UGCB 2014 Release Tour Chicago

UGCB 2014 Release Tour Chicago

The UGC Bordeaux' (Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux (UGCB)) annual release tour traversed America this week showcasing their 2014 vintage release wines. The tour visited Miami, New York, Chicago, LA and San Francisco.

Once again, our 'Pour Boys' wine group helped host the event in Chicago at the Drake Hotel in the elegant grand ballroom (shown left). 

Close to one hundred producers were represented at the event that was attended by over three hundred members of the trade, media and industry.

This annual roadshow is a marathon trek across America by the producers and their representatives offering Americans the chance to meet the Bordeaux principles, winemakers and commercial directors. We appreciate the investment in time and effort expended by the winemakers to visit Chicago. It provides a wonderful opportunity to meet them firsthand and discuss their perspectives on their brand, approach to crafting their style, their history, businesses, and their vintages.

As a collector and holder of a significant collection of Bordeaux wines dating back four decades, I hold as many as a dozen vintages or more of some of these labels. Meeting the producer / winemaker / representative is a great privilege and offers one a chance to learn more about their investment and wines. As such, I tend to focus on and taste those wines that I know well and of which my wine buddies and I have holdings.

This was the seventh Bordeaux release event that wine buddies Dr Dan and Lyle accompanied me to assist the team at Balzac Communications to host the event, helping with set up, logistics and then standing in to pour wine for any featured producers that were not able to attend in person. Earlier UGCB and related events are featured in earlier unwindwine blogposts. More than once, winter storms delayed or disrupted travel prohibiting some of them to get to Chicago for the event which started our standing in, hence we coined the name the 'pour' boys.


The 2014 vintage showed well in all the wines tasted, generally showing the best of recent years dating back to the highly acclaimed 2010. Following a couple lackluster vintages and quantities of high quality 2009 and '10 in the market, prices for the 2014's should provide reasonable values. They showed well on release and promise to provide early gratification in their youth without holding for several years to reveal pleasant quality drinking.

Some of my observations and highlights of the tasting:

The Margaux appellation was well represented and its wines showed very well with highlights from Brane Cantenac, Cantenac Brown, Lascombes, Desmirails and Dauzac. I loved their full complex fruits, nice balance and structure.

Chateau Brane Cantenac, represented by Marie Hélène Dussech, Commercial Director (shown above right) was a standout showing a delightful pronounced floral accent layer. Chateau Dauzac was represented by me, your's truly, standing in for the commercial representative.

Cantenac Brown, represented by technical director José Sanfins (shown left), was highlighted by sweet ripe berry fruits.

Returning to Chicago again and representing Lascombes was director Dominique Befve (left) who has headed up the estate since 2001. Previously he served ten years as technical director of Châteaux Lafite Rothschild and Duhart-Milon, after a stint at L’Evangile in Pomerol.

Chateau Desmirails represented by Director Denis Lurton (below) showed some distinctive exotic accent notes of black truffles and mushrooms.

All these wines were memorable and are worth exploring further. I gave all of these wines 92 or + points.

The Paulliac appellation showed well with strong representation from Phelan Segur, Pichon Baron and Clerc Milon.

St Julien seemed to be more subdued with offerings from Chateaus Leoville Barton, Gruaud Larose, Beyechevelle and LaGrange being nicely balanced but a bit tight and closed calling for some time reveal their character and profile. Leoville Poyferre seemed to show a slightly softer more approachable profile.

Chateau Domaine Chevalier was represented by proprietor next generation Hugo Bernard (above left). This was the best feature release from that property in recent memory.

There was a strong showing across the board from Sauterne. Standout highlights included Suideraut showing a pleasant firmness with soft smoke and nut tones, Lefaurie Peyraguey and Haut Peyraguey which both showed nice highlights of citrus and sweet ripe orange and apricot notes.

More to come ...

Ronan Laborde
Director Chateau Clinet

Denis Lurton -
Chateau Desmirails

With David Launay of Chateau
Grand Puy Lacoste

Linda M - Pour Boy Dr Dan

Pamela Wittman - Phelan Segur

Lefaurie-Peyraguey

4 Bordeaux Wine – Great vintage for the Cabernet Sauvignon based wines of the Medoc. The wines are especially strong the further north you go, with Pauillac and St. Estephe producing really good wine, followed by St. Julien and Margaux. The wines are soft, ripe and display silky tannins with good concentration. Due to their forward style, while age worthy, many of the wines will be fun to drink early. The vintage is mixed in St. Emilion and moderate in Pomerol, with many wines possessing a slightly dilute character. It’s a good vintage for dry, white Bordeaux wine, in a bright, acidic style. Sauternes and Barsac was also successful. Drink or hold. 92 Pts
Read more at:http://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-topics/bordeaux-wine-buying-guide-tasting-notes-ratings/bordeaux-wine-vintage-chart/

2014 Bordeaux Wine – Great vintage for the Cabernet Sauvignon based wines of the Medoc. The wines are especially strong the further north you go, with Pauillac and St. Estephe producing really good wine, followed by St. Julien and Margaux. The wines are soft, ripe and display silky tannins with good concentration. Due to their forward style, while age worthy, many of the wines will be fun to drink early. The vintage is mixed in St. Emilion and moderate in Pomerol, with many wines possessing a slightly dilute character. It’s a good vintage for dry, white Bordeaux wine, in a bright, acidic style. Sauternes and Barsac was also successful. Drink or hold. 92 Pts
Read more at:http://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-topics/bordeaux-wine-buying-guide-tasting-notes-ratings/bordeaux-wine-vintage-chart/

Hemingway's Bistro Wine Dinner Highlights FLW Architecture Tours

Hemingway's Bistro Wine Dinner Highlights FLW Architecture Tours

Our 'pour boys' wine group toured the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio in Oak Park, followed by the neighborhood walking tour featuring iconic Wright homes. As a docent/interpreter for the FLW Trust, I arranged and presided over our group tour. Our custom tour focused on Wright's nearby 'bootleg' homes, the classic prairie style Heurtley House, the Nathan Moore and adjacent Hills House, the Beachy House, FLW's first complete prairie style home, the Frank Thomas House, and the Laura Gale House.

Afterwards we dined at Hemingway's Bistro Restaurant in the quaint Wright Inn, a few blocks away, near Hemingway's boyhood home, across the street from the Hemingway Museum. Their semi-private room in the back overlooking the restaurant provided the perfect comfortable intimate setting for our dinner group assemblage.

The Hemingway's Bistro French inspired cuisine provided an ideal accompaniment and setting for our BYOB French centric wine flight. The staff, lead by our server Aron, did a spectacular job attending to our group of twenty, serving dinner and accommodating the preparation and service of our wines, making for a wonderful delightful dinner evening. They set an adjacent table for showcasing and preparing our wines and provided fine wine glassware for reds, whites and champagne.

Our group has no less than five current period weddings to celebrate and we'll have two grandchildren born this year so there was much to toast and commemorate with our wines. To that end, our wine flight selections featured several notable vintage years with wines from 1970, 1976, 1981,1982, 1988, 1989, 1991 and notable wine vintages such as 2000. We also got a first look at some recent releases. Recent posts in these pages have highlighted our wine tastings at Bill and Beth's, and Dan's recent wedding celebrations.

The wines:

For a starter, I brought a magnum of Moët & Chandon Dom Perignon Champagne, 1976. Regretably, the cork of this bottle had failed recently and this bottle was corked.

From our cellar I sourced a vertical flight of Cos d' Estournal St Estephe Bordeaux for Eric & Cathy, Kay, and Linda and I to offer. George was amazed we were holding these wines this long. I stated that's the fun of special anniversary/birth year vintage bottles. Moreover, I explained how we learned over time that we drank many of our Bordeaux, especially from the eighties, too early! Look how these old Bordeaux held up and showed well, even those at ages supposedly past their drinking windows! Every one met or exceeded expectations.

Cos d' Estournal St Estephe Bordeaux 1981 - our daughter Erin's birth year who is expecting a child in the coming month. Deemed a modest vintage with moderate aging potential, this wine showed amazing resilience and showed well. Medium bodied, bright ruby colored, earthy leathery dark cherry and firm blackberry with hints of creosote on the tannic berry finish. Amazing life yet in this cellar selection. Recent tastings showing lot's of life left in the remaining 81's in large format. RM 89 points. https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=20282

Cos d' Estournal St Estephe Bordeaux 1988 - George and Leslie's daughter's birth year - whose wedding to Eric & Cathy's son Ross is next month. Last time I reviewed this wine I noted the disparity between the Parker (86) and WS (95) ratings. You decide! Once again, supposedly outside its drinking window, this showed well with little of no diminution from age. Medium bodied, bright ruby colored, classic Bordeaux floral perfume, blackberry, spice, tar, a moderate finish. Bigger and more firm than the others. RM 90 https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1767

Cos d' Estournal St Estephe Bordeaux 1989 - Bill and Beth's son Matt's birth year who is engaged and will wed in the coming year.

Cos d' Estournal St Estephe Bordeaux 1991 - Kay's daughter Becka's birth year - who is getting married next weekend. Like the '81, another modest vintage overachieved and surpassed expectations. While lacking the structure and backbone of some of the 'bigger' vintages this showed surprisingly bright lively fruit and was very enjoyable. Full floral nose with flavors of dark berry, black cherry, layers of earthy tobacco, hints of cassis and spice. There was still life in this, very much in its drinking window. RM 89 points. https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=135897

We also had a vertical flight of Brane Cantenac Margaux Bordeaux.

Brane Cantenac Margaux Bordeaux 1970 - brought by Ryan, graduation year for many of us. Another amazing showing for a wine incredibly 45 years old ... testament to the stamina and aging potential of quality Bordeaux, still holding vibrant fruit, amazing floral tones and no signs of serious diminution.
Brane Cantenac Margaux Bordeaux - 1982 - brought by Bill - commemorating son Will's and our son Ryan's birth year, and,
Brane Cantenac Margaux Bordeaux 2000 - a legendary Bordeaux vintage, brought by son Ryan. Two classic showings from two classic vintages, the '82 appearing much lighter than expected.

Bill also brought another 2000 Bordeaux, Chateau Haut Batailly Pauillac 2000.
Both 2000's showed their breadth and depth of fruit accented by classic Bordeaux floral, earthiness and tobacco leaf with muscular but approachable sinewy polished tannins.

Dan, Ernie and George each brought a red and a white including -

Le Secret des Georges Sabon Chateauneuf-du-Pape - 2011 - One of the highlights of the tasting, showing its big bold forward complex fruits, almost overpowering the sophisticated but comparatively more delicate Bordeaux's.


Château Vignot St. Émilion Grand Cru - 2007
George brought:
Jacques Puffeney Arbois Pinot Noir 2009
Marcassin Marcassin Vineyard Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 2010 - Smooth, polished, rich, consensus accolades as one of the best Chardonnay tasting experience ever!

John brought:

In Florescense Blanc de Noir Brut Champagne and
Charles Smith Lawrence Vineyard Viognier 2011

Lyle brought two Napa Valley big reds that stood out with their bold expressiveness:
Schafer One Point Five Stag's Leap District Red Wine 2012
Nils Venge Senecleaux Napa Valley Red Wine 2013, just released and tasted for the first time. This was a huge hit. We're long time friends of Nils Venge and have much experience with his wines. We've collected several vintages of this label but this was our first tasting of such. A great showing with big forward berry fruits accented by sweet vanilla oak.


Apologies to anyone if I missed or mis-atributed any wine (s).

The food:

For starter courses when seated, Chef Ala prepared and served his Baked Brie in puffed pastry with almond and honey which was perfect with the starter champagne and white wines, and his chicken liver pate on toasted baguette. Several folks had the roasted beet salad while Dan and I feasted on the foie gras.

From the menu, many folks had Chef Ala's Saturday Night Special Beef Wellington. Dan had the Mixed Grill, I had the New York Strip au poivre with creamed spinach, George had the Prawns.  Many of the entree's featured Chef Ala's signature pommes au gratin.

After dinner several folks had the special Souffle, and others had the Creme Caramel, the Warm Apple Tart, and I had the decadent Mousse au Chocolate with raspberry coulis that was a chocoholic's delight.

Opus One Pride Highlight Anniversary Dinner

Opus One Pride Highlight Anniversary Dinner

To celebrate our anniversary, we dined at Sullivan's Naperville with dear friends Beth and Bill C. For the occasion I pulled from the cellar a wine befitting the occasion, OPUS One. I chose a '96 vintage following our horizontal tasting from that vintage the other night.  Also, that was the vintage we tasted on our first visit to OPUS during our Napa Wine Experience 1998. To round out our dinner feast we selected from the wine list Pride Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2010. Prior to dinner Bill and Beth treated us to Tattinger Champagne.

The wines were all spectacular and paired perfectly with the food. Naturally we all dined on Sullivan's aged prime steaks - Bill the mushroom stuffed filet with Bordelaise sauce, Beth had the filet, Linda, the filet with the peppercorn cream sauce and I had the filet, artfully prepared 'Pittsburgh' style with lobster tail surf and turf. The spinach and dinner salads were perfect. The chocolate and berry deserts were spectacular.

We added cheddar au-gratin potatoes and creamed spinach side dishes.  Aaron provided superb service - cordial, attentive, informative and gracious in decanting and appropriately handling of the wines. The finale to the gala evening was a cellar tour (pictures coming).

OPUS ONE 1996

The joint venture of the two masters of these top wine producing regions, Baron Phillip Rothschild of Mouton Rothschild from Bordeaux and Robert Mondavi from Napa Valley. I admit I've often considered OPUS as over-hyped, over priced and over played, the choice of image conscious drinkers with more money than taste. Tonight, OPUS lived up to all the hype and exceeded all expectations. In fairness, I think many of our OPUS encounters that left something to be desired were due to drinking it too early, too young. Tonight, the 1996 was at its prime and showed off the best of what OPUS can be.

The Opus was dark inky purple colored, medium to full bodied. It opened with a huge nose, reminiscent of a classic Margaux from the mid-eighties. Elegant, complex, smooth and polished it was a symphony of black fruit flavors accented by harmonious tones of leather, tobacco, lead pencil and soft tones of cassis and a hint of mocha. Decanted, over the course of the evening the fruit became slightly muted giving way to classic left bank Bordeaux earthy leather, but never losing its harmonious balance. The fragrant finish continued to linger for minutes.  

RM 94 points. Had the fruit held, I would have given this a 95.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=305

http://www.opusonewinery.com/

Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

We visited Pride Mountain Vineyards and Winery high atop Spring Mountain of the Mayacamas Range overlooking Napa Valley to the east, and Sonoma Valley to the west during our Napa Valley Wine Experience back in 1999 and again in 2003. We've enjoyed Pride since and often 'gift' Pride to friends on special occasions. Being huge fans of rich concentrated extracted mountain fruit, we hold Pride Cabernet going back to the mid-nineties. We love the Spring Mountain expression of terroir which I believe is as complex and flavorful as the other popular mountain appellations.

So it was a tall order to select a wine that would complement Sullivan steaks during a special occasion dinner up against the legendary Opus One. We weren't disappointed as the 2010 Pride stood tall holding its own against such formidable expectations. All of use were pleasantly surprised by how well the Pride showed, especially given its youth.

We decanted the Pride before serving. It was bright garnet colored and was full bodied with complex, nicely balanced bright vibrant forward expressive ripe black raspberry fruits with a layer of sweet mocha, tones of tea, tobacco and cassis with hints of vanilla and soft oak with firm gripping but manageable tannins. Delicious already, this will no doubt improve with further aging for a decade or more. I am anxious to open and compare some of our vintage bottles.

Fruit is sourced from 53% Napa/ 47% Sonoma. The blend is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, and 7% Petit Verdot.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1480956

http://www.pridewines.com/

Chateau Brane-Cantenac Margaux Bordeaux 2004

After dinner we retreated to the C's for dark chocolate mud cake and fresh berries and Bill opened a 2004 Brane Cantenac Margaux.

Bill's posted his tasting notes - "Deep maroon color. Some light floral notes on the nose. Leather, earthy and full bodied on the palate. Integrated tannins are ready to drink now."

My notes - Dark garnet colored, medium bodied, subtle earthy, leathery black cherry fruits with a touch of anise, slight floral and spice on a lingering moderate tannin finish.

RM 88 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=108850

Cellarcrashers ...  The picturesque Sullivan's Naperville working/showcase wine cellar ...

Sullivan's showcase working cellar.

Sullivan's working cellar interior.

Cellarcrashers, Bill and Rick

Large format Imperials - Halo, Opus ... . Party!

 

Cellarcrashers ... anniversary couple - Linda, Rick ...

Tie in the wine again, I hate it when that happens!

Grand Tour 2013 Chicago

Grand Tour 2013 Chicago

Admittedly, we were a bit disappointed when we saw the final roster and floorplan for Wine Spectator's Grand Tour Chicago. Absent were any first growth, super second or other premiere Bordeaux producers which tend to be the feature highlights of our interest. As customary, we select our target tasting preferences ahead of time and then lay out our plan of attack according to the floor layout. Our consensus target list featured twenty five wines with another dozen possible entries. Naturally this is about our limit anyway, both in terms of timing and in the tolerance of our pallets before they succumb to 'fatigue' or overload. Never-the-less, as always, Grand Tour was a resounding success based on a cadre of returning favorites, new discoveries of emerging labels from known producers as well as discovery of some here-to-for unknown producers.

Father, son tasting team -
Rick & Ryan

Our wine crew consisted of the usual suspects, members of our OTBN group, sans Ernie and Eric, both of whom were in California for separate conflicts - Eric and Cathy's first grand-daughter, JJ, and Ernie's business conflict. So, helping me hold down the fort were Bill C, Dr. Dan, #1 son Ryan, Lyle and John B.

We met beforehand at Flemings Steakhouse in Chicago's River North neighborhood to review our tasting route and solicit any last minute targets. Indeed, a couple such entries turned out to be some of the surprise discoveries of the evening.

With small plates dinner at Flemings, we drank a bottle of Ladera Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2009.



We discovered this wine during our visit to the winery during our Napa Valley Howell Mountain Wine Experience - Ladera back in 2008. 

Label from 2007 vintage.

Fruit for Ladera Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from Ladera estate vineyard blocks on their historic Howell Mountain property, a blend of 97% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Petite Verdot that was aged in 40% new French oak for 20 months.

As Bill C noted, this is a benchmark favorite Napa Cabernet that can be found many restaurant winelists at a very reasonable QPR. The 2009 Ladera Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is easy drinking, nicely balanced, medium to full bodied with full flavors of black berry, black cherry and ripe plum fruits with notes of cedar, anise, sweet oak spice and ripe tannins that linger on a long velvety finish.
RM 90 points. 

At the Grand Tour, our approach allows us a basis for comparison on known benchmark wines against new discoveries, as well providing a background for our vintage tasting reviews. We allow room for experimentation and exploration, but our view is that without adherence to a plan, the vast selection and diversity of the overall event, can be overwhelming and lead to getting lost and leave the potential for missing some key target selections.

This year, the slimmer list of targets allowed for more wandering and exploration, but our adherence to our plan ensured that we did indeed get through and address our priority list. The result was a typical Grand Tour with spectacular wines, a vast selection and numerous new discoveries, expanding our horizons and wine knowledge and pallet 'vocabulary'.

Initial stream of consciousness from memory before I refer back to my notes. 

Based on the composition of our cellar collections and purchase profiles, we focused on Napa Valley Cabernets, Bordeaux, then Australian Shiraz. We also ventured into and explored emerging new world entries entries mostly from Argentina and Chile and tapped into the Italian aisle which culminated in Ryan discovering Amarone - one of the highlights of the evening. We closed the evening checking in to the 'stickies', desert wines from Sauterne and Tokaji. Lyle, who is our conscious and sentry for ports waved us off the Port aisle citing uninspiring results from his advanced foray there.

Caymus Napa Valley Special Select Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 

A regular at recent Grand Tours, this year's 2010 release was a blockbuster highlight of the evening - awesome, big, full bodied, firm gripping backbone yet superbly balanced symphony of complex fruit flavors. Picture from the 2011 Grand Tour Chicago report. Naturally on our wine budgets, these are not every day or even once a month drinking wines, but we do collect Special Selection in our cellar for special occasion wines - most notably from the 1990 vintage from son Alec's birth year - which was also Wine Spectator's Wine of the Year, hence this is a must have in our collection. Results of tonight's tasting suggest the 2010 is a must purchase as we're looking for this vintage collectables to commemorate Lucy, our first grand-daughter's birth year. Indeed our large format collection of birth year wines was the subject when our cellar was featured in the Collector column of Wine Spectator back in June 2001. 

RM 95 points.


Cliff Lede Poetry Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

We discovered Cliff Lede and Poetry at the Grand Tour Chicago 2009 when it was one of the standouts of that event. We followed with a visit to the winery during our Napa Valley Wine Experience, Cliff Lede Stag's Leap District Vineyard & Winery Visit - Autumn '09 and Cliff Lede has been a staple of our cellars ever since. 

This Poetry was big. firm forward fruit with backbone of firm tannins - brambly black fruits with charcoal turning to mocha on a long lingering finish. 

RM 93 points. 

Provenance Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard TK2 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

Surprise discovery from this well known and popular producer - only 175 were cases produced of this special vineyard designated bottling. Of the eighteen tons of grapes harvested from the prestigious Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard, the most select two tons were used in this premiere blend.

Smooth, polished, superbly balanced with moderate tannin backbone, black fruits turn to layer of mocha, mineral and floral on the smooth finish. Bill and Dan loved this and till take what they can obtain!
RM 93 points



Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2010
Benchmark perfection from this perennial premium offering - superbly balanced, polished, complex, approachable already but firm tannin backbone ensures long life and cellaring improvement.
RM 94 points.

Chateau St. Michelle Columbia Valley Ethos Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

Another undiscovered label from a well known producer this Reserve is sourced from low yields from old vines planted back in 1972 and 5% Merlot, both from their Cold Creek Vineyard, with 6% Cabernet from their Canoe Ridge Vineyard, also well known due its single vineyard designated labels.Full bodied, firm well extracted complex fruit flavors with nicely integrated polished tannins.
RM 92 points. 






Hall Kathryn Hall Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

Consistent with recent tasting at the winery just two weeks ago during our Napa Valley Wine Experience 2013. A bit lighter and less complex than recent vintages leaving a bit to be desired in this flagship from this high profile producers.
RM 90 points.

Chateau St Jean Cinq Cepages Sonoma Valley Red 2008
Not as big as the blockbusters above, a bit less complex but nicely polished and balanced stable cab.
RM 90 points.

Beringer Private Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2010
Less weight and complexity than the big dawgs above, nicely balanced and polished but lacking the grip and muscle of the big hitters.
RM 91 points.

Round Pond Estate Napa Valley Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

A surprise discovery of the evening - we had this on our target tasting list. We learned of the work going on at Round Pond during our visit to neighboring Honig Vineyards during our recent Napa Valley Experience 2013. It lived up to expectations or more, none were disappointed. Full bodied, nicely structured with firm backbone, black berry fruits with layer of mocha, anise and hints of olive and faint eucalyptus on the finish. Great QPR in this high-achieving previously overlooked label. RM 91 points.

Louis Martini Lot No. 1 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauivignon

From property owned by legendary E&J Gallo, crafted by winemaker Louis Martini, another surprise discovery of the evening with an interesting blend from Pritchard Hill,  Atlas Peak Stagecoach vineyard and Napa Valley fruit.

A big complex dark wine, lacking the polish and balance of some of the others, but a high achievement from this well known but here-to-for underachieving or overlooked producer.
RM 91 points.

Hess Collection Mt Veeder Caberrnet Sauvignon 2008

We did a drive-by during our Mt Veeder Napa Valley Wine Experience in 2011 as we focused on meeting new boutique producers on the mountain. That was was the decision since this 2008.release Cabernet would've likely been on the tasting menu. This actually exceeded my expectations with nicely integrated tannins on the smooth drinking balanced black fruits. This probably provides reasonable QPR for the area.
RM 88 points. 

Kathryn Kennedy Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
A bit less polished and balanced relative to some earlier highlights, this was a bit awkward and obtuse with some forward black fruits and some gripping tannins, but lacking balance or polish of some of the high achieving efforts.
RM 88 points.

Mission Hill Family Estate Oculus Okanagan Valley Red Wine 2009

Hard to believe this is from Canada. The producer says their latitude results in long summer sun days providing ideal conditions for Bordeaux varietal grapes. From the Canadian region known for desert wines, Oculus is Mission Hill Family Estate's Bordeaux inspired flagship wine from the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia.

Blended from select clusters of designated blocks in the estate Osoyoos and Oliver vineyards; 50% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot.

Medium to full bodied, dark inky color, black berry and black currant and plum fruits, anise and coffee bean with tight tannins on the finish.
RM 89 points.





The Bordeaux selection: 
 

Pontet-Canet Pauillac Bordeaux 2010
Cos d'Estournel St Estephe Bordeaux 2008
Brane Cantenac Margaux Bordeaux 2006
Chateau Lynch Bages Paulliac Bordeaux 2009
Chateau Giscours Margaux 2009


 




Aussie shiraz:

D'Arenberg 'The Dead Arm' Barossa Valley Shiraz 2008

We discovered Dead Arm back in the nineties and have collected and sourced this regularly for our cellar and for friends. We hold a vertical wine that goes back to the 1994 vintage so we're big fans of this label. It seems that they've lost their way at times as this vintage release seemed uninspiring and lacked the rich concentrated fruit that we've come to expect in Aussie Shiraz' at this pricepoint. Perhaps its pallet fatigue as we reached here at the end of a long evening.

When I read the winemaker's notes on this release, it opens with "notes of fennel",  and continues '".... purple flowers and blossom mingling with ripe, varietal purple fruits and black pepper, dried herbs, game and spice. The palate opens with anise, black pepper, graphite and restrained dark cherries before it gives way to seductive mulberry, plum, licorice and spice. It has great power, depth and length with very vibrant, gritty fruit tannins providing immense structure." I read into that fennel, opens with pepper, graphite and anise, and then it refers to 'restrained' dark cherries, "before it gives way" to seductive plum.

These wine reviews are cryptic and confusing enough but over time one learns to decode and translate them to recognize the vocabulary that matches one's personal tastes and preferences. When I read this one, its logical and consistent with my personal perception - more subdued fruit accompanied by several tones that I personally don't favor that end up competing with and therefore detracting from the fruit. Perhaps this warrants another tasting, standalone, and without the inevitable pallet fatigue of the end of Grand Tour event.
RM 88 points.

Glaetzer Bishop Barossa Valley Shiraz 2010
Our discussion with the supplier cleared up some of our label confusion with these wines. The flagship top of the line label remains Amon Ra which has received blockbuster high marks for the 2010 vintage. We hold several vintages of the Glaetzer Godolphin label but we have not seen it in recent releases. We learned tonight this label was discontinued due to trademark issues and has been replaced by this 'Bishop' label, named for Colin Glaetzer's wife Judith's family. Their Anneparena rounds out the Shiraz family. The Wallace label is their Grenache varietal offering. These continue to represent full-throttle flavorful Shiraz offerings.


The 2010 Bishop was full bodied, inky purple colored, forward tongue-coating blackberry and mulberry fruits turning to a layer of anise and floral on the full lingering tanning finish.
RM 92 points.

Mollydooker Enchanted Path Shiraz 2011

My favorite and vote for best in show of the four Shiraz, also the most expensive price-point so not necessarily the best value selection. This remains one of  the mainstays of our cellar for special occasion wines. (Label picture taken from 2010 release.)

Dense, full bodied, deep concentrated complex black and blue berry and cherry flavors accented by spice, well integrated, soft silky nicely polished tannins on a long finish.

RM 93 points. 




Two Hands Lilly's Garden Barossa Valley Shiraz 2010

Two Hands is a bit of an enigma here in Chicago. While we have occasional varied labels from the Two Hands brand  in our cellar, their plethora of single vineyard designated labels can be intimidating if not overwhelming. If a passionate Shiraz zealot like me feels it, the average 'normal' consumer surely must do so as well. This condition is perhaps exacerbated by their premium pricepoint since we've found may high quality highly rated options that offer high value QPR. Perhaps the fact that they lack distribution here in Chicagoland, or are not apparent in the stores we shop, we've not become familiar or knowledgeable in their brand. Our exposure to Two Hands is at Total Wine on the east coast when we travel there. That said, they're most likely available in our market somewhere but we haven't seen it - and we do a lot of wine shopping. But then, that's what the Grand Tour is all about - to gain exposure to new brands and labels in the marketplace. So many wines, so little time (and money), Two Hands offers a ripe field for further discovery.
 

This 2010 Lily's Garden was full bodied, forward black berry fruits with tones of mocha, spice and hint of pepper on the lingering finish.
RM 92 points. 

Italians: 

Ornellaia  
Tignanello
Allegrini AmaroneDella Valpolicella 2008
Zenato Amarone Della Valpolicella 2008








Stickies ('Aussie' for sweet desert wines):

Chateau Suiduraut Sauterne 2005 

Golden honey colored, full bodied, thick heavy sweet nectar of apricot, hint of peach and layer of creme caramel on the tongue coating finish.
RM 92 

Two expected parents, each due
about the same time.

DisznokoTokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos 2005

The Disznoko estate is situated at the south-west entrance of the Tokaj region, about 250km from Budapest. Although Disznoko produces a number of wines, the aszu harvest is considered the most important. The most time-consuming and labor-intensive part of the vintage is the hand-harvesting of the aszu grapes, which are the shriveled grapes affected by noble rot that have dried on the vine-stock.

Disznoko Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos is a blend of Furmint, Harslevelu and Zeta aszu grapes. This golden colored with full body and forward fruit flavors of peach and lemon with tones of honey, tropical fruit and mineral on the long finish.
RM 92 points.

Hétszölö Tokaji Aszu 3 Puttonyos 2004

Golden orange weak tea colored, medium full bodied, modest apricot fruit accented by a layer of smoke and nut with hints of honey on the lingering finish.   
RM 90 points.

 From  South America:

Cheval Des Andes Mendoza Argentina 2007

Medium bodied, moderate black berry and black cherry fruit with a layer of cedar, tobacco, leather and spice with a moderate oak finish.

This 2007 Cheval des Andes is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Malbec, 4% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot, aged for 18 months in oak.

RM 88 points.




Riglos Mendoza Las Divas Vineyard Gran Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

Riglos is named after the Argentinean town from which producers' Dario Werthein’s and Fabian Suffern’s grandparents came. All the fruit is sourced from the estate in the Uco Valley, Mendoza. 

Dark purple colored, full bodied, intense and firmly structured with earthy blackberry, hints of licorice, pepper, cedar and graphite detract from the fruit leaving it a bit obtuse. 100% Cabernet that spent 20 months in new French oak. 15.4% alcohol.
RM 87 points