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This is my first entry for the vineguy.com website. This tasting was a “Magnum” tasting with
dinner at Zola, a restaurant located above the Spy Museum in Washington, DC. Executive Chef,
Frank Morales, designed a custom cuisine to accompany our wines. To protect the innocent
(like there are ANY innocents in this group) I have chosen to use aliases. If you know who you
are when you read this…
champagne with plenty of acidity to make it refreshing. Hazelnuts and apples were fighting for
time on my tongue. It had a crisp and dry finish. Drinks much bigger than the price would
suggest.
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Deep Cellar. WOW! Very soft and seductive with sweet jammy fruits of strawberries and ripe
black cherries. This wine took no time to open up… and as a matter of fact, I was a little
nervous that we had opened it too early. The wonderful smoky nose was just begging me to
consume it with the seared duck breast that was due three courses later… so I put it aside and
tucked into it about 45 minutes later. WOW! And WOW! Again. It had lost a little of the luscious
fruit that it had first exhibited on the front end, but was enhanced by a wonderful smoked
meat flavor on the mid palate and ripe red cherries on the finish (which, unfortunately, was a
little quick – about 15 seconds or so). But overall, just a lovely wine with nice balance.
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Burgundy) Verget is one of my all time favorite producers of white burgundies. Probably more
sentimental than warranted, but hey, they’re my notes! I really like this wine for it’s
complexity… it’s not your typical, over-oaked chardonnay where you think you’re drinking oak
chips instead of wine. Oh no, this is a classic white burgundy with a whole lot of good stuff
going on in the glass. It opens with creamy honey on the front of the palate and gradually
gives way to tart green apples on the medium but clean finish. We had this wine wit a
cauliflower soup with lobster and black truffles.
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brought by Steely Dan. This wine is a perfect example of how diverse wines from the same area
can be. What a pleasure to drink this back to back with the aforementioned Verget. While the
Verget was soft, the Sauzet was big and bold with flinty minerals and wet stone nuisances on
the front end but still had the classic tart green apples on the back end where it showed off a
long, crisp finish. While this wine is still young, I can only imagine what a few more years
(maybe 5?) in the cellar will do for this wine. Served with Crab Cannelloni in seafood cream
sauce.
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I am spelling the producer’s name correctly because I have to hunt this down and make it
mine! This was one of the wines of the night. What an incredible blockbuster! The nose had a
slight black pepper tinge to it, but when I took a sip of this black/purple inky juice, all I got
was a mouthful of black berries, chocolate and cassis on the front end and a beautiful finish of
coffee and more chocolate. I set this wine aside and kept coming back to it every fifteen
minutes or so. With each successive visit, this gem just kept getting bigger and bigger. The
balance was beautiful, with a nice combination of smooth, velvety texture and big, ripe fruit.
They should call this wine the energizer battery of Shiraz because the ultra smooth long finish
just kept going and going and going – at least a full minute! Unfortunately, we had this wine
with the seared duck breast and it just overpowered the food. It probably would have been
better with lamb, but I would drink this wine if it were served with anything!
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you familiar with Turley wines, there is nothing more to say than this is a classic. For those
uninitiated souls, let me sum up by saying that Turley is the undisputed king of zinfandels! My
wife and I are devoted fans of this winery. In fact, when my boys were trying to talk my wife
into getting a dog, they finally won her over by promising to name the pooch Turley… but I
digress. Needless to say, these are not your father’s zinfandels. Turley makes zinfandels that
are huge, bold and fun to drink. At last count, they make their zinfandel from 16 different
vineyards. Each vineyard bottling is as distinctive and different as fingerprints at a crime scene.
This particular Turley is a great example of the Turley style. A dark, garnet red color with
Violets on the nose gives way to wonderful blueberries, subtle spices, sagebrush (?), and hints
of cocoa on the tongue. The finish is long and sooth and the light fruit lingers for a good 30
seconds. While this wine is big, it is also easy to drink, which can be dangerous considering
another trademark of Turley wines is the high alcohol content. This one was pushing 15%!
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Turley. I am very fond of the Silver Oak line up and always amazed how great these wines hold
up when I have the good fortune to try an older vintage. This one was no exception! It started
off with a bang… big fruit on the front end with loads of luscious blackberries and cassis. And
if I’m not mistaken, just a hint of mint on the back end. The finish was long and silky smooth. I
can’t imagine that this wine isn’t at its peak, but I hope I get a chance to try this wine again to
see if I’m wrong!
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best known for their wonderful Pinot Noir wines. But it’s their cabernet sauvignon that made
me fall in love with this vineyard… that and the fact that Tony Soter, wine maker
extraordinaire, and I got really hammered together at a wine tasting several years ago. So I
was excited to see this wine in the line up and it did not disappoint! It opened up with a nose
of dark, rich fruits to match its black inky color. It exploded in my mouth with so much power,
I wish we had opened it earlier to let it breathe. Blackberries, dark cherries and asian spices all
came through loud and clear. The mouthfeel was thick and chewy. But the tannins were well
balanced and, even though I think this wine will last another 10 to 15 years, the wine was
approachable. The finish just would not quit. Probably 45-50 seconds on the tongue. I’m not
sure if you can find this wine anymore (try wine searcher listed in my favorite links) but it
would definitely be worth the hunt! And definitely try to have it with something chocolaty like a
chocolate molten cake… we did!
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that my business partner is fond of; “It is better to be lucky than good”. And lucky is exactly
how I feel that I had the pleasure of drinking the 1996 Togni up against the 1996 Etude. Two
huge wines fighting it out and I had tongue side seats! The Togni took forever to open, but it
was worth it! It was as dark in color as the Etude and had a beautiful nose that exhibited just
the slightest hint of black licorice. But, once again, it was a slugfest of huge, ripe blackberrie,
chocolate and cassis on the palate that really gets your attention. The tannins were definitely
more pronounced in this wine, but that is the advantage of having this type of tasting where
you can compare wines with each other. I was blown away by the super long, lush chocolaty
finish and was thrilled that we had the “luck” to pair it with the previously mentioned chocolate
molten cake. This wine could easily be cellared for another 15-20 years! Hope I’m around to
drink more!
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