Oh what a night! Thank you WW!

[RAD]

I met with Foodie, his wife, and Scoop at Foodie's apartment here in NYC last night for a tasting of 2 wines that WW sent for us to try.

Wine #1: 1999 Univ of CA (Davis?) Barbera. A fruity, lush, and round wine, albeit one lacking barbera typicity. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely a new-world style. This wine has been talked about on the board before. I found it to have a clear magenta color, medium body, with lots of fruit, and the slightest hint of malolactic (Foodie noticed this first; it would have probably escaped me had he not mentioned it).

Wine #2: 1993 Hedges Red Mountain Reserve. A blend of 68% cab, 32% merlot. Liquid velvet--what an impressive wine! Wonderful nose of blackberry and cedar that somehow managed to be both lush and elegant simultaneously. Incredible concentration and depth, and a long finish, all shrouded in a veil of elegance. Without question the best wine I've had this year (FWIW, this includes some classic favs like 94 Araujo and Insignia). I was not familiar with this label before; Foodie noted that this was his 3rd vintage, and he'd liked all three.

WW, many, many thanks. I believe Foodie, Scoop, and I have scraped together some change and are sending you 3 bottles of your favorite SW. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]

RAD

PS Foodie, thanks for the hospitality--

[Thomas]

Generally, agree with RAD, but I have to say the lack of typicality in the Barbera makes me wonder...The Hedges Red Mountain Reserve has few peers.

Scoop and RAD were the first visitors to our new apartment; it was so successful we might even go out now and buy some chairs!

[Scoop]

Many thanks WW -- and Foodie, too!

The Hedges was quite a revelation, drinking like some of the best examples of "newer"-style St. Emillions. Lush and elegant, as RAD described. Or as WW might say: "Super juice, a five-lapper."

Cheers,

Scoop

[winoweenie]

Glad youse fellers enjoyed yerselfs. I totally agree on the Hedges. I've bought every vintage since 92 and so far it stands like a redwood 'midst a forest of Bonsais', IMHO, compared to the other cabs and merlots from Oregon and Wash., with maybe one pine growing called Leanetti. Think I tried and posted on the 94 some time back. It is actually the equal or maybe a step up from the 93. WW Actually Rad, the wine was vinified by the U of Cali. Fresno who has the only bonded winery in a University in the U.S. They team with their sister college The U of C Bakersfirld in marketing. I don't really think they have any idea what the grapes are as they are vines that are over 100 years old. Good with Hotwines fav food tho.

[This message has been edited by winoweenie (edited 04-04-2002).]

[Thomas]

"I don't really think they have any idea what the grapes are as they are vines that are over 100 years old"

Aha! We thought the wine tasted suspiciously unlike Barbera.

[Kcwhippet]

Maybe they should have Carole Meredith drive down from Davis and clue them in on what they're growing.

[This message has been edited by Kcwhippet (edited 04-04-2002).]

[winoweenie]

KC, these are not the Universitys' vines but grapes donated to them by one of the meeny alummniizz in the Central Valley. For the price they pay for the grapes, doubt they give a tinkers wha' them be. WW [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]

[hotwine]

The Hedges sounds like a BEEF wine, as WW suggested..... makin' notes here.....

[vinman]

WW:
I better get out of rocker. You guys have found something! Did not realize that a few extra years on a Hedges would make so much difference! Thank you, just wish that Minnesota was next to New Jersey!

[winoweenie]

I have been an ardent preacher of not committing infanticide. 90% of the wines of top-notch producers are drunk too young (IMHO ).The winemakers have learned how to soften the tannins in producing wines so they are at least drinkable on release. Even my close fried Al Braunstein has loosened the latch on his huge wines from Diamond Mtn. I'm not saying all wines will improve with age, but the better ones do and should spend time transforming themselves into a lovely woman from the gangly girl of youth. The 94s' and 95s' I'm posting on now have mutated from green-eyed, two-headed babies into some pretty svelte babes and most still have a ways to go. Any-whoos, hope all be cool. WW [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]

[This message has been edited by winoweenie (edited 04-05-2002).]

[Innkeeper]

Speaking of wine infanticide, our friend and sometime contributor Dan Berger recently used a term I hadn't seen before (could be original). It was, "vinfanticide."

[Thomas]

I checked for RAD on Hedges Red Mountain Reserve availability in NYC--if there is any, it will be the 1998 vintage. That seems to me to be too early to be releasing the wine. Wineries are chasing the money (why store it in the warehouse when you can collect the dollars quickly?) and that is why people are consuming the wines when they are still too young.

As for Fresno U not knowing what is in the ground, and thereby not knowing what is in the bottle; If I am correct, that Barbera is a commercial product; I thought the BATF has rules about what a commercial wine label tells us...

[RAD]

Foodie,

Keep me posted on what you find re: Hedges.

Thanks,

RAD

[zenda2]

Dang it, keep Hedges under your hat. I can barely afford it as is, you keep waving flags and pointing at it, only the big cheeses will be able to afford this stuff.

http://www.hedgescellars.com/

I'm gonna quietly go make some more room in the cellar.

Oh, and Weener...did I ever tell ya what a good pal you are? Old buddy, old pal, old chum.

[This message has been edited by zenda2 (edited 04-05-2002).]

[winoweenie]

I've felt the love-vibes Z-2. WW