Family Time Is Hard
Château Léoville-Las Cases
Grand Vin de Leoville du Marquis de las Cases Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 1978
Still a lot of life left despite the vintage. After decanting for an hour it is hard to find any flaw with it. — 10 years ago
Domaine Jamet
Côte-Rôtie Syrah 2007
If there were ever an archetypical Syrah, Jamet's Cote-Rotie would be a strong candidate. To me this is a pure expression of a classic Northern Rhone Syrah. It is not a single site, but a blend of terroirs, encompassing over 20 sites mostly from hard rock schist bedrock with little to no topsoil. There is NO Viognier in this wine like one might expect from most Cote-Rotie that might have 1-5% co-fermented.
Importantly, there is also a lot less of the oak character that can dominate and overwhelm many Northern Rhone wines. The oak maturation, while not short at 22 months, only uses 15% new oak with no trace of it on the palate as it is perfectly integrated. Grape bunches are whole cluster fermented and macerated for up to 3 weeks.
The 2007 we have here was drinking superbly for a young wine, showing lively and racy layers of peppercorn spice, roast beef, and warm blackberry and currant fruit from the hot 2007 vintage. While from a warm vintage, not a hair is out of place. Density and purity exude from the nose and hint at what a brilliant future this wine has. Perfect acidity and fleshy ripe tannin provide the backbone structure for father time to peel back the layers of this beauty. I will be chceking back in 5 years at the earliest. — 10 years ago
Opus One
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 1981
After a spirited tussle between myself and the Durand vs a dry and crumbly cork I was able to double decant this and segregate away the remnants of floating debris. I was immediately struck by the bouquet which was unmistakably borne from Cabernet Franc (and I believe this blend is less than 10%). It was a positive sign. The wine is completely intact and boasts ample fruit albeit waning acidity. Simple Concord grape, bruised black plum and sweet oak flavors are holding on 2 hours in. This has some time left, but not much. This is a testament to Opus One quality in the early days (I believe this was the 3rd or 4th vintage) and while I think the ‘87-‘97 era was their best, this is an profound example of an exemplary wine at age 37! — 8 years ago
Paul T, Missing My Beautiful Wife 24/7
7th grade for me, my math teacher is probably 81 now, I’ll give her you’re number
Caymus Vineyards
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
Time to celebrate. Here's a wonderful wine for the occasion.
Deep inky in color with no rim whatsoever.
Beautiful nose of vanilla, soaked cherries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, figs, oak, leather, smoke, spices, wildflowers, candy corn and white pepper.
Full-bodied and bold, with a great mouthfeel, smooth and elegant, with medium acidity and great looking legs.
Fruity and dry on the palate, with blackberries, blueberries, figs, raisins, red licorice, tobacco, smoke, beef jerky, cloves, spices, earth and peppercorn.
Long finish with firm, yet smooth, tannins and cherries.
This is a wonderful Cabernet Sauvignon from the house of the Wagner family. Very enjoyable by itself as a sipping wine, on the porch, or with a big piece of steak.
Smooth and elegant with a great mouthfeel. Chewy and jammy, balanced and approachable. Will drink nicely in the next decade or more. Great wine, great vintage.
Needed two hours in a decanter to open up properly.
14.9% alcohol by volume. — 9 years ago
Corison Winery
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2010
On the nose, stewed fruits of; black plum, blackberries, dark cherries, plum and blueberries. Mocha, chocolate, mixed berry cola, sweet spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, caramel, loamy mineral soils and dry dark florals. The mouthfeel is less concentrated than other vintages of Corison but that's indicative of the 10 Napa vintage generally. The tannins are nicely resolved with another 5-8 years before they are completely resolve. The fruits are; dark cherries, black plum, plum, black raspberries, blackberries with strawberries that dance around the rest of the fruit. There's nice barrel toast, vanilla, nutmeg, light clove, cinnamon, touch of wood shavings, liqueur notes, caramel, mocha chocolate, mix berry cola, loamy soils, dry crushed rocks, bramble, dry stems with nice soft round acidity. The finish is a little lean but tasty. Good balance of fruit and earth with long, rich elegance. Cathy slightly overachieved the 10 vintage as a whole. Photos of; her estate building, Cathy in her vineyard, grapes coming in at night (better to harvest when the fruit is cooler) and her estate vineyard in all it's glory. Producer notes and history...Cathy Corison grew up in Riverside, California. She studied biology at Pomona College and was on their men's diving team, because the school didn't have a women's team. In 1972, she had to take an extracurricular class. She signed up for a trampoline class, but changed her mind upon seeing a sign-up sheet for a wine tasting class. This class was the catalyst that sparked her interest in winemaking. After graduation in 1975, she moved to Napa Valley in California. She received her Master's degree in Enology from University of California, Davis. Upon moving to Napa, she started working in the tasting room at Sterling Vineyards and at a wine shop. During this time, she was getting her Master's degree at the University of California, Davis. She was told by her professor that she would not get a job in Napa Valley because of being a woman. However, if she wasn't the first Napa Valley female Winemaker, she was certainly one of the first. She tried to get a job at Freemark Abbey and was denied because they believed she could not work in the cellar. She almost took a job at Christian Brothers in the enology lab. However, she decided not to take the job and in 1978 she became an intern at Freemark Abbey and eventually became their Winemaker. She joined Chappellet in 1983 and was their Winemaker for nearly ten years. She founded Corison Winery, in 1987. The winery is located in St. Helena, California in a barn built by her husband, William Martin. Corison makes Cabernet and Gewürztraminer. They produce about 3,500 cases a year depending on the vintage. The winery makes a Kronos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and as well as a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. The Kronos is an estate wine that is made from organic grapes. The vineyard is dry farmed. The grapes come from one of the oldest vineyards in Napa Valley. The Napa Valley Cabernet comes from Rutherford. The Gewürztraminer is called Corazón and comes from the Anderson Valley. — 9 years ago
The Prisoner Wine Company
The Prisoner Napa Valley Zinfandel Blend
The Prisoner from Napa Valley is excellent--second time tasting, but first time with the bottle. Delicious both times. — 13 years ago
Keith Fisher
This vintage is showing better as time passes. Could this end up aging better than 2002 which was more highly acclaimed? I liked this a little better than the last 2002 that I had. — 8 years ago