February 2011 - Wines of the Month

White:
2006 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc

Reds:
2001 Orlando Abrigo Barbaresco Vigna Montersino
2004 Sportoletti Rosso Villa Fidelia Umbria

White:

2008 Aubert Chardonnay Ritchie

Red:

1982 Gruaud-Larose
1995 Pegau Cuvee Maxim
2001 SQN Midnight Oil
2002 Araujo Eisele Cabernet
2008 Schrader RBS
2008 Tor Clone 4
1999 Haut Brion
1996 Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet

quote:

Originally posted by AZwineRyan:
1982 Gruaud-Larose

A beautiful wine indeed.

White: 2005 Aubert Ritchie Chardonnay

Red: 1969 Inglenook Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Runner-up Red: 1986 Gruaud-Larose

White:
1992 Mount Eden Chardonnay SCM Estate

Red:
2005 Saxum Syrah Booker Vineyard

Sparkling: Charles Ellner, Cuvee de Reserve Brut NV

White: None of special note

Red: 2004 Neal Family, Cab

Sweet: 2003 Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Sauternes

quote:

Originally posted by DoubleD:
White:
1992 Mount Eden Chardonnay SCM Estate

Red:
2005 Saxum Syrah Booker Vineyard

DD - How was that 92 Mt Eden Chard? I picked up a couple of the 2006's for aging but I wasn't expecting to wait that long.

quote:

Originally posted by nevada slim:

quote:

Originally posted by DoubleD:
White:
1992 Mount Eden Chardonnay SCM Estate

Red:
2005 Saxum Syrah Booker Vineyard

DD - How was that 92 Mt Eden Chard? I picked up a couple of the 2006's for aging but I wasn't expecting to wait that long.

Slim, the Mt. Eden was fantastic. It was my first experience, and I was impress how lively it was at almost 20 years. It's not your over-the-top CA chard. I bought a few bottles from Zachy's in January. I believe they still have some. It's worth buying. At some point, I'll purchase some recent vintages and try one.

Sparkling
1985 Veuve Clicquot Brut Rose Rare

White
2002 Verget Chablis 1er cru Vaillons Vieilles Vignes de Minots

Red
93 Dalla Valle Maya
96 Poggio Scalette Il Carbonaione

Sweet
2006 Heggies Noble Rot Riesling (my daily drinker)
2007 Doisy Vedrines (excellent day 1, then declines to just enjoyable.)

White

2009 Merry Edwards Sauvignon blanc

Red

2001 L'evangile
2002 Spottswoode Cab
1995 Clerc Milon

White:

1997 Zind-Humbrecht Clos Windsbuhl Gewertz

Red:

2001 Anderson's Conn Valley Eloge

quote:

Originally posted by indybob:


White: None of special note

Bob, you need to make sure this does not happen again!

Australian underdog 2004 Evans & Tate Cabernet Sauvignon "The Reserve" by a landslide.

After that, 3 beautiful Italian wines.

2005 Les Crêtes Syrah Coteau La Tour

2000 Azienda Agricola Sant'Elena Tato

2001 Bisceglia Aglianico del Vulture Riserva

All 4 wines from Garagiste. $30-$50 bottles for about $19.99 each and a $25 bottle for about $15. People act like Garagiste are charlatans but I like what they do.

Very slow month:

White:

2003 Chritoffel Erben Urziger Wurzgarten Auslese ***
2009 Curran Grenache Blanc
2009 Linne Calodo Contrarian
2009 Calera Mount Harlan Chardonnay

Red:

2003 Chateau Duhart Milon Rothschild
2007 Linne Calodo Nemesis
1998 Chateau Leoville Barton
2005 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel
1998 Chateau Peby Faugeres

Red: 2004 Sine Qua Non Into the Dark

White: 1998 Chapoutier De l'Oree Blanc Ermitage

Champagne: Jaques Selosse Blanc de Blanc

quote:

Originally posted by spo:
Australian underdog 2004 Evans & Tate Cabernet Sauvignon "The Reserve" by a landslide.

After that, 3 beautiful Italian wines.

2005 Les Crêtes Syrah Coteau La Tour

2000 Azienda Agricola Sant'Elena Tato

2001 Bisceglia Aglianico del Vulture Riserva

All 4 wines from Garagiste. $30-$50 bottles for about $19.99 each and a $25 bottle for about $15. People act like Garagiste are charlatans but I like what they do.

I agree with you about Garagiste. 90% of my daily drinkers come from them. There is a lot of value shopping through them. You just have to be selective and not buy everytime there is an offering.

2007 Domaine de la Graveirette Chateauneuf-du-Pape

2006 Caterina Zardini Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva

2006 Argyle Brut

2005 Ramey Chard Ritchie Vineyard
2008 Copain Roussanne James Berry Vineyardy

1998 Col Solare
2007 Stefania Cab SCM

quote:

Originally posted by wine+art:

quote:

Originally posted by indybob:


White: None of special note

Bob, you need to make sure this does not happen again!

White:
2004 Mt. Eden Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay
2009 Merry Edwards Sauvignon Blanc

Red:
2001 Domaine de la Grange des Pères
2001 L'Evangile
2007 Domaine Ferrando CdP Colombis

quote:

Originally posted by Rob_Sutherland:
White:
2004 Mt. Eden Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay
2009 Merry Edwards Sauvignon Blanc

Red:
2001 Domaine de la Grange des Pères
2001 L'Evangile
2007 Domaine Ferrando CdP Colombis

Rob - Same question as posed to DD earlier in this thread - how was the 04 Mt. Eden SCM Chard? Did you think it needed additional time?

White
2008 Donnhoff Niederhauser Hermannsholle Riesling Spatlese

Red
2000 Clos de l'Oratoire

quote:

Originally posted by nevada slim:

quote:

Originally posted by Rob_Sutherland:
White:
2004 Mt. Eden Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay
2009 Merry Edwards Sauvignon Blanc

Red:
2001 Domaine de la Grange des Pères
2001 L'Evangile
2007 Domaine Ferrando CdP Colombis

Rob - Same question as posed to DD earlier in this thread - how was the 04 Mt. Eden SCM Chard? Did you think it needed additional time?

It was consumed during a long offsite night (abet early so I do remember it well!). It was very nice. That night it did suffer from lack of air to an extent. I think it could have shown better than it did but it was still right between "That's really good" and Wow (Wow of course being bested by Wowza, Wowza with an eyebrow lift, Oh.My.God, Dear God this is good! and finally the ultimate expression of a great wine, a quick body shake followed by wet pants and a Mona Lisa smile…).

I don't think it needs more time, I think it's more what you want to get out of it. It still has primary characteristics but is starting to travel into the secondary realm. That can be a bit of a funny period and looking at CT, it looks like there is a bit of bottle variation going on at the moment...

I have little doubt it could go another 10 years if you really wanted to push it but I don't know if it would be a better wine or just a different wine.

I think I'll drink my remaining bottle in a couple of years.

2008 Pali Wine Co. Pinot Noir Durell Vineyard
2005 Saxum Syrah Booker Vineyard

yup, a pinot made it to the top...

Spent the month in the office, so very slow month for me.

WOTM: 2004 Corte Pavone BdM.

I totally forgot about the offline with DaveCanada and the wines that night!

White

1991 R. Lopez Heredia Vina Tondonia Blanco

Red
1983 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle
1985 Lisini Brunello di Montalcino

White -

2009 Etude Pinot Gris

Red -

2006 O'Shaughnessy Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder

quote:

Originally posted by Longboarder:
White

1991 R. Lopez Heredia Vina Tondonia Blanco

Red
1983 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle
1985 Lisini Brunello di Montalcino

Thats a good month!

Red: 2004 Sine Qua Non Into the Dark

White: 1998 Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc De L'Oree

Champagne: Selosse Blanc de Blanc

We can pretty much guess what GA's WOTM red will be -- begins with SQN.

quote:

Originally posted by DoubleD:
We can pretty much guess what GA's WOTM red will be -- begins with SQN.

Not true. Here was my January pick:

Toss up between: 2002 David Arthur Cabernet Sauvignon
2005 Karl Lawrence Reserve Morisoli Cabernet Sauvignon

White

2007 Francois Cotat, Sancerre, Les Culs de Beaujeu

Red

2004 Corte Pavone, Brunello do Montalcino

1990 Salon

champange
nv krug

white
2006 kongsgaard chard

red
2006 Friedrich Becker Schweigener Sonnenberg "Kammerberg" Spätburgunder Großes Gewächs

quote:

Originally posted by GlennK:

quote:

Originally posted by Longboarder:
White

1991 R. Lopez Heredia Vina Tondonia Blanco

Red
1983 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle
1985 Lisini Brunello di Montalcino

Thats a good month!

If you were still in London, you could have enjoyed all three.

The only wines worth mentioning

1997 Burgess Enveiere
2001 Beringer Cab Quarry Vineyard

2001 Littorai Pinot Noir Hirsh Vineyard
2000 Insignia
2004 Kosta Browne Kanzler Vineyard
2000 Turley PS Hayne Vineyard
2004 Cobos Malbec Marchiori Vineyard
2007 Sangiovese IL Carbonaione
2005 Chateau Guiraud

I did turn 50 after all this month.

quote:

Originally posted by hippomon:
2004 Cobos Malbec Marchiori Vineyard

I did turn 50 after all this month.

Happy b'day, hippomon.

Your thoughts on the '04 Cobos? Did it show well?