FRIDAY NIGHT TASTINGS, MARCH 27, 2009.

PRESENT WERE UNCLES E, JIMMY, PIROCA, OZZIE AND WINEPATH. UNCLE N WAS AWAY CELEBRATING AN IMPORTANT EVENT.
This was a strange evening, we tasted 6 wines, 2 of which were good. All the images are out of focus, due to the blurred viison of our backup photographer, Jimmy, who, after the second attempt, had produced these images. Maybe he should change his prescription, or else should take the photos prior to tasting...
ANDREW HILL 2001, WASHINGTON STATE. The first wine had a good, Bordeaux-blend nose and taste. Jimmy thought that it was a French cab with balanced acidity. Uncle P concurred, but thought to detect Merlot and Petit Verdot in addition to cabernet. Ozzie thought this to be a cab. Uncle Winepath guessed that it might be from Washington state. This was Andrew Hill, a blend of cab, cab franc, merlot and petit verdot. Rating: 2+ to 3.

SHAFER 2002, HILLSIDE SELECT. This was the high point of the evening. Some funk in the nose, but thought to be a high end California cab. Bordeaux-like, very fine, mature wine. Uncle E thought that this was a cab or malbec from Argentina with high alcohol content. Winepath agreed, but thought it to be a boutique cali-cab from Napa. Piroca, who offered this one was rather disapointed, he expected a bigger bang for the buck and thought that wines taste strangely "woodsey , oakey" in Uncle N's place. Excellent, rating: 3+.

BRAZILIO 2006. This wine was brought in by Uncle E, as a "bonus wine". The nose and the taste were strange. Someone thought that it might be a cab. Uncle Winepath opined that "this is an upsetting wine", whatever that meant. It turned out to be a Brazilian cab-syrah, from Vale do San Francisco region. Not very impressive. Rating: 1-2.

PRIMITIVO, 2005, from Puglia, Italy. Hard to imagine that this grape is related to zin. Here are the comments of the Uncles. Uncle P: "Un-drinkable". Jimmy: "AUGHHH!". Uncle E: "it smells like cat pee". This was not well received. The rating was 0-1.
Sorry.

SANNIO AGLIANICO. While we understand that this type of Italian wine has an avid following, this particular one was not well received. Uncle P thought that it was a simple tasting, simple wine from "central valley". Uncle E: " It's terrible, citrussy, lemonny, poop". Uncle Ozzie thought that it must be "under $5.00". Winepath thought that it had the smell/taste of old, out-of-date polyvitamin-pills. The rating: 0.5-1.

CLOS MOGADOR 2006-Villa Carata Priorat This is a dark wine, with a deep initial rotten-eggs nose which dissipated with time. Pleasant currant and expresso coffee on the pallate. Generally well received: Uncle P thought this was "cranberry chutney with a fluff". Jimmy,( who at this point was getting very loud) thought it to be " tannic, berry-tarty-fart, acidic"; uncle E declared that the wine needs 6 more years. A 2+ to 3.

Wine Tasting on 3-20-09

We had a good wine tasting. Present were Piroca, Winepath, Jimmy, Uncle-E and Uncle-N. We were also honored by the guest appearance of Grasshopper. We blind tasted 5 wines; all of them quite good and again proving we are pretty poor in discriminating wines but we keep tasting.

1. Santa Rita Floresta Cabernet Sauvignon 2004, Score=2+~3

Color is dark with purple hue. Nose has prominent cedar and woody character and black cherry. Nice fruits upfront with rather strong tannin and acidic finish. Some thought this is bit harsh and mentioned that it may benefit from decanting. In terms of the identity of this wine, the tasters were all over the place; Sangiovese (Italian), might be Cab, No, No, this is not Cab, might be Petit Verdot, etc. In terms of the origin of this wine, California, Argentina, Italian, and, of course, Uncle-N brought this, Spain were mentioned. This is a Cab from Floresta Apalta, Chile.

"Opaque purple. Powerfully scented nose offers a sexy array of dark berries, incense, floral oils and oak spices. Fleshy and sweet, with palate-staining blackberry, cassis and candied licorice flavors. Picks up an exotic floral pastille character on the back. This boasts impressive focus and lift for such a lush wine, with gentle tannins lending focus to the finish. Very sexy stuff" 91 Points - Josh Raynolds from Stephen Tanzer's IWC

"The purple-colored 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Floresta Apalta offers an alluring aromatic array of pain grille, pencil lead, spice box, earth notes, cassis, and black currants. Full-bodied on the palate with layered, already complex flavors, this well-balanced, lengthy effort will offer prime drinking from 2011 to 2019." 90 Points - Jay Miller from Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate

2. Barone Cornacchia Montepulciano D'abruzzo Le Coste 2004, Score=2+~3

Color is nice dark ruby. Nose has some slight funk (musty earth) but rather closed. Palate is quite surprising with very forward fruits (not quite fruits bomb) with mixed red and black fruits especially black cherry ending in big tannin. Everybody thought this is made in a New World style. Spanish meritage was the consensus, may be Priorat, Rivera del Duero etc. What a surprise, this is from Italy, Montepulciano D'abruzzo by Barone Cornacchia. Except for nose, there is nothing to suggest this is Italian wine. Uncle-E objected to the fact this does not taste anything like classic Italian wines. May be this wine is for American taste.
Bit about this grape; the below is from Wikipdia; “Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is a type of wine grape as well as a type of red wine made from these same grapes in the Abruzzo region of east-central Italy. The grape is however recommended for 20 of Italy's 95 provinces. Up to 10% Sangiovese is permitted to be added to the blend. It is typically a fruity, dry wine with soft tannins, and as such is often consumed young. If aged by the winery for more than two years, the wine may be labelled "Riserva."This wine should not be confused with Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, a Tuscan wine made from Sangiovese and other grapes, but not the Montepulciano variety.”

“COLOR-great dark; NOSE-bright, ruby red; a little cocoa/coffee action; TASTE-I'm blown away by this wine; this is a MASSIVE red wine; it's so juicy; it's delicious, but it's still true; it's got the big fruit, but not a BOMB; just gorgeous red fruit; light tobacco on the back-end; rose petal for days; if someone told me this was a $75 cult Italian wine that got 94 points from Parker, I would believe it -- it's that delicious; great ripe black fruit; I love it; (AFTER 48 hrs open: more tannic, darker fruits, more rounded -- very nice)”; GV-93

3. Kobalt Cabernet Sauvignon 2004, Score=3+

Color is nicely dark with nose of sweet cherry, vanilla and chocolate. Palate matches the nose with nice forward fruits with tastes of usual suspects (vanilla, caramel, chocolate) with nice well-integrated tannin and long finish. We said this is a classic high-end Cali Cab but Piroca has fooled us with wines from other countries especially from Spain (Alto Moncaya Aquilon, for example), so some caution was mentioned. But this turned out to be Kobalt 04. As you may well know, this is one of the small production boutique wineries in Napa and the wine maker/owner is Kevin Carriker.

“The wine exhibits a dark ruby/purple color and an impressive nose of toasty oak and sweet black currants intermixed with licorice and camphor, as well as a touch of graphite. Lead pencils shavings are also present. The wine has outstanding fruit, full body, ripe but generous tannin, and a rather flamboyant, opulent personality, much in keeping with the style of this vintage. Drink it over the next 15-20 years. 92 points”- Robert Parker.

4. Shafer Merlot 2006, Score=2+~3

Color is dark. Nose has very slight funk and minerals. Nice upfront fruits with integrated tannin, very pleasant wine. Piroca thought this is Merlot and the rest of us were favoring Cab or Cab blend. This turned out to be Shafer Merlot 06. Some of us tasted this wine before. Even after knowing this is Merlot, it really tasted like Cab to us (except for Piroca, of course). This was made by the legendary “Elias Fernandez” who used to shoot “Bambi” and her mother to protect vines.

winemaker's comments: "This release is marked by its perfumy aromas of dark fruit that push out of the glass. The wine itself fills the mouth with opulent flavors of red and black berry fruit, licorice, spice, pepper, strawberry and plum. It's a wine that pairs so well with food, it makes me hungry just tasting it." —Elias Fernandez

5. Dumol Syrah Eddie's Patch 2005, Score=2+~3

As Uncle-E brought this out, because of the shape of the bottles, our differential diagnosis was narrowed to Syrah and Pinot. When it was poured, we knew this was syrah; very dark almost black. Nose is nice with black fruits and bacon. Palate reflects the nose with plumy black fruits up front, nice silky mouth feel with bacon and firm tannin and citrus finish. Very tasty wine. Because of the lack of strong black pepper, we (mostly Prioca) felt this is California Syrah. We (except for Uncle-E, of course) are not familiar with this winery but DuMol is apparently a small production winery in Russian valley.

“The 2005 Syrah Eddie’s Patch has really turned out beautifully since I tasted it a year ago. Huge color (opaque purple to the rim) with an extraordinary nose of frying bacon, roasted meats, licorice, tapenade, and blackberry, the wine is dense, full-bodied, broodingly backward, with super purity, and stunning length and richness. It is hard to know how this wine will age, but it is certainly a fabulous Syrah that should drink well for at least 5-8 years if not longer.”- RP 94 Pts

Karl Lawrence 05 in Boston 3-9-09

Winepath and Uncles-N are in Boston. Last night we tasted 2005 Karl Lawrence Napa Cabernet Sauvignon . We have tasted 2004 before (December 15, 2007). In that tasting note, we said "This is a classic big young California Cab. Nice nose of cheery, vanilla and caramel. Complex black and red fruits on the palate with long finish with taste of chocolate, vanilla and caramel. Tannin is rather chewy leaving some edge on the finish." Although we do not remember 04 enough to compare with 05, judging from the way 04 sounded like, 05 is more moving toward the old world style, which is not bad. Palate is rather austere although there is underlying black fruits and oak-derived tastes, in general it appears to be more austere in terms of fruits as compared to 04. Tannin is assertive with long finish. The wine mellowed out somewhat after being decanted for one hours. Initially, we ordered 04 Antinori but they came back saying 04 was out but had 03. We said 03 was OK and then they come back saying the last bottle of 03 was just taken. In any case, we enjoyed the wine and food. Good start!

Wine Tasting on 3-7-09

Piroca is back, in one piece, from Carnival in Brazil. Uncle–K is still absent and Uncle-E had another engagement which was apparently more important than the tasting. Present were Piroca, Winepath, Jimmy, and Uncle-N and a guest appearance of Uncle-OZ. We blind tasted 6 wines. We happened to taste 3 Spanish wines.

1. Elias Mora Crianza 2005, Score=2+~3

Color is dark with blue/purple tinge on the edge. Nose has slight funk (according to Winepath but nobody else) with herbs (clove); overall pleasant if a bit closed. Palate has black fruits, toasted oak, caramel with assertive tannin and good long finish. Spain and Argentina were mentioned as well as Bordeaux (Winepath). Piroca settled for Spanish or more specifically Priorat (mentioned of Grenache). This is from Toro, Spain, and made of 100% Tinta de Toro (Tempranillo).

93 Points - Wine Spectator
"HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Muscular tannins grip the palate of this concentrated red, but there's a dense core of cassis, currant, espresso and spice cake flavors that are focused and expressive. Impressive now, but should be more enjoyable with time. Best after 2010. 3,300 cases made. - TM"

2. Ledson Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma 2006, Score=3

This is a classy wine. Nose has minerals especially graphite and rock dust. Palate matches the nose with somewhat austere muted fruits with nice firm tannin at the end with reasonably long lasting finish. It is in the Bordeaux style and doing a good job. We felt that this is not Bordeaux but new world wine made in a Bordeaux style. Spanish, Argentina and finally California red meritage (cab predominant) in Bordeaux style was mentioned. This was from Ledson Vineyards in Sonoma. None of us is familiar with this winery but it appears to make small production good quality wines. Bordeaux without funk nose, we liked it especially Winepath who gave a solid “3”, rest of us “2+”.

3. Clos Mogador Priorat 2006, Score=3

Nose has slight funk but not too bad. Palate is nicely fruits-forward with mixed black and red fruits which leads to nice rounded integrated tannin. Some mentioned that the mid-palate is bit thin. Overall a nice wine. Cali Cab was mentioned but also Spain since Piroca has fooled us with Spanish Grenache, which looks and tasted like high-end Cali Cab in the past. This happened to be Rhone mix from Priorat, Spain.

“Clos Mogador, Gratallops - owned by Rene Barbier, one of the leading lights of the Gratallops group, and his son. Produces only one wine, Clos Mogador, 40 per cent Grenache, 35 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, 20 per cent Syrah and small quantities of Pinot Noir, Merlot and Mouvedre, an eclectic mixture but what a wine it produces. The 2005 Clos Mogador is the first wine in Spain entitled to the new classification of “Vi de finca Qualificada”.”

4. Familia Mayol Malbec Finca Montuiri 2004, Score=2+

Color is dark garnet without blue tinge at the rim. Nose is very strong with mineral (rusted metal) and herbs; some of us felt the nose is too pungent. Palate is much better with grilled and smoked vegetables with strong and assertive tannin and long finish. Argentinean Malbec and Spanish with Grenache were mentioned. It turned out we had just "unofficially" tasted this but did not give it a score. At the "official" tasting one day later we tasted the wine for the second time and the pungent nose was so strong it interfered with any tasting and we could not give it a score. So Piroca resubmitted this wine. We re-confirmed that the nose is bit pungent but we are not sure if keeping it in the bottle half full for the next day will indeed make this wine unpalatable. Piroca said he did exactly that and it was fine next day. So we have to see how this bottle will behave.

5. Epifanio Rivera - Erial 2006, Score=2+

Nose has funk but palate is rather gentle with hint of grapey taste and cherry. Fruits forward with mild tannin. This is a pleasant wine but lacking in complexity. This is made of 100% tempranillo from Ribera del duero, Spain.

“Aged in barrels for 10 months, of which 80% are French oak and 20% are American oak…. Erial is a lively and colorful wine that is open and clear to the nose; with flavors of mature blackberries, black licorice, and mineral reminiscences; with creamy and smoky tones from the oak wood; and a spicy finish. Neatly structured in the mouth, with friendly and well-melted tannin, beefy and concentrated fruit, extremely flavorful, balanced and with a refreshing sensation due to a balanced acidity”.

6. Ravens wood Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, Score=2

Nose is bit close but no unpleasant order. Palate is rather simple with nice mild tannin with acidic finish. An OK wine but nothing remarkable. Some were bothered by the acidic finish