2002 & 2003 Le Cadeau

Latour,

Great notes on the LeCadeau and spot on. I'm excited about buying the six of the 02' next week.
M61

montrachet61

I'm confident you will enjoy the 2002, but you should really consider acquiring the 2003 for its hedonistic smoothness and concentration. And again, both are a terrific values; the best QPR of any wine I've purchased during the last four years.

Latour,

I've tasted the 03' too and agree with your notes. He's not releasing that for awhile assume?

Latour,

Thanks for the kind review of the Le Cadeau wines, and for arranging a MOST ENJOYABLE evening. It was a great wine line-up, and I enjoyed them all. Personally, the Kalin for me was a very nice wine-- distinctive and beautifully aged. I enjoyed that wine quite a bit (92 - 93 pts for me).

Montrachet,

You are correct, the 2003 is not released, but for mailing list clients that order the 2002, I will let an equal amount of the 2003 out the door... So, for example, if that would help you fill a case to get the more attractive case pricing, I suspect a few bottles of 2003 could find their way into your box.

P.S.,

Forgot to mention that we got about 90% of the mailers out before we had to head out of town for a few days. If you've given us your name and didn't get a mailer, fear not, more will go out at the end of next week.

BUT, if you want to be on the mailing list and don't get one within 10-days, please email me at Tom@LeCadeauVineyard.com

Is there anybody in the Atlanta area that would like to split a case of the ‘02?

Thanks Tom,

I'll plan to add six of the 03' to my order also.
M61

Look forward to these. Tom, I'm sending in my order. I had sent you an email to your old address. Please hold my wine til Fall.

GreenDrazi

You might want to contact Kybo, I think he lives in the Atlanta area and is always looking for a good bargain.

GreenDrazi,

If you want to email Kybo his email is bfrye at peachstate dot com

IW

We had the 2003 Le Cadeau last night:

It had a beautiful deep nose of cherries and ripe berries without the floral notes often found in California Pinot Noirs. On the palate, the wine is concentrated and forward with juicy flavors of tart raspberries. Still a little young, this will certainly get better with more age. 90 at this young stage, with a potential of maybe 93. I highly recommend it.

I've got a case of it under the tree. Santa knows what I like.

stemor ---Hey, I think your case is under my tree, or at least half of it ----Okay, you can still pick it up-----how's Wednesday, December 21st?

We had the 2002 again last night. No notes taken but this excellent wine, unlike many 2002 OR PNs, is fully ready to drink. I have 2 left and plan on having another one soon. I may hold one back for a vertical tasting sometime.

I have two left, too, Board-O. I want to drink them up... they're delicious, but so far I'm holding for vertical tastings in the future as well. My will power might be close to expiring, though, with the holidays coming.

When is Tom's mailer coming out - I'm anxious to get that locked in? Maybe Latour, who sounded like he's on the payroll in his post here, can tell us. (just ribbing ya, Latour)

I got mine yesterday.

Last year, I thought it needed time. Not according to last night's bottle.

2002 Le Cadeau, I opened a bottle last night and it was very good. I had a couple of glasses and recorked it. I opened tonight (July 4th) and wow, its incredible. Huge mouth feel. The nose is very floral. More than I have ever noticed before. Great balance and great body. Maybe its the peppered salmi but this is drinking better than ever. Last night 91-92 points. Tonite 94-95. Thank god I have a few left. Any 92 Magnums around?

Red Vino,

Sorry, only one mag left at the winery, and it is not for sale.

But, you may want to try a MN store that starts with an "H" and has a location off of 394 on the frontage road across from a large mall. If there are any mags left, they would be there.

Cheers,

Tried there a month or so ago and all gone.

At a very small blind tasting recently, I supplied the 2002 Le Cadeau, and someone indentified it as a Cali Pinot! I'm not saying who that someone was, but he should have known better, BHV!

This was a wonderfully rich and supple bottle and it is drinking very nicely now, or you can continue to cellar for 5+ years, and probably much, much longer. A creamy mixture of red, blue, & black fruits, slightly sweet, a seductive nose, and totally all in balance. Wow, this is the best bottle of 2002 Le Cadeau I've opened! 94/95 points

Have one of these arriving from auction this Thursday and have a couple left from original purchase. Have to open one soon.

quote:

Originally posted by Red Vino:
Have one of these arriving from auction this Thursday and have a couple left from original purchase. Have to open one soon.

Red Vino,

Just a suggestion: you might consider opening that "auction bottle" first, keeping your original purchase bottles for the long term. I'll be interested to read your notes on the 2002 Le Cadeau.

quote:

Originally posted by latour67:
Red Vino,

Just a suggestion: you might consider opening that "auction bottle" first, keeping your original purchase bottles for the long term. I'll be interested to read your notes on the 2002 Le Cadeau.

Wise words, latour67.
He knows the provenance of his wines.

Makes sense and if its so-so or bad, I have backup.

I was surprised to see 3-bottles of the '02 Le Cadeau at a Chicago retailer on wine-searcher the other day. Not sure how / why they popped-up, the '02s have been off the shelves for quite some time. If they're in good shape, someone will get some nicely aged Pinot out of the deal.

Of my many regrets... Drinking all of my 2002/2003/2004 Le Cadeau wines while young... that ranks up there.

Tom - Your first few releases were really remarkable accomplishments. Kudos to you.

I believe those 02's in the Chicago area are no longer available.

Rob,

Thank you for your very kind comment. Sorry that they're gone and that you regret that, but consider this: If you had not enjoyed them, you would not have consumed them so quickly. So while there may have been a small amount of incremental gain, or nuance, to have been achieved, its good to know that they were nonetheless well-enjoyed. Also, with a young vineyard, any betting person would have consumed the wines at a younger age. No one, including me, had any way of knowing how our wines would age. Even now, we're just beginning to get a picture of ageability.

With respect to the quality of our first few vintages, we consider it to be more of a "blessing" than an "accomplishment". Ten years ago I asked the viticulturalist that planted the first portion of Le Cadeau Vineyard: "How do you know if a vineyard site is going to be great, OK, or mediocre?" She replied, "Oh, that's easy, you just plant it and wait 10-years." We had the pleasure of catching up to Diane Kenworthy and her husband, Robert, last year for a reunion dinner (they moved back to sunny California where they manage a property for Joel Peterson-- very cool old vine plants!) and I think I can safely say that Diane and Robert enjoyed trying their first Le Cadeau wines.

With respect to the development of a new vineyard in an area that is not surrounded by existing vineyards (as is the case with Le Cadeau) the reality is: there are some things that are known; some things that are sort-of known; and some things that unknown. Like all projects, you do your research and try to manage the things that are knowable and sort-of knowable to the best of your ability. But at the end of the day, it's the unknowable things that ultimately decide a major portion of how it all works out. In that regard, we've been very fortunate, and that is one of the reasons why we named it "Le Cadeau". The other, is that none of this would have been possible without the wisdom, generosity, and patience of many people that have become friends-- Diane and Robert, Harry Peterson-Nedry, Buddy Beck and his vineyard management team, Josh Bergstrom, Sam Tannahill and Cheryl Francis, and many others.

But again, thanks for the nice thoughts.

RV, your appetite is impressive!

Tom

We opened a bottle of the 2003 Le Cadeau last night and found the color to be youthful and vibrant. However, something is going on with this wine as the fruit has gone from lush and sweet, to a rather tart finish. Has the 2003 Le Cadeau shut down, going thru a metamorphosis, or prematurely ageing and losing fruit? We had no time for decanting, and it may have opened with sufficient time in the decanter.

My opinion is that it has shut down and just needs more time. Again, I see no evidence of ageing in the color, and I expect to see a more favorable wine with more time. I just hope I'm right, because I still have a case+ in the cellar. I might test the progress from time to time, but my target date for this wine is 2011 to 2013, and maybe longer.

latour67 -- Thanks for the note. I hope that you're right and this just needs more time. '03 was not my favorite Oregon vintage, but I have become a bit more concerned about this and several other '03 Oregon Pinots, which I really liked, that have not shown as well recently. Hopefully, they are just going through a dumb phase and not starting the downward decline.

Sharkey,

I'm not sure about the 03 Vintage! It may be an early maturing vintage with nothing for the long haul. However, I don't see how something so lush, fruity, and sweet, make such a turn, without something to hope for in the future. I'm still hopeful that it has just closed down temporarily and will be fine over time..