Wine tasting of December 5, 2008

In the past few weeks, we were delinquent in updating our blog. We did have a wine tasting at Winepath and Junebug’s home. Winepath let us taste 9 or 10 California wines from their recent sojourn to California wine country. Others included Le Mistral (Rhone blends) from Joseph Phelps, Relentless syrah from Schafer, Lewelling Cab and more. Winpath baked a wonderful Boule. Needless to say we were too inebriated to chronicle any of the wines tasted.
Present in the current tasting were Winepath, Piroca, Jimmy and Uncle-N. Uncle-OZ also participated. We blind tasted 5 wines.

1. Larkmead Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, Score=3+~4

Color is nice dark garnet with a hint of brown tinge in the rim. Nose is very pleasant without any funk; licorice, vanilla and black cherry. Palate is clearly very fruits forward with nice polished tannin with slight smoky finish. Very nice. Winepath thought this is Spanish with barbequed hedgehog taste. Uncle-N thought this is a classic Cali Cab of new world style noting we had been fooled so many times by Piroca. This was Larkmead Cabernet Sauvignon 2005. We have tasted earlier vintages and we consistently liked them and 05 is no exception.

Robert Parker (Wine Advocate) 90-92
"Pontet-Canet comes to mind when tasting the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate, a combination of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Petit Verdot. A deep ruby/purple hue is accompanied by aromas of graphite, black currants, pain grille, and spice. Medium to full-bodied, impressively pure, and lighter than the 2004, it is neither as heady nor fleshy as that wine, but should provide plenty of pleasure over the next 15 years. 2004 and 2005 could not be more different, with the 2004s flashy, flamboyant, and opulent, even voluptuous, and the 2005s linear, restrained, and more discrete, with slightly more austere tannins".


2. El Nido Clio 2006, Score=3+~4

Nice dark color with coffee in the nose. Very nice fruits forward wine with predominant black fruits, plum and nice well-integrated tannin. No question, this is a nice new world style wine. There are some differences in opinions as to which wine is better #1 or this one. Piroca and Winepath liked Larkmead but Uncle-N definitely liked this one. Because of some plumy palate, syrah component such a Cab+Syrah blends was suggested but this turned out to be just released Clio 06. It sold out so quickly from Wine library that neither Uncle-N nor Piroca could get a case. But Piroca managed to get 10 bottles from another wine seller. The 06 is a definitely great wine. We discussed the earlier vintage and concluded the 04 is still the best.

93 pts. - Gary Vaynerchuk
“COLOR-dark beautiful; NOSE-hedonistic fruit; chocolate candy bar with raspberries; over-the-top vanilla spice; a hair too much oak; very deep blackberry jam flavors; pomegranate; very exotic; very rich; very thick; very viscous; TASTE-bombastic; this wine make me think of Beyonce; so much fruit; so much complexity; dark cedar box flavor; silk for days; a hedonistic fruit bomb that doesn't overdo it and shows some class (like a polished elegant 47 year old lady); elegance, refinement & polish, but it's bombastic and still has it; while it's a youthful, vibrant wine, it has the elegance of Bordeaux, it has the fruit bombness of a Napa Cab or Barossa shiraz; I thought the '05 went overboard, but this '06 is a throwback to the balance of the '03 & '04 vintages; a beautiful hazelnut flavor on the tail-end; the raspberry fruit can not be denied; black currant finish; beautiful tannins; this has the "delicious factor"; this is excellent; GV-93”

3. Astrales Ribera Del Duero 2005, Score=2+~3

Color is nicely dark with some purple or blue tinge in the rim. Cedar nose with chocolate without funk. Palate is bit more restrained compared to our first two wines but very nice complex layers of fruits and ending in very assertive tannin, may be still bit too rough. Piroca noted a bit flat mid-palate. This wine is walking the line between new and old world and is very successful in doing that. After some aeration, this wine got much better. Malbec, Petite Verdot, meritage possibly Argentina, Cab, and Spanish have been suggested. This is Astrales Ribera Del Duero 2005. This is made of 100% Tinto Fino.

95 Points - Wine Enthusiast
"This is a huge and impressive step up from the 2003 Astrales, which was fine but not at this level. Here we're talking about color, bouquet, palate feel, intense flavors, finish, you name it. It's pure, ultratasty, chocolaty, smooth and pleasurable. Astrales is the complete package and a wine to watch. Top Shelf Editor's Choice"

93+ Points - Jay Miller - Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate
"A worthy successor to the superb 2004, the 2005 Astrales is 100% Tinto Fino sourced from vines ranging in age from 30-85 years. The grapes were fermented with native yeasts and the wine was aged for 18 months in French and American oak, 30% new. Purple-colored, it exhibits an enticing perfume of toasty oak, pencil lead, mineral, blackberry, and licorice. Smooth-textured, layered, and intensely flavored, the wine is currently tightly wound but very well-balanced. It will need a minimum of 5-7 years to reveal its full potential. This lengthy effort will well reward those with patience (and youth) by providing pleasure through 2030."

4. Mollydooker Maitre D' Cabernet 2006 served decanted in a covered bottle of SCARECROW 05, Score=2+

Color is dark and nice and nose has slight moldy note but nice. Bit of sweet candied fruits palate, which end in slightly bitter taste (not bitter as in bitter tannin). Cab, Cab blends, even amarone was suggested. When this was unveiled by Winepath, Prioca notice the top of the bottle looked like SCARECROW. Wow, Winepath is getting extravagant but this was M-D Maitre D. Nice try.

5. Grayson Cellars Merlot 2006, score=1+

Color on this wine is thin and palate is thin and very simple. We did not like this one although we could not tell exactly what this is.