The Wine Cult » Tipsy Tuesday’s

2003 Laird Family Diamond Mountain Ranch “Cabernet”

jheck — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:34:57 +0000

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.

Vintage: 2003

Winery: Laird Family

Appellation: Diamond Mountain District, CA – west of Calistoga

Wine Maker: Paul Hobbs

Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon

Notes: 586 Cases were produced. Aged 18 months in mostly new French oak. This was the last vintage of this wine. The grapes were sourced from the Schramsberg property.

Dark garnet/ruby color in the stem. Black cherry, dark baked plum, tea bag, eucalyptus, bell pepper tobacco leaf, mushroom, black pepper, toasty oak, and Spanish cedar, with a hint of vanilla. Pencil lead, roasted meat and a nice earthiness finish off the nose. The wine is showing great balance with a nice full and round mouth-feel. The tannins are fine grained and sweet and the finish is long. Very nice wine!

Rating: 91+ JH

2006 Vinaceous Shiraz Tasting

jheck — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:15:56 +0000

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

The first wine details:

Winery: Vinaceous

Vintage: 2006

Varietal: 80% Shiraz, 19% Grenache, and 1% Tempranillo

14.5% Alc

Deep dark color in the stem. Nice dark cherry, blackberry, lavender, black pepper, with a hint of vanilla, and milk chocolate. Nice full mouthfeel, velvety smooth tannins, balanced presence, and nice finish. This wine will improve with ageing. A good value.

Rating: 89+ JH

The second Shiraz below.

Winery: Vinaceous

Vintage: 2006

Varietal: 100% Shiraz

Appelation: Limestone Coast

14% alc, I think closer to 15%

Deep dark purple color. Black pepper, Bell Pepper, rough puckering tannins, and the finish is abrupt. The balance of the wine is out of sorts. I think this Shiraz needs time to mellow in the bottle.

Rating: 85 JH

I will talk about the RWT another day.

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2006 Four Vines “Loco”

jheck — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:40:42 +0000

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.

Wine Details:

Winery: Four Vines

Vintage: 2006

Appelation: California – Paso Robles “Tres Cajones Vineyard”

Varietal: Tempranillo, Syrah, and Grenache

The color is rich and dark purple, with a fruit forward nose. On the palate the big fruit is concentrated, a balanced effort with rich tannins with a hint of oak in the background. The finish is very long. This wine will improve with time. Big Big Rioja style wine.

Rating: 93 JH

P&C’s Welcome home from Napa

jheck — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:51:50 +0000

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.

The first wine of the night was a 2006 Huge Bear “Cabernet”

Wine Details:

Winery: Huge Bear

Appelation: Sonoma – Napa Valley

Varietal: Cabernet

Alc: 15.5%

Cases: Around 150 I have heard.

On the nose, rich ripe black currant, blackberry, and black cherry. A hint of black pepper, and vanilla with a nice minerally component as well. The fruit is full and round on the palate, the tannins are well integrated. This wine is a little dry on the front, but quickly follows with a long pleasant finish. This wine is not hot concidering it is so high in alcohol. It will age well for 7-9 years.

Rating: 92+ JH
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This wine is huge, thus the name, hold it for a few years and it will be fantastic. It actually is fantastic now, but you need to let it open up for a few hours.

Rating 91 PaulC

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The next wine up was an Bordeaux Style offering from Orin Swift Cellars called Papillon. Orin is the makers of one of our other favs The Prisoner. The bottle label is really cool photograph taken by photographer Greg Gorman. the bottle has a deep punt and is very, very heavy like a Darioush or Wicked Witch.

Wine Details:

Winery: Orin Swift

Wine maker: Dave Phinney – Mercury Head, The Prisoner, Stanton

Varietal: 63% Cabernet, 19% Merlot, 9% Cab Franc, 7% Petite Verdot, 2% malbec

Appelation: Napa Cal. (Morisoli Vineyard)

Alc: 15.1%

On the nose black raspberry, blackberry, chocolate, vanilla, bell pepper, white pepper, star anise, with a nice earthiness. On the palate a nice full mouthfeel, round tannins, nice long finish. This wine evolved and unfolded for over a hour in the glass, and by the time we finished, it was amazing. This is a big bold Meritage to be layed down.

Rating: 93 JH ___________________

Orin Swift is just one of my favorites and this wine is no exception. A beautiful nose and a wonderful body followed by a long silky finish. LIke James said, lay it down for a year or so, and this thing is gonna rock.

Rating 93 PaulC

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The next wine up for the evening was a 2005 Ghost Block Cabernet.

Wine Details:

Winery: Napa Wine Co.

Vintage: 2005

Varietal: Cabernet

Appelation: Oakville Napa Valley (Rock Cairn vineyard)

Alc: 14.7%

100% Organic, Aged 24 months in 70% new French Oak barrels. named after the old cemetary across from the vineyard where some of Napa’s wine pioneers RIP. 1600 cases made

On the nose, big ripe dark black Cherry, blackberry, Currant, violets, white pepper, black pepper, green bell pepper, and a nice dustiness. The wine has a firm structure, but the tannins are integrated. The palate is velvety smooth and round with a graceful balance and a very long finish. This is another extremely heavy bottle like the Darioush. If you are drinking this wine now, it will need to breath a good hour to show itself off.

I see this wine as a great investment as I think it will sour in price over the coming years.

Rating: 95 JH

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This wine is THE next big thing, think ‘cult wine – super find’ here. I’m buying as much as I can find.

Rating 95+ PaulC

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Last but certainly not least was a 2005 John Anthony late harvest Sauv Blanc.

Wine Details:

Winery: John Anthony

Appleation: Napa

Varietal: Sauv Blanc

Alc: 13%

Aged 10 months in 100% French Oak, 350 cases made.

On the nose pineapple, green apple, honey, orange, peach, grapefruit, and a nice musty aroma. Strong acidity that is bright on the nose, but somehow subdued on the palate. This is a very unique wine, and is hands down my favorite desert wine.

Rating: 94 JH
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I need to post my tasting notes from John and Michael’s back porch from last week, but I’m not quite ready… This wine is a thing of beauty. A wonderful story and a great late harvest wine that is not my usual style, but I think I’m in love.

Rating 93 PaulC

2003 Seven Hills “Pentad”

jheck — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:56:04 +0000

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.

Wine Info:

Bordeaux style blend

Varietals: 55% Cabernet, 13% Merlot, 6% Carmenere, 13% Cab Franc, 13% Malbec

Appelation: Walla Walla Valley (Washington)

Vintage: 2003

Aged in 50% new French Oak for 23 months. Only 296 Cases made.

Beautuful purple color, On the nose, nice earthiness, Blueberry, BlackBerry, Currant, Black Pepper, graphite, tobacco, cinnamon, and corriander, and hint of vanilla. Rich dark ripe fruit on the palate. This wine unfolds in layers. It has a full mouthfeel, smooth silky tannins, wonderful balance, and very long finish. This is a wine to lay down for a few years, as it will continue to improve.

$49 bones

Rating 92+ JH

2002 Petroni Cabernet

pcook — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:05:40 +0000

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

2005 Barbour Cabernet

jheck — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:54:48 +0000

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!

Detailed Wine Info:

Appellation : St Helena (Napa)

Alcohol: 14.8%

Varietal: Cabernet

Tasting Notes: The nose is incredibly inviting and seductive with ripe fruit dark cherries, plums, and raspberry, old leather, black, pepper, bell pepper, dark chocolate, and Spanish cedar. Silky smooth tannins, round and full mouthfeel, long long finish, and perfect balance. I would recommend decanting this wine, or opening it an hour or more before tasting.

Rating: 95 JH

2004 Ehlers Cabernet “1886″

jheck — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:54:53 +0000

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. Ehlers Estate is a “not-for-profit” winery and is held in trust for the Leducq Fountation. Jean and Sylviane Leducq established the trust in 1996 to fund the Foundation, which supports international cardiovascular research. The “1886” is 100% cabernet sauvignon and is considered Ehlers Estate flagship wine.

Wine Details

Appelation: St Helena

Alcohol: 14.7%

Varietal: 100% Cab

2380 Cases made

Chocolate dipped cherries, with layers of blackberry’s, white pepper, anise, currants, eucalyptus, with a hint of cedar and leather. soft round tannins, and long, long finish. I loved this wine and will have it again very soon If you can find this wine buy it because their 2005 offer has gone way up in price $95. Everyone is finding out about this juice.

Rating 94+ JH

2006 Cass “Hacienda”

jheck — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:45:42 +0000

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.

Detailed Wine Info:

Appellation : Pasa Robles

Alcohol: 15.9%

Varietal: Mourvedre

424 Cases made

Deep dark intense color, rich dark fruit of plums and cherries, notes of cassis and white pepper. Full mouth feel, rich velvety tannins, with a bit of a earthiness. This wine is a huge fruit bomb in your mouth. It reminds me of the Linne Calodo “Problem Child” that I had not too long ago. at 15.9% alcohol this wine is not hot on the palate to me. This grape is not for everyone as a stand alone, but it certainly works for me. I feel this wine will age and improve for a very long time (7-10)

91-92 Rating JH