2007 Napa Valley Cabernet Tasting – The Annual Vinum and Venom 2010

HE Says: Our annual USC/UCLA Venom and Vinum super-secret, under the radar, blind wine tasting happened late last year.  19 years.  So, 19 years – just a little younger than She.

SHE Says: Bwa, ha, ha! That’s the kind of math I love.  My disclaimer – I’ve only been around for 7 of those years.

He continues: As I’ve written before, the clandestine wine tasting takes place the night before the USC Trojans-UCLA Bruins football game.  There are 12-18 of us each year, with allegiances split about 50-49 between the two schools  (She providing the odd number as she has allegiance to the marching bands.)  The venom refers to the words we exchange before the game, deriding the opposition school and their football program.  This year, both football teams were pretty lackluster and the game featured a lot of ugly football.  Nonetheless, we’re happy that our Trojans were victorious once again and have won 8 of the last 9 games.

She interrupts: How’s my special friend, Art Bartner doing?

He continues: The band was great as always.  2010 was the 19th straight year we’ve held this event, which includes a great dinner and then a blind tasting.  We change the wine theme each year – this year it was 2007 cabernets from Napa, California, priced between $15 and $45.  The 2007 harvest in Napa is considered one of the finest in a several decades, and the 7 wines we tasted confirmed that.  Very little separated one wine from another and overall it was perhaps the best tasting we’ve ever done.

The results and our comments:

2007 Buehler Vineyards Cabernet “Kindly Well” Napa Valley – the evening’s top wine.
He says: This is a boutique wine offered through the Premiere Napa Valley program  bought thru an auction, and later sold at a local L.A. wine store for about $33. The grapes come from a hillside block they call Kindly Well at Buehler.  It had a nice nose and was very well balanced.  I tasted cherry and sage/cedar flavors, and thought the winemaker did a fine job with it.  It tied for the highest score overall, and won our tiebreaker.  I scored it an excellent 16 and my second favorite wine, but it will likely be difficult to find.

She says: Nice, but I’m not sure you’ll last more than a week in my house.

She also says: Hard-to-find. Ai! Drive me crazy with difficulty. I hate that.   Unfortunately He’s right this time.  I searched all over “the internets” for you – at least two whole websites – and I couldn’t find “Kindly Well” at any price. Bummer.

2007 Provenance Rutherford Napa Valley Cabernet – This is the wine we brought, and it finished tied for first but was edged out on the tiebreaker.  Chris Cooney and Tom Rinaldi (formerly at Duckhorn) made this terrific cab, priced around $35.

He says: It had a nice nose, with a very good body and structure.  Like a supermodel!  Predominant berry flavors.  It was very soft and low on tannins, so I’d recommend drinking it soon.  I gave it a strong 15+ and had scored it as my third favorite wine.

She says: Smells like caramel, tastes like wine.  Your mind is so busy I can’t figure out what you want.

2007 Round Pond Rutherford Cabernet – Our friend Andy brought this wonderful wine, which was easily the biggest of the 7.  It cost about $45 and scored a great 94 in Wine Spectator.

He says: It was a very big and bold wine, with medium-high tannins that masked the fruit.  The wine was tasting tight at first, but with thirty minutes in the glass it started opening up and revealing itself.  Because of the tannins, it has great aging potential and you’d want to sit it down for at least 5 years, and probably 10 to 15. I gave it my highest score, an excellent 16, but others felt it was too tight and it finished in 6th place.

She says: Dark water.

2007 Caravan Cabernet – Karen and Steve brought this wine ($33), which is produced by Darioush.  The cab is blended with 14% merlot and 4% each of petit verdot and malbec, all from their estate and Mt. Veeder Vineyards.

He says: The wine was very smooth, with a slight chocolate/cocoa and cherry flavors.  It had good structure and medium low tannins, and I recommend that you drink it within three years.  I gave it an very strong 15+ and rated it 4th best, as did the group.

She says: Big, bold and complicated, aren’t you?  I’ll have to spend some time figuring you out.

2007 Main & Geary Cabernet –

He says: Ken and Nanci brought this wine ($20) and while it had a big nose, it exhibited sour cherry flavors to me.  It seemed like the alcohol was a bit higher and it didn’t really do much for me (a fair 14), but the group had it tied for fourth.

She says: Broad shoulders.  I could definitely spend the weekend with you.

2007 Roots Run Deep Winery Educated Guess Cabernet –

He says:  Another selection from Ken and Nanci ($18) that I had read comments on for being a good value.  It was very soft, with very low tannins.  Very slight cherry flavors, with almost a sweet note to them.  Definitely meant to be opened right away.  I ranked it 5th with a fair 14, but the group scored it last.  In all fairness though, only a handful of points separated first from last in our group.

She says: There’s an awful lot of alcohol on your breath, darlin’ – but you’re strong and steady and that’s how I like it.

2007 Merryvale Cabernet Starmont –  

He says: Our friends Cari and Chad brought this $20 cab and while I found it just OK, it ranked third in our group, just one point off the top.  It has a really intoxicating nose, but I found the body to be thin. I gave this a fair 14 and had it as my least favorite.

She says: He doesn’t understand you – but I do.

He says: In summary, I think the Round Pond will be the most ageworthy of the wines, and if you’re looking for something to drink now or in the next few years, I’d recommend the Provenance Rutherford and the Caravan cabs, which should both be readily available.  The Buehler is terrific, but will be hard to find.

She says: In summary – Here’s a picture of a hand drawing of a caterpillar in the upper right hand corner of my wine notes – and it reads “My Caterpillar”.  If I had more of an explanation for you I would share, I swear I would – but alas, I do not know what prompted this.  Wine + pen + paper = anything can happen.

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1974 Sonoma Vineyards Alexander’s Crown Cabernet Sauvignon

1974 Sonoma Vineyards Alexader's Crown Cabernet Sauvignon

1974 Sonoma Vineyards Alexander’s Crown Cabernet Sauvignon.
He said: My parents bought this wine in 1977, and it’s been in my father’s wine locker for almost 34 years. We decided to open up one of the bottles to see if the wine was still good.

This wine holds a very special place in California wine making history. It is the first single vineyard cabernet from Sonoma Valley. According to the back label, the Alexander’s Crown vineyard is a 61-acre vineyard located on a promontory above the Alexander Valley.

The winemaker was Rodney Strong, a major pioneer in the Sonoma winemaking world.  Sonoma Vineyards later became Rodney Strong Vineyards. Rodney Strong, now owned by Tom Klein, still produces an Alexander’s Crown single vineyard cab.

You can see the first vintage of Alexander’s Crown charted on this timeline on the Rodney Strong website.  
http://bit.ly/AlexandersCrown

Rodney’s notes on the label and note card are very interesting. For one, he says the grapes were harvested at 24.2 brix on November 3rd, which is very late. Then he apologizes for the wine being high alcohol at 13.7%, which would be considered low nowadays. He also said the wine could age for 20 years if you had the patience. Well, we were super patient, letting it sit for 36 years!

And now for the tasting notes:
He said: I had some doubts at first when I uncorked the wine. It had a little off smell and tasted a bit acidic, but the color was fairly red and I thought it was just a bit tight. After about 10 minutes, the wine started opening up and becoming more approachable. After being open an hour, the wine really showed its stuff. It had great cherry flavors and the balance was terrific. This turned into a tremendous bottle of wine. I gave it an excellent score of 17. The bottle had a lot of sediment.

She said: I don’t know how I know this, but I would say this has structure. You were so worth the wait, you big strong man-wine.

P.S.  She says:  I went peeking into to Barry’s father’s wine notes to see what Mel might have had to say about Sonoma Vineyard’s Alexander’s Crown.  And here’s what I found.  Mel tasted and purchased the wine in August of 1977.   Mel wrote:  Fruity, smooth, lots of TANNIN, BEAUTIFUL

Mel kept an inventory of his wines on 3×5 cards and stored them in a little tin box.    He bought two cases of ’74 Alexander’s Crown (back when cases were 12 bottles). Each bottle cost $6.50  Only two bottles were marked off as being opened.  Let me see if I can do that math 24 bottles – 3 bottles minus not so perfect inventory keeping = still a whole lotta good wine left!  Of course there’s no way each bottle will be perfect, but this one was and that’s a good sign.   Enjoy the hand written notes!

Barry's father's handwritten notes on 1974 Sonoma Vineyards Alexander's Crown Cabernet Sauvignon

You can view additional, higher quality photos of the hang-tag, the bottle and Barry’s father’s wine notes on our Flickr page:
http://bit.ly/BarrysentialsPhotos

Served with: A hearty homemade stew on a rainy and cold Saturday night.

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Dinner: Braised Beef Ribs

Which Wine Would Barry Serve?

Dinner:  Braised Beef Ribs
On the Side: ~ Steamed New Potatoes  (with real butter and fresh parsley)
On the Other Side:  Romaine lettuce w/tomatoes and the Barrysentials Parmesan Dressing
Dessert:  Chocolate Cake, of course.
Coffee:  Midnight Stroll from Sprouts Farmer’s Market
Friends:  8 – curated from near and far.

FEATURED WINES:
2007 Stepping Stone by Cornerstone, Cabernet Franc, Carneros
14.9% Alcohol
Winemaker: Jeff Keene

2005 Cornerstone Cellars, Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley
14.8% Alcohol
Winemaker: our beloved Celia Masyczek
Read our first tasting notes about Cornerstone wines here: 
http://ow.ly/1rmuN

Cono Sur, 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, Maipo Valley, Chile from the VISION label

HE and SHE both say: Our hearts go out to the Chilean people at this terribly tragic time.  As each natural disaster strikes our neighboring continents, we feel more and more like one people on one planet and it becomes clear that resources wasted on war become resources that are not available for natural disasters.  We are encouraging all of our readers (both of you) to honor and support Chile in this time by buying and drinking cases of Chilean wine.  If you need help drinking  it all, just call. We’ll help.

Cono Sur, VISION, 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Maipu Valley, Chile

And now, on to our listed wine:
Cono Sur, 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, Maipo Valley, Chile  from the VISION label

Like many Argentine wineries, Cono Sur has several brands under the name of Cono Sur.  First — can we say we love the play on words?   Literal translation in Southern Cone, as South America is shaped like a cone and most definitely in the south, but the play on Connoiseur is so delightful, yes?

The VISION label was designed to take advantage of the numerous micro-climates in Chile.  We haven’t been there yet, so we’re going to just trust them on this. Winemaker Adolfo Hurtado chooses each plot personally and Read more about the VISION label here.

On this bottle of Vision, Cono Sur, Cabernet Suavignon there is a beautiful drawing of a lock.  Apparently the grapes of the Maipu Valley were so precious that the vintners used heavy iron padlocks to secure the cellar rooms.  SHE SAYS: If HE ever does that to me, I have one word for him… lawsuit.

HE SAYS: This is a very easy drinking wine with traditional cabernet characteristics.  At $10.00 from our favorite wine store, this is a terrific value!  It’s not a wine you want to lay down for  a while, you’ll want to drink it now.   Supple plum and berry flavors.  Score:  15

SHE SAYS: Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…. just from smelling you, I can tell you’ll be a lot of fun.

Serve with: Serve with a nice steak, or as we did tonight, seared AHI TUNA. Ahi Tuna?  Really?  Really.

Bodega Carmelo Patti, Lujan de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina

HE SAYS: Our second visit in Luján de Cuyo was at Bodega Carmelo Patti, another boutique winery. Carmelo comes from the old school of wine making and clearly enjoys what he is doing. He’s very warm and friendly and a gracious host. He doesn’t speak much English – and we didn’t speak much Spanish – but we managed to understand most of what he was saying because of the context.  (SHE INTERJECTS: he used a little Italian to make it easier on me.)

Carmelo basically runs a one-man operation, doing most of the work himself and hiring help at harvest season and when it’s time to bottle the wine.  So he oversees the vineyards, winemaking, bottling and even acts as tour guide. He showed us his cement fermentation tanks and barrel and bottle storage areas and and gave us a terrific barrel sample.
And how many red wine specialists do you know who also make a fine sparkling wine from pinot noir and chardonnay in the method champenoise, but we didn’t get to sample that. The tasting was free and it was definitely worth a visit.

SHE SAYS: What a doll.  If you are in Mendoza area, you absolutely MUST visit Carmello Patti.  Charming, funny and very, very gracious.  He acts as if he’s known you his entire life.  He has Spanish & Italian heritage and all the gracious qualities of both cultures live in Carmello.

Every fantasy you’ve ever had about touring an old, classic wine-making facility will come true here.  Walking down dark narrow hallways, sounds of your footsteps on cement walkways in those hallways, colors of cabernet, putty, beiges, golds, wood accents, the sounds of the master winemaker talking to you in another language, the smell of the oak barrels, a little taste from the barrel - if this is a dream do NOT wake me up – repeat – do NOT wake me up.

2003 Carmelo Patti Cabernet Sauvignon –
HE SAYS: This wine is just being released after about four years of aging. It has a big nose and medium body, with a bit of acid and tannin. He recommended drinking it by 2013. 14+
SHE SAYS:

2004 Carmelo Patti Malbec –
HE SAYS: A big and fruity Malbec that was aged 40% in French oak and 60% in concrete. It has medium high tannin, so it needs some age to soften. But once again, Carmelo said to drink it by 2013. Very good. 15
SHE SAYS:  Aging in concrete – you must see this.  You must.

2002 Carmelo Patti Gran Assemblage – Carmelo makes this wine only in years where the quality of the grapes merit it. So he’s produced an ’02, ’03, ’04 and ’08 recently. Carmelo wrote that it was 47% Cab, 24% Malbec, 19% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc. Well, that comes out to just 98%, and frankly my Spanish was too basic to inquire about the missing 2%. Regardless, what’s in the bottle is terrific. The Gran Assemblage is a BIG and bold wine. Berry and cherry flavors predominate. Very complex with medium high tannins and a decent kick of acid still. It ages one year in oak and 4 years in the bottle, and he says once again to drink by 2013. 16

Cornerstone Cellars, Napa Valley, CA

Cornerstone Cellars in Napa Valley asked us to review two wines for them.  We’re honored that they trust us enough to know that we would be honest even when the wines are complimentary.  That’s just how we roll.  So, let’s get to drinking and sharing… Cornerstone Cellars makes just two (2) wines.  Both Cabernet Sauvignon, one named Howell Mountain and another named just Napa Valley.  They make their wines in a collective facility helping to make a smaller carbon footprint in Napa Valley.   SHE loves environmentally aware people and products and this is an extra special bonus for these exceptional wines. Celebrating their 17th vintage, Cornerstone works with one of the world’s finest winemakers, Celia Masyczek. The wines arrived and SHE showed exceptional discipline, let the wines settle for two weeks and we drank last night with another foodie while we dined on small grilled steaks, roasted rosemary potatoes, grilled asparagas and a luscious salad with HE’s homemade Parmesan dressing.
CORNERSTONE CELLARS 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain — From the moment SHE opened it, poured and sniffed, she said, “It’s a classic! It smells exactly like a perfect cabernet.”  From the Howell Mountain district, the grapes were fermented on the skin before pressing.  Aged in French Oak (75% new) Beautiful results.
HE SAYS: Very good structure.  He gives it a 16+ (you’ll recall HIS high score is a 20 and he scores like a Russian judge).  Low tanin, medium acid, HE tastes Cocoa, dark fruit and berries.  Has a great mouth feel.  Drink in a few years.
SHE SAYS: Attenzione!  If I could trade you in for water, I would.  Forget water — just serve me the 2004 Howell Mountain.  I love a wine that bites me back and this one did just fine.  This wine would turn me into a very fun companion on long car trips.
CORNERSTONE CELLARS 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley – Remember the song from kindergarden “My hat it has three corners…” Well this Cabernet hails from three corners of Napa: Howell Mountain, Oakville and Southeast corner of Napa Valley.  Grapes were tank-fermented before being pressed and then aged in oak.
HE SAYS: Softer and Silky feel.    Cherry and Berry flavors.  GREAT FRUIT! – Delicious. A berry bomb.  More acid than tanning.  A really approachable wine.  Enjoy this wine now.
SHE SAYS: You’re nice, and I like you, I’ll drink you in toto — but why do you make me work so hard to know who you are?  (In the black and white film version of this moment, she, looking suspiciously like Veronica Lake,  throws the glass across the room and it shatters on the yellow wall.  The glass is empty. She drank it all.)

Visit their site,
http://www.cornerstonecellars.com
learn about their intense dedication to winemaking and order a couple of bottles for yourself.  You’ll see – well, actually, you’ll taste and then you’ll see.  Thank you, Cornerstone Cellars!