1. Liparita Cabernet Sauvgnon 2001, Score=2+Bit of "sweaty foot" and minerals on the nose but it does not smell as bad as this description may imply. Somewhat muted fruits with well-balanced acid and tannin. Well made wine in the style of Bordeaux. This is a quite good wine.
Liparita Winery was supposedly bankrupted in 2003 but it appears that it resurrected themselves. Liparita means "little Lipari" in Italian, and the original vineyard was so named because its red soils reminded early Sicilian immigrants of the soils on the Lipari Islands off the coast of Sicily.
2. Conn Valley Vineyards "Eloge" 2004, Score=2+This was only one actually blind tasted. Somewhat similar to the Liparita. There are minerals on the nose but rather closed. Muted fruits, mostly back fruits, with hint of chocolate and nice firm tannin. Again not fruits bomb but very well made. Super-Tuscan and Napa Cab and Cab blend were mentioned and this turned out to be Conn Valley Eloge 2004.
We have tasted in the past Conn Valley Cab 2004 (may have been different year) and liked it but Eloge is also a fine wine (although I am not sure why this is named "Eloge"...isn't that something to do with eulogy at the funeral or may be it means something different, please enlighten me". The blend is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc, 5% Merlot, 5% Petite Verdot and aged in 22 months in French oak 225 liter cooperage - 90% new French oak.
3. Ojay Santa Rita Hills Syrah 2004, score=2+ ~3Such a classic nose of Syrah; very intense nice nose with plum, black fruits, some bacon fat and black pepper. Nice smooth mouth feel with lots of black fruits and plum, mocha and caramel. Nice structured tannin but some felt too much oak. Finish is relatively short. But overall, this is a fine North American Syrah....we like this better than fake "fruits" laden low-price Australian Shiraz for sure.
4. Buccella Melrot 2005, score=2+~3+5. Buccella Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, score=2+~3+
This is the main event for this tasting with much expectation. We have to start with aesthetics first; the image from the Buccella Web page was used on the left since pictures I took do not convey the subtle difference in color of the medallions and the labels between Merlot (left) and Cabernet (right). To be honest we had very high expectations based on o4 Cab. 2005 is not as exciting as 2004; we do not know it is because we are bit more jaded or indeed these 05s are not as great as 04s.
The Merlot; the nose is more assertive than the Cab with spice box particularly cinnamon
with some other smell...spoiled milk or meat....which is very faint and appears to dissipate a bit after sometime..not bad enough to detract from enjoying the wine for the most of us (uncle-E was most sensitive). This is very intense Merlot which tastes much like Cab (again, one can ague why do you make Merlot which tastes like Cabernet). Lots of oak-derived tastes such as vanilla, caramel, and more vanilla. Very smooth mouth feel with nice tannin and relatively long finish.The Cabernet; the nose is more muted than the Merlot but no off smell with nice black fruits predominate. Fruits are not as prominent as 04. Nice smooth mouth feel with rather controlled fruits with vanilla and caramel and hint of mocha. Nice structured tannin with long finish but besides the nose, the diffidences between the Merlot and Cabernet are rather subtle.
No question both are wonderful wines but scores range quite widely among the tasters. This is like Wall street, despite a better earning, the expectations are so high that the stock price goes down. We have to do vertical tasting some time in the future to settle.
6. Vina Caneiro Ribeira Sacra 2006, score=1We were supposedly to stop with two Buccellas but they were bit of downers and we kept on.
What a nose; pure smell of sewer with strong sulfa. This one rivals a wine that Winepath brought back from Romania some years ago. This nose alone will totally detract from enjoying the wine. The palate is better than nose which does not say much; rather flat and thin with acid and tannin. Uncle-E is going to complain about this to the guy at the wine store who recommended this to him. But to his credit, this got 91 from ST. To quote him: "Dark red. Intensely aromatic nose offers pungent red berries, minerals and dried flowers." I think "intense" and "pungent" are euphemism for "red berries in sewer water".
7. Etude Cabernet Sauvignon 2004, Score=3~3+Piroca decided that we can not finish the tasting with "sewer" smell in our nose and run to his office and got back with "Etude" 2004. We were definitely out of control. Nice wine. The nose has minty herbal note with slightest "funk" and spices. Nice smooth mouth feel with well integrated acid and tannin with black fruits. Nice long finish. But I have to admit, we are having bit of "taste" fatigue.
In any case, there is no doubt this is well crafted wine.
8. Bressler Cabernet Sauvignon 2004, Score=2+ ~ 3Uncle-E also decided that he has to compensate for the "Sewer" and also run to his office to grab "Bressler 04" he just received.
The nose is rather closed but with some berries. The palate is good but bit thin. Good tannin and relatively long finish.
The Bressler is a small producer in St . Helena and has been producing good wines. We may not have given enough attention to this wine because we are tasting so many wines today (especially those who do not spit).
Any way, this is the end of our extravagant tasting. Anybody will be quite happy to have any of the wines we tasted today (sans the "sewer" wine).
4 comments:
It was unfortunate that the Bressler was the last wine to be tasted; but for me, it was an easy 3-3+. It is hard to "spit" wines such as these.
I agree with winepath it is hard to spit wines as good as we had this week. While the Bressler may have seemed a little thin on first opening especially after the wonderfully beefy 4 point Bucellas. Within moments after opening the Bressler it came into its own, with just enough chewiness and structure to compliment the wine’s flavor. To me this wine is a 4.
It's me Jimmy I'm really not anonymous. I just can't remmeber my password.
I think winepath was a little too hard on the Buccella wines. The merlot and the cabernet sauvignon deserve at least scores of 4. They have legs that would make Betty Grable envious, intense color and bouquets and palates that are fantastic, at least in my humble opinion. They are, however, not as fruit foward as I expected and most of the aromas and flavors appeares to be oak rather than fruit derived, as Uncle E rightly pointed out. I will drink these wines anytime with anything and will always have a very pleasurable experience.
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