November Cabernet Tasting

The theme of our November WSG meeting was Cabernet Sauvignon. Five wines were tasted; Sebastiani-Sonoma County 2004, Provenance-Rutherford 2004, Waterbrook-Columbia Valley 2004, Mollydooker-The Maitre D 2006 (Australia) and Paul Hobbs-Cocodrilo 2004 (Argentina).

All of the wines were tasted blind and were decanted for four hours prior to the meeting. All five of the wines are available for under $30. I am not going to bore anyone with detailed tasting notes but I will highlight a few points on the wines. First off, there were no stinkers in the bunch. All were enjoyable wines on some level.

The hands down favorite was the Provenance Rutherford...complex bouquet, cassis, red currant, plush tannins, loam, vanilla and currant finish...restrained oak influence...Nice example of an afordable Napa Cab.

By the score cards, the Mollydooker came in second. It had an amazing fruit focused bouquet, nice weight and texture, husky tannins, layers of fruit from start to finish....but....the heat of the alcohol made it more of a shot than a real wine. This has been my gripe with a lot of Aussie wines, luxurious fruit (often too much) at the cost of insane alcohol levels.

The other three wines were just good examples of the variations on cab growing regions (Washington-fruit, Sonoma-Oak, Argentina-jammy and tannic).

We had a little contest to see if anyone could match all of the wines with their place of origin. Two of us got them all correct, most others were pretty close. This contest might be worth a little bonus prize at your next tasting. It helps you to concentrate on terroir, climate and wine making style when evaluating a wine. It also helps you to hone in on factors you find appealing in a wine to apply to future purchases.

Napa 2007

September found us on our first pilgrimage to the Napa Valley. The trip was wonderfully relaxing with beautiful scenery, the ever-present aroma of the crush in the air, excellent food and of course the wine.
Ladera was the standout tour and tasting of our trip. The Cabernets they produce are powerful, complex and memorable. They offer a Howell Mountain Cab, a Lone Canyon Cab and a blend from the two vineyards. The views are inspiring from their vantage on Howell Mountain, the grounds are manicured and the buildings beautifully restored. We toured the wine making facility, demonstration vineyard and the caves where we enjoyed a tasting of the Ladera offerings. Anne Stotesbery, the owner, was our guide. Her passion for producing fantastic cabs was obvious, our time with her was educational and down right fun.

At Ladera. Winery and cave tour with the owner, tasting their incredible Cabernets, picnic on the grounds....a near perfect day.

Coming from Montana and never tasting a Cabernet grape before, I was suprised at the intensity of fruit and concentration of sugars in the hanging grapes.

The obligatory stop at Silver Oak (under construction).
New French Oak barrels at Elyse. Elyse has a large portfolio of interesting wines, all well crafted. It's worth your time just outside of Yountville.

Our favorite wines and tastings were the for mentioned Ladera, Jessup Cellars in Yountville (great wines, warm servers, memorable visit...we joined their wine club) and Pine Ridge where we enjoyed a barrel tasting of their better Cabs. We visited 20 wineries in all and can't wait to return.

Wine Club 101

The Well Squozen Grape

Meeting on 1st Thursday of the month at 8:00 PM, rotating home venues

Themes:
May ’07, C&L.................Syrah/Shiraz
June ’07, D&J................Malbec
July ’07, Zoe.................Zinfandel
August ’07, M&A.............Merlot
September ’07, T&P......**Bordeaux
October ‘07, M&J............Pinot Noir
November ‘07, C&L.........Cabernet Sauvignon
February '08, Zoe............Tempranillo
~Favorites Night: Each couple brings a bottle of their favorite varietal to taste through: i.e.. Pinot Noir, Merlot, Syrah, Zinfandel, Cabernet.
~Wine tasting basics and palate primer evening. Taste all kinds of food and spices that are common descriptors of wine flavors and aromas. This will be a fun and strange evening (think Skittles, red currant jam, soy sauce, popcorn, wood chips and leather)
~Chianti
~Grenache
~Mouvedre
~Petit Sirah
~Carmenere
~Sauvignon Blanc
~Cabernet Franc
**Burgundy
**Chateauneuf du Pape
**Cotes du Rhone
~Bordeaux style blends
~Wines from a specific region or winery

**Special Splurge Nights: Everyone kicks in $20.00 each instead of $10 leaving us $240.00 for a wine budget.

~$10 per person per month, $20 per couple.
~The host purchases the wine (normally a $120 budget with 12 members) and is then reimbursed from each member (present or not so the host knows their budget when shopping).
~One bottle of each wine will provide enough for all tasters.
~Four to six wines for comparison and rating is about the right number.
~Each member or couple brings a simple hors d’oeuvres.
~Piper Sr. is our recorder/secretary.
~White table cloth or white paper to view wine color.
~Be fair to the wines, decant at least an hour before the meeting.
~Bottle covers to taste blind (hide the corks also).
~Spit bucket or sink available.
~Score the wines, tally each taster’s score and then rank all the wines.