December 11: California Cabernet

Theme: California Cabernet

Wines tasted: Nine

Discussion and revelation:

Wine 1
I like it. I can't tell you why.
I have goosebumps.
I think it's the one I brought.
Chocolatey -- dark chocolate.
No more recent than 2006
A robust beginning
Result: Ghost Pines, 2008, from Napa and Sonoma ($15)

Wine 2
Crisp
Younger and less developed
Drier
Almost bitter
Tart
Nu ma omor
I like 2 better than one; it's lighter and fruitier
2 growing on me
Result: Rodney Strong, 2007, Sonoma county ($14)

Wine 3
Bouquet: during fall when apples fall off the tree. kind of  like rotting fruit but in a good way.
Lots of tannins
Dry but not as fermented
I brought it!? I hated it!!
Result: Kendall Jackson, 2006, Sonoma Napa ($23)

Wine 4
Great bouquet
Younger than one
Close to one for me in liking
Really oaky
Raspberries
Result: Smoking loon, 2009, Napa ($13 on sale for 10)

Wine 5
Not a lot of personality
Sour
Yuck yuck yuck
It tastes bland
Five not good
Sweeter
Five, I hardly knew ya
Result: Chateau Chevalier, 2005, Napa ($14)

Wine 6
Six is my new favorite
Very balanced - a whole variety of flavors
Result: Poet's Row, 2008, Sonoma ($9) (ps: sustainable)

Wine 7
Very smooth
Soap
Bitter and plumy
Sirah-y
Loose and fruity
I am not digging seven
I'm not getting what it's about. Not a cabernet
Result: Liberty, 2008, Paso Robles ($14)

Wine 8
Liquorishy
Younger, acidic
I'm getting blueberries
Result: Bonterra, 2007, Mendocino county ($16) (ps: organic)

Wine 9 
Fruity
Most flavorful
More alcoholic
Smells like vinegar
Great with dessert
Result: The Show, 2007, Napa ($13).

Crowd favorites: Everyone LOVED Wine 1. Wines 3 and 9 had a smaller following.

The cheeses: Aged Cheddar and Supreme Brie, both from Henry's

Recipe: Bacon Wrapped Dates

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/bacon-wrapped-dates-stuffed-with-blue-cheese/Detail.aspx

(click on image to zoom)

Le Calendar: Year Two

Because if you put a "Le" in front of it, it seems so much more, how you say, enticing...


Standing date: First Saturday of the month
Hour: 7 p.m.
We typically have tapas and appetizers, but not a full dinner.

• December 4: California Cabernet. Because it's about time we paid attention to these gems. Bring in something you've been curious to try, or an old favorite. 

• January 1: Start the year drunk happy. Theme: Decanter go wrong? Bring in anything you want -- from two buck chuck to Chateau Lafite Rothschild '06 Pauillac. We'll sample it twice: first right from the bottle, then after its relaxing sojourn in the decanter.

• February 5: Sherry, cherie? Had some lovely jerez fino in Spain and now I'm hooked. Bring your favorite out-of-print poetry book and if things go according to plan, we'll conclude the evening with readings.

• March 5: California vs French: Half of the group will bring in wines from California, and the other half will bring in matching wines from France. We'll decide on what kind of wine to bring, closer to the date. What are the differences? Which do you prefer?

• April 2: Match the label to the wine. Everyone brings in a red wine with a descriptive label.   Please transcribe the label separately, with no info about the wine's make, model or year. As we sample, we'll try to determine which of the wines is "fruity with a hint of lavender," which "evokes a leek omelet on a raining morning" and which is "aged in oak barrels resulting in a smooth finish." Detective work! 

• May 7: Tequila! We'll experience one from each of the 5 classifications: silver, gold, reposado, anejo and extra anejo. I don't know what they mean, but I have a feeling it will be fun finding out.

• June 4: White Grape Sampler: Let's stick with $10-$25 per bottle and explore less common white grapes. Viognier, Semillion, Chenin Blanc, Palomino, Vernaccia and more. (Anything but Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc and dessert wines, please.)

• July 2: Patriotic wine day. Bring in a wine from your home country. So far the options include Romania, Spain, Mexico, Lebanon, India and this fair republic. The point is to explore new possibilities, discover new horizons and decide whose wine comes closest to the insuperable Romanian varietals.

• August 6: Blind paradox: They say knowing a wine is expensive makes a taster prefer it. What happens when the label disappears? We'll taste bottles ranging from $10 to $60. To make it fair, I can 'assign' a price point to each person, then bring in your receipt and we'll average them out. 

• September 3: One grape, one region: TBD. 

• October 1: Benefits of aging: We'll pick one wine -- anything that ages well -- and everyone who's coming brings one from a consecutive year. The more the merrier. Ideally, we'll get to sample the same wine from 2000-2005, for example. If there's a big price difference between bottles, we can average it out. And if only a few people participate, we can do every other year.

All ideas, dates and times are subject to change based on your welcomed suggestions and requests.

Please let me know a few days ahead if you can make it. Let me know if you like a tasting theme but can't make that date. Let me know if you want off this list.


ciao!

February: Port

The assignment: Port to Port: Everyone brings in a port and we'll probe our preferences. If you behave I'll teach you a British maritime drinking game. Basically it involves drinking a lot, in a special order, and lauding Her Royal Highness. By the way, women are not allowed to play, so some of us will be in the kitchen making crumpets. Sarcasm also prohibited.

The players: Tere, Andy, Andy, Roxy, Az, Nat, Ash and Kab

The discussion:

Port 1: notes of blackberry and honey. "Do you think it's Hungarian or Romanian blackberry?" Sweet but not cloying. "I could drink more of this."

Port 2: More alcohol than 1, tastes like sherry, it kind of burns. Cough medicine with an aftertaste of raisins. Suitable for a cold, snowy night. (Color hinted that it was a tawny port. Was it? Scroll down for the dramatic unveiling.)

Port 3: milder, juicier, overtly blueberry, not as viscous as previous two, and no bouquet. Effect: slightly alc-y blueberry juice. Gateway drug?

Port 4: less nose than 1 but taste makes a similar statement. Complex, subtle and drinkable. Flavors? "I hate to say this, but prunes."

The votes: Port 1 was hands down the favorite, followed by 4.

The unveiling:

Port 1: Evenus Zinfandel Port, Candlewood Cellars, Paso Robles, 2006. $11 for 375 ml.Ripe, jammy aromas of cherry and blackberry with spicy note sof anise, sage, pepper and cinnamon. Complex and fruity, this full-bodied wine offers intense mocha and nutty flavors that flow into a lengthy, balanced finish. (More, from a 3rd party website.)

Port 2: Ficklin Vineyards Tawny Port, aged 10 years. Madera, California. $29 for 750 ml.This Tawny Port exhibits the softness and maturity developed only from aging in hand-selected small oak casks for 10 years. Each step of this hand-crafted wine has been personally supervised by winemaker Peter Ficklin, from the harvest of the grapes, to the final bottling. More here.

Port 3: Graham's "Six Grapes" Reserve Porto. No year. $22 for 750 ml.Six Grapes is bottled relatively young to conserve its fresh, assertive style and is not subjected to fining or filtration to ensure that it retains its superb, delicious fruit concentration. However, Six Grapes is released for immediate enjoyment and does not require decanting. More here.

Wine 4: Smith Woodhouse. Late Bottle Vintage Porto. 1995. $31 for 750 ml.
After 4 years in the cask, the wines are bottled unfiltered and cellared for an additional 4 years. It is the all-important bottle-maturation which allows the wine to develop outstanding style and complexity, resulting in a deep garnet Port with rich mouth-filling flavours of ripe fruit, balanced by notes of black chocolate and peppery tannins. More here.

Nibbles:

Goat cheese brie, which the group seemed to like with the ports, and a parmiggiano reggiano which we munched out more out of obligation than anything else.
 
On the sweet side: chocolate covered cranberries, and two bars by Chocolove: orange peel in dark chocolate and cherries and almonds in dark chocolate (this blogger's favorite. Yum!).


The conclusion: Thanks to Natalie, Kabir and our smartphones, we learned the difference between port and porto and the history of port, and thanks to the variety that was brought in, we discovered some differences between younger and older ports, and tawny versus ruby. How do you say "Word!" in Portuguese?


The pictures:

An hour or so into it, the iphones came out. Why, you ask? Because we wanted to find out where port comes from. Right. That's it.

January: Viva Espana!

The assignment: Lucha Libre: Rioja versus Priorat -- bring in one or the other, and let's watch them duke it out.

The players: Fifi, Fufu, Fufi, Fifu, Bibi, Bubi, Bibu, Bubu and Hadley

The discussion:

Wine 1: bitter, metallic, fruit up front, thick legs, "grapey," "I think drinkable is a good word" "it has a bitter finish, but it doesn't have a past"

Wine 2: complexity, body, smooth, juicy, lemony, citrucy, tobacco, leather, "grapey again," "is zingy a word?" "it is now" "the more you drink it gets deeper and deeper

Wine 3: beh, corked, "not getting rave reviews," "almost like rust," "jurassic" "jurassic? sheesh!"

Wine 4: "really good," chocolate and coffee, "I felt the smell was promising but the finish was lacking," jammy, dry, "creamy, oddly" "that's the one I brought"

Wine 5: acidic, pucker, plum, black cherry

The votes: I lost the paper!! But I think we were split between 4 and 5. Right?

The unveiling:

Wine 1: Vina Zaco, Tempranillo, 2006. $12.

Wine 2: Abrazo del Toro, 2008. $4 at Trader Joe's.

Wine 3: Vina Zaco, Tempranillo, 2006. $12.

Wine 4: Venta Mazarron, Tempranillo, 2006. $15.

Wine 5: Hacienda Don Ramon, Tempranillo, 2006. $12.

(Also, since we polished off all 5 bottles, reinforcements were necessary The bottle I opened was a 2005 Campo Viejo, a $10 Rioja.)

The cheeses:

Since you asked, Don Juan, is basque shepherd's cows milk cheese from Trader Joe's (the softer one), and the other is an a sheep's milk cheese produced in Menorca, bought at Costco (the harder one).

The conclusion: We sure love Rioja. Didn't leave a drop. Now gotta discover what in the world a Priorat is!

The pictures:

Waiting for the punchline.

Don't let them fool you.

"I brought that wine" "No, I did!"

Awful camera? Or simply the way the partay looks to a drunk photographer? I report, you decide.