Pinot/Cab Tasting

Saturday, February 7, 2009

I was invited to a "hi end" Pinot/Cabernet tasting tonight. There were 8 in attendance. We all brought appetizers and a bottle of wine with a value of $75 or more. The host put out salmon and beef tenderloin to accompany the crab stuffed mushrooms that I brought along with the egg dish that was topped with white truffles that another guest brought. These were fresh truffles that were sliced over to top of the eggs as they cooked along with truffle salt that was also used on the beef tenderloin.

The host put out a bottle of white wine to start the appetizers with. The label was Jada from Paso Robles and it was a blend. Unfortunately it was slightly corked. There was a 2003 Kistler, Dutton Ranch Chardonnay opened. It was very good if you are into oaked wine. It had just a tad too much oak in for my personal palate.

We gathered into the dining room to start the "red" tasting. First up was a 1997 Arcadian, Pisoni, Pinot Noir. This was excellent with the mushrooms and egg dish.

Next was a 2003 Arcadian, Pisoni, Pinot Noir. Unfortunately this wine was corked also. It would have been real interesting to compare the 2 vintages.

A 2001 Williams Seylem, Flax Vineyard, Russian River, Pinot Noir was poured. This wine went very well with the salmon. It seems that you just can't beat a Williams Seylem wine. Consistently good.

Next in line was a 2006 SeaSmoke, Ten, Pinot Noir. This wine is showing very nice and looks like it will hold for several more years. SeaSmoke Botella seems to lose its fruit early but the Ten is for laying down.

The wine I brought was a 2005 Kosta Browne, Sonoma Coast, Pinot Noir. I was surprised at how big this wine was. It was very tight but after about an hour it really blossomed. This again was a wine that could be out down for awhile. I do have a least 1 more bottle so I won't touch it for several more years.

Next the Cabernets showed up. a 1999 Sterling Reserve, Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. This too was slightly corked.

1998 Silver Oak, Napa was next. It was showing really well. I'm not the big cab fan so maybe it gets lost on me, but I personally have never been overly impressed with Silver Oak. I think they are way overpriced for what they are. But they do have their cult like following.

Next out of the decanter was a 1994 Opus. It was showing well also. Again I feel overpriced to begin with. It was nice to taste the wine, but I'm not plunking down $100+ dollars for any wine. Those who were really cab fans tonight liked both the Silver oak and the Opus. So my opinion is strictly biased.

Last cab of the evening was a 1997 Arrowood, Sonoma. I liked this one. I'm not sure why but I found it more pleasing to my palate.

Since I have allergies and they were in full bloom tonight it may have compromised by palate and nose. All the wines really opened up after a second pour. They improved with aerating. I took the Kosta Browne and poured it back and forth between 2 glasses and it improved a lot. Got rid of the tightness and softened the wine.

It was interesting to have 3 corked wines tonight. I don't know what the odds are on that. 12 wines so that is 25%. Unemployment isn't that much.

Dessert was served, an array of chocolate cookies, brownies and cake. The host brought out a 1998 Carmody-McKnight Late Harvest Cabernet Franc.. This I did not taste. Sweet with sweet to me is overkill. The desserts went well with the cabs. I prefer sweet wines with savory's. Cheese, nuts etc.,

We had such a good time we started making plans to do another "higher end" tasting in a few months.