I could have wait listed then.
Hilarious and well written notes, captures the unique essence of Cayuse very well Philip!
Now, lets quit robbing the cradle, let these sleep a spell, and see what the 03’s and 04’s are doing as they should be entering their prime time windows pretty soon.
Had the 03 months ago and it was in a great place and my last one darnit! One 04 left…gonna try and give it a few more years. Hope to bump my allocation up to 6 bottles this yr on the En Chamb! But, is 6 really enough???
6 bottles is definitely not enough. as far as letting them rest, i am all for it…but where do you think the 07 would go with more time? these are fascinating wines for sure.
Dude…can’t believe you did it and did it right after I suggested it. You are the man!
Those are two terrific notes. Couldn’t have written them better myself. The 06 being a primal/carnal beast with the 07 being seamless and lush. I’m sure some people are having a hard time believing or grasping that “a wild boar rutting and madly in love slaughtered over a pool of warm molasses on a sage strewn hill” can be an accurate descriptor of a wine, but Cayuse does that to you. People, run – do not walk – to wherever you need to go to secure bottles of this stuff.
Frank Tre,
Don’t worry, my friend. You have enough fans up here to set you up with a lifetime’s supply of Cayuse. I’ll work up a plan to get down to see you, or just ship you a couple bottles. You deserve a vist from the Frog!
I said that about the Frog and now 6 doesn’t seem like enough. I said that about the GOK and 6 certainly now doesn’t seem like enough. I said that about the Impulsivo and 6 still seems too few. 6 En Chamberlin? God help me.
The problem with the “Is 6 enough?” question is that to the best of my knowledge, 6 is the most you can get up to on any given wine. Is this correct Jared/Darren?
I’m finally up to 6 on GOK, but still 3 on the others. Hoping this year that changes a bit.
Great notes Phillip. I’ve not had an En Chamberlin (been wish listing them for a while too) but the other Cayuse wines I’ve been fortunate to get have not disappointed. Your descriptors fit with several other Cayuse wines BTW.
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