TN: 1992 Dominus vs 2007 Schrader T6 vs 2006 Alban Reva...

WINE TALK
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Three of us got together yesterday for a little weds blind tasting lunch. No theme, just bring a blind of anything good! Well, very interesting results, with surprisingly the Schrader getting a beat down from the old dude and the brute! But the Vin Jaune might have stunned us all…


1992 Dominus Estate Napanook Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley (3/17/2011)
Here we go…old world! Brick red color, Bordeaux like nose of leather, little barnyard, dusty cedar, plums, currants, tobacco. Wonderful smooth mouth feel of aged berry fruit with the perfect sweetness and tartness…aged complexities of brown sugar, leather, nuttiness, dusty wood spice, coffee. I was thinking '99 Bord, but if Calif, than one with 20+age to it. The leather and nuttiness really had me in Bordeaux…but the fruit was just a tad more sweet, and tannins weren’t as silky. Gorgeous wine…drinking well now, with more to go. (94 pts.)


2007 Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon T6 Beckstoffer To-Kalon Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville (3/17/2011)
Dark raspberry, purple oozing legs in color. Nice nose of sweet dark young fruit, charcoal dust, vanilla/cherry oak, faint white pepper spice. HUGE SWEET fruit in the mouth…TOO sweet! This wine really got clobbered between a '92 Dominus, and a '06 Alban Reva. The sweetness of the fruit really stood out, yet where is the structure? The tannins were more plush(too plush for a wine that young), the spice was faint, it really seemed one dimensional…and that being sweet fruit. I thought Aussi? I really wanted to like this wine…it is hedonistic…maybe the bottle was not right, or in a phase?? The Alban really made this wine seem boring…it had the same rich fruit, but so much more structure and complexity. I really think it affected the Schrader…later I kept sipping on it, and at times I would get real pleasure…but still, not what we all thought it would be like. (90 pts.)

2006 Alban Vineyards Syrah Reva Alban Estate Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley (3/17/2011)
Now we’re talkin Cali Rhone! Oozing purple, blackberry color…soaring nose of crushed wild berry fruit, white pepper, lavender florals, meat, tar. Huge and rich in the mouth, power, yet super balanced. I’m thinking SQN or Lillian? Dark berries, licorice, smoky tar(not as much as older Alban), sweet dusty white pepper spice, Kirsch liqueur. Just an amazing complex, mouthful of goodness! Super! +pts (98 pts.)


2002 Jacques Puffeney Arbois Vin Jaune - France, Jura, Arbois (3/17/2011)
My first Vin Jaune…one word: FASCINATING! It is not a wine to drink all the time, in fact for me, sometimes hard to drink, as it reminds me of spirits(which I don’t drink). The first thing you notice is the nose…yep sherry! The nose is AMAZING…I could put it in a snifter, and smell it all night! It plays with your mind…you think it should be 80 proof…but it’s only 14%. Waves of nuts, caramel, almond butter, Marsala, Comte’ cheese rind, dried apples, citrus. Then you taste it, and for me, it kind of made me grimus. Really funky at first…yeasty, tart skin, band aid, comte’ cheese(which we did have with it)…but then it really gains on you. The nuts and caramel, maple syrup, dried apples, tart citrus acidity…really well balanced, and SO overly oxidized, but alive. Again, fascinating wine. The nose is 95pts alone…the palate is really hard for me to score. Not a wine I’d drink everyday, and not a refreshing kind of wine…it’s a contemplating, snifter type wine. And I can see why these things last forever. Would love to try one with age. One of the coolest wines I’ve ever had! (90 pts.)


1999 Mayacamas Vineyards Chardonnay - USA, California, Napa Valley, Mt. Veeder (03/17/2011)
Darker golden metallic, slight green tinge, color. Nose of fresh green olive oil, ripe pineapple/apples, honey spice, little sherry. In the mouth, as well as the nose, it starts out showing its age…little oxidative, ripe fruit, golden honey tones. But in a few sips, you get this HUGE laser beam of citrus acidity attacking the palate, making the wine crisp and alive! Big spice kick, like the added citrus acid to a lemon head. Really shows nice aged complexities of caramel, bananas foster, grilled pineapples…all uplifted well with that killer tart lemon acidity, and minerals galor. Never would you guess domestic in a blind. Burgundy all the way! Great Chard at age 12…with plenty of life left. (93 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker

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Great blind tasting. I have loved older Dominus lately and glad to see Alban doing well in the lineup. Thanks for the notes.

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Buzz, thanks again for having us over. Your generosity knows no bounds. That was a fun afternoon.

You pretty much covered all the wines perfectly. I just have a few things to add.

Mayacamas Chardonnay 1999
The Mayacamas was stunningly beautiful. With that price point + the enjoyment factor, I would be remiss to not call this my personal qpr wine this year (hell even last year). I’m on the lookout.

Jacques Puffeney Arbois Vin Jaune 2002
The Jacques Puffeney Vin Jaune was my first Jura. Had you tasted me blind on this I would’ve immediately poured it down the drain having thought you were joking with me by pouring spirits into my wine glass. IMHO, it would be unfair to judge this with wines from other regions. You have to put this in a category all by itself. With that in mind, I really enjoyed it. I thought it was complex and very intriguing profile, especially the nose. That was fun. Thankfully, I still have a glass full that I will be sipping for a week [cheers.gif] . I’m on the lookout.

Dominus 1992
What else is there to say about a properly aged Dominus? This example had the most profound nose of the day. I can only imagine what the 91 tastes like at this point. I’m on the lookout.

Alban Syrah Reva 2006
To be honest, I was quite embarrassed bringing this wine since you told me you have/had a big boy on tap. Fortunately/unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to go to my offsite; this was my only contribution that I thought could potentially withstand the onslaught of your blind bruiser. Initially, I imagined this was the SQN (so I thought) that you opened. I don’t know exactly when Alban altered his methods but if this is the indication of things to come; I will be on the lookout.

Schrader Cabernet Sauvignon T6 Beckstoffer To-Kalon 2007
I don’t know what the heck happened here. This lacked a sense of place, very one dimensional. Huge, sweet and very uninspiring. Glenn and I were discussing that if someone told us this was a syrah from the Sierra Foothills, we would’ve believed them. I hope this was not representative…

Gents – it was a pleasure as always. Till next time…

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In all fairness to the Schrader…I’m drinking the last of it on day two, with out other influence…the fruit is sweet, but there is more spice to it now, as well as dry tannins. It doesn’t give me anymore complexity though. I would hold these for min 5 yrs.

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Hey Glenn…were you there???

Notes? [smileyvault-ban.gif]

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I love older Dominus. That’s all I have anymore. Looking forward to drinking a 91 sometime this year.

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Lol, just been super busy since! I am honestly loathsome to write about The Schrader T6 as I don’t think I have nearly enough young cult experience to make cogent commentary. I will complete the observation that the race to see which bottle got emptied first was between 92 Dominus and 06 Alban Reva, both of which were superb examples of their ilk.

I am a Cal-deaux guy so Dominus has always appealed to me, sadly the last bottle I opened for EG was simply just red water! This bottle stood up as an excellent example, I am glad I back-filled my dwindling stash last year.

I loved this Alban on every level: sexy mouthfeel, great taste and no awkward aspects at all. Quite mature already and not monolithic or overbearing at all, truly just lovely and my favorite of the 3 wines. Wish I had been on this list forever but sadly this isn’t the case.

Thx Brian for the invite, always a pleasure man.

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What about the Vin Jaune Glenn? For me(Edson?), the most intriguing wine of the day. I think we need to get the geeks together for a Jura tasting???

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I didn’t like this Puffeney as much as some other Jura Savagnin wines I have had. It had the dichotomy but in this case I found the travel a bit too far from nose to taste.

Must say I did learn Jura wines need to be enjoyed @ the end of tastings!