An Evening of Epic Wines

Posted by | Posted in Wine Reviews | Posted on 01-17-2012

Earlier this week, a small group of DC wine geeks gathered at Bourbon Steak DC to open up some rock star California Cabs from the 1990s, along with a 2008 Rivers-Marie Summa OV (in anticipation of the spring 2012 release). There wasn’t a dud in the group — check out my notes below!

  • 2008 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Old Vines Summa – USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
    SRP: $60 (mailing list only). Decanted for 2-3 hours. The nose is intoxicating and incredibly floral – sweet, purple lavender and fresh, sweet herbs. The fruit is big, ripe, and lush – a mix of red cherry, black cherry, and cranberry — but somehow elegant and restrained. The orange rind and citrus notes that everyone talks about are there, but I couldn’t find any smoke taint, despite the challenges of the vintage. Great balance, juicy acidity, soft-but-present tannins. This wine will be fantastic in 5-10 years. (93+ pts.)
  • 1991 Ridge Monte Bello – USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
    Current release price: $145. 1991 blend: 85% Cab, 10% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. Opened 2-3 hours prior to consumption. In 2000, Stephen Tanzer described this wine as “among the top dozen made in California during the last 20 years,” so expectations were high. And it exceeded everyone’s expectations. The wine explodes out of the glass – super sweet, ripe, fresh, fleshy black fruits, with molasses, sweet spices, and wild herbs providing a wonderful, mouth-coating foundation. The wine is dense and concentrated, but there’s absolutely zero heaviness. Perfectly balanced and focused – and obviously has many years left. Probably the classiest California wine I’ve ever had. (97 pts.)
  • 1995 Seavey Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon – USA, California, Napa Valley
    Current release price: $95. Decanted for sediment. Opens with strong and intoxicating eucalyptus, followed by ripe blackberries, black currants, and boysenberries; sweet herbaceousness; gray slate; and maple syrup. Super juicy, with firm tannins that make for a very well-structured wine. The finish is a bit drying and bitter, but overall, it’s absolutely spectacular. (95 pts.)
  • 1995 Dominus Estate Napanook Vineyard – USA, California, Napa Valley
    Current release price: $135. 1995 blend: 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 6% Merlot, and 4% Petit Verdot. Opens with oak – cedar, cigar box, and dark chocolate – that smells a bit burnt. Underneath the oak is some nice fruit — blackberries and raspberries that still smell fresh — along with some smoked meat (!), crème de cassis, and tobacco. Balanced with fine tannins and good acid, but the oak treatment is too harsh, and will likely takeover the fruit very soon.(91 pts.)
  • 1999 Chappellet Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill Estate Vineyard – USA, California, Napa Valley
    Current release price: $135. A beautiful wine. The nose is precise and intoxicating – dark, mountain blackberries, blueberries, black currant, and loam. The tertiary aromas are strong but elegant – sweet spices, seductive chocolate – and the wine has silky, well-integrated tannins. The wine is a bit hot at the very front and the very back, but it’s barely noticeable. I doubt it’ll get much better, but it will probably stay where it is for quite some time. (93 pts.)
  • 1997 Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain – USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain
    Current release price: $79.99. The brett monster attacked this wine, unfortunately, so it was hard for me to get past the poopy diaper. Fortunately, the brett seemed to weaken as the wine sat in the glass – and a big Napa Cab emerged. Ripe blackberries and plums, blackberry jam, dried blackcurrants, sweet cardamom, vanilla, and sweet spice. The tannins were HUGE, but the wine had a cutting acidity that somehow balanced the whole package. If it weren’t for so much brett, I would have loved this wine. (89 pts.)
  • 2000 Plumpjack Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve – USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
    Current release price: $90. Screwcap closure. Decanted for 2-3 hours. This wine opens with candied pecans and roasted hazelnuts, cedary oak, thick molasses, and bitter chocolate. With five minutes of reflection, this strikes me as quite odd, as it’s a struggle to find the fruit. It’s there, though – dried, jammy cherries and red currants, along with some green pepper and sage. (87 pts.)

At WineFuture Honk Kong, Robert Parker “repudiated heaviness” (according to Jancis Robinson) when he explained how top-notch Bordeaux can have “depth and intensity… without heaviness.” The ’91 Ridge Monte Bello is a perfect example of what Parker meant — it was rich and ripe, but also graceful. I also awarded it more points than I’ve ever awarded before in a formal tasting note. Overall, an excellent evening!

Comments (3)

  1. How does one get invited to such events? You guys drink way too much good wine! I’m lucky to open one interesting bottle a month… I just don’t have enough wine geek friends I guess!

  2. Brian: Wine Geeks tend to be a friendly, fun, and generous bunch. So yes, you just need to find some wine geek friends! Most of the DC folks connected at one point or another on the WineBerserkers message board.

  3. In most moderate sized (and larger) US cities, there are vibrant wine communities. Use one of the many wine discussion boards (Wine Berserker, Wine Disorder, Wine Lovers Discussion Group, Wine Library TV Forum, eBob) to link up with locals.

    Before writing for Terroirist, I traveled a lot of work and met up with tasting groups all over the country. Made a lot of great friends, all of whom showed incredibly generosity when I came through town.