Wine tasting on April 30, 2010

There was a small tasting last week but the scribe was not there and the backup scribe opted out--so no post for that tasting. I was told "Merus" was tasted and grasshopper made an appearance. This was the last tasting of April. Present were Unlce-N, Winepath, Jimmy and Piroca and we blind tasted 4 wines. Three were very nice, but one did not even resemble wine and warranted a "minus" score for the first time in our blog history.

1. Baer Winery  Ursa  Columbia Valley  Bordeaux Blend 2006, score=2+~3
This one came in a tall skinny bottle. Color is dark garnet but lighter than our usual suspects. The color immediately produced such reactions as "may be Grenache or even Pinot, but the bottle shape was wrong for Pinot". Nose is very pleasent with perfume and citrus. Some felt it has a "cab" nose. No funk. Palate is well controlled. Mix of black and red fruits up front with black fruit predominating such as black cherry and blue berry leading to nice well-integrated tannin. No strong oak derived taste and the wine is well balanced. Decent lingering finish. Our tasters could not figure out the grapes or regions well. Merlot, Cali Cab (from Sonoma or Paso robles -why this specific??) were mentioned. This is from Washington sate, Columbia valley. To me, this wine is how right bank Bordeaux should taste--without funk. Some of us liked this one better than the #2 wine below.  Our linguistic expert, Winepath, indicated "Ursa" is "bear" in Latin which is a word play on the name of the winery, obviously. We ususally do not like red wines from Washington state or Oregon but this is a good one that we all liked.

91 points By Wine Spectator
"Smooth, polished and generous with its layers of currant, plum and white pepper aromas and flavors, with a whiff of herbs. Persists easily into the long, deftly balanced finish. Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2014. 1,724 cases made." –HS, (Jun 30, 2009)

90 points By Wine Enthusiast
"The newest Ursa is 50% Merlot, 24% Cab Franc, 17% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Malbec and 2% Petit Verdot, and it is absolutely delicious right out of the chute; no breathing needed. It’s got plump and sweetly juicy cherry and berry fruit flavors, mixed in with cherry candy, red licorice, anise and spice. Good persistence and length".  - P.G. (8/1/2009)

By baerwinery.com
"Now in its 7th vintage, Ursa remains Baer's signature blend, showcasing the fruit from our select Columbia Valley vineyard partner, Stillwater Creek. This lush, velvety blend hints at rootbeer and mocha on the palate. The rich nose delivers big, ripe fruit – blackberries and black cherries—along with chocolate and spice. Mouthfeel is well-balanced, with a long finish carrying through the flavor of cherries and sweet oak. Expressive and approachable, this is a fine wine that may be enjoyed now, or cellared for up to 8 years."

2. Seavey Vineyard  Caravina  Napa Valley  Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, score=3
Color is dark garnet, the color our wines usual have. Nose shows oak and cedar. Palate is more fruit loaded than the first wine we tasted. Mostly black fruit laced with coffee, dark chocolate leading into big chewy tannin balanced with crisp acidic finish. Long lasting finish. Everybody liked this wine and suggested Cali Cab or Cab blend. Some also thought this could be Califronia syrah or, at least, contained a syrah component.
This turned out to be the second label of Seavey.

91 points By Robert Parker,Wine Advocate # 180 (Dec 2008)
"The 2006 Caravina (96% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Petit Verdot) is also surprisingly soft for a wine from this vintage, with melted tannins and lots of scorched earth, blackberry, and cassis notes. With full body and a silky suppleness, it should drink well for a decade as well. As I said last year, there is a strong argument to be made that this is the most underrated great Cabernet Sauvignon produced in Napa Valley. Sadly, Mary Seavey, long-time wife of Bill Seavey, passed away just before my visit, and my heartfelt condolences go out to her husband who, along with his wife, were visionaries with regard to what could be achieved on these dry-farmed hillside vineyards tucked away in Conn Valley, east of Meadowood Resort. Their winemaker is the brilliant Philippe Melka, who has always said that the challenge is not with the complexity or quality of the fruit, but rather taming what can be the savage tannins that can emerge from these hillsides. He has done just that, and along with Bill Seavey, introduced perhaps the best second wine in all of Napa Valley, the Caravina. Keep in mind that I have Seaveys going back to 1990 in my cellar, and they are still young wines, so this is a wine that can easily hold up for 25+ years when well-stored. The estate Cabernet Sauvignon (the production varies between about 725 to just over 1,000 cases depending on vintage conditions) tends to be anywhere from a minimum of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon to as much as 92-93%, with the balance always Petit Verdot, and over recent years, no Merlot whatsoever."

By seaveyvineyard.com
"In 1981, Wm. Seavey restored a prized, historic mountain slope vineyard in the heart of Napa Valley, with original vine plantings by the Franco-Swiss Cellar dating back to 1871. This 200-acre cattle ranch and vineyard property embraces the rustic 1881 stone barn as its winery.
William Seavey, Proprietor;Philippe Melka, Consultant Winemaker; Jeremy Weintraub, Winemaker; Brandon Hébert-St.Martin, Director

Seavey Vineyard’s eighth estate-produced Caravina Cabernet, the 2006, was made from 83% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Petit Verdot grapes that came from vines planted on several different locations of the south-facing hillside vineyard.
Winemaking style followed classic Bordeaux methods. Harvested at optimal ripeness, the juice remained in contact with the skins for an average of 15 days, with malolactic fermentation occurring in barrel.  The wine was aged in French oak barrels (40% new oak) and bottled in May 2008. Released: May 10th, 2009 Production: Limited to 1100 cases of 750ml bottles. Alcohol 14.8%".

3. Buccella Cuvee Katrina Eileen Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, score=3+(4)
This one was served in a decoy bottle since the Buccella bottle was too distinctive. Color is dark garnet. Nose has a nice cab nose with vanilla and caramel. Palate is loaded with big predominantly black fruit with caramel, vanilla, chocolate and a hint of cinnamon leading to big firm tannin. Nice lingering finish. This wine did not leave any doubt that this was a high-end California cab. Only question was which one. The bottle shape really led us astray since Piroca used a Rutini Malbec bottle which was carefully covered. The last year's release (06) had much bigger tannin but 07 is much smoother and we like 07 better than 06.

Here is barrel tasting note from the winery.
2007 Buccella Cabernet Sauvignon Cuvee Katrina Eileen; DW 95-97
"Named for Bill and Alicia’s daughter, aged in 100% Darnajou barrels, the wine is in its second vintage. Shows an ultra-intense Syrah-like color…

Aroma: deep and intense with gooey blue and black fruits and an an underlying sense of tobacco, cocoa and nutmeg

Palate: focused and centered, the palate is refreshingly structured showing classic mid-valley benchland character, elements of cranberry and gobs of sculpted black fruits

Impression: a little coffee and spice along with well defined black and deep red fruits - excellent texture"

4. Kretikos Red Wine of Crete 2005, score=-1

This wine made us score the very first negative score of all our tastings. Color is watery thin and brown. Nose has a very unpleasant chemical and basement smell. Palate? None. No taste, no tannin just some acidity. We are totally baffled why anybody in their right mind would produce, import or drink this wine. Like RP scoring, we gave a score of 1 to just show up. But we had to subtract for color, nose and taste which made it a minus score. We have tasted bad wines from Florida, Hungary, Romania, Turkey etc but this one is exceptionally bad.