Notes from a great dinner with various premium steaks to compare.
2013 Ch. Ste. Michelle Syrah Rose – a small production wine that showed good balance and clean flavours.
2010 Varner Santa Cruz Mt. Spring Ridge Vd. Amphitheater Block Chardonnay – ties with many German wines for longest name prize. Light vanilla and floral elements in the nose, excellent balance and length. My kind of Cal-Chard!
2001 Ch. Montelena Chardonnay – some colour, lemony vanilla nose, obviously no stranger to oak, and with more colour and some buttery notes. Smooth and very pleasurable. More Californian than the Varner. Good.
1991 Joseph Phelps Backus Vd. Cabernet – still showing very good colour, and a nose of mellow wood and typical mint and nutmeg. The spice component continued on palate and it has a mellow long finish with very soft tannins. Drink up. Good.
1994 Ch. Montelena Cabernet Estate – this one, from my cellar, surprised me a bit – I hadn’t tasted it in quite awhile. The nose was big and earthy, with cassis notes and some heat. The tannins were soft and it had medium length. More ripe and slightly roasted than I recalled.
1994 Mondavi Cabernet Reserve – a stellar vintage for this wine, and it showed beautifully, with mint in the nose and dark berry fruit, it was a smooth, supple well integrated wine that was a pleasure to drink. Long finish.
1995 Grace Family – very small production wine that had great depth and intensity in the nose, showing currant, spiced plum, and anise hints. Long and full of fruit on palate, but the Mondavi edged it out for me.
2002 Viader – this proprietary red blend almost always has a high percentage of cab franc, but it didn’t seem as obvious in this vintage as in others I’ve tasted. Big nose with dark fruit and cocoa, quite fresh and complex fruit in the mouth with a good long finish. Tasty.
2001 Cakebread Cellars Three Sisters Cabernet – cocoa and roasted nuts in the nose, sweet and tasty on palate, medium length.
2003 Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill Cabernet – classic claret nose, a tad dusty and with nice chocolate notes, great concentration on palate, very long finish, no rush at all. Good.
2000 Caymus Special Selection Cabernet – nice mint and fruit in the nose, and a rather sweet entry, but I thought it seemed a tad flat in the middle, which surprised me. Enough acidity to overcome the ripe fruit at the end.
2004 Long Shadows Feather Cabernet – this Randy Dunn wine showed slightly ripe coffee notes in the nose, with some mocha, had decent concentration and wasn’t overly ripe. Very decent.
1985 Fonseca Port – wow! Sweet nose in this still very dark (almost opaque) Port and some mint and ripe plum as well as some spice. Pretty smooth and well balanced in the mouth, but I think it is still some time away from ideal drinking plateau and needs some time. Wish I had some in my cellar!
2001 Karl Lawrence Cabernet – some nice wood notes ion the nose of this fully mature cabernet and some chocolate, not too ripe, and decent length. Drink up.
The steaks we were comparing were 45 day aged Flannery from CA, a Missouri sourced steak, one from Montana and one from Washington. It was very close, but I preferred the Montana, followed very closely by the Flannery.
Great evening!