Our monthly lunch group met yesterday at the extra special Santa Barbara Club. We had 7 attend and fine wines to accompany the wonderful courses prepared for us. All wines red were decanted:
2009 VENGE VINEYARDS PROPRIERTARY BLEND- 53% sauvignon blanc, 34% chardonnay, 11% viognier; shockingly good out of the gate for my first time exposure; very typical sauvignon blanc notes in the nose, minerally, steely chardonnay in the mid palate and viognier at the end; a wonderful, pleasant blend and a great way to start the day.
1961 LYNCH BAGES- what a treat; fading red color, still viable with a little touch of spice integrated into the red fruit after a nose of must, mushrooms and berries which moves on into the medium body; it was soft and lush and certainly the #1 surprise and joy of the day.
1995 OJAI BIEN NACIDO VINEYARDS SYRAH- another surprise in that his 15 year old wine was youthful in color and beautifully balanced, consisting of nicely integrated tangy black fruit with some bacon fat which softened the experience. Initially years ago, this was a block buster and more in your face, serious extracted wine, but it has mellowed with time and is showing great now.
1981 MOUNT EDEN VINEYARDS SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS CABERNET- with youthful color and after a little coconut and spicy nose, this was full of vibrant, black berries with great length and a real treat from nose through the finish. My #2 WOTD.
MYSTERY WINE [brown bagged]- deep, dark Burgundy color, medium body with loads of chocolate, cranberries and currants, this was silky smooth and pleasant and steady throughout; it seemed to be more simple than complex and yet enjoyable.
Some said syrah and one said pinot and all agreed it was a decent drink.
Surprise #2: 2004 COLUMBIA CREST GRAND ESTATES MERLOT. Amazing what our subjective minds do to our evaluations. This wine got worse after it was revealed and compared to others.
1999 DUNN HOWELL MOUNTAIN- just plain wonderful; full of sweet cherries, talc, vanilla, this complex and silky wine shined on and on with a rich, full body and texture that just asked for more returns. It is certainly not at its peak, but I do not know how much more it will evolve from how great it is now. I say drink it now. Unanimous #1 WOTD.
1992 DOMINUS NAPANOOK VINEYARDS- browning with a little brett initially which seemed to mostly blow off and was followed by some mustiness, this never did really impress to where I expected it to go; medium body and fruit profile, soft on the palate and just OK.
1987 MONDAVI RESERVE- Ive had a lot of this wine over the years and it has always been delightful, but not as great as so many other stellar 87s; after some earthy, sweet fruitiness in the nose, light weight in texture and expression, this just never did open up into something special; it seemed like its fading and on its last legs although the color did not reveal such.
2001 RIEUSSEC- gold color with a green herbal, cut grass nose, this full bodied and viscous wine was full of lemon- lime, butter, candied apples, citrus, peach, spice and honey which were more expressed as it warmed up; obviously real young and needing time, this will be a delightful ending to many other fine meals or early on with foie gras.
Cheers.