For New Years we went over to my boss’s house for great food and a big Napa Cab tasting. Everyone dipped into their cellars so that we would have a few fun wines to try.
For starters we had raw oysters and then fried oyster stew made by my friend Mike. Plus some Cowgirl Creamery cheeses and shrimp. So we needed a few starter white wines.
2008 Cakebread Chard - Yeasty citrus nose with some good oak too. Big but balanced with a long finish. A touch of heat detracts from it. It is definitely in the oaky buttery chard camp, but I think it is pretty good for what it is. I wouldn’t ever buy it, but I have been happy to try it the few times that I have.
2006 Tollot Beaut Corton Charlemagne - We picked up some of this on the CHEAP, so had to try one young. Oak and hazlenut on the nose with a hint of banana and white flowers. Slightly oily texture, full bodied, and some minerals on the finish. Huge finish. Very tasty young CC! What a deal.
2007 Domaine Michel Vire Clesse - Classy floral nose. Crispy and easy with citrus notes and some green apple. My store sells this because I think it is very tasty and a good value. I need to explore Vire Clesse a little bit more, such a unique expression.
Then we sat down to a nice meal of grilled tenderloin, twice baked potato and asparagus. Delicious and perfect for some huge cabs.
2006 Chappellet Pritchard Hill - Mocha, licorice, and sweet candied plums on the nose. Deeply fruited with raspberry hints and a firm structure. Nice notes of coffee too. Very tasty though obviously a baby. Probably in the top 3 for me.
1997 Dunn Napa - Smoky dusty nose with some cherry. Sour cherry on the finish and a little tannic grip, but really drinking well. Will last, but why wait?
1997 Spotteswood - Olive, cherry, and leather on the nose. Medium bodied with blackberry fruit and layers of fruit on the long finish. Very elegant Cab. Up for debate on when to drink it. I thought it was ready to go, others thought it was still a baby. Delicious either way!
1999 Hillside Select - At first it was a mocha/oak milkshake…in a good way. Huge body, plummy fruit. A very good Hillside that drinks well with an hour or so of air. Years left ahead of it if the 83 I consumed a few months ago is any indicator. This was also in my top 3.
2005 Hewitt - Third bottle of this I have had and it was the weakest showing, though still very good. Oak and eucalyptus on the nose with a silky texture and sweet red fruit. A lot of tannin though they are sweet and well managed.
1999 Insignia - Mocha, oak, graham cracker nose. Blackberries on the palate with a short finish. Drinking well but a step down from the other wines so far. And not as good as a bottle that I had a year ago.
2006 Seven Stones - I opened this at work so that it had a few hours to breathe before we drank it per Roy’s suggestion. This wine is just wonderful. Huge nose…HUGE. Leather, black cherry, graphite, smoke, strawberry. Super concentrated and thick on the palate, just coats your mouth and throat. The texture is unreal and just unfolds more and more layers over time. Cherry and cranberry notes are there. what’s great is that even though it is a massive wine, the brighness of the fruit and minerals keep it fresh. Definitely my #1 of the night. I wish I had more than one left. A baby for sure, worth drinking now but will live for a long time.
2006 Hall Katherine Hall - Maybe this suffered from being after the Seven Stones, but…this kinda sucked. 96 from Spectator, yeah right. Floral and cherry nose with some mocha and slight tannin. it is drinking well now because it is so soft. Short finish. Good wine, but not anywhere near the league of most of the other wines. $70 is way too much and 96 points is a joke…FOR MY PALATE. I was very dissapointed by this as I like Sacrache vineyard and that’s why i bought it. I’m glad i didn’t save this for a few years thinking it was something special.
2006 Buccella - Deep chocolate nose with some berry fruit. Hugely concentrated with some perceived sugar on the palate and tons of tannin and oak and alcohol. For my taste, a bad wine. I have enjoyed the 05 Buccella but not the 04 and 06. This reminds me why I don’t drink high octane Aussies! That said, others loved it! It is just too extreme for me. My friend Gina said that it was like a scented candle, smells great, but doesn’t taste so good! I have to agree with that.
2005 Insignia - Violets and smoke on the nose. Huge upfront fruits with black cherry…then the fruit dies and there is bitter oak tannin and that is it. Hugely dissapointing. I had this a year ago and enjoyed it a little more. This was just all oak. Not sure if it was an off bottle or if the wine is in a weird place. Bleh.
2004 Goldschmit Oakville ‘Game Ranch’ - I had a bottle of this laying around too so i figured I would see how it would stand up to the big boys. Floral and mocha nose, kinda nice but not a ton of fruit and what little there is dies before the oak does. A simple wine and not in the league of the others, though I wasn’t expecting it to be.
All in all a very nice night with some great wines and some lame ones! The Insignias were both not showing well. Kinda sucks as the wine is generally enjoyable to me, though not super complex. The Buccella is just not for me at all. I hated it and will keep my opinion that I don’t like their Cabs. The Katherine Hall was the letdown of the night.
The UNANIMOUS winnes was seven stones, which is good because I have been hyping it up to my friends since I got back from Napa. For my palate it is the real deal. Very expensive, but it delivers. Their 06 is one of my top Napa Cabs and I am excited to try the 07 and beyond!
Pobega, if you read this, I hope that this post serves as my application for CLONYC! I’m heading up there in March.
Happy New Years everyone!
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