The waiting game begins

A few Christmas' ago I was in Paso Robles. On the way back from some wine tastings in "Far Out Wineries" we passed Carmody McKnight. Did a little reading on the Cadenza Meritage Blend. This particular wine is decorated with many awards. Scored 98 at the San Francisco wine competition, known as the Academy Awards of wine. Only 298 cases of the most prestigious vintage, the 04' were made. I have three bottles heading my way! Will post in a few days.

Starborough Sauvignon Blanc

We did it. We finally found a Sauvignon Blanc we really enjoyed. We have been trying to find a Sauv Blanc we would drink on its own for quite some time. The nose screamed of green apple's, pear and citrus. The wine was crisp and refreshing with pear and grapefruit rind on the palate. The balance was very nice with just the right amount of acidity. On the finish there is a nice bite of lime on the back of the tongue. Overall I would definitely recommend this wine. It would go great with acidic dishes and a hot summer day, or when your not in the mood for that big red. We found the wine was best a little above normal refrigerator temperature.
~12.99

Napa Trip 9/04/2009

Hello to all! We have finally joined the world of Blogging. I have quite a few wines to catch you up on but I figured I must start with our most recent trip to Napa. In one and a half days we accomplished 14 wineries and tried around 55-60 wines. I could attempt to describe each one but I would be sitting here all night. Instead, I'll take you through a few of our favorites...

We began the trip at Duckhorn with an estate tour and tasting. The wines were phenomenal and nothing we tried there was "just ok". Two stood out among the rest:

Duckhorn Vineyards 2006 Napa Valley Merlot Paired with Abbaye De Bel'Loc Sheeps Milk Cheese. Robust fruitbomb soft tannins and just enough acidity. On the nose blue berries and floral.

Duckhorn Vineyards 2005 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon "Candlestick Vineyard" paired with aged goat Gouda. Just as robust as the Merlot but heavier on the tannins. On the nose you picked up tons of berries everything from Black to Red. The taste in the mouth was Cranberry, molasses, and cedar (Had some serious help with that description.)

To end the first day we pulled into Alpha & Omega (Mainly because they were the only ones still open.) The wines we tasted at the bar were great but what really made this winery outstanding was getting invited to the back room for a Barrel tasting of a non released vintage Cab Sav named "ERA" the experience alone was amazing and exclusive, but even better than that was tasting a non bottled Cab that will retail at $160 a bottle when it hits retail. Only description I can give you is "BIG/HUGE"

Day 2 began with a Sparkling tasting at Domain Chandon, what else needs to be said Bubbly at 10 in the morning. I loved the Rose; Jaclyn fell for the Brut. Very typical on flavors: strawberries and floral on the Rose, and the Brut was dryer but plenty of flavor would be great straight up on in a Mimosa. They offer mimosas and pastries if you choose to sit outside on their beautiful grounds.

PLUMPJACK

The name alone promises a lot. This is the winery that turned me onto white wine and their reds always seem unique and bold that other wineries fail to compare to their consistent quality. The tasting began with a Sav Blanc from there newest winer, Cade (green/melon/finished smooth like vanilla) Next was the 2006 Syrah- only 1000 cases made. Aromas of jam, smoked bacon, rose petal, and again BIG/HUGE. We bought a bottle. We finished with the 2006 estate cab sav, which is what they do best. Aromas entailed chocolate/plum/ cherry. In the mouth it was like biting into a cherry pie with roasted almonds on the top. ( I admit that many of these descriptions came from the winery themselves but once you looked for it it was dead on, I think we can have a practice taste test during the Holidays. Any takers?)

Joseph Phelps

So we pulled some strings for this one. The original plan was to go to take pictures but while there we managed to break the line and get on the tasting list. The wine is wonderful and the view is the best in the valley. Jaclyn and I both agreed that Insignia was great but not worth the price or hype. Turns out for us the Pinot and the Merlot were our favorites. As I said the views are worth the tasting cost.

Miner Family Vinyards

AMAZING! We received a tip from one of the winery workers and I promise it had nothing to do with pulling off a free anniversary tasting. It was all about the taster Steve, we learned more about wine in this 35 min tasting than I have since I started drinking. While wearing a sushi printed shirt, Steve showed us a graet time as he entertained a dozen others. We tasted two Chards which were completely different but great in their own way: 2007 chard was creamy with light tannins and the 2007 chard with wild yeast was just the opposite. Their 2006 Cab Sav 10th anniversary blend was amazing, this is not on the tasting list but Steve took care of us and at $120 a bottle we didn't contest. Typical Napa Cab: big jammy wild fruit bomb with a "draw" at the end. I will never go to Napa with out paying a visit to this great place I will write another blog on the many things we learned here.

Robert Sinskey Vineyards

This is the last winery I will write about in this post. We were fortunate enough to get in right before they closed and participated in a wine/food pairing. Great wines across the board but for us, surprisingly, their 2005 Pinot Noir Vandal Vineyard, Los Carneros paired with a Gruyere, Parmesan, Rosemary, and Thyme pastry puff. This is what Pinot should be all about: Cherry, Earth, and Clove. I am normally not a Pinot guy but this one had me sold.

As you can see this is just few of the wines we tasted, but these are the ones that hit home and made memories. To close I will leave you with a few we were disappointed in, this does not mean the wine was bad just the experience: Silver Oak, Grgich Hills, and Rombauer. This is the first post for me and I can't promise they will all be this long but there will be many to come. Cheers!!!

Victor Hugo, Opulence - 2005

2.5 bottles in, so I'll do my best. After I purchased the new malbec, James recommended which and I'll review later in the week, I decided to walk the blend isle and saw that the Victor Hugo Opulence from my girlfriend's home town of Paso Robles. There were only two bottles left, so I had to act fast. The Opulence is a fantastic wine that "thelushes" have sampled before. This is my attempt to review a great wine. To start, the nose on this wine is incredible - a fabulous five grape blend! The wine is dark ruby with great clarity. I would be lying if I told you I could tell all the attributes of the varietals. What I know is the nose is huge and derived form the use of cab fran and petit verdot, a reaffirmation of why I love wine. Opulence is medium bodied. Its prominent cherry and oak, accompanied with undertones of blackberry and currant. On top of it all, TANNINS. I love tannins. 05' Opulence encompasses the velvety tannins which give the wine life and lend to aging. Cheers!
About $25.

Kono, Sauvignon Blac - 2008

Decided last night that I was making a grilled chicken breast with a Mango/Red Pepper Salsa. On the way home from work I stopped at the Spec's on Rayford road by my house. We are lucky to have an amazing wine steward, James. I have yet to be disappointed with one of his picks. He recommend Kono, a sauv blanc from New Zealand in lieu of the Icon which was sold out. I have to say I'm not a big fan of sauv blanc solo, but as an accompaniment it is a good wine. The wine had excellent clarity. The nose had strong forward fruit: grapefruit, green apple, and pear with definite hints of lemon rind. Kono has great acid, it melded perfectly with the onion/red pepper and mango in the relish. Crisp palate with a long finish hinting again at citrus rind and grassy undertones. Overall it worked very well with dinner. As a stand alone, I have yet to find a Sauvignon Blanc to recommend. About $11.

Victor Hugo, Zinfandel - 2007

We have had the Victor Hugo Zinfandel before, the2005 vintage to be exact. Today we had the 2007... I drove in from Dallas (again). And waiting for me was a glass of VH Zin. It was accompanied by a variety of cheeses: edam, white cheddar and gruyere... oh my! :) As for the vino, great color - a ruby/garnet. It had superb clarity. I really appreciate a wine with little to no sediment. I'm an American and therefore not ready for the responsibility of filtering my wine as I drink. On the nose, dark fruit blackberries, raspberries, and currant. On the palate, the wine was light to medium body. Pretty good fruit upfront, great spice... however the nose was a teaser.
Fair for $16 bucks.

Just wait for the upcoming review of it's big brother the Victor Hugo 2005 Opulencence a "badassidly retarted blend"... (direct quote)

We partied in h-town while our counterparts (cough, Greshams, cough) are in Napa. P.S. thanks for the 'week before' invite... really love that you were thinking of us when flights were $500 bucks! NEXT TIME!