What's in your glass tonight?

[ibglowin]

So got a lovely phone call last night from some friends of ours that had a dinner party over the weekend. He cooked a standing rib roast on a BGE with pecan. Friends who also came over brought a bottle of 2013 Cakebread Cellars Cab Sauv to go with dinner. On a whim they decided to do a blind taste taste for fun against my 2011 Caballo Muerto Cab Sauv blend.

Well you know the rest of the story as they say......

3 out of 4 at the table chose the Caballo Muerto over the $70 Cakebread Cabernet.

For an amateur winemaker just about the best complement one could ever receive!

Reaching back into the cellar tonight. My own 2011 "Caballo Muerto" This was my best Bordeaux blend from 2011. 79% Cab Sauv, 10% Merlot and then the rest was touches of Malbec, Cab Franc and Petit Verdot. Hard to believe this is now 5 years old. Zero sediment. That's what waiting to bottle for 2 years will do for you. 6 months in a Vadai. The tannins have integrated and mellowed. Lots of dark fruits especially cherry showing through. Still has a nice long finish. Oak is spot on. Very proud of this wine and now down to two bottles left in the cellar.....

 

[Boatboy24]

That's high praise, Mike. Well done!

 

[joeswine]

Good ? It should have a zing to it,OK with the results?

 

[sour_grapes]

Good ? It should have a zing to it,OK with the results?

Hi, Joe. It took me a while to realize that you were talking to me. (You were, right?)

Yes, the wine is quite good. I did not do any control experiments, but I am confident that it is better than the untweaked version would have been. My tweaks included using BM 45 yeast, adding 20 oz. of Zante currants (i.e., Corinth grapes), and 14 g (2 Tbsp) of FT Tannin rouge. Upon bottling, it was okay, but a bit bitter astringent, "green," and harsh. After aging, it has turned into a very good wine. It has mellowed a lot. It is now only slightly tannic, with a nice mouthfeel and appealing taste. It has good body for a kit wine, and retains only slight bitterness, but still to a pleasing degree. (Hence my comparison to Negroamaro.)

Thanks for pointing the way!

 

[geek]

Opened a bottle of the WE LE Sauvignon Blanc Rose from last year...no more sorbate smell or taste..!! [emoji4]

Tastes right on the money.

 

[heatherd]

A glass of this beautiful wine! "Winter En Provence" first press rose de provence. It's a blend of Grenache, cinsault, and syrah. Lovely and paler than the other pink wines I have made, but very fruity. Glad I bought two bottles. Sorry for the sideways photo - I'll see if I can fix it.

 

[sour_grapes]

CC Showcase Yakima Valley Syrah. 3 years old -- kinda so-so.

 

[mjrisenhoover]

2014 Merlot, frozen grapes from Brehm, Sangiacomo vineyard in Carneros, tasting pretty good right now.

 

[Boatboy24]

CC Showcase Yakima Valley Syrah. 3 years old -- kinda so-so.

Never been thrilled with mine. Rave reviews came out of the woodwork when it was announced they were discontinuing it, so I jumped and grabbed one. Meh...

 

[ibglowin]

I have exactly one of those collecting dust in the Cellar. Mine was made back in 2011! Guess I should pop it and see what it taste like. Mine had 3 mo barrel time and extra tannin. Mine was always good but not as good as the Caberlot that CC used to put out.

Never been thrilled with mine. Rave reviews came out of the woodwork when it was announced they were discontinuing it, so I jumped and grabbed one. Meh...

 

[sour_grapes]

The label alone should make that Syrah taste good!

 

[Boatboy24]

QA'd the 2016 Californians. All doing quite nicely - the Viognier is pretty amazing right now. Still a touch of haze though. Think I might give it a little more pectic enzyme. Then decided to crack open a 2014 Columbia Crest Reserve Pheasant Run Vineyard Merlot. By a long, long shot; the best Merlot I've ever had.

 

[StBlGT]

Very nice Barolo from Vite Colte. Had it in my glass for 2 hours. Now going to drink some......

 

[Boatboy24]

Very nice Barolo from Vite Colte. Had it in my glass for 2 hours. Now going to drink some......

I admire your self control...

 

[StBlGT]

Haha thanks. I didn't want to pull out the decanter, so i just let it sit while i did a few things around the house.

 

[ibglowin]

2011 CC Showcase Yakima Valley Syrah! 6 year old Kit wine folks! Popped and poured through a Venturi. Absolutely nothing wrong with this wine. Not much of a nose/bouquet like any other kit wine but give it a swirl and you get dark blue fruits, the oak is in the background but still there. Finish is not the longest by any means but still pretty darn good. You can tell it's a Kit wine but no faults whatsoever. Happy I moved on to fresh grapes but this was still better than most wines you would pull off the shelf at your local Super Market in the $10-$15 range. Take a look at the cork, 1+1 Agglomerate. Still holding up well after 6 years.

 

[ibglowin]

2010 Force Majeure Cab Sauvignon. 100% Red Mountain fruit made by my buddy Chris Gorman of Gorman Winery. This was built to last and last it did all night long. Went very well with marinated tri-tip.

Perfect!

 

[Merrywine]

Nothing special, just some barefoot cab I won in a raffle.

 

[JohnT]

Over the weekend, we visited a good friend that I have not seen for 6 months. What a great time and we did adhere to our "first bottle" tradition.

Let me explain. I am sure that many of you good folks are wine collectors like me. We go and find good deals on great wines and stick them in our cellars to age and await "an appropriate occasion" to open them.

The problem is that "an appropriate occasion" never seems to happen.

In talking with my friend one day, we realized that life is fleeting and we could die tomorrow. Wouldn't it be a shame to leave all that great wine behind, unenjoyed??

So we made a "first bottle" pact. Whenever we get together for dinner (usually 2 or 3 times a year) we would make it a point to pull the best we have for our first bottle.

So, Saturday, I brought a 2009 chateauneuf du pape (my first bottle) and my friend supplied a (more recent) 2014 Stag's Leap Artemus. As usual, my friend broke out the ridel glasses just for these two wines.

What a great combo! Truly two different examples of the red wine spectrum.

We started with the CNP. It was complex while being very delicate. The best way to describe it is that it was amazingly balanced in all flavor components, while at the same time the wine was very subtle (no one flavor overpowered the next. I picked up leather, mild vanilla, and black cherry tones.

Then it was on to the Stag's Leap. Where the CNP was subtle, this wine was a solid brick thrown in my face. Powerful, bold, oaky, but having an amazing buttery/creamy bouquet.

Once our "first bottle" ceremony was over, we moved on to my 2014 merlot. This held its own (sorry to brag) and went very well with the grilled porterhouse steaks we had for dinner.

All over, a perfect evening! We had SUCH a great time. I recommend that all of you take up a "first bottle" pact!

Sorry, no pictures of the food. I did take these though. A shot of the two stars of the evening and a shot of the ridel glasses that we sipped out of.

 

[Boatboy24]

My New Years resolution was no drinky-drinky on 'school nights' (there are exceptions if entertaining, meeting up with folks you don't see every day, etc). But today being a 'holiday' and the fact that I'm cooking up a nice steak dinner, I wasn't going to let it go without a nice wine. So a little of my 2014 Amador Zin.