Notes from 'San Diego Mini-Offline'

WINE TALK
1

I’ll wait for Cris to post the full list (or perhaps Jan, who also wrote the entire lineup down), but I can recall my favorites of the evening, and add pics.

Of roughly 18-20 wines - all of which FULLY consumed - I most definitely had standout favorites.

My WOTN was the 1995 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba. While the nose was still not giving up much, once you took a taste, it was game over. The midpalate is absolutely glorious - definitely the best part of the wine. This Giacosa gives up some licorice and ripe red fruits, then peaks at the midpalate with beautiful ripe fruits and a solid tannic structure that is starting just now to ripen. Add a long, subtle finish, add it further cements my new-found love for Barolo. If this had the stereotypical Barolo nose on top of all this, I would have fought everybody on the table for it, and taken a Cloris Leachman ‘Spanglish’ pour.

Tied for second, and actually close to the Giacosa, were the '83 Dominus and '96 (?) Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon Chabot Vineyard. The Beringer had a gorgeous ‘classic CA cab’ nose with gobs of eucalyptus, a beautiful silky mouthfeel, ripe, round tannins, and a beautiful color in the glass as well. Possibly the most elegant wine there, IMHO. The '83 Dominus was an unexpected hit, I gathered, since many of the table-goers were not fans of older wines, or so they thought. The nose on it was the best of all the wines during the evening, even eclipsing the Beringer. The perfect match of a CA Bordeaux nose with some age - some terroir, some meatiness, lots of ripe fruit. Beautiful. Silky, round ripe tannins with a bit of grip left in them yet, and a long finish. This was a perfect pairing to the steak portion of the dinner, and I’m happy I saved my pour in the glass for it.

I also enjoyed the '97 Insignia, the '03 Auslese (name to come later when someone chimes in who wrote it down), and the '06 Rhys Alpine Vineyard.

Otto, many thanks for putting this together. The dinner was incredible, especially for the price - I believe this was a rather universal opinion. Jack from South Philly, it was great to meet you, man! Nancy and Sal - wonderful to meet you both and have the time to chat, but sorry that Charlie has zero skillz in allowing people to follow him, and you likely got lost quickly as we left to find this bar way out in the boonies. Elliot, if we finally got you here, welcome! Bruce - nice to meet you as well, and maybe next time we’ll sit somewhere so that we can chat…

Some pics for your pleasure:

2

It was a great get-together. Great company, great wines and excellent food. Five out of the twelve who attended were from out of town, and that is GREAT. My WOTN was the Giacosa, a superb Barolo that speaks volumes to the greatness of the Nebbiolo grape.

I was surprised that we completely finished everything, by 9pm that place was a desert!!! And I was toasted! [foilhat.gif]

Otto

3

Thanks everyone. That was great except I felt my hair grow all night. [wow.gif] [heat.gif]

4

Does this aversion to “older wines” apply in general or to Napa cabs? Just wondering. Were there any particular reasons expressed for this aversion?

To each his own, of course. I just find it a bit unusual. Perhaps they just haven’t tried the right ones?

N

5

Noel, spot on with your last statement. I think that this '83 Dominus is one of those wines that could divert people from those preconceptions of ‘old wines are not good’.

6

That is usually the case, in my experience. Of course, there are the occasional exceptions.

I recall one dinner I hosted at home: as I recall, some of the reds I served with the main course were '89 Ducru Beaucaillou, '89 Rauzan Ségla and, I think, '97 Léoville las Cases. One guest turned to me and said, and I quote: “I find your wines too strong; I prefer the wines of Tyrell that I tasted when I was there (around a year ago).” I felt so bad for my poor wines that were sitting in her glasses.

7

Todd, Otto, et al

Thanks for putting the dinner together. It was a great night with some very nice wines and good food as well. I enjoyed meeting the San Diego/OC crowd. This night proves again that my palate and Todd’s are well-aligned. My top three coincide with his. The Giacosa was a very nice wine, but was missing some intensity on the nose to push it into the great wine category. The '83 Dominus and '96 Beringer Chabot were very enjoyable as well.

8

SAN DIEGO MINI OFFLINE - Wine Vault, San Diego (3/7/2009)

Jan Brekke coming to town was the spark that set the wheels of this in motion. People came from all over including the OC, DC and Arizona to get down at the Wine Vault for some great wines and lots of laughs. Otto’s choice was excellent. We enjoyed a several course meal which by itself was $30 and was of the quality that could have commanded much more. Too many wines all of which seemed to be drained. Somebody left there feeling more than tipsy.

My favorites were the 96 Beringer Chabot Vineyard Cab and the 83 Dominus. Both were outstanding and complete. Other favorites were the 95 Giacosa, the 97 Insignia, 97 Viader and 82 Montrose.

  • 1996 Krug Champagne Brut - France, Champagne
    Tight and wrapped up. There is some depth apparent but mostly this was about narrow appley expression even after sitting in the glass for quite some time.
  • 1983 Dominus Estate - USA, California, Napa Valley
    Terrific nose of a beautifully aged Cab with a nice cedar foundation. Plenty of fruit here still after a few minutes of air lets the richness shine. I’ve had some excellent older Cabs recently and this is right there. At peak and not going anywhere soon. Outstanding.
  • 2006 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
    Decanted ~3 prior to consumption and returned to bottle. Lots of fruit here without being over ripe, too sweet or overly oaky. Nose is most reminiscent of of Sonoma Coast Pinot showing some pine resin type notes among it’s dark berry fruit. Lots of pretty substantial red fruits on the palate though in balance. This will appeal to a great many audiences right now with its generous fruit at the moment but clearly has the legs to go for a long time and be a subtle wine.
  • 1997 Viader Proprietary Red - USA, California, Napa Valley
    Served bagged. Very rich mint chocolate palate though not in a heavy oaked Merlot way. Nose had a slightly green cedar character. Substantial fruit while well balanced. Plenty of guess from all over and mine was a Heitz Martha’s. Well…I got the state right. Very good wine.
  • 1982 Château Montrose - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
    Expressive complex nose though somewhat subdued. Still plenty rich and fleshy though the palate doesn’t really seem to have a much to say. The nose really picks up with time in the glass adding some real nice coffee and cedar in a beautiful way. Overall was still out classed but a few of the Cal Cabs on the table that night.
  • 1997 Joseph Phelps Insignia - USA, California, Napa Valley
    Nose shows some ripeness as well as some signs of vanilla oak. A big fat wine of concentrated berry sauce. Still plenty of tannin here. A very hedonistic wine right now and well done for the style. Not sure the kind of path this style of wine will take to maturity but will please many right now.
  • 2001 Château Monbousquet - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
    Surprising nose of roasted meats and smoked fish. Palate was on the sift side and not very expressive. Didn’t seem flawed but not sure what to make of it none the less. I will say that I was expecting the huge oaky nose similar to the 03 I opened last month so the nose on this was actually a nice surprise.
  • 1995 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Villero di Castiglione Falletto - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
    Nose is nailed shut even with lots of swirling and sitting in the glass for an hour. Expressive palate with some evident sweetness. Very pretty with a clean finish. Most of the expression came from the mid palate right now though. Come back in a few years.
  • 2005 Realm Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena
    Lots of green veggies on the nose, maybe dill American Oak? More green notes among a sweet palate showing some oak. Well balanced but touch to know what to make of this. Heavy and fleshy with the green notes doesn’t really speak of say lean Cab Franc from France but more of a wine with uneven ripeness. No clue on this one.
  • 2004 Bressler Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena
    Nose is on the tight side with notes of oak I would guess is American. Straight forward sweet oaky Cab with little expression beyond just that. Bland.
  • 1996 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Chabot - USA, California, Napa Valley
    Powerful nose of eucalyptus and cedar. Excellent balance yet fills the palate with flavor without being ‘big’. Nice citrus notes intermingled bring extra life. A big surprise from an relatively unknown vineyard. Outstanding wine.
  • 2004 Keever Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Grown - USA, California, Napa Valley, Yountville
    Served blind. Stewey nose. Soft palate with plenty of vanilla oak. What people won’t do to Cab these days.
  • 1999 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, Washington
    Obvious heat and another that seemed to speak of American oak with some dill notes. Easy going palate with more heat. The alcohol was hard to get past.
  • 2003 Bert Simon Serriger Würtzberg Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
    Slight petrol on the nose with some lime. Exciting palate with the sugar not heavy or intrusive. Very nice and screaming for Asian food.
  • 2006 Delectus Merlot - USA, California, Napa Valley
    Green nose showing overt oak. Broken, disjointed, tart and hot.
  • 1999 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red - USA, California, Napa Valley
    Sharp nose showing dark chocolate, espresso and graham crackers. Ripe with a tart finish. Somewhat disjointed. Inexpressive and bland overall.

Posted from CellarTracker

The excellent tasting menu from Wine Vault was as follows:

  1. White gazpacho with marcona almonds, grapes, speck and micro cilantro
  2. Roasted asparagus with shaved fennel, pea tendrils and balsamic gastrique
  3. Chicken breast with oyster mushrooms, gnocchi and lemon thyme jus
  4. NY strip loin with roasted spring onion and potato+green garlic rosti
  5. Ginger-carrot cake pain perdue with vanilla ice cream and candied ginger
9

Hey rock – I think that asparagus affected your glass/palate/brain. There is no way 05 Realm is green. Or anything Delectus for that matter.

10

It came well after the asparagus and I wasn’t the only one who said it was that way. Even C.Fu who was pimping said it was. Tons of veggies home slice. As for the Delectus…I think the green was the best thing about it. [bye2.gif]

11

Terrific notes Chris. I agree with every note for the wine you mentioned. I thought the Realm was both green and hot on the finish. Just not anywhere near ready to drink yet. The Giacossa was a great change of pace at it’s place in the order. I wish I had more glasses.
The food, service and price were also terrific. [berserker.gif]

12

I loved the Realm, the Delectus and the Keever. And I also loved the Barolo. Since I have the perfect palate, you guys are obviously f@%ked up! [berserker.gif] [1928_middle_finger.gif]

13

As much as you love babies, I’m surprised that you don’t run a Day care Center Otto.
Your palate is perfect for Breast Milk. [emot-pwn.gif]

14

Wow, Otto - we’ve finally broken our parallel preferences in wine. The Realm and Delectus were my two least favorites, by a LONG shot. Too extracted for me.

I find it interesting you liked the large and in charge wines like the Realm and Delectus as well as the most subtle of them all (that evening), the Giacosa…at least you are equal opportunity!

15

There was a little bit of green in the Realm but I think the term Green is used for many different flavor profiles. But it was neither overly extracted or hot. Shrug. The wine has been different each time I’ve drank it… it’s an interesting wine. One time I had it and it had a lot of secondary characteristics that matched the fruit well, wasn’t as fruity as it was this time. Btw Chris, they use 100% new french Oak I believe.

I thought the 86 Beringer was pretty lean and lacking on the finish. But I enjoyed the 82 montrose and 83 dominus.

Wanted to correct one of your notes Cris.

2006 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains

Decanted ~3 prior to consumption and returned to bottle. Lots of fruit here without being over ripe, too sweet or overly oaky. Nose is most reminiscent of of Sonoma Coast Pinot showing some pine resin type notes among it’s dark berry fruit. Lots of pretty substantial red fruits on the palate though in balance with generous amounts of vanilla oak =P . This will appeal to a great many audiences right now with its generous fruit at the moment but clearly has the legs to go for a long time and be a subtle wine.

16

Sounds like a great event. And further proof that the “Dago Drunks” do conduct offlines, despite what they say on the other board :slight_smile:

Wish I had been in town…

17

Next time, Mark. Now that the SD areas Berserkers have a forum that they aren’t (yet) banned on, stuff like this can be put together! There’s another on Sunday, in Del Mar. You going?

As Charlie mentioned, one of the most amazing parts of this Offline was that all wines were consumed - the bottles were dry, even my ‘extra’ bottle, and when considering Otto brought something like 29 bottles of wine, it’s rather impressive.

18

You gotta keep an eye on the Fu Man(chu)–rumor has it he has a rig that allows him to steal half of each bottle for his own personal consumption later…

19

Mark, that’s between our group and I told you that in confidence =P

20

I’m finally home after my San Diego odyssey. Way too much fun in one week. Now I need to recover.

Thanks for the great notes Cris. I am largely in agreement with your synopsis. In addition to the Dominus, Beringer and Giacosa, I also enjoyed the '97 Insignia and the Bert Simon Auslese (talk about a change of pace).