First of all let me express my gratitude to Mona Lisa Vito and Jcocktosten for being such gracious hosts and for the incredible meal that MLV put together. It really couldn't have been better, definitely the highlight of the evening. Now a rundown of the wines we had tonight and my impressions.



2003 Core Santa Barbara 'Cuyama Valley'

A blend of 66% Granache and 34% Mourvedre. Light to medium body, starts off a bit sweet with ripe flavors of raspberry and cherry. Finishes with a smoky finish and light, drying tannins. Lacks complexity but a very good 'food' wine.


2001 Domaine de Mourchon Cotes du Rhone 'Grand Reserve Seguret'

A very gamey scent. Flavors of cherry and smoked bacon. Not a real long finish, but quite dry and very spicy with some firm oak.


2003 Ken Wright Pinot Noir 'Canary Hill'

Not a big fan of Pinot Noir in general but this is excellent. Very creamy texture with lots of raspberry and cherry flavor, but no tart flavors at all. This is extremely well blanced and complex and the finish is long and as smooth as silk. This was my WOTN.


1995 Karl Lawrence Cabernet Sauvignon

A lot of boysenberry on the nose. Tastes of blackberry and vanilla. Finish is dry, with some secondary flavor of toast. This is a 1995 but could certainly hold on for several more years. Finish is long and smooth and quite dry. My number 2 WOTN.


1998 Torres Mas La Plana

Very earthy, with mushroom and cranberry. Pretty good at the start, with nice acidity but this fades fast and finishes short. This might be better in a better vintage. Doesn't taste so much like a Cabernet Sauvignon but more like a well oaked tempranillo.


2000 Bressler Cabernet Sauvignon

Boysenberry and raspberry on the nose. Full bodied and smooth with a taste of black olive, blackberry, and a long smooth finish. Tannins in this wine were well intergrated. Extremely tasty wine from the 2000 vintage. My number 3 WOTN.


2001 Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon

Quite rustic and dry, although this earthy wine is solid. Lots of blackberry flavors and a moderate, dry finish. Might need a little more time in the bottle to smooth out and make it better but I can't see how this could be rated a 95 by WS. Just not enough fruit and complexity to this wine to make it a classic.


1999 Vina San Roman

Light Scent of blueberrys. Creamy texture but shows quite a bit of mint flavors. Medium finish with a kind of smoky, herbal flavor and firm drying tannins. Not really my kind of wine as I just couldn't get past that rather strong mint taste.


2002 Numanthia Toro Termes

A bit lighter than the '00 vintage of this wine. Lots of raspberry and blackberry flavors but not very complex. Finish is dry and seems to be lacking depth. Compared to the '00 vintage of this wine, I was disappointed.


2003 J. Alberto (Noemia) Malbec

Lots of raspberry and strawberry on the nose. Nice complexity and well balanced. Flavors of mixed berries and vanilla with very smooth tannins. Easy to drink style of wine, I liked this better than the '02 Termes. My number 4 WOTN.


2000 Quinta de Roriz Vintage Port

This is still just a baby. I decanted this for more than 24 hours and it is still a huge, tannic, complex wine with great potential but probably still needs another 15-20 years in the bottle to be at it's best. I think there was a bit left over so I'm interested to get JC and mlv's impression of this wine tomorrow.


Last but not least we had a really nice paring of an apple tart with a R.L. Buller NV dessert wine. This combination played off each other perfectly. What a great way to finish off the evening!


Thanks again to JC and mlv for hosting a really great offline! The food was wonderful and the time shared with everyone was the best. I look forward to doing it again! Anyone that attended, please add or correct anything to what I've posted as it's quite late (or early) and I'm very weary and probably omitted something.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Emilio,

Nice line up Emilio, thanks for the notes.

Loved the notes. If you have any more of that Canary Hill, try holding it another 5 years. These wines explode with age into something elegant, some of them resembling Burgundies.

Agree copmpletely on the Don Melchor. I don't see this even close to a 95 point wine.

Board-O,

Gary was kind enough to bring the Canary Hill but I don't remember him telling me if he had anymore of this particular wine. I do remember him telling me he had some other vineyard desiginates from Ken Wright. I can't imagine this could get any more elegant than it was but if it were to get better it will be something really special as I loved this wine as it is!

I should have mentioned everyone that attended the offline (when I posted last night/early morning, I was half asleep, sorry for the omission) We had Jcocktostan and mona lisa vito hosting, myself and my wife, Rothko and his wife, Gary and his wife, EDJ and his girlfriend and gator1993 and his girlfriend. I enjoyed meeting and seeing everyone again that attended as we had a great group and hope everyone can attend future offlines!

I also want to to thank MLV and Jcocktosten, what a wonderful meal they put together.

Wonderful meeting everyone and look forward to more in the future.

Thanks for the great notes Emilio.

I have a couple of those Canary Hills and you have me looking forward to them. I know some people don't like Ken Wrights that much, but I think I have more KWs than any other producer. Just picked up some '04s, which puts me close to 30 bottles from KW.

Let me echo Emilio’s words concerning the hospitality and graciousness of MLV and Jcocktosten. They really went above and beyond the call of duty, in hosting such a wonderful event at their home. They were perfect hosts, and the food was fantastic.

As for the wines (these are impressions only, as I didn’t take notes):

There was a Ferrari-Carano white wine present as well, but I didn’t try any of it, preferring to stick with the reds.

2003 Core Santa Barbara: A very sweet wine; almost candy-like in flavor. A nice way to break someone into red wines, perhaps, but it didn’t have the intensity or complexity to compete with the big guns of the night.


2001 Domaine de Mourchon Cotes du Rhone: A nice meaty Rhone. I thought that it would pair well with lamb.


2003 Ken Wright Pinot Noir Canary Hill: This was an awesome pinot noir, and certainly the best I have had from Oregon. This competed with the Karl Lawrence for WOTN, and took 2d place, in my book. If I can get my hands on more of this, I would, in a flash. I think this wine opened up a lot of eyes at the dinner.


1995 Karl Lawrence Cabernet Sauvignon: WOTN for me. A very nice, complex cab, with lots of time still left on it.


1998 Torres Mas La Plana: I really wasn’t interested in trying this Spanish cabernet after sampling the Karl Lawrence and Bressler wines, so I didn’t taste it.


2000 Bressler Cabernet Sauvignon: Just a touch lower in rank than the Karl Lawrence. A fine effort for a 2000 vintage cab; I am anxious to see how the 2001 will taste.


2001 Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon: A nice solid cabernet. Not worthy of the Wine Spectator rating, but probably a 90 or 91. For $30 or so a bottle, it is a buy, in my opinion, and can hold its own with most $30 Napa cabs.

1999 Vina San Roman: A forgettable wine to me. Just not my bag… I really don’t remember much about it.

2002 Numanthia Toro Termes: Each time I try this wine I come away disappointed, and this bottle was no exception. This should not have been given the #3 spot on WS’ Top 100 wines. Maybe some miracle is going to happen in the next few years, and these wines will turn out to be stellar, but I am not seeing it now.

2003 J. Alberto Malbec: Yum yum. What a nice malbec. I know that others may not like drinking a straight malbec, preferring the grape’s use as a base for other varietals, but I am a fan of malbec, and this was one of the best I’ve had. It went very well with the prime rib that we had as the main course.

2000 Quinta de Roriz Vintage Port: I was disappointed by this port, possibly because I was expecting much more from the vaunted 2000 vintage. This wine needs years and years before it shows it’s true colors, I think; drinking it on Saturday night was infanticide.

NV R.L. Buller Fine Muscat: Another fine showing of the Buller Fine Muscat, especially when it was paired with the baked apple dessert which we had. Lots of raisin and plum tastes which complemented the apple. Still a nice QPR wine, in my opinion.

Thank you all for the kind words - it was a pleasure hosting such a fun evening with such great people!

AS for notes, I seem to hve the same palate preferences as Emilio so I will leave the details to the notetaker in the crowd. I will say, though, that the Karl Lawrence wa smy WOTN, with the Ken Wright Pinot a close second!

Seeing how both wines were brought by Gary, he gets kudos for showing up with the best wines, in my view.

I think Gary definitely is the clear winner for wines of the night. Thanks to everyone for coming, we had a delightful time hosting.

As for the wines, I will not go too in depth as I am beat and have to get back to work.

I would say the Karl Lawrence and Ken Wright's were a close 1-2 for me, not sure which one I would put where.

I thought the 2000 Bressler tasted almost precisely how I remembered it from December. It showed very well and I am happy we got the 2001s.

My impression of the Don Melchor was similar to my reaction to the 2000. It is a nice wine and I enjoyed it but I don't see its score at all. This had less Eucalyptus than I remembered from the 2000 which to my palate is a good thing.

I was dissappointed with the Termes. One of our contributions the Mas La Plana was very dissappointing to me. Emilio is too kind when he says it was short, it fell totally off a cliff. Decent nose and initial flavor components but the finish was terrible.

I really like the CoreFerment. It was a fun wine and a nice way to start the day. The Cotes du Rhone had an impressive gameness/meat component to it that I often find lacking in Cali Rhone blends and which I enjoy. It also had a smokiness to it that I liked.

The Vina San Roman needs a lot more time and I was not able to judge it very well. It was very tannic and seemed quite closed to me.

The J Alberto Malbec was the best Malbec I have ever had (I have not enjoyed many Malbecs) and was very impressive.

The Bullers was excellent as always. I do not really remember the port very well I have to say. I was unable to taste it last night, but will try it tonight and report back.

Thanks to everyone again for coming. It was nice to see both the people we already knew and the (hopefully) new additions to our little South Florida off-line community.

Well, I went on a little longer than planned.

I'm sorry for the late note, but it has been a busy week. My wife and I want to join everyone in thanking Mona Lisa Vito and Jcocktonsten for their gracious hospitality. They certainly went over the top. I am honored that everyone enjoyed the 1995 Karl Lawrence Cab (my last bottle) and 2003 Ken Wright Canary Hill Pinot (I found one more in my wine fridge !!).We should try to get together more often.

Well, I know that Board-O is heading down here in December....

I hope we get to have dinner with everybody then.