Wine tasting on June 25, 2010

We were back in our regular venue and our tasters again complained about oak miasmas. Present were Uncle E, Uncle N, Winepath and Piroca. Jimmy was on vacation. For a change, uncle E was first to arrive. We blind tasted 6 wines but one of them appears to have gone bad while stored in Uncle E's bathroom.

1.Bodegas Castan Solanera 2005, Score=2+

Color is dark garnet with a brownish hue. Nose has no funk with lemon oil and cherry. Palate is a bit muted but the black cherry came through leading to somewhat "powdery" tannin with rather strong acidity at the end. We thought this was a New World wine; red blends with many grapes and guessed South America, specifically Chile being the country of origin. Of course we were wrong. This is from Spain. This is a new wine region of Spain in the "sunny" South. This is not bad (although the acidity bothers me). It has a high PQR.

winemaker's notes:"The name comes from "Finca La Solana" - very sunny in Spanish. From 40+ year old vines.
Varieties: 65% Monastrell, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Garnacha Tintorera"

90 points by International Wine Cellar:

"Saturated purple. Smoky raspberry and cherry on the nose, with a sexy mocha quality adding complexity. Fleshy, round dark fruit liqueur flavors caress rather than pummel the palate. Gentle tannins arrive late to add structure but this is all about silky, juicy fruit."

From K&L wine:

"91 points and listed as a "Spanish Wine Bargain Under $20" by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, no tasting note given. 90 points from Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar: ........ Solanera is a slightly unusual blend of 65% Monastrell, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Tintorera from the warm climate region of Yecla. What is not unusual about it is it bold rich flavors. There is something that reminds me here of great Cotes-du-Rhone or even Chateauneuf-du-Pape, there is that same sort of deep tar like concentration, all counter-balanced by a fine, fresh, herbal character. Fine cracked white pepper and beef au jus define the aromatics here, this is not shy about what it contains. Sappy but bone dry, this has a coating, glycerin-like boysenberry fruit feel to it all the while fennel and wild thyme refresh and clean the palate. All this is bound together nicely by grainy tannins that melt away easily enough. (Bryan Brick, K&L) "

2. Optima Wine Cellars Dry Creek Valley Unfiltered Zinfandel 2006, Score=2+


Color is dark garnet and slightly lighter than our usual suspects. Nose is muted but no funk. Palate has nice upfront black fruit, blue berry, black berry, and plum laced with caramel and vanilla ending in moderate tannin. Piroca did not like this wine and said acidic and thin. But he is the only one who said this was Zin. The rest thought this was New World cab. This is from Winepath's Sonoma estate neighbour. It is made of 90% Zinfandel, 10% Petite Sirah and the winemaker is Mike Duffy.

90 points By Wine Enthusiast:
"Some Zins are “claret style,” made with the elegant structure of Cabernet Sauvignon. Not this one. It’s pure, classic Dry Creek, showing that region’s robust, slightly rustic tannins, explosive wild berry fruit and loads of briary, peppery tannins. It’s a very fine Zin that calls for upscale beef, pork and chicken dishes."  S.H.   (12/31/2009)

By Optima Winery
"The 2006 Zinfandel is a ripe full-flavored, exceptionally easy going Zinfandel. The wine delivers the regions classic robust wild berry fruit, balanced by creamy vanilla. The tannins are smooth and round and the expansive mid-palate leads to a firm and persistent finish. The balance of this quintessential Zinfandel allows great versatility with food. The 2006 vintage was produced from fruit grown on the eastern bench of Dry Creek Valley, 200 feet above the valley floor. The vineyard experiences cool, foggy mornings and rather hot days. Because there is a substantial difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures, the growing season lasts longer, so the grapes mature more slowly. Harvested on October 22, 2006, at 26.5 degrees brix, the fruit was gently crushed and destemmed, and fermented 10 days to dryness. Following pressing, the wine was clarified natu-rally by settling, and them moved to small oak cooperage where it aged for 12 months. We used a blend of sixty gallon French and American oak barrels to both enhance and complement the wonderful berry aromas."

3. Maroon Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Score=3

Color is nice dark garnet but has distinctive blue or purple hue. Nose is perfumey with some resin character. Palate is front loaded with fruit mostly black fruit especially black cherry laced with vanilla and dark chocolate leading to big chewy tannin. There is sweetness in the mid palate. Our tasters were a bit buffled. Based on the purple color, Malbec, Syrah and Petite verdot were considered but the palate is more like Cali cab. All agreed that this is New World wine. Spanish, may be Garnacha, was memtioned trying to explain the sweetness this wine has. We tasted two vintages (03 and 05) wines from this winery under the name of "Crauford" and  we liked them. With the  '07 vintage, they started using the "Maroon" name for their wines. This wine contains 9% Merlot.

By Marron Winery.com
"This wine is full of red and blue berry aromas. It has a bright fruit profile. It also has some nice lighter tones of floral aromas and well-integrated oak on the nose. It is a medium bodied wine with very nice balance and well integrated tannins. The flavors are a little darker than the aromas suggest, following through with chocolate, berry, cocoa and black licorice. There is s subtle grip of light chewy tannins on the finish. This wine is best served after an hour of decanting."

By Jonathan Newman:
"Paul Maroon, who has owned many choice vineyards in Napa Valley has just started producing wine under his own Maroon label with the release of the gorgeous 2007 Napa Valley Cabernet Vintage. Many of Maroon’s wines were vented under the Crauford label for almost the past decade. In addition to his ultra premium Maroon Vineyard Cabernet, he has introduced two additional Cabernets, including a beauty from the Spring Mountain District. Spring Mountain is known for growing very distinct dark and intense Cabernets and received AVA recognition in 1993, and is home to prominent wineries like Behrens and Hitchcock, Cain, Paloma and Newton. It is located above the Town of St. Helena on the Eastern slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains and it contains only about 30 wineries. The Maroon Spring Mountain Cabernet by winemaker Chris Corley has a luscious mix of black, red and blue fruits, including black cherries, dark plum, cassis and dark chocolate with touches of a nutmeg spice box. This wine is should be aerated or decanted and is best drank from 2011 to 2016. Only 1,000 cases produced. (J.N.)"


4. Asterisk Red by Sloan 2005, score=3+~4

Color is very dark garnet. Nose is nice but some protein (jus  de viande) note and some mentioned "blood"-like note. Palate is loaded with back fruit laced with usual vanilla, chocolate plus minerals and herbal, vegital characters (in a good way) leading to big chewy tannin and a long lingering finish. This tasted really like a high-end Cali Cab. We all liked it. We tasted this wine previously.

This is the second label of the cult winery "Sloan" and not much was written about it.


5. Neal Cabernet sauvignon 2002, Score=3+~4

Color is dark garnet. Nose has no funk and has a classic cab nose. Palate is nicely fruit loaded with black cherry, blueberry etc. Maybe a bit on the oaky side but a nice wine with firm tannin and long finish. Our consensus was Cali Cab.

92 points by Wine Spectater, (11/15/2005) "A bold, ripe, seductive style that packs in lots of flashy mocha and chocolaty oak, but also a delicious core of vivid blackberry, cherry and currant flavors. On the finish, the flavors come together in a rich, harmonious way. Best from 2007 through 2013. 133 cases made."

From the winery:
"November 15, 2004 - When the 2002 wines were youngsters in early 2003, we recognized the fact that the intensity of color, flavor and structure were such that we expected a longer aging period was needed to achieve the balance we strive for. Just like in our farming operations, every procedure is determined by what the vines and wines require for the highest quality. Repeating the same formula as was used the previous year won’t allow us to improve, and trying to stay within a schedule just for marketing purposes is not the way to make the best wine."
 
6. Valsacro Dioro Rioja 2001, No score

We tasted this twice before. Forewarned from previous experience, this time most of us only sniffed and did not allow this wine to cross our lips. Nose has pungent vinegary character and we deemed this wine "turned" and undrinkable. Uncle E won't give up on this wine. But trust us, bad miasma from the bathroom has not improved this stuff--Please do not bring this wine again, Uncle E. At least, he knew something like this might happen so, as a backup, he brought the Neal. Good thinking.

The first time we tasted this we  gave a 1 and said;
"The nose is most unpleasant with sulfa, "fecal", rubber and some herbal note (cut grass), in another word, smell of dog poop in your cluttered backyard with old tires piled up in the corner after mowing. Austere palate with tastes of tannin and acid. Not much fruits. The nose turned off many of us. This wine is made from 50% tempranillo, 40% grenacha (grenache or garnacha ---- so many different spelling), and 10% from mazuela (carignan)."

The second time we tasted it we gave score of 2 (improvement) and said;
"Color is dark brown/garnet. Nose has some sweaty feet notes but this is not too strong initially. Palate is bit austere but with some black fruit with coffee (espresso) component and chocolate leading to firm tannin and crisp acidity in the back end. After some air time, the nose became a bit strong to me but others did not mind it as much as I did. This turned out to be Rioja. I thought the label looks familiar. We tasted this before. At that time, we did not like this wine at all and gave a score of 1. "