2006 Paige 23 Pinot Noir

The Paige 23 is quite a surprise for the price. At $40 it is a nice breath of fresh air in the Pinot section. On the nose, a hint of dust? with some nice berry maybe some toasty stuff in there as well. Almost taste like a Cabernet but much much more light. Very nice mid pallet, really smooth and then BAM all that alcohol hits you 15.1%.

This thing can go for some years. The girls really liked it which was surprising to me, but hey we might have a women vice president… Thank goodness the world is changing!

90 pcook
91 lnalley
90-91 carol

Back To School Party

Sunday we had a nice get together at Paul’s house with all the kids and celebrated the last day of summer in the pool, cooking in the kitchen, grilling, and of course enjoying fine wine, and each other. I made my baby back ribs on the grill using a Peurto Rican Pig Powder rub that can be found in Steven Raichlen’s book titled Barbeque Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades. It is a great rub for pork ribs. Diana of course did her usual magic in the kitchen.

2003 “Paramount” Cabernet

Enjoyed the cult wine with Paul about 6 weeks ago. This Bordeaux style blend is good, but not a great value at $88.00

Wine Details:

Vintage: 2003

Varietal: 47% Merlot, 28% Cabernet, 20% Cab Franc, and 5% Petite Verdot.

Winery: Source

425 cases made and 14.5% alc.

On the nose plum, and cherries, raspbery, and green pepper. On the palate, ample dark fruit, white pepper, cedar, vanilla, and green pepper. A good wine, but not a great value at this price.

Rating: 90 JH

2005 “Sparrow Hawk” Cabernet

Had this wine about a month ago and thought I would share my tasting notes with you.

Wine Details:

Winery: Sparrow Hawk

Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon

Crushpad “Fusebox”

Last night Diana and I went to Cellar-17 in H-town with our new friends Marc and Michelle, and enjoyed a tasting of the Fusebox wine blending kit from Crushpad. Crushpad is a high end San Francisco winery that provides grapes from across the West Coast’s top vineyards and allows you to participate in the wine making process. Fusebox is a great idea for a party, combining wine education, entertainment, and very good juice in a single 15 pound box. Each box contains six 375 mL bottles of blending wine. Cabernet Sauvignon (2 bottles), Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and Cabernet Franc

Houston Chronicle – Wine Review

Dale Robertson of the Houston Chronicle wrote a wine review of a recent tasting of some 60 wines.

Click on the link below for more information.

http://tinyurl.com/59qwd5

2005 Seven Hills Ciel du Cheval Vinyard

Monday we decided to head to Tipsy Tuesday a day early. We decided to try a Washington wine and then we decided to try two… Of course!

This wine was the first of the two and worth every cent at $39. Here are our notes.

The nose had tons of fruit and was very dark in nature. Dark cherry with some black pepper and pencil lead. Overall this wine is very well balanced.

2004 Owen Roe Syrah “Lady Rosa”

Have had this bottle sitting in the Cellar for a bit and decided to bring it out last night and enjoy with a couple of others that have been asking to be comsumed. Starting with the Owen Roe “Lady Rosa” Syrah.  Owen Roe is a small production winery in Oregon and truly have some great wines. The “Lady Rosa” Syrah is one of them with only 260 Cases Made. The flavors in the mouth were wonderful to include lots of spice and and slight bit of heat as well. True dark ruby color with a violet nose and nice bouqet. This is one to get your hands on if you can find it.

92 Points in my opinion.. SeanP

Primetime Wine Tasting

Last Thursday we all met up at Primetime to taste a few wines, get to know the new owners a bit and hook up with the Boyers… here is what our experience was like. The tasting started out with a a Chardonnay that I quickly passed on (oak devil), we had a 2005 Franciscan Cabernet from Napa, a 2006 Ramspeck from Napa and a 2005 Cenay Blue Tooth Vineyard from Oak Knoll.

Amizetta 2004 Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Had this wine with Sean, Carol and Niece yesterday evening.  At $100+ a bottle, I was ready… It opened up great and changed throughout our drinking which lasted about a hour and half (we where going slow waiting on JH).