Blackstone 2000

[hotwine]

Aw, mannnn? This sucker's dead! Served up tonight with oak-fired ribeyes, red spuds and green beans, with Italian sourdough, and there hain't nuthin' there! A nice nose of Merlot fruit, but no substance behind it. Confound it, anyway!

[Georgie]

Well, I hope you ran right down to the cellar to get a replacement to go with that yummy din-din!

[winoweenie]

Mite I be so bold as to suggest a 99 Pine Ridge Rutherford? WW [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/eek.gif[/img]

[hotwine]

Georgie, I persevered and drank the danged thing anyway. And WW, I'm tryin' to keep my mitts off of the Pine Ridge.

[wondersofwine]

Hotwine,
Last November you posted about the 2000 Blackstone Napa Valley Merlot and liked it. You thought the 1998 Blackstone (CA) Merlot was over the hill. Was this the Napa Valley?
I assume it was. I liked the Napa Valley at a tasting I attended (it retails for about $16 here) but won't bother to buy any if it loses its qualities so quickly.

[hotwine]

WOW, I just saw your question on the Blackstone from back in May. That was about the time I started missing some posts altogether, for whatever ghostly techie reason. Sorry 'bout that.

This was the ordinary ol' California label of Blackstone that goes for about $9. To me, it usually has more character than the higher-priced Napa label, but this vintage has suffered a premature demise. I need to find a way to burn off most of a case. Sounds like a party in the works....

[Georgie]

Shoot! Don't scare me like that. I just walked in a half hour ago with a bottle of Blackstone Merlot. So back down to the basement I went to see what year and luckily it's a 2001. Phew!

[Drew]

Not to worry, Georgie, sounds like Hotwine's problem was bottle variation.

Drew

[hotwine]

That could be, Drew, although I've found Blackstone to be very consistent. The next bottle should tell the tale.

[Innkeeper]

Had the '01 tonight with burgers that stuck to the grill. It was all right.

[winoweenie]

FWIW there is a BIG difference in the quality of fruit from the 2000 & 2001 vintage. The only 2000's in my cellar so far are Bordeauxs'. WW