T/N from the great taste-off of the SQN, Schrader + others - O/L at Napa Valley Wine and Cigar

WINE TALK
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Here’s a list of the majority of wines we drank last Saturday night in Napa. I took pictures of the majority of the 33 bottles we drank. Some, but not all, are listed below.You can friend me on Facebook to take a look.

Hard to believe there was leftover wine.

When it comes to note taking, unless I can taste forest floor, blueberry, chocolate, peach, apricot and vanilla, I’m not your guy. I’m from the school of hmmm, that was good, or, how did they have the nerve to bottle that. That said, the following is a list of wines we drank. If I left one or 2 out, feel free to fill in.

In no particular order:

’10 Margerum Sybarite Sauv Blanc Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara CA - This is an inexpensive version of the Merry Edwards SB. Loved it. ~$18.

’04 Kosta Browne Kanzler SC Pinot Smooth and Yum.

’10 Wren Hop SC Chard Rebels and Martyrs - caramel color. Great nose. Delicious. Sweet.

’10 Wren Hop Stolen Crown RRV Pinot A special pinot noir. A really dark color for a pinot. How come I never heard of this?

’08 Colgin Syrah really good.

'05 SQN Atlantic Fe2031A A really delicious syrah. Dark color. Decanted by our host, and loser of the SQN/Schrader bet.

’09 Carter Hossfeld Coliseum Donated by Mike Smith, who I tasted with earlier in the day. This was a Wow wine.

’09 Bevan Showket - Oakville red. Another Wow wine. Russell turned me on to Sojourn several years ago.

’09 Continuum Proprietary Red I missed a couple of wines and was really upset when I discover it (after the fact). Same goes for the Saxum, which I really wanted to taste.

’07 Alban Reva Syrah Edna Valley Rhone. Delicious.

Let’s face it, under the best of circumstances, it’s hard to take notes.

’82 Chateaum Rausan Segla Margaux Pinot color. A Bordeau. Another Wow wine.

’89 Chateaum Rausan Segla Margaux A serious nose (haven’t a clue, but you get the idea). This was singing.

’08 Williams Selyem Vista Verde San Benito County. Great nose. I loved this.

’98 Pegau Lawrence CdP It was nice, but I wasn’t in love. I was even more disappointed, since I’ve recently become a fan of CdP, and have a Lawrence residing in my cellar.
I know Todd Welch enjoyed this wine very much. It’s interesting to have various opinions on wines… from rookies (me) and people that know what they’re talking about.

’87 Diamond Creek Red Rock Terrace Cab Sauv from Calistoga. Not full-bodied. Subdued. I was disappointed, as I always wanted to drink a Diamond Creek wine. Past it’s prime?

’07 Hourglass Blueline Another Wow wine. Delicious. I was looking forward to drinking this when Matt O. posted he was bringing it.

’45 La Tache Haha. Very funny. This was a '08 Banshee SC $20 pinot. Not bad for $20. A possible house wine.

’06 Pahlmeyer I thought this was ok, but it didn’t compare to any of the Wow wines. Good wines get lost in a sea of great wines. Life’s not fair.

’07 Schrader Beckstoffer To Kalon. Another Wow wine. Some tannins. By the time I drank this later in the evening, I couldn’t really appreciate how good this was. We drank multiple good wines. When I asked Randy how he handled this, he told me that he ‘parked it’ with a couple of wines that he enjoyed, rather than tasting a little of this and a little of that. Talk about self control! As for me, I’m still a rookie in my wine education compared to the rest of you. Maybe one of these days I’ll take Randy’s advice. This was the wine that I bet with Carrie in the football Giants - 49’ers game. Even though I won the bet, I got a taste for this, and decided to bring it.

’08 Penfolds Bin 707 Ok. This was brought by the US distributor. Fun guy to hang out with.

’09 Myriad Pet Verdot Rutherford/Napa donated by Mike Smith of Myriad. Talk about silky. Some tannins. Very enjoyable. 1 barrel - 16 cases.

Please fill in the blanks, and add your comments.

Thanks again to Carrie and Randy for hosting this event. Can’t wait to do it again.

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Nice line up. Wren Hop wines are made by Russell Bevan and are very tasty with some great packaging. I did not know they had released their 2010 wines yet. I really enjoyed the 09 Shipreck Chard.

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Tasting an 87 RRT with that line up is to the detriment of the DC wine. Not the greatest RRT - and RRTs tend to be the most accessible of the Diamond Creek wines- but far from tired.

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Dan, I liked the Pegau but it was not up to the standards of this bottle that I have had before thats for sure. That means there is much hope for your bottle resting in your cellar.

As an FYI, the Diamond Creek was my wotn and far from being tired. It did fade pretty well an hour after it was opened, not sure at what point you had the chance to try it but it was totally singing early on!

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Jason,
They may not have released but Russell & his wife, his assistant winemaker and John Westerhold brought the wines. Wren Hop, Westerhold Syrah and Bevan Cellars Showkett Red. They were all really good.

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It was a very fun evening, a lot of enjoyable wines, good food, and a very friendly group of folks! Enjoyed meeting everyone! My favorite wines of the evening were all aged: 82, 89, 96 Rausan Segla and the 87 Diamond Creek Red Rock Terrace, which fit in very well with the Bordeaux. 82 and 87, my Top 2 of the evening!

Of the riper Syrah based wines, was impressed with the 08 Westerhold Extended Barrel Syrah and 08 Colgin IX Syrah, liked both better than the SQN Atlantis Syrah! Of the Cabernet based wines, thought the 09 Continuum was a standout, a very well made wine.

What can you say about that 45 DRC La Tache? We had a sidebar conversation to the effect of, you can tell what wines were not as appreciated by how much was left in the bottle at the end of the evening. If I recall correctly, there was quite a bit of it at the end of the evening!

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