Wine Tasing on Sptember 11, 2009

Present were the usual members; Uncles-N, E, Jimmy, Winepath, and Piroca. We blind tasted 5 wines with 3 in sloped shoulder bottles! On some occasions, such as this one, we are not really into tasting wines but end up doing more chatting.  Nonetheless we did our best to make tasting notes. In addition, this time, we had more widely divergent scores among our tasters than usual.

1. Flora Springs Out Of Sight Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, score=3

This is the least controversial of all the wines we tasted this evening. The color is a dark nice garnet. The nose is very pleasant with black cherry and oak. Some sensed a little funk. The palate is rather fruit-laden upfront with plum, raisin, black fruit leading to substantial but well-integrated tannin. Some felt it may be a bit over oaked. It has a good long lingering finish. Our consensus is California Cab but Spanish and Italian were mentioned in passing.

Robert Parker – 93 Rating

"Perhaps my favorite of this group is the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Out of Sight Vineyard. Dark ruby/purple (in fact, the most opaque of all these Cabernets), the wine exhibits creme de cassis, charcoal, acacia flower, and some high-class barrique and pain grille notes. The wine is full-bodied, powerful, rich, pure, layered, and deep. Drink it over the next 20+ years."

Wine makers note

"The 2005 Out-of-Sight Cabernet Sauvignon exhibits the vineyard’s classic “plumminess” with a rich mouthfeel and complex finish. There is an engaging bouquet of violets and black cherry, followed by richly extracted black fruit on the palate. The finish is long and elegant, enhanced by soft, sweet tannins. With its impeccable balance and elegant style, this wine can be enjoyed early for its youthful brilliance or aged for several years as its depth and complexity evolve."


2. Domaine Famille Ligneres Cabanon De Pascal 2002, score=1~2

This came in a sloped shoulder bottle which limits the types of wine this cold be. In any case, the color is ruby and light. The nose has some raisin character. The palate starts with (somewhat candied) red fruit ending in mild tannin. Not a complex wine but OK. Piroca felt the nose had strong funk -sulfur smell and deemed this wine undrinkable.  Winepath announced that this was from Rhone or Languedoc and granache. This is Granache (93% Grenache, 7% Mourvèdre) from the same vineyard we tasted syrah in the last tasting. “Le Cabanon” is a traditional small cabin built of dry stones, covered by canal tiles, and is located in a remote area of our vineyards. Pascal, the vineyard manager, and his Percheron horse, Bijou, used to take shelter there from the thunderstorms.

Wine Spectator – 88 Score

"Elegant for the appellation, with an array of lively red cherry, berry and plum flavors that linger with mineral and spice on the fresh finish. Grenache and Mourvèdre. Drink now through 2011."

3. Château Beauséjour  2000, Score=2

The color is dark with a brown tinge at the rim indicating age. Nose has definitive basement or farty funk with green vegetable (cooked spinach and asparagus). Palate is bit surprising. It has a good black fruit upfront and good firm tannin with a reasonable finish. The tasters thought Italian, maybe Super Tuscan but Unlce-E said that this was Bordeaux and he was right.  A surprising amount of fruit threw some of us off. It was made of 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. We wondered if the vegetable nose may have come from the significant amount of Cab Franc. If this one did not have the funky nose, it would have reminded us somewhat of Ch. Pavie.

Robert Parker – 93 Rating

"Greatest Beau Sejour-Becot I've ever tasted. It put on weight during its elevage and appears spectacular. Overall flavor dimensions are noteworthy. Super-pure, fabulously extracted with high tannin, full body, thick texture, awesome richness and length."


4.  Stephne and Walker Petite Sirah Dry Creek Valley 2008, Score=2+~3

This was a very unusual wine. It also came in a sloped shoulder bottle. Color is nicely dark with amazing purple hue. Immediately, Piroca said this is petite sirah. The only other wine which may have such a purple color may be Malbec. Nose is strongly "fig" with burned sugar/caramel. Palate is loaded with jammy fruit; fig, black fruit, plum, with smooth viscous mouth feel with interesting "fizzy" sensation leading to well-integrated tannin. There was no really acidic or lemony kick which one may associate with malbec.  In any case, Prioca is absolutely right on. This is a very small production wine produced near Winepath's chateau.

"We hand picked this small vineyard September 24, 2008.  The weather was playing tricks on us again , and it actually rained the morning after we picked these grapes.  It was a bold decision, but I chose these young vines because I hoped they would ripen early, before the rains. The vines are very young, this was the first crop (fourth leaf) so we see smaller berries with higher skin ratio - that means more color, flavor and fruit! The pick was a tremendous success and the grapes came to our winery at about 26.8 Brix.

We crushed the grapes into small, 1-ton-open-topped fermentation tanks.  We let the natural yeast start the fermentation by cold soaking the grapes for 4 days, and then we noticed the gradual start of the fermentation.  We added our own yeast and this Petite took off fast.  WE had fun (and a lot of hard work) "punching down" the fermenting must twice daily for 7 days before we pressed off and put directly into 2 year old, once filled - French oak barrels.  The wine finished Malo-lactic fermentation in these barrels and we aged the wine for 10 months on fermentation lees before bottling in August  2008."

5.  Radio Coteau Pinot Noir La Neblina 2006, score=2+

This one also came in a sloped shoulder bottle. Color is rose and thin. We all thought Pinot. Nose is minerals and  funk (as we learn later this should have been described as "earth and forest floor"). Palate has nice red fruit upfront, somewhat sweet tasting leading to nice mild tannin. So everybody thought this is Pinot Noir. Only question is if this is from Washington state, California, or France. Because of the funk nose, Burgundy was considered but we knew some North American Pinot also have slight funk. This was 2006 Radio Coteau Pinot Noir La Neblina. We have tasted other Radio-Coteau Zinfandel before (May 5, 09 the 7th wine).

Josh Raynolds, Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, May/Jun 08=91 points

"Medium red. Explosively perfumed, offering a sexy array of dark berry, spice and floral scents, along with smoky minerality. Round and juicy, with deep black raspberry and blueberry flavors complemented by cinnamon and anise. Really stains the palate, finishing with gentle grip and a whiplash of dark berries."


Robert Parker, Issue #180, December 2008=91 points

"The 2006 Pinot Noir La Neblina has more earth and forest floor notes, some ruggedly constructed Pommard-like red fruits backed up by serious muscle, depth, and power. If the 2007 is pure charm and elegance with concentration, the 2006 is its more burly sibling."