Wine tasting on Feb 4, 2010

Because Piroca is taking off Friday and the threat of a big snow storm is on the horizon, we had a small tasting on Thursday instead of Friday. Present were Piroca, Winepath, Jimmy and Uncle-N. We tasted three wines. The first one was not covered since it is Bordeaux and Piroca has talked about this wine after his having this in a restaurant. The remaining two were blind tasted.

1. Calon Segur St. Estephe 2005, Score=3

This is the one Piroca had in a restaurant recently as per the recommendation of the sommelier and he liked it very much. He did manage to get one bottle and offered it tonight to be tasted. Amazingly, he paid less at the restaurant for this wine. Color is nice dark garnet. Nose shows no funk with cedar and toasted oak. Very good start for a Bordeaux. Palate is somewhat restrained but nice black fruit is coming through leading to big and firm tannin. Good long finish. For us New World wine lovers, it is still on a bit austere side but we can see that this will go very well with food especially a nice steak. The big tannin will be much more palatable with food. Reminded us of Ch Pavie. Solid 3.

95 points RP

"This great St.-Estephe estate has turned out a succession of brilliant wines. The 2005, a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot, has put on weight over the last year. An opaque ruby/purple hue is accompanied by a sweet nose of earth, smoke, cassis, and cherries as well as a textured, full-bodied mouthfeel. While the tannin is high, there is beautifully sweet fruit underlying the wine’s structure. It will require 8-10 years of cellaring after release, and should drink well for three decades. -Wine Advocate"

92-94 -Wine Spectator
"Dark-colored, with beautiful aromas of chocolate, spices and violets. Full-bodied, with superfine tannins and a long, long finish. Fresh and refined. A beauty. This is such a pleasure to taste. "

90-93 points -Stephen Tanzer
"(60% cabernet sauvignon and 40% merlot) Bright ruby. Precise aromas of black cherry, leather and flowers. Then densely packed and a bit tight in the middle. Lively and powerful, if a bit less pliant than the unusually fleshy 2003 was at the same stage. Finishes long, with mounting, dusty tannins. A very solid, chewy wine that should require a good seven or eight years of bottle aging and last for upwards of 20 years."

2. Burgess Cabernet Sauvignon 1995, Library release, Score=2+

Color has a brownish hue indicating its age. Nose has incense with some oaky note. Palate is muted with some black fruit leading to firm but integrated tannin with some noticeable acidity. We are not a fan of old wines and this was not one of our favorites tonight. Italian or French and Cali cab were suggested. This is a 1995 Burgess. Earlier days of our wine tasting, Burgess cab was one of our favorites. We can not remember which vintages but probably 2000-2. Compared to these more youthful wines (at the time we tasted them), this one lost some of fruit. This wine, however, got much better after some aeration showing more subtle nuances. Burgess was featured in the New York Times article about the wine cellaring and aging. This wine was cellared at Burgess and released recently as a library release. We wonder if the initial wine had enough structure to allow 15 years of aging.

93 Points - Jonathan Newman

"...This is a wine I know very well having first sampled this wine almost 7 years ago. It is considered one of Tom Burgess’ most storied Cabernet vintages.  The concept from Burgess  Cellars is that they would library a small amount of their original vintage and re-release it at least 10 years after its initial distribution so American consumers could enjoy their top wines with nice bottle age. Few wineries have adopted this practice because of the cost of cellaring wine for a decade.
...most importantly this wine does not disappoint as it is that rare wine from a special vintage, kept in perfect temperature control at the Cellars, and shows that good Napa wines age gracefully and that bottle age can bring many unique enjoyable qualities.
1995 was also considered to be a very solid vintage as most critics rated the overall vintage a 95 rating.
 On the palate, the wine shows its elegance with bright, sweet well integrated tannins that are smooth and round. Still solid backbone and on the palate holds its focus with  black raspberry, polished black cherry and touches of spicy oak and tobacco leaf. Enjoy this wine now and for several more years. It will be an enjoyable wine to pair with lean red meat, baby back ribs, roasted chicken, and lightly blackened fish...." (J.N.)

3. Juslyn Cabernet Sauvignon 2001, Score=2+~(3)

Color is dark garnet with a brown tinge, again, indicative of some age. Nose is a bit assertive with chemical and rubber tire note---not most pleasant nose. Palate is much better with nice fruit upfront including, in addition to usual black fruit, figs and prunes, with some smoky note laced with vanilla leading to well-integrated tannin. Among the three we tasted tonight, the palate is most fruit-laden. Our conclusions is that this is California Cab or cab blend. This turned out to be 2001 Juslyn. We have tasted 03 and 04 in the past. On both vintages, we mentioned about not-so-pleasant nose, so this must be common in all Juslyn cabs. This is what we said for 03 "The nose is very intense with sulfa or chemical smell and some minerality. Cruciferous (cabbage) vegetable nose was also noted. Some of us thought the nose is not pleasant. The taste is better than nose but again, heavy in oak with black cherry. It is rather Bordeaux-like. Nice tannin and long finish. This is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot."

90 points, RP (Feb 2005)
"The 2001 Proprietary Red (which will be called Perry’s Blend beginning in 2002) comes from the Dr. Crane, To-Kalon, and George III vineyards. A blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot, and 3% Cabernet Franc, it is performing better from bottle than it did from barrel. Its dark ruby/purple color is followed by a fragrant nose of blueberries, black currants, vanilla, and crushed rocks. Medium to full-bodied and elegant, with attractive layers of fruit, this beauty can be drunk young or cellared for 10-12 years"