First Fleet
Heitz Cellar
Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1980
Fill into the neck and beautiful cork. Not as compelling asa 1978 or 1984 a couple of years back, but still a marvelous example of aged Cali Cab. Remarkable to me that there were about 3,000 cases each year. Hard to pick a winner in the first Cab flight. All showed well for their age - a really fun flight. — 7 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
Château Mouton Rothschild
Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1981
Um yeah... #BOOM status granted for this at the #yulwinethrowdown . 81 not the best of vintages and wines are reportedly past peak but this first growth was not. Very interesting flavour profile, certainly secondary characteristics but structurally still pretty sound. I was glad to find it still alive and in my opinion had many more years left before the big decline. Awesome privilege to have tasted. — 11 years ago
Dominus Estate
Dominus Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 1997
Had friends over for lunch on Saturday and had a match off with this 1997 Dominus with a 1997 Wynns John Riddoch - both from magnum. This Dominus I first tried at TriBeCa Grill in New York about 8 years ago and it was a wow wine for me. In fact the best Cabernet I had ever had outside of Bordeaux. No detailed notes but this was more savoury and less fruit driven than I remember. The consensus around the table was in favour of the Riddoch with me as the sole vote for the Dominus. No detailed tasting notes. — 7 years ago
First Drop Wines
Mother's Ruin Cabernet Sauvignon 2015
Lättfotat och förföriskt vätskgodis. Omogna hallon. Småpartierna på systemet. — 8 years ago
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars
Artemis Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
Road wine so ease off me please and I usually enjoy stag leap but last night so so
First off o smiled but because I drank entire bottle
Color was fine smell was aromatic but from there the other things were off
Taste was not what I expected as was too much heat and alcohol and finish was weak
Sadly I have a few and will be handing off as gifts to people I really don't know when needed - sorry to al future gift receivers — 9 years ago
Château Léoville Barton
Saint-Julien Red Bordeaux Blend 2006
Drank this over the course of 6 days using Coravin...still too young, but the wine really opened up by the last day. Smells and tastes like a Grand Bordeaux St. Julien wine as it should. I used to this wine to test the Coravin. It is clear that oxidation starts right after the first pour. — 10 years ago
R. López de Heredia
Viña Tondonia Reserva Rioja Tempranillo Blend 2002
Crazy good paired with dipping into gamba al ajillo (emphasis added), at Napa's groovy/real Zuzu, catching a classic deeply dirty nose while still sporting sun-drenched fruit that initially reworks one's first blush front mouth with an iodine edge that morfs into red and black fruit edgy with acid/tannin slow dancing to the depths and begging for another pinch of broth soaked chewy freshly baked bread and the associated next swig of this sweet juice...rhythmically stellar by day or by night😎🌌👣🍷🌀🎼
PS hit Zuzu (friendly, delicious and real...
— 11 years ago
The Prisoner Wine Company
The Prisoner Napa Valley Zinfandel Blend
Needs to breathe a bit at first, but drinks well. Tastes more expensive than it is. Good red! — 13 years ago
Louis Roederer
Cristal Brut Champagne 1990
The 1990 Cristal is remarkable. Polished, nuanced and light on its feet, the 1990 is all class. Citrus, orchard fruit and floral notes are wonderfully lifted throughout. A slight reductive note adds character on the finely knit finish. I can’t think of a better way to start this tasting. Simply put, the 1990 is a total rock star. Moreover, it is much more delicate than most wines from this ripe vintage. Amazingly, the 1990 tastes like it is still not ready! “Nineteen ninety was my second vintage here,” says Chef de Caves Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon. “It was ideal. The fruit was just perfect. We blocked the malolactic fermentation completely and only fermented 6-7% of our lots in oak, as opposed to the more typical 20%, in order to preserve as much freshness as possible. The wine was made by my predecessor, Michel Pansu, but I was learning. This was the first year I started working with oxygen by reducing sulfites in vinification to pre-oxidize the Chardonnay musts, as I do know, which allows me to get rid of all the unstable, oxidative compounds. With Pinot, on the other hand, you need a little bit of sulfur at crush or you lose the brilliant fruit. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, December 2018) — 7 years ago
La Rioja Alta
Reserva Viña Ardanza Rioja Tempranillo Garnacha 2007
Beautiful Rioja. Lots of oak at first, but fades away into stewed plums, chocolate and well balanced acidity. — 9 years ago
Taittinger
Comtes de Champagne Grand Crus Brut Blanc de Blancs 1998
Exquisite and dainty. A slight toast in the first sip and lingers with honey and yellow fruit. Femininity reigns with this Blancs de Blancs. — 10 years ago
Domaine Jamet
Côte-Rôtie Syrah 2008
First time tasting Jamet. Nice deepness on this hard vintage. Hints of smoky lard, cumin and pepper with a touch of flower. Ready to drink. — 11 years ago
First Press
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2010
Great wine with pork or chicken — 13 years ago
B
1997 Spottswoode Cabernet. Opened and poured. Served with burgers and homemade fries. A little flat with a sharp finish at first. Not sure if it might have been stored incorrectly. However, it opened up as we ate and all that unpleasantness blew off. Blackberries, blueberries, cassis, vanilla, leather, spices. Should have decanted before serving. — 6 years ago