Wine passionate people and their tasting and dining related groups are ubiquitous. I know of at least 6 or 7 groups in the Santa Barbara area and I suspect there are many, many more. I`ve been involved with one since the late 80s, another since the early 90s and a 3rd since the early 2000s.
The head of another one I had heard of but never attended invited me for to their recent luncheon which is always held on the outside patio of Via Vai, a fine, local Italian restaurant. I graciously accepted and since it was on my birthday, the timing was perfect.
The wine theme was Cabernet Sauvignon from anywhere. The 11 of us, a few of whom I knew going in, ordered our own selections off the menu and the wines were passed around in both directions randomly. The wines were:
2005 LEONETTI CELLARS WALLA WALLA BORDEAUX BLEND RESERVE- 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Petit Verdot and 17% Merlot; this was passed to me first and no other got better than this one, in fact, this was my WOTD; after some smoked cherry in the nose, it expanded with an abundance of more red and black cherry, black currant, plum and black raspberry that was embellished by a hit of chocolate, licorice, talc, sandalwood and vanilla; it was soft and velvety, had great depth and a long finish; I went back later on and it was just as magnificent.
1993 FISHER VINEYARDS LAMB VINEYARD NAPA CABERNET SAUVIGNON- there was some serious earthy cranberry and black cherry in the aromatics which continued on and was joined by leather, dusty earth and some bracing tannins which finished off the wine with a bit of astringency; this was enjoyable out of the gate, but faded fast by mid to late palate and the treasures I got initially left the scene and never returned.
1994 CAYMUS NAPA CABERNET SAUVIGNON- my recollection is that there was some fruit left over from the Special Selection bottling and that it was blended into this wine; thus, it was more than just the “regular” vintage Cabernet; whatever, this shined brightly with loads of blueberry, black currant, black cherry, plum and violets accentuated by some oaky notes that lightly blended in; it was in perfect balance, full bodied and had decent length although somewhat dry; eventually, this was my #2 WOTD.
2002 CHATEAU CHAMPION SAINT. EMILION- a Bordeaux blend, but I`m not sure of the varietals or percentages except it would be an easy guess that it has Merlot and Cabernet Franc in it and perhaps some Cabernet Sauvignon; the nose had some earthy, petrol sort of weird character which carried on and masked some of the fruit and enjoyment that this surely must have had a some point.
2007 FREEMARK ABBEY NAPA CABERNET SAUVIGNON- my track record with this label has been consistently good over many years and this pleased as before; it was quite fruit forward with an abundance of fresh and tasty red and black fruit primarily of bright red cherry with a touch of sweetness and accompanied by a dollop of sandalwood and talc; it was very easy on the palate and had welcomed length.
2010 SNOWDEN CABERNET NAPA SAUVIGNON RESERVE- the nose gives off some pleasant ripe fruit which moves on into the mid palate with lots of licorice, cedar and coffee joining in with some vanilla oak notes melding in with black currant, plum and blueberry; it`s vibrantly youthful and playful and very impressive at this early stage; not knowing the producer and any history, I can only assume this can evolve into an even better wine.
1988 FAR NIENTE ESTATE NAPA CABERNET SAUVIGNON- decanted after a disintegrating cork was extracted, it was somewhat “filtered” by the time it was poured; it was showing some bricking and the wild, dried dark fruit represented pleasant tertiary flavors; it had a light to medium body with all else being light to medium in expression; overall, it was mildly enjoyable.
1993 PHILIP TOGNI VINEYARD NAPA ESTATE CABERNET SAUVIGNON- the color had a rim of reddish brown; the wine had a very different taste profile and one that I would associate more with that of a Zinfandel or Syrah in a blind tasting; from the nose on, there`s a mild spicy, light pepper along with good dark fruit flavors.
2012 SCROLL NAPA CABERNET SAUVIGNON- this was another new producer to me; from Rutherford; it was very youthful expressing a blast of fresh fruit and floral notes; it`s so abundantly fruity with lots of strawberry and red raspberry/ cherry and showing almost more like a Pinot Noir than a Cab.
2010 STEPHEN & WALKER TRUST WINERY LIMITED HOWELL MOUNTAIN NAPA CABERNET SAUVIGNON- another new producer to me, this had some really wild different kind of fruitiness that I could get close to with plum and prune, but almost more like raisin, mindful of an Amarone although this did not have the heavier texture and full body, complexity, structure and length of an Amarone.
2011 HALTER RANCH PASO ROBLES CABERNET SAUVIGNON- this was a blend of 81% Cabernet, 13% Malbec and 6% Petit Verdot; it had a really weird nose that did no go away; the entire wine was unlike anything i`ve had before and thus an abrupt review for this producer also never before tasted.
I kept going back to the Leonetti, Fisher, Caymus and Togni to check in with what was happening with more time and my notes reflect such.
As an aside, once I recognized we were going to be sitting outside, I immediately thought of the open air principle wine tasting rooms attempt to avoid due to the loss of a less discerning olfactory sense. I paid attention to see if wines seemed to be more muted and suppressed and really did not find any that way. It probably helped that I took Bordeaux stems which channeled the aromatics into more of a captured essence.
After 3 days in a row of Italian food, I think I have had my pasta and garlic fix for at least a few days [unless I get an offer to repeat a white truffle dinner I attended 2 days prior].
Cheers,
Blake
