Saturday, July 17, 2021

One Last Zin Tasting for the Road

Our move was a weekend away. Friday we were moving all the wine. I had a crazy idea to do one last Zin tasting on Saturday. I figured as long as we kept it simple, like ordering pizza, it would be a welcome break from the the moving. I pinged Ted Wednesday night. He was game. He offered his place in order to save a dog sitter. I was cool with this, but he had to agree I could pay for the pizza. He did. I had a zin tasting ready to go, but would only do it if Jose were involved. Jose used to be big into Zins, he's now more into Cabs. I pinged Jose. He was in too. It was on!

I had a zin tasting in the cellars, yet another inspired by the 2021 SF Chronicle Wine Competition results. I had never tried any of the wines.

Ted had a couple of bottles he wanted to share, so I was supposed to bring only two bottles. I knew I wanted to bring the Best of Class and Black Chicken, but I also wanted to bring the Once and Future, so I did.

Ted was set up for four wines, so he randomly chose two of the three I had brought. It was a warm day. We started with a refreshing Savvy B from Halleck.

We had a great time tasting with everyone.

Results




W - 2018 Wilson, Sydney's Reserve, Dry Creek Valley came in first place with an average of 4.14. It cost $60 directly from the winery.

Z - 2019 Robert Biale Vineyards, Black Chicken, Napa Valley  came in second place with an average of 3.98. It cost $50 directly from the winery.

Y - 2016 Taft Street, Alexander Valley came in third place with an average of 3.55.

X - 2017 Dutton-Golfield, Dutton Ranch, Morelli Lane Vineyard, Russian River Valley came in last place with an average of 3.18.

The Zins were all really good.

I DoorDashed Round Table Pizza, which was enjoyed with a salad Shannon made from vegetables out of their garden. We also enjoyed a GrGich Zin Jose brought and the Once and Future.

Saturday, June 12, 2021

Post Vaccination Blends

I was fully vaccinated and we were going to celebrate with a once in a lifetime tasting, again.

I decided on the following Cabernet Blends

  • Opus One
  • Dominus
  • Insignia
  • Sassicaia
  • Pontet-Canet, Pauillac
Most of them were younger than I would have liked, but I would try to give them time to open up, planning to decant them for 6 hours. I was still worried, but what could I do?

The day of the tasting, it warmed up. I was worried about the wine during the decanting and turned on the AC.

We started with a variety of Chardonnay. The heat was giving me problems and I struggled to serve the blends at the preferred temperature (61 - 64). Ling and Lili gathered their fill of loquats.

We had a great time tasting with everyone.

Results




D - 2017 San Guido "Sassicaia" Bolgheri, Italy came in first place with an average of 3.87. It cost $220 from K&L.

B - 2017 Opus One, Napa Valley came in second place with an average of 3.49. It cost $325 from K&L. When I tried this I figured it was the 2009, because it was so smooth. One of my tasting notes was, Wow!

C - 2016 Dominus, Napa Valley came in third place with an average of 3.46. It cost $290 from K&L.

E - 2017 Joseph Phelps "Insignia", Napa Valley came in fourth place with an average of 3.40. It cost $250 from K&L.

A - 2009 Pontet-Canet, Pauillac, France came in last place with an average of 2.89. It cost $300 from K&L. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate gave it 100 points.

After we had revealed the winners, I brought out a one of a kind, 5L Santa Cruz Mountains Cuvee, won at the 2014 Premier Cruz silent auction. Dave, from Burrel School, had suggested we wait 5 to 10 years before opening. We had troubles with the cork and had duck taped it closed.


It's fun to wield large bottles!

We thought it was going to be horrible because we had tried the cuvee twice before and had given the wine to the tree out back after one sip. We opened it because I didn't want to move wine that we would never enjoy to our new place in Santa Rosa. From the big bottle it actually tasted pretty good.

Who knows how many more of these occasions we'll have in the future, given our move. It's not like we're never going to see anyone ever again, but it does seem unlikely we'll have as many of these kinds of gatherings in the future. We're blessed to have such incredible friends.

Saturday, June 5, 2021

Post Vaccination Champagne

Sue texted me the good news.


April 1st I would qualify for a vaccination. I got excited and started planning our first post vaccination gathering. I would spare no expense to celebrate. I would start with a Champagne tasting, followed by blend tasting. WINEKING inspired some of the wines, while best of lists and K&L recommendations filled in the rest.

People convinced me to split the event into two tastings. They thought it was too much wine for one tasting. They were probably right.

For the champagne tasting, I started with the following
  • Cristal
  • Bollinger La Grande Annee
  • Krug "Grande Cuvée"
The Fosters had generously gifted us a couple bottles of Cristal and I wanted to share the experience with our friends.

After receiving the Bollinger La Grande Annee I realized that this was the same champagne we had on new years eve of 2020. When I had purchased it, I thought I was buying Wine Enthusiast's #1 wine, when in fact, it was their #10 wine.

Champagne Review: Armand de Brignac "Ace of Spades" Gold Brut educated me that Cristal is not the champagne of choice for rappers anymore. Initially I was able to resist my urge to find one to add to the tasting, but as I hemmed and hawed about if and how to have the tasting. I figured we needed at least 4 champagnes and ordered it. You can alternatively read about it via a Decanter article Carlos found: Rapper Jay-Z boycotts ‘racist’ Cristal.

An Instagram ad for the 2012 Veuve Clicquot Le Grande Dame convinced me to pick up this beautiful box and bottle to make a total of 5 champagnes.



I was worried we wouldn't have enough champagne after the tasting, so we picked up a 3L bottle of Tsarine. Yeah, we're nuts.


We had an incredible haul of champagne lined up for the tasting.


Sue did a great job setting up everything outdoors.

We started with some 2018 Tondre, Tondre Grapefield Chardonnay. It was very nice. Adam, Alex's long time boyfriend, who doesn't typically like wine, helped himself to another pour. I took it as a good sign.


Jennifer entertained us with her rendition of tiny bubbles on her ukulele. Sue helped out with the singing. Some joined in on the chorus. We should have printed out the lyrics. Sue had said this, but I never followed through.

We had a great time tasting with everyone. It had far been too long since we had seen everyone in person. It was a great feeling hugging friends again.

Results




A - Krug, Grand Cuvee, 168 edition came in first place with an average of 4.15. It cost $170 from the K&L. Unbelievably, Mac thought A was a Krug and indicated it in his notes. He said it had a distinct taste. I was very impressed.

E - 2012 Bollinger La Grande Annee came in second place with an average of 3.53. It cost $330 from Artisan Wine Depot as a magnum.

B - Armand de Brignac "Ace of Spades" Gold Brut came in third place with an average of 3.43. It cost $260 from Wine Chateau.

D - 2012 Veuve Clicquot Le Grande Dame came in fourth place with an average of 3.32. It cost $200 from Wine Express.

C - 2012 Louis Roederer "Cristal" Brut Champagne came in last place with an average of 3.10. It cost close to $300 from K&L or TotalWine.

It was great to see everyone again, in person, and cheers surviving the pandemic with a once in a lifetime champagne tasting.

Saturday, May 22, 2021

Impromptu Young Cabs

Since we decided we were moving, I've been thinking the more wine we drink, the less wine we have to move. In this vein, I tried to get together an in person tasting over the weekend, weeks ahead of my official post vaccination tastings. I knew some of our friends were out of town, but I hoped I would be able to get a few to join us. Luckily Jose and Lili, and Paul and Jennifer were able to join us to taste some young cabs.

I decanted the wines 2 hours before we started, to give them a chance to overcome their youth.

We sat down in the backyard to enjoy the wines. It was nice to see people again. Lili and Jose brought Sue a lovely birthday gift and rum cake to share. We had a great time tasting with everyone.

Results




A - 2017 Brander Reserve, Los Olivos District came in first place with an average of 3.58. It cost $50 from the winery. There was a mix up on a Sauvignon Blanc I ordered from them for a tasting I was putting together on Dr. Pat Farrell Master of Wine's recommendation. The winery sent it to me as a gift.

D - 2018 Soquel Partner's RESERVE, Atlas Peak, Napa Valley came in second place with an average of 3.33. It cost $125 from the winery. We bought it as a future for half price as club members.

C - 2018 Lail, Blueprint, Napa Valley came in third place with an average of 3.21. It cost $80 from the winery. The 2017 vintage was Wine Enthusiast's #1 wine of 2020, but was only available in half bottles, so I picked up a couple of these to try.

B - 2018 LightPost Reserve, Paso Robles came in last place with an average of 3.17. It cost $59 from the winery. It won Sweepstake Award (Best Cabernet Sauvignon) in 2021 SF Chronicle Wine Competition. I had ordered their Best of Class Pinot, but they sent me this on accident. I agreed to buy the bottles from them after a good sales job.

Afterwards, I opened a 2014 Vine Cliff, Private Stock, 16 Rows which is usually an incredible bottle of wine, but I was disappointed. I then opened a 2017 Plumpjack Reserve which was excellent.

Saturday, May 8, 2021

Albariño Tasting

As you might have guessed, I went a little crazy planning tastings when the 2021 SF Chronicle Wine Competition results came out. Why? I can't say. It might have been the weight of the pandemic, or perhaps I needed a distraction from my job, but in the end, I lined up an unprecedented number of tastings. In this effort I tried to pick some varietals that I was less familiar with. To that avail, I added an Albariño tasting. Only a subset of my friends are interested in a white tasting, but thankfully enough. Truth be told, I would do it without interest, but wine is always better with friends.

To find my wines, I started with the Albariño: 2021 Awards. I could not find the Double Gold winning, Idaho Albariño from Williamson Orchards and Vineyards. I contacted them because the wine was not listed on their web site. They told me they had limited sales to club members after winning the award. Apparently, it was flying off the shelves. The idea of trying an Idaho wine intrigued me, but not enough to join another wine club. Fortunately, I was able to find 3 choices I was happy with.

The wines were in my hands and I planned to distribute them with the birthday Sangiovese wines. Coincidentally I received an email from Wine Enthusiast titled "Fall in Love with Albariño from Rías Baixas." I took this as a sign that I should add an Albariño from the region to the tasting, so I ordered one. I then waited two weeks for them to ship it to me. So much for distributing them at the same time. The good news was we had a representative from the home of Albariño!

We met on a Saturday, a little earlier than usual given a Michael Franti virtual concert we planned to attend. We had a great time tasting with everyone.


Results





B - 2019 Berryessa Gap, Yolo County, came in first place with an average of 4.01. It cost $23 from the winery. It won Gold in 2021 SF Chronicle Wine Competition.

A - 2019 Pierce, San Antonio Valley, came in second place with an average of 3.88. It cost $25 from the winery. It won Best of Class in 2021 SF Chronicle Wine Competition.

D - 2019 Harney Lane, Lodi, came in third place with an average of 3.43. It cost $20 from the winery. It won Double Gold in 2021 SF Chronicle Wine Competition.

C - 2019 Paco & Lolo, Rias Baixas, came in last place with an average of 3.16. It cost $21.

Everyone agreed all the wine was very enjoyable and glad to have given it a try.

Saturday, April 24, 2021

More #@%!$ing Merlot

 


ThankfullyTed and Shannon have been enthusiastic participants in my recent drive to taste every wine given any award in the recent 2021 SF Chronicle Wine Competition. We, contrary to Miles, are very willing to drink more #@%!$ing Merlot.

We found the weekend open, when the Albariño tasting was pushed off two weeks. We had tried to do the tasting the weekend before, but my inability to sleep caused us to cancel; I blame my job. The weather didn't look good for an outdoor, socially distanced tasting, so we decided to do it remotely. I'm not fully vaccinated yet and am hesitant to move things inside.

Some back and forth with Jose after I had informed him of Malbec Day had me thinking it was Sauvignon Blanc Day and regretting that my Sauvignon Blanc tasting was incomplete. More googling indicated that May 7th was the day this year, which may prod me to do something. As if I need prodding.

Ted and Shannon brought over two Merlots to add to the 3 medal winners I had picked up. We bagged, randomized, and sent them home with 5 half bottles. An hour later we met on zoom to taste. We had a great time tasting with them both.

Results




A - 2011 Hartwell, Estate, came in first place with an average of 4.38. Ted and Shannon brought this.

C - 2018 Trujillo, Napa Valley, came in second place with an average of 4.00. It cost $65 from the winery. It won Double Gold in 2021 SF Chronicle Wine Competition.

B - 2017 Wild Diamond, Lake County, came in third place with an average of 3.50. It cost $42 from the winery. It won Best of Class in 2021 SF Chronicle Wine Competition

D - 2013 Chateau St Jean, Sonoma County, Reserve, came in fourth place with an average of 3.13. Ted and Shannon brought this.

E - 2018 Bargetto, Regan Vineyard, Reserve, Santa Cruz Mountains came in last place with an average of 3.13. It cost $40 from the winery. It also won Double Gold in 2021 SF Chronicle Wine Competition

The winner was obvious from the start. The only question: The order of the other 4. All of the wines were enjoyable. If I can give the ones I brought more time, meaning not drink them for 5 plus years, perhaps we'll try them again.

Friday, April 16, 2021

Stag's Leap Cabs

When we tasted Kuleto Cabs with Paul and Jennifer, Jennifer generously offered to put together a tasting of her favorite, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars

Jennifer found four different Stag's Leap cabs all from the same year, 2009. We met the next Friday to taste them. We let the wines breath for two hours before we started. Ten minutes before it began, we cooled the wines to the ideal serving temperature, 60-65, putting them in the fridge, and measuring with a surface temperature thermometer.

Jennifer kicked off the tasting singing Tiny Bubbles while playing ukulele, Don Ho style. It was wonderful! Jennifer has used the pandemic to learn new skills, unlike most of us.


We had a great time tasting these amazing wines with Paul and Jennifer.

Results



C - 2009 Chase Creek, Stag's Leap, Estate, Napa Valley came in first place with an average of 4.18.

B - 2009 FAY, Stag's Leap, Estate, Napa Valley came in second place with an average of 4.29.

C - 2009 S.L.V, Stag's Leap, Estate, Napa Valley came in third place with an average of 4.14.

C - 2009 Cask 23, Stag's Leap, Estate, Napa Valley came in last place with an average of 4.03.

All the wines were incredibly smooth. It's amazing what age will do for a wine. Although the wines were all earthy, a taste that typically throws me off, I thought it was well integrated and worked really well.

Friday, April 9, 2021

Intimate Remote Kuleto Cabs Tasting

Years ago we attended Taste of the Town in San Francisco with Bob and Carolyn. Out of the literally hundreds of wines to try there, Sue found a favorite in Kuleto's Cabernet Sauvignon, India Ink. Bob agreed she had found a good one. They both went back for a couple of retastes. Years later we visited their beautiful winery. We learned they had renamed India Ink to El Coyote. Given Sue's love of the wine, I would occasionally purchase some for her as gifts. This last time I went to acquire some, I thought it would be fun to put Sue to the test, blind taste all of the Kuleto Cabs I could find in the same vintage, seeing if she truly knew what her favorite was. Worse case scenario: She would find one she more preferred. You may have noticed, I like to think of ways to do more blind tastings.

I picked up all these 2016s

  • El Coyote, Napa Valley
  • Lone Acre, Napa Valley
  • The Point, Napa Valley
  • Villa Vista, Napa Valley

On a whim I pinged Paul to see if they were interested in doing it over the weekend. We had wanted to involve them in our Valentine's Day tasting, but the timing didn't work for them. Knowing how much Jennifer loves Cabs, I hoped we could find a time this tasting would work for both of us. Paul confirmed it would work.


Sue thought my zoom wine tasting attire, complete with my lucky Andrew Neeme sweatpants shorts, was funny. She said her only concession for remote tastings was that sometimes she wore slippers, instead of boots.


We're all on our way to being fully vaccinated, but we're not there yet. It was to be another remote tasting. We split the bottles and Paul picked them up. I failed to properly open A and shoved the cork into the bottle with spurts of wine all over the place. We're talking wine on the ceiling! We worked around this and I switched to the AH-so wine opener for the rest of the bottles. The corks were fine, but sometimes the bag makes it difficult to get our usual opener attached properly.


We had a great time tasting with Paul and Jennifer.

Results




D - 2016 Kuleto, El Coyote, Napa Valley, came in first place with an average of 4.18. It cost $100 from the winery.

C - 2016 Kuleto, The Point, Napa Valley, came in second place with an average of 4.06. It cost $100 from the winery.

A - 2016 Kuleto, Lone Acre, Napa Valley, came in third place with an average of 3.88. It cost $100 from the winery.

B - 2016 Kuleto, Villa Vista, Napa Valley, came in last place with an average of 3.55. It cost $100 from the winery.

The wine was all very good, lowest average 3.55, and Sue may have found a new favorite.

Saturday, March 27, 2021

Birthday Sangiovese

As I've said, we've watched al lot of WINEKING. Peter Koff's love of Sangiovese inspired me to plan a Sangiovese tasting. I figured if I could use his company, Great Wine 2 U, even better. A lot of the choices were unavailable, but I found my way to a selection if 4.

I was concerned about the age of two of them. I contacted the company with this concern. Peter responded, saying he had tried one of them recently and it was "lovely." He said he hadn't tried the other recently, but would. He responded later that he was trying the other and it was "delicious!"

Despite the assurances, I was still concerned. A couple of days before the tasting, the latest WINEKING tasted some Sangiovese. I decided to add one last minute, if I could get it to everyone involved.


The front tree always looks beautiful my birthday weekend.

It was yet another celebration via remote tasting, but there's light at the end of the tunnel, and I look forward to in person, vaccinated gatherings.

In an effort to reduce the cost of the tasting, 4 of us split bottles the day of the tasting. I was worried about some of the corks being problems, since they were over ten years old. I used an AH-so wine opener and didn't have any problems.

We used these great half bottles I found on Amazon, inspired by Jose's suggestions.

When Jose picked up his bottles, he dropped off a box of Alfajores Lili had made for me for my birthday. What a wonderfully delicious surprise!

We all joined up at 6 to taste and enjoy each other's company.


Results




E - 2017 Volpaia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG, came in first place with an average of 3.59. It cost $30.50 from TotalWine.

C - 2013 La Fornace Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOC, came in second place with an average of 2.66. It cost $76 from Great Wine 2 U.

A - 2003 Cupano Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, came in third place with an average of 2.50. It cost $92 from Great Wine 2 U.

B - 2012 Stellekaya Hercules Stellenbosch South Africa, came in fourth place with an average of 2.20. It cost $27.50 from Great Wine 2 U.

D - 2005 Lombardo Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG Italy, came in last place with an average of 1.45. It cost $70 from Great Wine 2 U.

Overall I did not enjoy the wine. I was surprised at how much taste A had, given its age. In the end, everyone reminded me that it's more about the social interactions, which was close to a 5. Many expressed an interest adventuring out into different varietals. Overall it was a great time and I discovered that Alfajores pair wonderfully with a number of the Sangiovese we tasted!

Friday, March 19, 2021

Intimate Remote Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Tasting

As I mentioned before, we've watched a lot of WINEKING lately. One of the episodes involved a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc. I had never heard of this. Given my recent love of whites, I set about gathering a tasting. I could only find 4 of them, 2 from TotalWine and 2 from K&L. K&L had six or so for pre-arrival, but I wasn't willing to wait. Overall, it was slim pickings.

Ted and Shannon were eager to try the varietal, unsure they had ever tried it.

We let the wine breath and warm up for 30 minutes before we joined Ted and Shannon on the zoom. The ideal temperature for tasting these wines is 64-65 degrees. They were a little cold when we started. We had a great time tasting them.

I don't usually get much on the nose of the wines, but for the third wine I was thrilled to get a strong note of warm bread.

Results




A - 2019 Domaine de Marcoux, came in first place with an average of 3.63. It cost $60 from K&L.

B - 2018 Clos St Michel, came in second place with an average of 3.44. It cost $45 from TotalWine.

C - 2019 Domaine de Beaurenard, came in third place with an average of 3.25. It cost $60 from K&L.

D - 2018 Domaine Presidente, came in last place with an average of 3.00. It cost $36 from TotalWine.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc is interesting. All the wines were well made, but I'm not certain I like the flavor profile. More research may be required.





Saturday, March 13, 2021

Intimate Remote Sangiovese Tasting

The results of the 2021 SF Chronicle Wine Competition inspired me to pick up 5 different tastings. If you snooze, the wine is unavailable. Even after springing into action the day the results were published, I found an Idaho Albarino unavailable to non club members after its Double Gold win. I was also disappointed to find that Texas Heritage Vineyard was unable to ship their Best of Class Barbera my way. Sue was somewhat relieved. Needless to say, I would have added a Barbera tasting, had they been available.

We've been watching a lot of WINEKING. Peter Koff's love of less familiar varietals has inspired me to expand my blind tasting. Sangiovese was the perfect place to start. Fortunately our good friends Ted and Shannon are always willing to try, indulging my madness.

The cherry blossom tree out front always looks beautiful when Spring is in the air, and my birthday near.


We let the wines breath for an hour before we joined the zoom session. We had a great time tasting with Ted and Shannon.

Results



Results

A - 2016 Procedo, Red Willow Vineyard, Columbia Valley, came in first place with an average of 3.83. It won Double Gold at the 2021 SF Wine Competition. It cost $76 from the winery.

C - 2017 Las Positas, Estate, Livermore Valley, came in second place with an average of 3.58. It won Double Gold at the 2021 SF Wine Competition. It cost $48 from the winery.

D - 2017 Deer Hill Vineyards, Tiffany Hills Vineyards, Lamorinda, came in third place with an average of 2.96. It won Best of Class at the 2021 SF Wine Competition. It cost $55 from the winery.

B - 2016 Idle Cellars, Speedy Creek Vineyard, Knights Valley, came in last place with an average of 2.81. It won Gold at the 2021 SF Wine Competition. It cost $60 from the winery.

Sunday, February 14, 2021

Intimate Valentine's Day Remote Tasting

Silverado sent me an email at the right time, offering a Valentine's Day Tasting, a bottle of their 2016 Geo and some truffles. It sounded fun to me. I added all of their 2016 Cab offerings and decided to do a blind tasting.

February a number of our friends participate in a dry month, promoted by a friend. We mostly refer to it as Teduary. This limited our participants. I pinged Paul, knowing Jennifer loved cabs, but they were unable to attend. I promised Paul we would do something in the future. I knew Jose had a new love of cabs, and had expressed a fondness for Silverado, which is why I was on their email list. He joined us.

We split the bottles, and let them breath an hour before we zoomed. We had a great time tasting with Jose.


Results




A -2016 - See Selection, Stags Leap District, Napa Valley, came in first place with an average of 4.50. It cost $90 from the winery.

D -2016 - SOLO, Stags Leap District, Napa Valley, came in second place with an average of 4.03. It cost $125 from the winery.

C -2016 - Oakville Station, Napa Valley, came in third place with an average of 3.73. It cost $90 from the winery.

B -2016 - GEO, Coombsville, Napa Valley, came in last place with an average of 3.70. It cost $75 from the winery.

Friday, January 15, 2021

#@%!$ing Merlot

 I've been wanting to try the canonical Merlot: Duckhorn Three Palms. Articles like The Napa Legends Making Iconic Wines You Can Actually Buy and Duckhorn Vineyards And The Unusual Triumph Of Merlot In Napa Valley further convinced me. It also showed up in 15th place as the only Merlot on the 2020 Wine Spectator Top 100 List.

I reviewed a lot of "Best Merlots" lists and found my other two bottles:


We met on a Friday night over zoom. We raucously tasted the wines. Remote wine tastings can be challenging with so many people. Michel introduced us to his new friend, Linda. She was brave to join us. It was nice to see a new face. She fit right in.


Results





B - 2017 Duckhorn, Three Palms Vineyard, Napa Valley came in first place with an average of 3.62. It costs $100 from K&L, $110 directly from the winery.

C - 2017 Sequoia Grove, Napa Valley came in second place with an average of 3.60, a virtual tie. It costs $50 directly from the winery.

A - 2018 Trefethen, Oak Knoll District  came in last place with an average of 3.06. It costs $50 directly from the winery.

All the wine was good and will taste even better in a few years.