Tastin of 4-18-08

Present were Winepath, Uncle-N, Piroca, Jimmy and Grassopper. As usual, we tasted 6 wines blindly and also tasted Jimmy’s cooked Larkmead to see how heat affected the wine.


1. Pahlmeyer Sonoma Pinot Noir 2005, score=2+~3

Lighter color than our usual wine but much darker than regular Pinot or Burgundy. The nose is slightly sweet red fruits (raspberry and blueberry) with floral note (Lilly of the valley). The palate reflects the nose in that red fruits taste predominates. There is some spice component. It has mild well-modulated tannin and reasonably long finish. We thought Pinot and Grenache. We did not think this is Burgundy since no earthiness or funk is detected. It turned out Pahlmeyer Pinot from Sonoma. The wine maker’s note read, “The whole, de-stemmed berries were then fermented in short, open-topped stainless steel tanks and cold-soaked using native yeasts. The wine was aged for 15 months in French oak barrels and then bottled without fining or filtration”. RP gave 91-93 in 2006. We all like this one as far as Pinot goes but PQR is not good.

2. Sonador Napa Cabernet Sauvignon 2003, Score=2+

This looks and smells like classic Cali Cab. Dark color with black cherry nose with vanilla. It is not a fruits bomb but lots of black fruits with some vanilla and caramel with nice tannin but short finish. We all thought this is Cali Cab. Actually, We tasted Sonador cab in the barrel tasting last Friday. Wineath and Piroca liked this but Uncle-N thought the nose was very unpleasant. This is a blend of 85% cabernet sauvignon, 9% petite verdot, and 6% merlot.




3. Chateau de Langagnac Bordeaux Superieur 2005, score=2

The nose has cedar, citrus, and coffee component without any hint of funk. The palate is rather austere with thin mid-palate and mild tannin and short finish. Nobody thought this is Bordeaux. Some thought this is Garnacha from Spain. This is the 2005 inexpensive Bordeaux that Wall Street Journal selected as the best tasting. To quote their description “(Bordeaux Supérieur) Good/Delicious Best of tasting. The nose immediately says, "Fine stuff," with earth, tobacco and juicy fruit. Well balanced and nicely complex. Even better after an hour. Remarkably complete for such a young, inexpensive wine.” Interesting side note is that only about 2,000 cases of the wine were exported to the U.S. and it is very difficult to find this wine. Especially after this article appeared in WSJ, the price of this wine has gone up quite a bit. Uncle-N found this being sold in one of the New York Wine merchants and had to wait for 3 months to get them but it is not worth the effort. The idea is that 2005 is such a great year and even very small-unknown Bordeaux producers made a good one.

4. Martin Ray Sonoma Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2003, Score=3 (4)

The nose has slight funk; by Piroca it smells like “rabbit stew cooking in the peasant kitchen with its floor just washed” and also charcoal with nice black fruits. The palate is also nice with well-intergraded black fruits and firm tannin and good long finish. Most of us thought this is the best in the tasting. Some suggested that this is Larkmead cab.
Wine and Spirits gave 94 with this note: "Bryan Davison of Martin Ray purchased the fruit for this wine from the Van der Kamp Vineyard, 1,400 feet up Sonoma Mountain on a northwest-facing slope. (He also blended in a small amount of fruit from Eaglepoint Ranch in Mendocino.) The soils range from red volcanic loam at the top of the vineyard to clay farther down, producing a remarkably delicate cabernet with mineral complexity. Dark flavors of woodland berries weave into the ferrous tannin, feeling strong without any overt muscularity. It's beautiful from the moment the aroma hits, and the fruit impression lasts. It's alive.”

5. North by North West Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, score=2+

The nose has pungent chemical smell with sweaty foot. Rather controlled black fruits with god tannin and reasonable finish. Bit Bordeaux-like but we thought this is Cali Cab but turned out to be Washington State Cab. The label is interesting showing all the information of making of this wine including vineyards from where grapes came from. The blend is 90% cab and10% Merlot. I included a larger label picture for you to read the entire wine making specs.


6. Chateau Hartmann Grand Vin Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Score=2+

Although this was disguised in Caymus bottle with paper covering, as soon as it was poured Piroca and Uncle-N detected this is Ch Hartmann because of light ad turbid color. The nose has floral note with sweet red fruits mild tannin and good finish. Although it does not quite taste like 100% cab it is quite drinkable. The turbidity does not affect the taste but it does not look right. We are sure Winepath will refine his techniques in the future to produce excellent wines. Look forward to tasting 2007 vintage.
WINEMAKER'S NOTE:
The Chateau Hartmann 2006 is made of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot, both imported from Lodi, CA to Baltimore, where it was transpoted to the "Chateau". Maceration lasted 8 days, Brix 25 and 24 for the C.S and Merlot respectively; fermentation was done in separate casks with Red Pasteur yeast. The cap was broken manually 3 times a day. We used cheese cloth to strain the skins and the runoff. The wine was placed into carboys at this point and racked three times; then it was put into a new french oak barrel (CS) and a used Moravian oak barrel (Merlot), for 6 months. The wine was then blended 80:20 (CS:Merlot), bottled and stored for 11 months in the Chateau's caves.

0. Jimmy’s heat stressed Larkmead cab 2005

Definitely we can detect heat stress. The nose has strange toasted smell and lost some of the fruits characters on the palate but still quite drinkable.