Couple 20-30 dollar '01 Cabbies

[oostexan]

Made the following vittles:
Grilled some spicey pork tenderloin kabobs wrapped with proscuitto and covered with diced Spanish olives, fresh corn on the cob, and garlic mashed potatoes. Yummy. The wifey and I decided to put the 01 Pine Ridge Rutherford and the 01 Flora Springs Napa to a side by side test. Each retails for right at 30 clams, but can be had on Winex.com and at The Wine Club for for right around 20 or so.

Both are fine bottlings and have been in my cellar for about 1.5 to 2 years now, so I thought it was time to see how both were doing. I think I bought them right about the same time in Nov/Dec of 03 and bought a half case of each.

The Pine Ridge took about an hour to open up, nice floral scents on the nose and a fair amount of currant on the palate. A very good wine. Good concentration, probably needs a little more time as it is a bit tight and the fruit is not quite ready to open up. A very good wine. Medium complexity, and little closed right now, but very nice and deserves another couple years of cellaring to see what happens.

The Flora Springs did not play around, it was ready to get going right away and continued to improve with air. Excellent nose, great depth of fruit, enough concentration and enough tannin to make you consider the possibilities. Might be my favorite medium priced 01 Cab this year out of Turnbull, Pine Ridge, Provenance, Simi, and the Buehler Estate Cab. I have all of them and continue to try them, but this guy just has a level of refinement and pedigree that really makes it stand out. A real sleeper too; zero press. Gonna search for another case if its out there. What and outstanding wine. Great job to Ken and team.



[This message has been edited by oostexan (edited 07-24-2005).]