The Corkdork - Wine and Food Musing

Nice Cab tonight: 2008 Chateau Montelena

2008 was a tense year for growers in Napa. Low yields due to cold temps and shatter. But after the weather started cooperating, it allowed growers to get nice ripeness on the berries that were left. 

Winemaker, Cameron Parry at Chateau Montelena has started to work with bringing in smaller batches of fruit, starting with this vineyard. This new practice should help on uneven ripening years and bring a "small winery" feel to the wines. 

This is a young wine, to be sure, but it's drinking nicely now. What Cameron calls "barrel spice" is pretty forward now, but in 4 or 5 years this should integrate nicely. I like the burnt sugar overtones, mixed with red fruits. This is not a massive, chewy wine, which is one reason I like it. The body is not terribly dense and viscous. I get a touch of meaty tang from the small bit of Cab Franc in there, which I like. SRP is $49/ street prince is around $35.00 and that's a great price for a well made wine like this. 

This was a press sample.

Big Holiday Tasting at the SF Wine Center

Another great tasting at the SF Wine Center. Remind me again why you don't store your wine there? The price of your rental gets you into tastings like the one on Friday night. And if there is something you want, they are all for sale because it is hosted by the Wine Center and a number of top local distributors (Martine's, Chambers, etc). Such a deal!

Here were some of my favorites: (there were probably 75 wines total)

2005 Paul Pernot Pommard Les Noizons - great and ready to drink. $52
2006 Gaja Sori San Lorenzo $450. Fantastic - some of the finest tannins I have ever experienced.
2000 Chateau Haut Batailley - Killer! $70
1985 Chateau Haut Brion $450 - beautiful cocoa overtones
2008 Hundred Acre Ark Vineyard - $275 - My favorite cult cab of the evening. Eucalyptus explosion.
2008 Chateau Lafleur-Gazin Pomerol - $40. - great deal
2004 Louis Roederer Vintage Brut Champagne - 50/50 Chard and Pinot. Very good buy at $54
2004 Louis Roederer Cristal - super fine bubbles distinctive Le Menil flavors -$190
2009 Joseph Drouhin Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatieres 1er Cru - awesome. Sexy. $80
2005 Chateau Rauzan Segla - great Cab Franc dominated Bordeaux. $125
2009 Holdredge Pinot Noir Russian River Valley - Classic RR Pinot great deal for $35
2008 Guigal St. Joseph Vignes de l'Hospice - Small batch St. Joe, delicious but pricey $99
2007 Verité Le Desir - lovely but scary price: $325 - but one of 3 100 point wines from Verité poured
2008 Domaine de L'Arlot Clos des Forets - $64 - I fell in love with this. One of my fav. burg's of the night
2008 Ramey Hudson Vineyard Chardonnay - $45 - Pegged this as classic Carneros from one sniff. Nice!
2006 Cassanova di Neri Brunello - great price from a great year $42
2005 Francois Jobard Meruseault Pourzots 1er Cru - $90. Really delicious
2004 Perrot-Minot Mazoyeres-Chambertin VV Grand Cru - beautiful lifted scents of violets. $150
2006 Michel Gay & Fils Corton-Renardes VV Grand Cru $85
2009 Gilles Robin Hermitage $85 - Great but so young!! 
2005 Bonneaux de Martray Corton Charlemagne - tight but a real treat from another member's collection> 

 

 

Announcing Wine Blogging Wednesday 73 "Spark"

It's for January and it's called "Spark". And it's being hosted by the Corkdork blog. 

Because the number of participants has been declining and the blogosphere is so crowded with other things commanding our attention, it's time to go back to what Sparked your interest in wine blogging in the first place. There was a wine you couldn't get out of your head and couldn't wait to share with the world, there was a grape that you started obsessing over, there were family times where a good bottle would be pulled...something there made you say to yourself that you wanted to blog about wine. And 6 years ago, when we started the first collaborative online tasting group, Wine Blogging Wednesdays, something captured your attention. I know you've grown and your wine knowledge has expanded, but it's time to revisit the kind of wines that sparked your desire to blog, retaste, and share. 

January's challenge, "Spark", is to re-visit the wine that first turned you on to the infinite wonder of the world of wine. Write about it and post on January 18th. I will host and do the round-up. Please pass on the word and keep WBW going!