TN: Cab based wines of the world bash at Chez Bonner

I guess I am late to the party but…

We had a white wine lunch about a week ago where I had the pleasure of meeting Justin Bonner for the first time. He was kind enough to invite Rene S and I to the Cab based wines of the world bash at his new house.

Apparently there were a lot of wines. The generosity amongst the participants were unbelievable, Justin in particular went crazy, opening rare gems. Justin catered from ‘Jalapeño’ restaurant that provided an awesome feast. Justin had a beautiful backyard with a center fire place which caused me to be lazy and miss a lot of wines. I have not taken any formal notes hence very brief impressions. I am certain that other will chime in to fill in the blanks.

95 Tinto Pesquera 5L

85 Grace Family – Classic Grace Family cab, a bit austere and out of place. 93 pts

Sine Qua Non Rejuvenators – Seems SQN, not a big fan in his whites. 89 pts

03 Leoville Poyferre – Another great showing of this wine despite amongst the big Cali cabs. Great concentration, sweet fruit, not shutdown, Always consistent excellent. 97 pts

00 Chapoutier L’Oree – Great nose, flat mouthfeel due to lack of acidity 90 pts, need time

05 Aubert Lauren

04 Marcassin Estate Chard – Nice chardonnay, got some ginger and spicy oak 93 pts

05 Araujo Eisele

04 Shafer Hillside Select – Great fruit concentration, fresh sweet blue fruit, yummy but nice background structure 98 pts

03 Cos D’Estournel (I wore that one) – Apparently Justin got drunk early and broke the decanter j/k

98 Cheval Blanc – Justin worried about provenance, great showing, the gentleman who sat next to me mentioned classic Cab Franc nose and I dismissed his opinion, definitely classic Cab Franc nose, showed me that his nose is better than mine and I better be humble 98 pts

00 Chris Ringland Shiraz – Beautiful balance, mint but still an Aussie syrah with sweet fruit which I am not too crazy about 93 pts

87 Montelena Estate – Typical Montelena cab, also typical 80’s fruit driven cal cab, explosive nose, sweet jammy fruit, some may find it a bit volatile and funky. 97 pts

01 Yquem – Cork was a bit dry, the wine seemed a bit more advanced. Orange marmalade, orange rind, cotton candy, perfect balance but more orange than ginger and white pear. 97 pts which makes this bottle the lowest rated 01 Yquem for me.

05 Sine Qua Non Strawman

05 Hundred Acre (Kayli?)- This is their special Cab, very ripe jammy fruit but couldn’t detect the structure. 93 pts

01 Quilceda Creek – Burnt rubber, Kerosene, noticeable alcohol, not my cup of tea 89 pts

04 Delectus Julia Cuvee

97 Fisher Wedding (corked)

97 Diamond Creek Red Rock

97 Insignia

96 Bryant Family – Classic dill, at the perfect maturity, great fruit, silky texture drinking extremely well but no need to wait any longer 99 pts

06 Scarecrow

06 Schrader Beckstoffer T6 as I recall – a lot of everything, even bigger than the HSS? Perfect fruit, great structure 98 pts

05 Harlan Quite fresh, not over done, great wine with awesome structure 98 pts.

01 Paloma cabernet (my surprise of the night…probably Top 10)

Sasssaforte (vintage?)

04 Lewelling Wight

Sine Qua Non Numbers (magnum) Hedonistic high-end CDP nose but very clean, surprisingly complex and not overdone in any ways, perfect 99 pts

77 Fladgate Port

97 Dal Forno Recioto – What can I say? The 88 is one of my all time favorite young wine 100pts every time. This seems even bigger, hedonistic core fruit and perfect balance. However, having even bigger scale than the 88 overwhelmed me. 97 pts

95 Dal Forno Nettare

Great evening, extremely well done Mr. Bonner!

Our Defense Department tax dollars hardly at work. [thumbs-up.gif]

Wow, to bad about the 97 Fisher Wedding…if there was ever a wrong wine to be corked, that’s it. BTW, I don’t agree with you about the SQN whites, I like them more than the reds.

Jack,
I took your advice and moved on.

DCVino, please see your PM

I am a Francophile so highly concentrated high alcohol wine is not my thing.

Well then I guess you don’t know me very well Kevin, I mainly drink older Bordeaux’s and Cal Cabs that are under 13% alcohol and I need my Syrah’s to be aged which is why I’m not the biggest fan on SQN reds.

Reading your tasting notes, one surely does not get that impression.

Additionally, I’m not sure how “Burnt rubber, Kerosene, noticeable alcohol, not my cup of tea” warrants 89 pts but what do I know?

I am quite confident in how I rate the wines. I am a Francophile for sure but I rate the wines objectively for their own merits. I don’t wish to discuss whether one can objectively rate the wines as this has been discussed so many times in the past. In terms of my notes, I clearly stated that this was a quick impression. The 01 QC had great concentration yet the wine didn’t show well in this occasion. Whether the wine deserves my rating, it is relative to how one utilizes 100 pt scale.

Kevin, please give my regards to Mr. Bonner. We were brothers in arms when the volunteer moderator over there was annoited. We were both warned that day. Now he posts here. [swearing.gif] headbang

Speaking of Bonner, why isn’t he here yet?

Because he’s here.
http://dat.erobertparker.com/bboard/showpost.php?p=2722343&postcount=4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here I am!! Thanks Kevin for turning me on to the site. Ebob is pretty drab these days without the Usual Suspects. What Up Bulkin, Saxon and Landreth? Ok…sorry for getting off topic. So anyway…here are my Top Five of the event:

98 Cheval Blanc
06 Schrader
96 Bryant
05 Harlan
04 HSS

There were some amazing wines that night but the above were all VERY close to perfection with the Schrader and Cheval possibly achieving the grand 100pts (or five stars or ten high fives or however we score things around here). As for the Schraders…I’m a believer. Seek out these wines as they seem to be worth whatever the going premium.

Yo Bonner, so has the big O bama been good to you guys in defense land? Welcome aboard the new Soul Train. [thumbs-up.gif]

That’s a hell of a lineup. Good to hear from you Justin.

Nice line up and welcome Justin!

Same old…same old. Fighting the good fight and cutting up as much as possible.