2007 Tablas Creek En Gobelet (91 Points)

DATE CONSUMED

Sunday, July 29, 2012

VINTAGE

2007

WINERY/PRODUCER

Tablas Creek Vineyard

WINE NAME

En Gobelet

TYPE OF WINE

Red blend

COMPOSITION

48% Mourvedre, 47% Grenache, 5% Tannat

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

Grown and bottled on the estate

REGION/A.V.A.

Paso Robles, California

ALCOHOL CONTENT

15.0%

PRICE PAID

$28.80

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

Got this bottle from the winery’s wine club in October 2009.

BOUQUET

I woke-up this morning feeling a little flu-ish, so my nose is just slightly stuffed.  What I COULD detect were notes of red and black fruit (like raspberries), lots of spices, and a bit of oak and earth.

TASTING NOTES

Tablas Creek assembles this red blend with fruit from head-pruned, dry-farmed sections of their estate vineyard.  2007 was a drought year (what else would you expect from California?), resulting in small, intense berries.  Between dry-farmed fruit, small, concentrated berries from (another) dry year, and unfining and unfiltering, this is a rich, creamy, intense, delicious blend. 

There is the usual red and black fruits in the complex flavor profile (plums, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and sour cherries), along with plenty of savory herbs and spices like black pepper, sage, and rosemary.  There is a deft amount of oak, along with an earthy, tannic follow-though.

This is a young, vibrant, tannic, delicious blend.  According to Tablas Creek’s vintage chart, this wine is in an early maturity stage and they suggest decanting before drinking.  That’s exactly what we did.  Like practically all of Tablas Creek’s Southern Rhone wines (single varietal and blended bottles), this wine will age gorgeously for years to come.  This rich, creamy, tannic blend is drinking well now, but if you can’t help yourself, definitely decant for an hour or two before drinking. 

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

We drank this wine with one of my very favorite homemade dishes that Arthur makes: curried lamb shanks.  This wine went pretty well with the lamb shanks but if I had to drink this bottle again, I would pair this wine with a very thick ribeye smothered in Kosher salt and about a ton of freshly-cracked black pepper.  This wine would also pair well with a wine-based beef stew (like beef bourguignon), and pretty much any kind of red beef dish.

AGING POTENTIAL

Though five years old, this wine is still VERY young and tannic.  I would imagine this wine would continue to age, mature, and mellow-out beautifully for another 20+ years.

SCORE

91

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

GOOD-EXCELLENT

WINERY WEBSITE

http://www.tablascreek.com/

2011 Cardwell Hill Rose From Pinot Noir (90 Points)

DATE CONSUMED

Sunday, July 22, 2012

VINTAGE

2011

WINERY/PRODUCER

Cardwell Hill Cellars

WINE NAME

N/A

TYPE OF WINE

Rose

COMPOSITION

100% Pinot Noir

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

N/A

REGION/A.V.A.

Willamette Valley

ALCOHOL CONTENT

12.8%

PRICE PAID

Unknown

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

Our good friend John from Corvallis, Oregon brought this bottle over to our house last time he visited us in Southern California (June 2012).

BOUQUET

This wine has a very fruity bouquet, with suggestions of sour fruits, spice, and earth.

TASTING NOTES

Being from California, we’re very partial to quality, delicious Pinot Noirs from The Golden State, along with roses of Pinot Noir (read: Lynmar Pinots and roses from the Russian River Valley, along with Pinots from Fess Parker (Santa Barbara) and Windward (Paso Robles)).  We had never had a rose of Pinot from Oregon before and had no idea what to expect from this wine.  Though we’ve had some wonderful Pinots from Oregon, we believe California produces higher quality Pinots than Oregon.  So we tried to keep an open mind when we opened this bottle.

Wow, do we LOVE a pleasant surprise.  This is a fabulous rose of Pinot.  Up front this wine exhibits bright, acidic, juicy red fruit (strawberries, raspberries, and sour cherries), along with earthy herbs like white pepper, sage, and rosemary.  This wine has a creaminess that, somehow, maintains incredibly bright, sharp acidity.  The aforementioned Lynmar Rose of Pinot is extremely rich and creamy (imagine fermented strawberries and cream!).  This Rose of Pinot is also slightly creamy but doesn’t impart dairy characteristics in its flavor profile.

We didn’t know what to expect before we tasted this wine but once we opened the bottle and began sipping, we were blown away at the quality of this wonderful rose.  In addition to the fruits and spices, the wine exhibits fantastic balance and a depth-of-flavor that most roses would envy.  Needless to say, this rose is about as perfect as a summer-time wine gets.  When the temperature flirts with 100 degrees, the last thing anybody needs is rich, heavy, high-in-alcohol reds; what EVERYBODY needs at 100 degrees is a juicy, bright, perfectly-balanced, delicious, and FANTASTIC food-friendly rose from Cardwell Hill Cellars!

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

We paired this wine with frozen wild salmon filets bought at CostCo, marinated in a white miso glaze.  An aunt told us how fabulous these salmon filets are; we can get MUCH better salmon steaks at our local Korean supermarket (they sell fresh Scottish salmon steaks that are absolutely to die for!).  This rose went quite well with the salmon.  After years of experience, I’ve decided that salmon is the PEFECT food to pair with roses (either Rose of Pinot Noir or even Southern Rhone-style roses, such as one from Tablas Creek). 

I would imagine this rose would also pair well with most other seafoods (such as most fresh fish (whole or filets), along with shrimp and scallop dishes), along with quiche, pork, chicken, and because of the rose’s spiciness, maybe even BBQ ribs/chicken/sausages?!?!

AGING POTENTIAL

Most roses are meant to be drunk young, so once your bottle has recovered from Travel Shock, put this bottle in the fridge and drink it before the end of 2013 (though the sooner the better; this wine is drinking BEAUTIFULLY right this moment).

SCORE

90

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

Since we didn’t buy this wine, I would assume that it coast around $20-ish.  If this wine costs $20 to $30, I would give this wine a GOOD Q.P.R score.  If this wine cost $15 to $19.99, I would give it a GOOD-EXCELLENT rating.  If this wine cost under $15, I would give it an EXCELLENT Q.P.R rating.

WINERY WEBSITE

www.cardwellhillwine.com

2008 Lynmar Quail Hill Vineyard/RRV Pinot Noir (91 Points)

DATE CONSUMED

Saturday, July 7, 2012

VINTAGE

2008

WINERY/PRODUCER

Lynmar Estate

WINE NAME

N/A

TYPE OF WINE

Red

COMPOSITION

100% Pinot Noir

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

Quail Hill Vineyard

REGION/A.V.A.

Russian River Valley

ALCOHOL CONTENT

14.8%

PRICE PAID

$54.00

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

Received from the winery’s wine club in September 2010.

BOUQUET

This wine exhibits a classic Lynmar/RRV bouquet of red and black fruits, herbaceous herbs (was that redundant??), and black pepper, along with suggestions of oak and earth.

TASTING NOTES

As usual, this is a fantastic, delicious, well-balanced Lynmar Pinot, exhibiting gorgeous ripe fruit, spices, and beautiful balance.

The first element to stand-up and demand attention are red and black fruits like black cherries, raspberries, plums, and blackberries.  Following closely behind the red and black fruit is a significant amount of black pepper and other herbs like rosemary.  The wine is beautifully well-balanced, with a bit of sweet oak (which contributes a kiss of vanilla), true terrior (this is a wine made from estate-grown and –bottled fruit, from one of the best parcels of land from the RRV, in my humble opinion/experience), and a perfect blend of fruit, spice, alcohol, oak, and earth.

The tannins are smooth, soft, supple, and elegant, with just a touch of acidity to add zing and zip to the flavor profile.  The finish is smooth and lingering; after taking a bite of a well-paired protein (see below), this wine will linger for a minimum of 5 to 10 minutes.  This wine is so good, it simply won’t go away; the fruit and spices stick around for quite a while until you’re ready for another bite and/or sip!

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

We paired this wine with a spiced pork loin from CostCo, along with oven-roasted potatoes and broccoli; it was a very nice pairing.  This is such a rich, dark, spicy Pinot that I believe this wine would have paired better with a grilled steak or curried lamb shanks.  Definitely do NOT pair this wine with salmon (one of my favorite Pinot pairings); the substantial structure, fruit, spice, and oak/earth would overwhelm a delicate, flaky, oily salmon steak/filet.  Stick with red meat for this wonderful Pinot, like any other quality Zin, Syrah, Merlot, and/or Cab.

AGING POTENTIAL

This bottle was cellared for almost two years, and based on it’s structure/acidity, this wine will probably continue to age beautifully for another 10 to 20 years.  If you happen to have one (or a hundred?) of these bottles in your cellar, do yourself a favor and let it/them continue to evolve and age gracefully for another 2 or 3 years, minimum.  You won’t regret it.

SCORE

91

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

GOOD

WINERY WEBSITE

http://www.lynmarwinery.com/