Paul and I enjoyed a bottle of the 2003 Laird Family Cabernet from Diamond Mountain Ranch last night as we talked about business and the historical day, yesterday in America. This was the last release from Laird of this wine as the contract for the grapes ran out. I am finding along with Paul, that the 2003 cabernet’s from California are drinking very nice right now.
Last night the guys and girls met at Celar-17 for an inexpensive Shiraz tasting, that is until we had the RWT from Penfolds. We started with two Shiraz’s of the first release from Vinaceous winery in Australlia. Both wines were around $27.00
Had this Spanish Rioja style wine about two months ago with Paul from winemaker Christian Tietje, and really enjoyed it. This is a big fruit bomb.
Last night we celebrated the return from Napa of Paul and Carol over a nice prepared meal, and much fine Napa cult wine. Paul and Carol shared some of their experiences and great pictures with us over the great Crawfish Etouffee that Diana made using my Brother-in-law Roy’s famous recipe.
Enjoyed the 2003 Seven Hills Pentad last night with Paul, and our wives at Cellar-17 in H-town. This wine continued to evolve in the glass as we enjoyed each other’s company and the fine juice we were drinking. This was the second wine we had last night by Winemaker Casey McClellan, and I walked away impressed by the wonderful fruity and balanced wines Casey makes.
While it was not a ‘normal’ Tipsy Tuesday, it was wicked fun. I started the night out by myself, waiting on everyone. So, I decided to go ahead and get started (I do love to drink wine). I looked around the Cabernet section for something unique. There were many new wines in the selection, but nothing really stood out. Finally Cristy pointed out a 2002 Petroni Cabernet that was around $40. It looked interesting at only 200 cases per acre. SO, I decided to give it a try.
Here are my notes…
On the nose very nice dark cherry and some nice chocolate and tobacco. The wine was very elegent on the pallet. Well rounded and drinking beautifully.
Get this wine and give it a spin. I was impressed.
90 rating Paul
Paul and I had another fantastic wine from freelance winemaker Heidi Barrett on “Tipsy Tuesday” at Cellar 17 in H-town. RP calls her “The First Lady of wine”, and for good reason. This 2005 Barbour Cabernet is one of the best wines I have had in a while. It is very approachable in its youth, but I feel it will improve in the bottle for years to come. Paul, Mark, Sean, and I want to have Heidi’s La Sirena, Barbour, and Robert Mondavi’s Continuum side by side one night for a mega battle of big reds at Cellar 17 soon. One day I would like to have the famous Maya, and Screaming Eagle from Heidi too! 
Had this wine on Typsy Tuesday with Paul at Cellar-17 in Houston, and it really rocks. The bottle itself is a work of art, it looks like a medecine bottle from the 1800’s. Ehlers Estate has 39 acres of vineyard land that is farmed biodynamically by winemaker and vineyard manager Rudy Zuidema. The terrain is gently sloped, and the property is divided into 24 individual blocks.
I enjoyed this wine the other night with Paul and our lovely wives. We are really searching out wines with the Mourvedre grape , aka Mataro, Monastrell. The french call this grape Estrangle-Chien (”dog strangler”). It produces really big strong wines that are high in alcohol. This grape is not usually seen in a bottle by itself, unlike this offering from Cass.
