On deck for tonight

WINE TALK
1

A few people coming over for pizza, cabs and filet mignon and to do the first East Coast sampling of the 07 Maybach. See, you left coasters don’t get to have all the fun.
Other bottles on deck:

2004 Buccella
2003 KL Dr Crane
2002 Marston magnum
Others…

2

That’s living.
If I was around the corner, I’d invite myself over [basic-smile.gif]

3

Mike,

Are you a big Marston fan?

4

Remind me why I live on the West Coast??? [tease.gif]

Sounds like a great night. Cheers to you all. [berserker.gif]

5

where on the right coast? anywheres close to delawheres?

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I remember a magnum of 07 Maybach being somewhere on the west coast at a particular event flirtysmile flirtysmile flirtysmile flirtysmile flirtysmile

7

Nice! Where did you get your hands on that bad boy? I wasn’t aware they were even released!

I had a taste at BFI. They showed great potential!

8

I heard you were also the first to try 98 Krug this side of the atlantic… neener

9

The Maybach was fat, chewy and full of love and unlike any Maybach ever produced. Ever. I have notes but unable to post tonight.

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Thanks Mike. Those in the know…already knew that. flirtysmile

11

I never take notes and cannot disagree. Great night, Mike. It’s been a sweet week with the SLONYC dinner on Tuesday, a nice dinner at Alto in NYC with my old high school running buddy Collin on Friday and tonight with Mike in SI.

WOTN for me, by big margin, was the '02 Marston. The '07 Maybach was utterly different than the three previous vintages to me. I will say the '07 vintage is one to grab the low end, as I believe those wines will exhibit a smaller gap between the traditionally higher-ranked wines than usual.

Thanks, Mike, for the hospitality.

12

Man, my head hurts. [wink.gif]

What a great night of friends, wine and some food. Add to the list a 2003 Pride Res. Claret, a 2004 Godolphin served blind, a 1999 Maiden served blind, a 2005 Aston Estate pinot as an intermezzo, a 2002 Etude Estate Napa, a 2004 Kistler and a 2007 Reisling of unknown name just now…

Out of the gate the 2007 Maybach Materium(1 hour double decant) had full throttle rich red & black fruits, a nice purity and a fullness-lushness I always appreciate. A touch of alcohol in the very end, but its an obvious baby. No travel or bottling shock in sight. This had a very different flavor profile than any of the previous 3 vintages: Maybe a bit redder and less cassis based while being less showy. This bottle was also less tannin driven. It’s complex and pure and will be an earlier drinker in my estimation, unless it stiffens up with more bottle age. One that I may think would deliver for the next bunch of years and I may not necessarily hide it behind my 05s.

The 2004 Buccella (30 minute decant) showed wonderfully. Coming right after the Maybach, it had some great balance, structure and roundness being just a teeny bit short on the finish (initally). Sitting in the glass for 15 minutes opened this up and lengthened the finish out nicely. Pure blackberries, a hint of creme de cassis, and some lead pencil shavings. Great dense and lush mouthfeel while not being a head banger. Glad I have more and although I can’t give last nights bottle another 99, I consider it still up there in my wine-o-memory bank as one that satisfies.

Nano loves blind wines, and so do I. They give me a chance to pontificate and make things up trying to show the room what I know, and its obvious I know very little. The 1999 Maiden —Very typical in the sense of, ‘yes I am Napa cabernet’. Great cassis & backberry filled palate with some secondaries. I thought it reminded me of a 2001 Napa, and was happy to see at unveil that it was a '99, a vintage that I usually got more austerity from. This was a quiet elegant fulfilling cabernet that wore its bloodline on its sleeve. Funny thing is I liked this one much better than the '01 I had at the beginning of the year. Drinking beautifully this one is.

Remember my pontificating above? Here is where, as Gordon Ramsay might say, things go pear shaped— the second blind wine. I immediately thought something of a blend, and thought I sensed some PV, so now my mind is imaging all the 3+ part blends I know of, you know, the ones with 4% of this and 2% of that. I also sensed a touch of greenness? Hmmmm. It was a 2004 Godolphin from Barossa! CHECK PLEASE! Surely a different bird but who sensed an Aussie Syrah heavy blend? Sherri did, that’s who.

The 2005 Aston Estate Pinot Sonoma Coast was an eye opener for me. Having had most of the Rivers Marie one time or another, this was amazing. Great purity, pretty strawberries and crushed stones with a hint of earth, tar, coco powder, and cherries. Picture perfect acid and a tannin backbone that glided across the tongue,and then came back for seconds… Wow. I could have loved this one all night. I could see how burgundy lovers get snagged on this stuff.

The 2002 Etude Napa was a bit awkward to me. It had some reddish black fruits but just did not sing Etudeness. Palate fatigue? maybe. I think have some left and will try it today.

The 2003 Pride Reserve Claret was one I did not really take mental note of other than it being typical in the Foley fashion, in a good way. It was a bit bright and noisy but elegant and pure as well. Pop and pour is not reccomended.

The 2002 Marston from magnum was served with the filet mignon. From what I remember it showed nicely. Pure, elegant and graceful.

Thanks everyone for sharing those wonderful wines. It was tons of fun having you all in my home and breaking bread together.

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The '07 Maybach was lush and fruity. I’ve had quite a number of '07 cabs from barrels and I think it is a vintage where there is a lot of similarity in the wines across the board. I thought the palate showed a lot more blueberry than previous Maybachs have. I’m also of the opinion that '07 will be a vintage that is roaring out of the gates overall.

The '04 Bucella was quite nice. Mike nailed its one initial weakness but it wasn’t a glaring weakness by any means.

The '99 Maiden was a little step up to me. It had a mountain cab character that had me thinking Sonoma/Napa border. I liked this much better than the '03 Harlan we had at the Ghost Horse dinner.

The Godolphin had a real off-putting over-sweet character to me. No likey.

I didn’t get the fuss over the Aston. It struck me as pretty typical Sonoma Coast pinot.

The Etude was strangely muted - both nose and palate. Weird phase?

I’m not the biggest fan of Foley wines. They are certainly good, but don’t give me enough complexity to get gaga over. Pure, yes. But not sexy enough to wow me. The '03 Claret was not running against that grain.

The '02 Marston is a wine I have loved from the first taste about five years ago. It is in a really good place now. Expansive mouthfeel; quietly exploding palate of dark chocolate, espresso and black fruits. One of those wines that I’m happy it doesn’t get high scores from the pros. It may not be the best wine out there, but it really sings to me.

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Great night, Mike. The pizza (all the food, actually) was fantastic and we had a fun time.

As for the wines, I dug the '99 Maiden - tasted pretty youthful to me and still has life ahead of it. I also enjoyed the '07 Maybach, but as Mike said, it is very unlike the prior the 3 vintages - not sure if it was because it really is sooooo young or whether it’s the vintage, but I would not have pegged the wine as a Maybach for sure. When I first sipped the Godolphin blind, I said it tasted like something from Australia and it definitely wasn’t all cab, but I was still surprised at the reveal, as I have enjoyed the Godolphin on several previous occasions but it didn’t do it for me last night, probably because of the other wines we drank along side it. The Buccella was ok, but not really my style of cab in the sense that I got a lot of heat on the palate that overwhelmed the fruit for me. Would really like to try this with some age on it to see if it comes together with time. I usually love the '02 Etude cab but it was not nearly as good as it’s been in previous tastings - there was nothing wrong with it, but muted would be a good descriptor for what we drank last night. I also enjoyed the Marston and Pride reserve claret, but not as much as the Maybach and Maiden.

15

update on the Marston.
20ish hours later, this is really showing wonderfully. It seemed to gain more weight and complexity. Beautiful dark fruited, it has tons of lush creme de cassis, kirsch and super dark plums. It may be showing just a wee-bit green up front, but it does not detract.
Yummo.
What a nice wine indeed.

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But Mike, it is from SPRING Mountain. neener pileon

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Strange stuff huh Jack? Go figure. Maybe there’s hope for me yet.

Nahhh. [basic-smile.gif]

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I am decanting a 2001 Marston as we speak. It was brutally tannic when young. From the first sip, it is still rather tannic.

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Maybe you need a 20 hour decant! [thumbs-up.gif]

Enjoy mon ami!

20

20 hour decant???


Eh, may not be enough. hitsfan [soap.gif] headbang