I was invited to a Saturday party in downtown Walla Walla for Dr. Steven’s Birthday, it was a BYOB with lots of great wine , here are some brief impressions…
11’ Chapoutier l’Oree Hermitage blanc- I didn’t spend much time with this as there were some many great wines to taste, but it had a great nose of beeswax, lilacs, rocks, minerals and peaches, long finish with great acid, great white and great showing.
05’ Leoville las Cases- Damn… Double decanted all day and absolutely Leadville on the nose with pencil lead, cassis, suave berry that just kept unfolding palate was a little crayola, cocoa powder, moderate acid with weightless fruit, not big or overdone, just in a really nice spot with decades ahead.
06’ Signorello Padrone- This was a really solid and serious Cab with reigned in dark fruit, leather, cassis and lavender, the palate was balanced with good acid and fruit balance.
82’ Clos du Val Cabernet reserve- Classic aged California cab that is at it’s peak, really special with autumn leaves, cassis, forrest floor and cocoa powder, nice acid and fruit that keeps it alive.
08’ Quintarelli ca’ de merlo-This to me had the most provocative nose of the night, loads of nuts, really perfumed red fruit, soaring flowers with a hint of leather, cinnamon, 5 spice, exotic and perfumed, awesome and it continued to unfold. The palate had great fruit with great acid that props it up.
09’ Reynvaan ‘stonessence’- Really funky to start out not much more, opened up fantastically and the one note unfolded into many different aromas, this ended up being really delicious.
04’ Schrader ‘Old Sparky’- OK, now I’ve never had an old sparky, none the less a Cali Cab that has wowed me as much as this did. Unbelievable nose of cocoa powder, chestnuts, cherry, flowers, dirt that all just continued to deepen but at the same time lighten up. The palate was cherries, flowers, fine tannin and refreshing acidity, the length kept on going…I honestly can still smell this wine. The surprising part was how light on it’s feet it was, this was no monster jammy cab, this was pure and really a class above.
11’ Sine Qua Non Patine Syrah- First time with SQN EBA and i left completely intrigued. This had a little plum up front which initially turned me off, but it opened with one of the most incredible complex nose I’ve ever had the pleasure of smelling. Not any Syrah as I know Syrah to be, completely different… I don’t know if that’s right or wrong, but I don’t feel dirty at all and can tell you that this was incredible. The palate was intriguing and had a bit to go but the nose was awesome. A long time list member reminded me that this was one of the ‘softer’ vintages, I don’t know, but this worked for me, again weightless with power and not over done.
06’ Alban ‘Reva’- I didn’t get this at all, Ok, I understand how you can like this but the SQN was in a whole different ballpark and if comparing the 2 the Reva got absolutely crushed. This was fine enough, the nose had purple fruits, a little flabby, certainly on the ripe side, Parkers gross "Pain Grille’, but that’s not my problem with this… This just isn’t that interesting as the nose doesn’t change or evolve, there was nothing deeper, it was what it was, which is fine, but I love my liver too much. Side note: A Mag and a .750 were brought to this, same note out of both.
There was a bunch of other stuff, but that meant I would have had to dump one of these out… just couldn’t do it.
My surprise of the night is how much I enjoyed the New world wines, it’s not that I’m adverse to drinking Cali wines, I sell them and drink them often just not at this pay grade.