TN: Wine Berserkers Dinner

WINE TALK
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There were several other wines I tried and didn’t note on. These were the ones I managed to somewhat keep track of.

Thanks to everyone who brought all the great wines and special thanks to the prep crew and the hosts!



WINE BERSERKERS DINNER - Napa Valley Wine and Cigar (10/18/2009)

A gathering of wine berserkers brings together some tasty wines and tasty food.

  • 2007 E. Guigal Condrieu La Doriane - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Condrieu
    Clear light golden color. A really great floral nose with a bit of honeysuckle. Palate shows some tropical fruits and a touch of oak with a bit of a stony finish. Very nice. (92 pts.)
  • 2007 Scholium Project The Prince In His Caves Farina - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Mountain
    I don’t get the big scores that people are giving this wine. To me it’s just weird and I don’t even think that I can fairly score it as it just sits in a class all by itself (for better or worse, try it yourself and decide). The color is a cloudy orange-yellow. I do like the massive fuzzy peach and apricot notes on the nose but that’s where it ends. The flavors are just not nearly as exciting and there really didn’t seem to be much there that resembled either the varietal (sav blanc) or the big explosive nose.
  • 2003 Tardieu-Laurent Hermitage Blanc - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
    My first Hermitage Blanc. A blend of Marsanne and Roussanne. Slight hint of tropical citrus on the nose mixed with a bit of an oaky note. Loved the texture of this wine as it had a nice bit of an oak influence and a slight creaminess to it that was very subtle but made it quite interesting. It’s just slightly sweet on the palate; perhaps “mildly off-dry” would be a better descriptor. On the finish it reminded me of melted marshmallows, which I wasn’t expecting but enjoyed quite a lot. (92 pts.)


  • 2006 Hartwell Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Reserve - USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District
    Dark violet red color. Ripe fruit, well rounded with a very smooth texture. Oak is dominating right now but it’s not overly harsh in any way and in fact it is currently giving the wine a nice vanilla / coconut edge. Enjoyed this quite a bit. (90 pts.)
  • 2004 David Arthur Cabernet Sauvignon Elevation 1147 - USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford
    I won’t say that this is, by any means, a bad or unappealing bottle of wine. In fact it was quite tasty, showing lots of ripe fruit (bordering on jammy) and oak with a backbone of chewy tannins. However, I was largely unimpressed with it given the price of the bottle and the seemingly endless number of $100+ bottles of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon that it has to compete with. (90 pts.)
  • 2000 Château Cos d’Estournel - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe
    My previous note on this bottle was supposed to be an instruction to myself to hold this last bottle for at least another 5 years. Way to pay attention to your notes Rob! <doh!> Fortunately, this was an immensely pleasing wine experience. The wine itself showed a nice mix of cassis and earth and has a ways to go before it develops that wonderful St Estephe funk that I love in the older Cos d’Estournel. Wonderful palate texture, good fruit and a great finish. (94 pts.)
  • 1999 Harlan Estate - USA, California, Napa Valley
    What can you say about Harlan that hasn’t been said a million times? Pricey? Absolutely. Tasty? Certainly. Tasty enough to be this pricey? umm… no. Decanted for about an hour or two beforehand. Shows nice ripe fruit and oak with some jammy notes. Well rounded and complete with a good finish. Unfortunately, you could write the same note for quite a few CA cabs which are quite a bit cheaper. It was nice to have the experience of the wine but for my Harlan fix, I’ll stick with The Maiden. (92 pts.)
  • 1986 Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon Backus - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
    A fabulous wine and one of my favorites of the night. Very little hint of age in the color and a nice nose of black currants, earthy leather and a bit of spice. Strong and vibrant on the palate with great depth and balance and a slight minty note on the finish. Awesome wine. (95 pts.)
  • 1978 Villa Mt. Eden Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Reserve - USA, California, Napa Valley
    Tasted from a magnum that was stained with a massive amount of sediment. Lots of earth and old leather here mixed with fruit that is fading slightly but still present and lively on this night. Finish is neat and smooth with any bit of tannin now well resolved. This wine brings memories of a bottle of 1978 Chateau Palmer I had a few years ago so I guess that’s a good thing as that was one of my favorite older wines in recent memory.
  • 1975 Robert Mondavi Winery Pinot Noir Reserve - USA, California, Napa Valley
    Tasted completely blind and I was challenged to guess what it was. All I could tell from the faded color was that it was at least 25-30 years old. From the nose, I knew it wasn’t Cabernet Sauvignon or a Cabernet Sauvignon based blend but that’s about as far as I got. Once I saw that it was the 1975 Mondavi Pinot Noir, I was really surprised that it was showing this well after 34 years. Lots of old leather and earth and still retaining a good amount of acidity and fruit. Obviously this bottle had been very well cared for during that time and the wine actually improved and held up for the duration of the evening (or at least until the bottle was empty). I personally don’t have enough experience with wines this old to fairly score them but the experience of the bottle was quite memorable for me considering the history it holds and recent passing of Mr Mondavi.

Posted from CellarTracker

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Rob thanks for the notes and also to you & Lisa for hanging around to help with clean-up.
I didn’t take notes but my impressions on the wines you mentioned are pretty close to the same. The Scholium was very different and the Peach/Apricot
jumped out of the glass, it was like a breathe of Spring. I’m not sure how to accurately describe the palate, maybe interesting.
Guigal Doriane was really good and has always been one of my favorites.
The Cos was excellent. David Arthur, Lewelling, Lewis Cuvee “L” and Miner Rosella’s 777 all showed better yesterday than they did Sunday.

Thanks to everyone who was here, it was great meeting some new Berserkers and sharing time with each of you…
What a fun night with so many great wines (hopefully Chris will post the whole list) and special thanks to Bob for all the great food that was perfect and of course Megan (his daughter) for being here, AGAIN to slave away and not even drink or eat.

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I do remember enjoying the Lewis Cuvee “L”. That was the 2001 wasn’t it? I had stopped taking notes by the time I got into that one.

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yes 2001. It’s hard to remember so many wines without notes, fortunately I can go look at the bottles since there is still some wines left.

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Great notes, fun read, and very well written.

A side note to 1999 Harlan. Contrary to what the scores and reviews are on this wine, it truly seems to be a dud for this winery. I have had this a few times, and don’t think it’s indicative of classic Harlan.

Awesome notes on the older wines. Some of those older Cali wines have outperformed a lot of European wines from the same era, and I’m more of an old world guy.

What’s the grape break down in the Scholium? Sounds like an extended maceration wine. I apologize if you don’t know, don’t mean to put you on the spot.

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10 bottles? how many people 4? I thought it was BERSERKERS! [berserker.gif]

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In defense of the Berserkers in attendance, there were many, many, many more than 10 bottles. Had I been drinking (and not just spitting) the consumption would have been materially increased.

First time I’ve ever spit (and spitting is a poor substitute for drinking, IMO). A few impressions:

I agree with Rob on the “Prince” - great nose, strange, exotic palate.

Two of the more intriguing wines were the '78 Villa Mt. Eden (mag) and an '85 Inglenook cab. Both alive, kicking and enjoyable. I also remember a '75 Mondavi Pinot that was interesting. I enjoyed the Phelps Backus and there was an '86 Eiselle there that was very good as well. Tasted the Cos and agree that more aging is recommended (I have a few of these stored away myself).

Thanks again to Carrie, Bob, Megan and Randy for making this event possible. Thanks to Rob and Lisa for steering me straight back to the central coast. Great night!

[thankyou.gif]

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The food absolutely rocked! Kudos to Chef Bob! [welldone.gif]

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it was closer to 30 bottles, just couldn’t remember them all

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The Scholium wine is sav blanc but unlike any i’ve ever had.

Carrie is right, there were about 30 wines. I didn’t taste everything and some I had later in the evening and didn’t bother noting on and others I didn’t try at all.

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Didnt bother noting = berserker speak for [drinkers.gif]
Now thats more like it.
[berserker.gif]

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[winner.gif] [bow.gif]

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Cross posted from the offline forum:
I had a great time.
Special thanks to Randy and Carrie for hosting and for making me feel so welcome and to Bob-the food was fantastic and very wine friendly.

A few fuzzy recollections about the wines, starting with the whites:
2007 Guigal Doriane: Peach, white fruit, oak present but not obtrusive. Well balanced overall, no reason to hold as its so good now.
1996 Eser Goldatzel Eiswein (my bottle): Brown and oxidized, not as shot on the palate as it appeared with some toffee, sweetness and balancing acidity but clearly OTH.
2003 Tardieu-Laurent Hermitage blanc: Friendly green plum, some nut on the aromas and palate. Could use a bit more acid for lift, but not bad at all considering the vintage’s rep.
2007(?) Morlet Family Vyds “La Proportion Doreé”: A bordeaux blanc styled blend. A little shy, good palate weight, well balanced. Probably would have shined with the salmon cheesecake.
2006 (?) Scholium Project “The Prince in his Caves”: Powerful peach aromas (someone said fuzzy navel?) with a bit of green grass. Brilliantly focused structure, long and intense. Made from sauvignon blanc. Some hated it, others (like me) found it interesting. On recollection would go well with a rich ripe stinky cheese.
2003 Rieussec: Clear light gold optic. aromas of pineapple, peach and oak toast. Palate-wow, intense pineapple&apricot bouyed by better than expected acidity. Long long finish. Superb wine. I’m glad to have had the opportunity to try this, have a mixed case stashed (for Emma of course).
Now the reds:
1996 G. Mugneret NSG “Chaignots” (mag, my bottle): Happy to say the nose promised good things-pinot fruit, smoke and brown spices. Palate however revealed an unready '96-barely evolved fruit in thrall to the acidity. Revisit in 15 years.
2007 Rivers Marie Sonoma PN (my btl): Unsurprisingly coming across as soft and juicy after the Chaignots. No real complexity here just oaked friendly fruit in a drink now style. Pleasant.
1978 Villa Mt Eden CS Reserve (mag): A legendary bottling by the then unknown Nils Venge, an extremely generous offering from brand-new member Randy Cunningham. Beautifully fragrant with cigar box and black fruits wafting upwards. Slightly rust red with a touch of yellow at the rim. The fruit is balanced with acid and tannins holding firm on the palate, this wine has many years to go before fully revealing its charms. Really exceptional.
1975 R. Mondavi Napa PN (blind): Served early on, I was able (read: not befuddled yet) to pin this down as pinot noir. Most of the wine’s charm was in the aromas, the palate was soft and gently fading. Sourced directly from RM’s library (did I get that right Randy C.?) I immediately retired from guessing wines the rest of the night leaving with a perfect record.
2004(?) Saxum Syrah (James Berry Vyd?): Hoo! A black comet of a wine, huge in the mouth- a large ball of intense fruit barreling its way down leaving a long trailing finish. Very very young.
1986 Phelps Backus: Another fragrant aged California CS, the palate was softer and rounder than the Villa Mt Eden and equally as long. Delicious.

Wines not tried (anyone with a TN?):
1999 Harlan Estate
2000 Cos d’Estournel
2004 David Arthur 1147 (did get to nose it-wonderful cab!)
Alban Reva
1986 Phelps Eisele
2007 Holdredge Winery Bucher Vyd PN (my btl).
Mystery red wine #2