Wine Press November 2005

The first tasting of our society’s 2005-2006 year took place last week when Ron Simpson led us through 10 great examples of New Zealand pinot noir. Ron has a vast knowledge of wines, but in particular, has an affinity for the wines of his native New Zealand where he spends a minimum of half his year. We learned about the significant improvements being made by the New Zealand winemakers and the fact that, as in many other countries, the New Zealanders are learning which are the best microclimates and terroirs for each of the grape types and clones they choose to grow.

We had the opportunity to taste the wines of such up and coming vineyards as Richardson and Valli. We also had four wines from Mount Difficulty and two of the Felton Road wines that have received very high ratings from Robert Parker in previous vintages. Our group had a lively discussion and then voted on their favorite wines of the evening. Although seven of the ten wines received high votes, the clear favorite was the 2003 Felton Road Block 5. The 2003 Mount Difficulty Target Gully and the Felton Road Block 3 came in as our second and third choice of the evening. Once again we want to thank Ron for a great tasting.

We would also like to go back one month and once again thank Mark Chase for providing the venue for our very successful Fall dinner as well as thanking the weather gods for what turned out to be a lovely evening. The food was excellent and the wines were very enjoyable. I think the favorite wine of the evening was the 1996 Marquis d’Angerville Champons Volnay but many suggested our Spanish wine, Bodegas Vinedos-Maurodos Vina San Romain, was a great addition. We would like to add special thanks to Laurie New who helped us with our printing work.

Our next tasting will take place on November 6 when Linda Smith and Barbara Prosser lead us through a tasting of the 2001 California Cabernets. As many of you know the 1998 through 2000 vintages in California were not great vintages. Between El Nino in 1998 and the very heavy rains of 2000 the Cabernets were not at a cellaring quality. This was the reverse in 2001 (and 2002) when the weather and other conditions were nearly perfect. Many commentators, including Robert Parker and Steve Tanzer believe this could be the best vintage for Cabernets since 1994 or 1991. Steve Tanzer says that “the cabernets offer a fabulous combination of deep dark colors, thoroughly ripe fruit, flavors sometimes with notes of crystallized berries, firm framing acids that give the wines a succulent quality, plenty of alcohol and thoroughly ripe tannins. In many ways 2001 is California’s answer to Bordeaux 2000.”(International Wine Cellar May/June 2003)

Linda and Barbara have put together a flight of 2001 Cabernets that are deemed to be some of the best from that vintage. The Ridge Monte Bello was rated 96 points by Robert Parker and in the Wine Advocate (#157) he states that this wine is a candidate for one of the longest-lived Cabernet Sauvignon based wines in California. The Justin Vinyard Isosceles Reserve was rated 93 by Parker and he states that “this terrific offering is about as good as Bordeaux varietals can be in this sector of California’s Central Coast.” The Joseph Phelps Insignia received a rating of 95 points from Parker. We will also taste Opus One (the partnership between Mondavi and Chateau Mouton Rothschild) and Barbara Prosser has made a gracious gift of our ninth wine of the evening, the Cardinale Cabernet, which Parker has rated a 93+ and described as full bodied…heady…and voluptuous.

This will be a very special tasting and since the 2001 Cabernets are still available in the market, may well help you make some purchasing decisions.

The cost of the tasting will be $63 for members and $81 for guests. As many of you know, the California wine prices have gone through the roof.

The following tasting on December 3 has changed slightly and will be a tasting of the superb 1999 Brunello wines.

A votre sante and in vino veritas,

Bob and Howard