Chalk Hill Chardonnay, 2005

Apricot and mace on the nose. Full bodied dense wine with awseome balence of fruit, acid and minerality. Medium finish. Really good wine.

B+

Chapoutier Varonniers, 1994

Dark berry nose. Very silky tannins and good dose of acid. Still has some life. Paired with Venison with great sucsess

B+

A by Acacia pinot Noir, 2006

Good value wine. Nose of red berries and cherries. Sharp attack on the mid palate, which quickly dissipates in a quick finish. Good for cocktail receptions. Not thought provoking, but ok.

Grade C

Ch Cheval Blanc, 1996

Only got a thimbull full, however, really enjoyed. Medium bodied with nose of eath and dark fruit. The wine had a nice jolt of acidity that I really enjoyed. What a great food wine. Finish lasted for at least a minute and a half.

A

Sonoma Cutrer. Russian River Ranches, 2006

Yep it's everywhere, but it's good. Tropical fruit nose, with a hint of stone. Medium bodied with great acidity for butter sauces. Decent finish that ends with minerality.

Grade B

Silverado, Napa County Chardonnay, 2006

Butter and oak on the nose with a little green apple on top. I thought this would be oaky and buttery like so many others, but it came on with a lot of acidity. Medium to full bodied, fruit, oak and some butter all balenced. This would be a great wine with sauteed shrimp wiyh garlic and butter. Hold off the lemon juice and let the wine's acidy contrast.
8.3

MacRostie Wildcat Mountain Syrah, 2004

Pepper and barnyard on the nose. Full bodied and lots of dark fruit, chocholate covered espresso beans and acid. Really well balenced. Did not have that overextraction raisony finish that I dislike. Grilled Ribeye has this wine written all over it.

8.4

MacRostie Pinot Noir, Carneros, 2005

Tight nose with a hint of cherries. Medium bodied with dark cherries and wet stones on the palate. This Pinot tasted like a Gevrey that I had tasted earlier this year at $120 dollars/bottle.

2005 was a cool year for this pinot, so it really is very burgundian. Grilled Salmon and Tenderloin will compliment this wine.

8.2

and

8.5 tasted thirty minutes later

MacRostie Chardonnay Carneros 2006

Green apple and a hint of butter on the nose. Good acidity with a slight oak and butter taste on the palate. The fruit continues into a medium finish. This is a nice alternative to the fuller Freemark Abbey and Rombauer Chardonnays that are in this price range. Would pair well with Nantucket Bay Scallops sauteed in butter, and Chicken with morel sauce.
8.3

Duckhorn 2005 Merlot Napa

Really enjoyed this merlot. It had a dark berry almost like chocolate covered cherries on the nose. The taste was fruit and acid in perfect harmony. The tannins were big, but not aggressive. The finish lasted a while, making me want more. Really easy to recommend with Lamb Chops and Filet. Filet especially with a fruit component in the sauce.
8.6

Girard 2005 Artistry Red Blend

Dark red fruit, earth and a nice dose of mint on the nose. This wine has 14% petite verdot which I usually do not like. However, this bordeaux blend was harmonious in it's blend. The Girard was fuller than the Newton Claret, another blend. The Girard had a nice long finish with oak and fruit balenced pretty well. I would serve lamb stew or chops.

8.4

2005 "A" by Acacia Pinot Noir

Nice easy drinking California Pinot. We use it as our house pinot and it is pretty good. I had another taste today. Nose was fruity with a little pepper. Red berries and light minerality and balenced acidity make this a good earner. I recently tasted a good Mercury that was on par with this American. All in all, I would buy this for home for casual dinner. Chicken, veal and pork dishes. Especially with a mushroom sauce.

8.3

Newton Claret 2005

Pepper and eucalyptus on the nose. Easygoing tannins and ripe fruit with a small dose of minerality. There does not seem to be much after the mid palate, but still a good tasting wine. Would go well with filet.

8.2

Sonoma Coast Winery Pinot Noir 2005

The best California Pinot I've tasted this year.
Nose reminded me of our leather tack room when I was little. There was also some minerality too. The tannins were very silky smooth, yet big enough for this to go with a sirloin.
9.0

2005 Yoakim Bridge Zinfindel

Wow. What a great bottle. Natalie brought this back from a trip to the winery. I went to school with David and Diane, so I am a bit biased.

Opened it Sunday to have with Jackie's lasagna(Angie's recipe). However, to my surprise, my Aunt & Uncle brought a bottle of the 06 Zin, so we drank the 05.

Lots of dark fruit on the nose, almost dry dark fruit, with pepper and a little leather. I was so happy not to taste an amaroneish sweet raisiny zinfandel. The taste had this sensation of layers of flavor just going on and on. Black plum, Black raspberry, Black cherry, get the idea. The tannins were big, but manageable with a nice jolt of acidity at the mid palate. Almost like a light show for your mouth. The Zin went very well with the lasagna, especially with the sausage component. I think the fennel in the sausage and Zin get along well. This wine reminded me of another from the area, Edmeads, which was a nice bottle too.

Can't rate this one because they are friends, but .......

Clos Pegase 2007 Sauvignon Blanc Mitsuko's Vineyard

The Club is having a wine dinner in March. A presentation of history of wine in art will be given by the owner of Clos Pegase. Thought it might be nice to try the wine and see if there was something we could add to the list now, as well as taste for the upcoming dinner.
Stephanie Skiptunis who is a representative of the winery brought a big bag of wine to taste.

Clos Pegase's Sauvignon Blanc first hits your nose with a dose of peach and pee. This was a really good food wine with a nice level of acidity and a really long finish of peachy citrus. I would try this with a grilled white fish with a cream sauce. 8.2

2005 BV Rutherford Cabernet

Tasted the 2005 BV Rutherford Cabernet with James and V from Diagio. Also poured were BV Tapestry and Rosenblum Cab.

The BV Rutherford really stood out in the tasting. The dark fruit aroma came through on the palate. The 2005 was ready to drink now, with smooth tannins and balanced acids. It had that "this is a well made wine" taste.

8.7

The Tapestry was OK to me. It has more varietals in it to form a Bordeaux blend. The nose was tight with some fruit. The palate lacked the fruit and balance of the Rutherford. 8.2

La Muse Verte - Absinthe

Thanks to Ron at VOS selections, I was able to try Absinthe for the first time. We tasted it full strength at 68% alcohol, What a drink. The nose was full of fennel and star anise. The taste was very complex. Just as one flavor was coming through, another flavor came knocking at the door. We may just have to play with this when deglazing fish dishes. This is a very memorable taste. I can't wait to get a bottle and sip during poker night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywOY2Uy6QS4
The hyperlink above shows how to make the cocktail. Usually the proportions are 5/1 water to absinthe. The sugar cube holder usually comes with the bottle. Do not try to shave after you have consumed.

Jadot Beaujolais

Dinner at Dad's. Grilled rib eyes, sauteed mushrooms, and baked potatoes. Calls for a big, expensive, full-bodied red from the Rhone, Bordeaux, or Napa, right? I was amazed at how good this red tasted with the dinner. Good fruit on the nose, decent finish, and just enough acidity to stand up to the rib eye. I later called for the vintage, but dad couldn't find it on the bottle. Drinking this wine was like the beer I had last night at a block party. The host asked how I liked the keg beer. It was nice and smooth. Some hops on the nose with great color. I thought it was a Sam Adams. It ended up being Yuengling.

This dinner also made me think of my wife's Sicilian grandparents and wine. Grandma would make an unbelieveable red sauce and "macaroni". With this we would drink CR Fortissimo red wine. I will never forget those meals, slowly being accepted into the family. Drinking the Fortissimo out of small tumblers that look like what jelly came in when I was a kid. Maybe we should take into consideration how much love will be around the table when eating and drinking. Love and family, I guess, go a long way for our taste buds. Thanks Dad 8.1 (for the wine).

Kenwood Artists Cabernet

I was a little reluctant to meet with Julio for a Heck tasting. We had had a really busy lunch and I agreed to meet at 3pm. The wine distributors are often called upon to bring winery people around to accounts. I almost never say no because it is a great way to meet some wonderful people. (Clay Fritz who has a primo Sauvignon Blanc) Anyway, I admitted that I had never heard of Heck Estates and Julio mumbled something and that was that,

Heck Estates owns Kenwood and Valley of the moon. We tasted six wines, but three are very memorable to me.

Valley of the Moon Pinot Blanc. I really liked this white. It was medium bodied with a citrus and floral nose. The taste was creamy citrusy and well balanced. I would have loved to buy this for our list, but I believe it would be a hard sell. It had enough acidity to stand up to a grilled salmon . My first thought was Sword with a mango salsa.

8.4

Kenwood Russian River Pinot Noir. This was a good solid pinot. Light to medium bodied with a strawberry and raspberry nose. Well balanced and smooth tannin. A good reception wine. I did buy this to fill a gap in our cellar. Will work with our Mustard Salmon.

8.4

Kenwood Artists Cabernet 2003. Very good Cab with a pepper and chocolate nose. Smooth and long dark fruit finish. Ready now, and will probably age pretty well. Reminded me of an aged St Julien, very graceful.

8.7

1964 Pichon Lalande

Brownish ruby color. Dark cherry nose, surprising fruit still there. good acidity and silky tannins. Long finish
8.8
It was a treat to taste a wine that is older than I am. I was amazed at the complex nose, this bottle had waited 44 years to be opened.

2003 Hewitt Rutherford Cabernet

Based on a Wine Library TV video, I sought out the Hewitt Cabernet from V, one of my favorite wine reps. I finally tasted a fresh bottle of the 03 tonight. Drank with Jeremy and Patrick who both appreciate a good wine. The Hewitt was kick butt good. Dark purple.The nose was dark fruit, Cedar and chocolate. The inital attack was like D Day, full bodied, but really mellowed somewhat. Finish was wicked long with more chocolate. Tasted with broiled brisket, pretty good. Also tried with pierogies and scallops. Not so perfect.
Love this wine, glad I bought 12 of the 03 and 6 of the 04.
Rated 9.1

1999 Dominus

Two bottles were bought by a table last night. Monte was kind enough to save a glass for me. Now, mind you the bottle had been opened for fourteen hours so what I tasted is different from what the guest tasted.

The nose was still full of dark cherries and a nice vanilla. The front palate was full bodied and still tasted of fresh fruit. The tannins had definitely mellowed to the point where the word silk comes to mind. Also, the finish was long and enjoyable.

My rating 9.1

First Post

The story. While going to cooking school in San Francisco, I became completely enamored with wine. Fast forward sixteen years, and I now buy it for the establishment I work for. This blog hopefully will allow me a fun way to write down my food and wine thoughts. I will share food and wine pairings that work for me. However, like Gary V says, "Who cares what I like?"
So strap your seatbelts and hold on to those wine glasses. Here we go.
Scott Lahey