Not sure this is the right place......

[brappy]

Got the night off which is unusual for me on a Friday evening. Hattie called a couple to see what they were doing. The wife is in the business so we ended up having a mini wine tasting. We enjoyed most of the wines but I'll throw comments in when it is warrented. Forgive any "tipin" mistakes as we hit a few bottles.

Swedish Hill Chardonnay reserve '04 Finger Lakes, New York (in between Cayuga and Seneca)
Thought this wine showed better at the winery. The oak treatment was a bit too pronounced. If the fruit would have been allowed to show through a bit more the balance would have been spot on. the malo fermentation was timed perfectly. I expect great things to come from this winery.

Jean-Luc Colombo La Divine Cote Rotie '04
Good; Did not excite but didn't really disapoint either.

Jean-Luc Colombo Les Fees Brunes Croze-Hermitage
Same

Jeqan-Luc Colombo '05 (Barrel Sample)
I believe the name is going to be "Force". either way it is a single vineyard designate from Cornas. Good stuff; we'll see what happens.

Chateau Pesquie Quintessence '04 Ventoux Rhone
Now we're getting into more rich, mouthfilling grenache-syrah blends. Great wine; didn't take notes.

Domaine La Garrigue La Canterelle '05 AOC Vacqueyras.
Some red and dark berries mixed in on the palate. Some cream to bring it on home.

Glaetzer Barossa Valley shiraz "The Bishop" '04
Finally some Aussie juice.... Gotta love this wine. Red fruit on the palate mixed in with enough cream to scream new world wine. Great finsh. Can't wait to see what happens when Ben, the son, takes over completely.

At this point the conversation was moving right along. We decided the night didn't need to finish here and some more wine was needed to taste.

We decided Cabs.......

Stuhlmuller Vineyards Cabernet Alexander Valley '03

Nice wine. Seems to be having a difficult time deciding whether it wants to be "Old World" or "New World" but certainly did not suck. The structure of this wine says it will go another 6-7 years but is great now and why not?

Regusci Cabernet Napa Valley '02

Have posted on this one before. Nothing has changed from prior posts. Great juice.

Now we decided to play with some aged suspects. Cab was still the flavor of the night....... at least at this point.

Beringer Aluvium, Meritage '94

Corked. I've heard it all about this subject. I've had it happen to me enough times to get real pissed off. But what can you do??????

Souvrain '74 Cab

At first, the wine seemed almost corked, or mildly corked. 20 min later; not much on the nose, but concentrated fruit on the palate none the less. Especially on the mid to back palate. I didn't mention the color: This wine has some loss of color but very little bricking. We had to actually leave the room and put this up against a flourescent light to determine this. 30 min. later, this wine opened up all the way. We decided the bottle needed to be finished fairly quick as we were afraid it would die. the texture of the wine was silky smooth. And the concentrated berry flavors filled the palate. Just the concentration of ferreting out the puzzle of this aged wine was worth the trip. Great wine. Oh, the finish on this is amazing. Wish we had another....

Of this I do have another:
Vasse Felix '93 Cab. Sauv. Western Australia

Beautiful color. Outstanding red fruits on the nose. The palate is much of the same add in a little aged component. Each taste makes your mouth water. Terroir has never been pointed out so well than now. The wine seems as if it was bottled 2 yrs ago; not 13 yrs. Truly a fabulous wine. The purity of the fruit is bewildering.....

Can't do any more...

mark

[dananne]

Sounds like a fun evening. Thanks for taking the time with the notes.

[winoweenie]

Neat notes Brapster. The 74 Souverain has drunk well since its' release. A solid performer that gives lots of "Bang-Bucks' in almost every vintage. At the 6 buck a clatter release price here in the desert it also makes the "Best-Buy" cat. WW