Notes from a general brown bag tasting.

1983 Guntrum Oppenheimer Sacktrager Gewurztraminer Auslese – we rarely
serve German wines and I figured this would stump them because they
wouldn’t expect it, and they wouldn’t think it was as old nor as sweet
as the designation indicated, nor would they get the varietal. All
turned out t be true and they even had trouble getting country. It was
a light amber colour belying its age, and had an initial sweet fruit
nose that with time in the glass opened up to reveal a lovely apricot
element. Only medium sweet on palate – probably much less sweet than
it would have seemed on bottling, and a superb acid balance with good
length. Everything these wines should be. BTW, it is very hard to
call Gewurz in a sweet late harvest wine and the varietal clues are
quickly lost with time. No rush on this one.

1986 Nederberg Private Bin R163 Cabernet – sadly this Cape wine was
corked. I have some myself and it normally shows very well. Even this
maimed example was bravely showing some fruit, but that was about all
you could tell.

1994 Shafer Stags Leap Cabernet – in many vintages I think you can do
very well with the regular cabs as opposed to the reserves. My recent
opening of a 1990 Mondavi regular and this wine tend to confirm that
in some years the gap between normal bottling and reserve isn’t as
great as in others. This dark wine showed a deep ripe fruit nose, and
not too much of the ripe character carried over in the mouth where it
was very well balanced and had good length. I couldn’t help thinking
about the 90% of owners of this wine who no doubt popped their corks
in the first 5 years and how much they missed by not waiting. I have
the same vintage of Hillside – must see if he has any more of this as
a side by side might prove interesting.

1994 Stags Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet – this Winiarski wine seemed
simpler than the previous one with bright young fruit, medium weight
and good acidity, ready and pleasant to drink. It picked up some
secondary characteristics with time in the glass but never to the same
degree as the Shafer.

1998 Ch. Bel Air – a shift to Bordeaux with this Pomerol. Hint of
vinyl and mint with the good fruit in this unmistakably Bordeaux nose,
and a mature smooth well balanced wine that is at peak now. Very
pleasant.

1998 Ch. La Lagune – had to work at this a bot but I finally nailed
it. A surprising lot of wood in the nose – almost reminded me of the
1978 Margaux. Perhaps they hit the lottery the year before and
invested in all new barrels or maybe the winemaker forgot to rack it
or something. In any case, this one was certainly characterized by its
wood., to the point that I felt it was intrusive. There was good fruit
underneath and perhaps enough to merit a better assessment if the wood
ever abates, but right now, I am glad I passed on buying this wine.
I’m betting it isn’t going anywhere (not anywhere good, at least).

2001 Nederberg Private Bin Cabernet – the back-up bottle of the
bringer of the corky Nederberg. This one showed very well, dark with
deep edges, a big deep fruit nose, developing notes of cocoa and mint
with time. In the mouth, sweet but the acidity exhibited up front and
it had nice length. No rush on this one.

1995 Clos des Papes – I fooled them all with this Chateauneuf, for
some reason. Maybe it was what they had been tasting, but it took them
a long time by process of elimination to find themselves at last in
the Rhone. This wine had been sitting in my cellar but my tasting of
the 1995 Les Cailloux last week prompted me to give this a try. Sweet
fruit and a hint of black pepper in the nose, almost a bit candied,
and smooth on palate with good length. Drinks well now but no rush. I
find that I am liking the 95 CNduPs quite a bit right now. Further
experimentation is called for!

2005 Tagaris Alice Vineyard Mourvedre – this one was really out of the
blue. We worked our way down to Mourvedre but then stalled out when
told it wasn’t Spanish or French (it wasn’t Aussie style). Dark, ripe
and juicy, and the nose had a ton of fruit. It was basically a bottle
sample from a Columbia Valley winery. I don’t recall seeing this
varietal from the area before – it may bear watching. Interesting.

2005 Ch. Haut Vigneau (Pessac) – this probably should have come
earlier. Definite cabernet nose with hint of spice, young but drinking
well already. I don’t think this will make old bones and it should be
drunk young.


1994 Taurino Patriglione – a controversial wine. This ripe Sicilian
single vineyard Negroamaro showed a road tar and ripe fruit and anise
nose that put some off. Slightly sweet on palate (I used it as a
cheese wine) and troublingly slightly sour at the end. This may have
been an ‘off’ bottle, but I think part of it was that it was a strange
style for many.

On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 08:40:21 -0700 (PDT), "Bill S."
wrote:

Notes from a general brown bag tasting.

1994 Shafer Stags Leap Cabernet – in many vintages I think you can do
very well with the regular cabs as opposed to the reserves. My recent
opening of a 1990 Mondavi regular and this wine tend to confirm that
in some years the gap between normal bottling and reserve isn’t as
great as in others. This dark wine showed a deep ripe fruit nose, and
not too much of the ripe character carried over in the mouth where it
was very well balanced and had good length. I couldn’t help thinking
about the 90% of owners of this wine who no doubt popped their corks
in the first 5 years and how much they missed by not waiting. I have
the same vintage of Hillside – must see if he has any more of this as
a side by side might prove interesting.

1994 Stags Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet – this Winiarski wine seemed
simpler than the previous one with bright young fruit, medium weight
and good acidity, ready and pleasant to drink. It picked up some
secondary characteristics with time in the glass but never to the same
degree as the Shafer.

I'm always pleased when you (1) speak favorably of an offering from
the colonies and (2) when the US wine that you like comes from
wineries which I'm familiar with, can afford and have enjoyed in the
past.

I've been a fan of Shafer for a couple of years and wish I could find
it more often in the hinterland.

Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
www.thundertales.blogspot.com
www.thunderchief.org

I buy almost no American wines today so my notes tend to be of mature
wines. It was just chance that two of the attendees brought 'my' sort
of wine.

On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:16:01 -0700 (PDT), "Bill S."
wrote:

I buy almost no American wines today so my notes tend to be of mature
wines. It was just chance that two of the attendees brought 'my' sort
of wine.

The descriptive phrase is, "be true to your school."

Might be you are depriving yourself. Might also be that you are in
what fighter pilots call "a target-rich environment." Methinks the
latter. And I'm envious.

Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
www.thundertales.blogspot.com
www.thunderchief.org

Ed Rasimus wrote:

Might be you are depriving yourself. Might also be that you are in
what fighter pilots call "a target-rich environment." Methinks the
latter. And I'm envious.

I'd guess the latter, too, Ed, especially as he's buying with a currency
that isn't self-immolating at the moment.

Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

I do not buy American wines because with our provincial monopoly,
prices are absurd.

Top end wines I used to pay $75 for are now $175 and a $50 bill buys
you something you can get for $19.95 at Costco in the US.

Other areas offer much better value than the US does, although price
adjustments to reflect the dollar are slowly happening.

The only thing I've bought recently are some oddball Syrahs.

On Jun 23, 10:22�am, "Bill S." wrote:
I do not buy American wines because with our provincial monopoly,
prices are absurd.

Top end wines I used to pay $75 for are now $175 and a $50 bill buys
you something you can get for $19.95 at Costco in the US.

Other areas offer much better value than the US does, although price
adjustments to reflect the dollar are slowly happening.

The only thing I've bought recently are some oddball Syrahs.

Bill, refresh my memory...you are in Vancouver correct?

On Jun 23, 8:50*am, "Bi!!" wrote:
Bill, refresh my memory...you are in Vancouver correct?

Yup. BC has a liquor monopoly that charges more for wines than just
about anywhere else in Canada.
Here are some examples - remember that the currencies are close to par
right now. BC price first, US domestic price second.

2003 Shafer Hillside select $303 $180

2004 Mondavie Reserve $180 $90

2002 Heitz Marthas $170 $110

2004 Beringer Private Reserve $160 $80

On Jun 24, 10:17�am, "Bill S." wrote:
On Jun 23, 8:50�am, "Bi!!" wrote:

Bill, refresh my memory...you are in Vancouver correct?

Yup. �BC has a liquor monopoly that charges more for wines than just
about anywhere else in Canada.
Here are some examples - remember that the currencies are close to par
right now. �BC price first, US domestic price second.

2003 Shafer Hillside select $303 �$180

2004 Mondavie Reserve $180 � $90

2002 Heitz Marthas �$170 � $110

2004 Beringer Private Reserve �$160 � $80

Actually a check of winesearcher shows that the prices for these wines
in the US are closer to the BC price than you might think. While the
lowest prices listed on winesearcher for each wine is close to the US
price you have listed, it's been my experience that actual prices are
closer to the higher prices listed on winesearcher since the lower
prices are usually "bait and switch" tactics to get you to call the
store to inquire or the lower prices are starting points on auction
sites and the prices ramp up quickly as the auction gets nearer to
closing. $300 for 2003 Hillside Select is not uncommon in the US. I
think if you google the wines listed for prices you'll see what I mean
about the real market prices in the US for those wines and while you
might occasionally find these wines at winery release prices it's
usually an anomaly not the norm since the secondary market is marking
these wines up to outrageous levels so don't dispair....we're paying
the same prices you are!

On Jun 24, 7:50*am, "Bi!!" wrote:
so don't dispair....we're paying
the same prices you are!-


Oh well THAT makes me feel a lot better.....:-)