Wine Tasting of August 22, 2008

Our depository of wines to be tasted (Wine Enthusiast 16 bottle wine Refrigerator) stopped working last week after only 14months. Despite some efforts by Jimmy and Uncle-N, it was determined that the circuit board appears bad not the fans and not repairable. So, the replacement just arrived in time. It looks identical but is under other name (all made by the same Chinese company). Hope this will last longer.

Present were Uncle-N, Piroca, Winepath, and Jimmy. Uncle-E has been absent for some time. We blind tasted 4 wines; all of them quite good.

1. Blue Rock Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2004, Score=2+ ~ 3

This one has the best nose. Nice cherry and some vanilla with floral note, very nice. The palate initially felt bit thin and had acidic finish but after some aeration it got much better with less acidity and more complex fruits layered with vanilla and cedar box. Just because Uncle-N brought this, everybody was thinking Spanish, maybe Garnacha, Monestrell. This was brought here for sentimental reasons. Way back when we just started wine tasting and Piroca was just into drinking reds, he brought this wine, which we all liked. His reasoning for buying this was because he liked the “label”. In any case this is Blue rock Cabernet from Alexander valley. It is 100% cab. 93 points Wine Enthusiast. Only 576 Cases made from 100% Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley, Winemakers: Nick Goldschmidt and Kenneth Kahn, Alcohol 14.2%.

2. Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon 2004, Score=3+

This is probably the best of the tasting. Nose has slight mineral or metallic smell but nice mix of fruits with caramel and vanilla and cedar note. The plate is nice with predominant black fruits with silky smooth mouth feel, nice but very pleasant tannin with long finish. Everything said this is high-end Cali Cab but Jimmy’s comment that this was bought at Giant in Virginia threw us off track. But regardless, we really liked this one. It turned out to be Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon 2004. According to Jimmy, Giant was selling this at 38% discount. It appears that it must have had some storage problem and wine seepage was noted on the label but certainly we did not feel that there was significant deterioration. We have tasted this before several times and we consistently like this wine. 86% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Merlot from estate-owned vineyards and independent grower.

3. Clarendon Hills Brookman Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, Score=3

The nose has slight musty or sweaty smell to it. But black fruits aroma comes through. The palate is better with nice black fruits with firm tannin with coffee and chocolate finish. Some are bothered by bitter tannin in the finish but others felt the bitterness was fine. Winepath refrained from drinking it by himself few nights ago and bought it here. This is Australia’s premier winery Clarendon Hills. This wine was made of cabernet fruits from Brookman Vineyard and matured in 100% new French oak.

4. Delectus Merlot Merlot, 2005, Score=3

The nose, again, has slightly musty or sweaty smell. The palate is very balanced with good fruits and nice tannin but again finishes bit bitter. We could not place this wine. We thought this is a new world style wine. Southern hemisphere (Argentina, Chile, Australia) or even Spain were considered but we did not guess this is Merlot from Napa. Certainly tasted more like cab predominant wine to us and we did not consider Merlot. No grapey jammy plate we usually associate with Merlot. Wine Spectator, 90 points. We had conversation with the owner and winemaker Gerhard Reisacher at the barrel tasting hosted by Addy Bassin this year. It is interesting to know that he thinks French wine’s nose may come from contamination of wild yeasts in the barrel during fermentation rather than coming from the soil (terroir).

We tasted 4 good ones, although Blue rock was bit disappointing.