Had a couple of friends by for a light dinner and picked some blackberry from the bush, along with some cheeses, bbq’d sausages, fresh tomatoe and basil from the garden with buffalo motzarella, finished with an apple tart. Nice way to ease back in from the return from vacation. Two wines, both showing a different side to 2 producers that I like very much: more restrained expressions, wines with some youth and tighter lines.
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2005 Carlisle Syrah Bennett Valley - USA, California, Sonoma County, Bennett Valley (7/18/2009)
Enjoyed with some old time Kenny Burrell on CD. The wine starts off slow, tight and tart. It needs time. At the end of the bottle, with no decant, after about 90 mins it opens up to some bittersweet chocolate, iron, hint of olive, some chalk and blackberry. It still needs time but it does soften with air. Suggest another 18 months of age and for me, a different kind fo Carlisle, bit more red and leaner balckberry and structure with tartness. -
2006 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Koplen Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (7/18/2009)
1st bottle drank of the 3 I bought last year on the mailer. Enjoyed with fresh blackberries off the vine we have on our back fence–nice combination. However, in this wine, more red notes than black. A dried raspberry when the wine is a bit chilled, that evolves into some brown spice and raspberry, clove and vanilla with aeration as it warms closer to room temp. Some cola, too. Doesn’t have the pizazz of the 2005, which for me is the best wine I think KB has made to date. I think the 2006 will improve further but I do like the dried berry aspect that it shows and the more leaner feel of this vintage.
Posted from CellarTracker
) that I am indeed holding wines to age. I didn’t start this money suck hobby that long ago and I am building forward, not adding backwards with older vintages. I have a lot of single bottles now that I am laying aside.![[help.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/4/4030a9a60185376a7393a78002ce3ec0176e975e.gif "help"){kind=small}