Cabernet Wine Tasting At San Diego Wine Company

Today my beau and I, after running some errands, went to San Diego Wine Company for what was a fun wine tasting. As the title of the post states, on deck today were Cab and Cab blends and while we both liked some more than other none of them bombed. This was a great tasting because it allowed me to find a couple of gems to take on my birthday outing that my beau has schedule (more on that next weekend). Today's tasting had eight wines, most from Napa but one gem came to us from Paso Robles and none that I had ever tasted before. Here was tasting in the order poured and my own notes:

Side Job Cellars 2005 "Sonoma County": This lovely blend (93% Cab, 5% Merlot, 2% Cab Fanc) was a great opener. Nice blend of cherries and black fruit on the noise that accompanied a little toasty oak and hings of chocolate in the mouth. Lovely balanced tannins and acidity and a steal at $14.95!

Ideology 2006 "Napa Valley" (Oak Knoll): A nice offering from Napa, darker than the Side Job Cellars, almost purple. Chocolate, "earth" on the nose. Very fruit forward, soft tannins, almost a "lite" aspect to it. Finish was a little short but a very drinkable wine.

X Winery 2004 "Napa Valley": Fantastic little wine, lovely fruit and milk chocolate on the nose, cherries and blue berries on the tongue with soft tannins and mouthwatering acid. If you are in the area, pick up a bottle... it's only $15.95!

John Alan 2006 "Paso Robles": Yum! Black cherries and chocolate on the nose delivering bigger fruit and chocolate on the tongue. Wonderfully balanced fruit, tannins, and mouthwatering acid producing a middle to longish finish.

Chappellet 2006 "Napa Valley": The first of two wines from Chappellet. Nicely made blend of Cab, Merlot, and Petit Verdot, slightly "rustic" in nature. Nice plum, cherries, chocolate, and a slight spiciness (cinnamon perhaps)? Nice, but between the two I'd splurge on the one coming up.

Turnbull 2005 "Napa Valley": Again nice, but I don't think it deserved the 90 points it got from Wine Spectator. Dark, deep, purplish hue. Nose seemed faint to me. Black Cherries, red cherries, and blue berries with slim tannins and good acidity producing a medium length finish. Probably worth a second tasting at another time. Again, nice but not sure if I would have rated it as high.

Stags Leap Winery 2005 "Napa Valley": Smooth! "Old world" type of nose with the wine components hitting all areas of the tongue with Black cherries, dark chocolate, and coffee along with lovely acidity combined with smooth tannins drawing out to a long finish that was a wonderful experience.

Chappellet 2006" "Napa Valley" Signature: What a closer! This has been Chappellet's flagship wine for three decades and no wonder, it is a hit. The pourer kept talking about cellaring it but I loved it as it was. Excellent. Extremely smooth, chocolate, caramel, blackberries, cherries, and cassis combine together to create a beautiful "jammy" experience for both nose and tongue. Stunningly balanced with a long, smooth finish. Definitely my favorite, but I am not sure I would want to cellar it instead of sharing it because this is one to experience.

Wines Reported On In 2009: 67

Rhone Tasting at San Diego Wine Company

I was looking for my notes and realized I had not written about the last tasting I attended at San Diego Wine Company. On Thursday, 11-Dec-2008 I met up with my friends Elbert and Cory for a selection of Rhone wines to be tasted (well mostly Rhone... there were a couple of exceptions). While primarily known for its reds the Rhone Valley is home to both reds and whites. The Rhone Valley is roughly divided into a Northern Rhone and a Southern Rhone region with more of the whites coming from the Northern Rhone and made from Viognier, Marsanne, and Rousanne (the last two typically blended together). For interesting Viogniers check out the Condrieu and Chateau Grillet appellations. As for reds (which was the object of this tasting) the star of Northern Rhone red is Syrah (check out the appellations Cote-Rotie, Hermitage, and Crozes-Hermitage). For the Southern Rhone the reds are blends, typically Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre (with others). Here the powerhouse appellation is Chateauneuf du Pape which is allowed up to 13 different varietals to be blended.

For this tasting the following wines were tasted (along with a few notes of mine):

Les Deux Rives 2006 "Corbieres Rouge" - not a Rhone wine but from the Languedoc-Roussillon region. Made with traditional Rhone grapes (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre with a dash of Carignan). While this wine has a spectacular pedigree it just didn't do anything for me.

Domaine Grand Nicholet 2006 "Rasteau Villes Vignes" - Yum! Double the price of the Duex Rives yet still under $18 this was a wonderful wine. Inky-black in color and juicy, big fruit, this wine seemed like a cross between a French Grenache and an Aussie Shiraz. This came home with me.

Domaine del la Charbonniere 2006 "Vacqueyras" - again didn't do anything for me. Next.

Chateau Fortia 2006 "Chateauneuf du Pape" - Now we're talking again. Beautiful dark red wine, hints of violets, raspberry and spice on the nose, wonderful fruit and tannins. Beautiful wine for under $30.

Bosquet des Papes 2006 "Chateauneuf du Pape" - Nice. Hints of cherry and pepper with a medium-bodied delivery on the tongue. I prefer the Fortia though, especially at the better price.

Pierre Usseglio & Fils 2006 "Chateauneuf du Pape" - I was really looking forward to this, but after a beautiful nose it was like a flash in the pan. In my handwritten notes I have "All talk, no action".

Domaine de la Charbonniere 2006 "Chateauneuf du Pape" - Wonderful wine, like biting into ripe fruit. A broad mouthfeel, soft tannines and low acidity makes this a fantastic experience, though we're getting out of my usual price range.

Cuvee de Vatican 2006 "Chateauneuf du Pape" Reserve Sixteen - Beautiful nose, promise of dark berries and vanilla, oak, and a touch of lavender. Soft, silky tannins and a lovely long finish. Stellar.

Le Vieux Donjon 2006 "Chateauneuf du Pape" - We're really hitting some consistency with the wines at this level. Cedar, current, black plum with an undertone of earthiness that I loved. Juicy.

Domaine du Pegau 2005 "Chateauneuf du Pape" - concentrated, almost rustic at times. Interesting on the tongue, almost as if there was a dry center wrapped in a sweet, juicy layer of fruit. Wonderful experience, but at $75/bottle I have to say I enjoyed others at least as much for quite a bit less. Maybe it just needs a little time for me to pry open my wallet at this level.

Saturday Tasting At San Diego Wine Company

Well, with my beau out of town and no phone calls from any of my friends to do something I decided to go to the weekly wine tasting at San Diego Wine Company. I've been there before to purchase wine but never for a tasting and I discovered I have been missing out! The offering of 11 wines for $10 was topped only by the fact that you serve yourself. Although there were signs everywhere asking patrons to hold themselves to one tasting per wine (no limit on the size of what you pour) I did notice two older guys taking this as an opportunity to turn it into a wine drinking rather than a tasting. You will be proud to know that I limited myself to the usual 1 - 2 oz pouring. Since there were so many I will briefly present my notes for you here:

First up (and the only white) was Villa Mt. Eden 2005 Grand Reserve Bien Nacido Vineyard Chardonnay. Golden straw in color and oaky, buttery nose. Good acidity, oak, creamy butterscotch and fruit makes for a rich Chardonnay.

Next was Domaine de Montrabech 2006 Vin de Pays D'Oc, deep purple in color with oak and mushrooms on the nose. Light bodied, good acidity and light tannins make this a pretty decent sipping wine.

We turn to Italy (my current country under study for my certification) with Tenuta di Mormoraia 2006 Chianti Collo Senesi made from the Sangiovese grape. Pretty ruby red in color with oak, earth and cherry on the nose and red fruit and moderate tannins and balanced acidity with a medium length finish. Great little wine.

Next up is another Sangiovese, Ca Del Solo 2005 "San Benito" Sangiovese made by Bonny Doon from California's Central Coast. Ruby running almost to garnet, earth and spicy cherry on the nose with cherry and spice well delivered to the palate. Wine was a big bang but over quickly with a short finish.

The Vivir Vivir 2006 "Ribera Del Duero" made a nice change. 100% Tempranillo, purplish red in color, spicy red current and cherries on the nose and red fruits with supple tannins and good acidity made this wine a pleasure to taste.

The Jindalee Circle Collection 2007 Shiraz was a good example of a very approachable Shiraz for the non-Shiraz crowd with spice, plums and blueberries on the nose and a fruit-forward light tannin palate.

Summerland 2006 Grenache, light red in color, raspberry and plum with almost a "brandied" scent and finish.

2005 Lolonis Redwood Valley Zinfandel from Mendocino County, California was a bright clear red, hints of spice and peppers with red fruit, rounded tannins, good acidity culminating in a medium-length finish made this a fine little Zin.

The next one was a surprise, a $10 Cab that didn't taste like a $10 Cab. Stonehouse 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon was a nice red (leaning towards a deeper hue), the black fruit/cassis nose, rounded tannins and good acid with the promised fruit on the palate made this inexpensive Cab a rather enjoyable Cab.

I had not heard of Panacea Winery but their 2005 Vindetta was a nice meritage. Red in color with some depth, black fruit with a hint of licorice on the nose and spice and fruit delivered with mild tannins and balanced acid will have me looking for more of their product.

We end the tasting with Michael-David 2005 "Petite Petit" Petit Syrah. Deep purplish-red in color with blueberries and touch of vanilla on the nose delivering black fruit with oaky vanilla, rounded tannins and mouthwatering acidity. Yummy!

Celebrating with Château Petit Bocq

Today was a good day for me as today was my annual review and I received my numbers for my raise and bonus. The raise was in line with what I thought but my performance bonus greatly exceeded my expectations so to celebrate I stopped off at The San Diego Wine Company to look for something. As this was my first time in the store I spent way too much time drooling, er, reviewing their selection and decided on a nice little wine I had heard about, Château Petit Bocq 2005. I had only read a little about it in Robert Parker's book Bordeaux (my textbook for the Bordeaux intensive test coming up in my wine certification quest) and given that "god", er, Robert Parker said that it was a cru bourgeois that competes with fifth growths (a good ranking in the scheme of Bordeaux wines if you didn't know), it was from Saint-Estèphe and from the fantastic 2005 vintage how could I pass it up?

Visually the wine is quiet pretty, a deep inkish purple with a halo of red. The legs formed beautifully on the swirl and the nose delivered blackberry, some currant, and to me some underlying "leather" with a hint of smokiness (though I have to admit I was a little congested so I may have to try it again at a later date). The play in the mouth was nice... medium bodied with a good tannin/alcohol/fruit balance, the tongue tasting what the nose promised. I immediately got a nice, juicy feeling in my mouth, almost "mouthwatering". The finish is medium length but seems just right for this wine.

Given the price I paid (Under $19) this was quite the bargain. I'll have to pick some more up for the gathering here next week.