April 20, 2013 – Wine: 2007 Meyer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

I have been Jonesing to try this wine.  Having thoroughly enjoyed every bottle of the 2005 vintage that I have opened (about 2 cases), I was looking forward to tasting the 2007 vintage since the half-bottles arrived 18 months ago.  I could wait no longer, so I opened the first one.  The first thing that you notice is the terrific nose filled with vintage typical fruits.  The palette followed suit with sweet tannins and flavors of blackberry, blueberry, mineral, leather, and lingering black cherry notes.  My only disappointment is that the 2007 lacks the substance and weight of the 2005, but will surely develop into a more elegant wine in a few more years.

April 17, 2013 – Wine: 2001 Mayacamas Cabernet Sauvignon

When I bought this wine, the reviews suggested holding onto this wine until 2011 or so.  After tasting the big 2003 vintage, and a well-preserved 1984 vintage, I decided to follow that advice and add a little more time just for good measure.  I let the wine decant for about 90 minutes.  Like most 2001’s in the half bottle, this wine’s fruit is a little past its peak.  With that said, what remains is still noteworthy and age-worthy.  This still-tannic wine features flavors of plum, leather, cranberry, tea, and strong minerals.  I may hold onto the other bottle until 2016 or so.


2001 Mayacamas Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon



Anomaly Vineyards, March 25, 2013

I returned to Anomaly Vineyards to pick up a few half bottles of their new 2010 release, as well as get a chance to preview the wine.  I brought along my friend who manages a wine shop in San Francisco to share the experience.  He had not been to Anomaly in four years since I picked up my 2006 wines.  We were running a few minutes late and so had to skip the facility tour and go straight to the underground tasting room.  I have always enjoyed the intimacy of this tasting room.  From the working barrels lining each wall, to the practical yet immaculate concrete walls and floors, to the elegant wood table and bench seating and halogen spot lighting, the environment puts the taster directly in the midst of the winemaking experience.
 

Different bottle formats on the tasting table at Anomaly Vineyards.



During this visit I was most interested in tasting the 2010 release of the Anomaly Cabernet Sauvignon.  I had read some interesting reviews of the vintage in general and wanted to get a glimpse at how the 2010 Anomaly wines might develop.  At the same time, they poured three other vintages to learn how the Anomaly wines age and to get a kind of progress report on the bottles slumbering in my cellar.  They poured the 2009, 2008, and 2006 vintages.  Each surprised me by altering my expectations.  The 2006 is developing a richness while blowing off (or covering up) its vintage characteristics.  The 2008 is wonderfully approachable now, but still showing promise of more.  The star is the 2009 and its lushness, which is developing in a very similar manner to the 2005, albeit with darker fruit influences on the palette.

 A full review was written already about Anomaly Vineyards during my visit on April 6^th, 2012.

April 14, 2013 – Wine: 2005 Boa Ventura Maroon Label Cabernet Sauvignon

After a day of uninspiring wine-tasting in Livermore Valley, an insider recommended that I visit Boa Ventura winery to taste their Cabernets.  I was glad that I did.  All of the wines produced at Boa Ventura offer a sense depth and balance that is rare in Livermore.  As they are a tiny operation, it is more economical for them to use wax capsules on their bottles, so they color the wax differently for each wine.  Their top Cabernet uses a maroon colored wax, and is referred to as the Maroon Cabernet Sauvignon.  Not only was I impressed with this wine at the winery, I was elated to find it bottled in half-bottles, so I put together a mixed case.  The wine entered a shut-down state almost immediately, so I let it rest for a couple of years.  Tonight, the wine is showing quite nicely with better fruit development and good balance.  I noticed flavors of tea, cherry, red licorice, mineral, and leather.  I am eager to see how the last bottle of this plays out in a couple more years.

April 13, 2013 – Wine: 2007 Clos du Val Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Wow, what a difference 4 months can make in a wine, though I suspect bottle-variation may also be it play here.  Checking my notes from December 15, the wine was tannic and locked down.  I was a little disappointed then because I recall how I was impressed by this wine when I tasted it at the winery.  Tonight, the wine seems to have awakened.  The pronounced tannins from December have since subsided to the point that this wine is really quite smooth, yet still nearly full-bodied.  The nose retains its classic 2007 attributes (most notably blueberry), while the palette offers up leather, sour cherry, baking spices, slight mineral notes, and a gentle, yet extended finish.

St. Clement Vineyards, March 1, 2013

www.stclement.com

I was already in Napa Valley working my way through my planned four wineries when I received a message from my wine buddy asking me to stop by St. Clement and see if a certain wine was available there.  It wasn’t, but I was not about to waste a visit here.  Having once been a wine club member here, I was quite familiar with their past vintages, but this would be a good opportunity to taste their current vintages.  The staff member had been working at St. Clement for so long that she actually recognized me from when I was a member.  (This, as I recall, was one of the points that made me feel so welcome at St. Clement.)

Saint Clement's old farm house tasting room

I was curious to try the 2010 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, as I have only tried a couple of 2010 red wines so far.  The wine has a flavor profile that is turning out to be vintage typical, namely dark fruits, smoky minerals, and a subtle tar or tobacco influence.  I was reluctant to try additional wines because I had one more winery to visit, but was convinced to sample the 2009 Star Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, a single-vineyard Cabernet from Rutherford.  This wine is delivering the same consistency that its previous vintages have delivered.  (I have experienced the 2004, 2005, and 2007).  Given a few years in the cellar, this wine will be terrific.

A full review was written already about Saint Clement Vineyards during my visit on May 12^th, 2012.

April 10, 2013 – Wine: 2003 Miner Family The Oracle Red Wine

When I pulled this bottle from the cellar, I thought I had grabbed a half-bottle from the 2005 vintage, of which I had a few remaining.  I was surprised how this one had deviated from the other 2005’s that I had already opened, but it retained the consistency that Miner puts into their Oracle wines.  It wasn’t until a few weeks later when I was looking for the last half-bottle of 2003 Oracle that I realized that this bottle was my last 2003 (and not a 2005 as I had thought – rummaging through the recycling confirmed this).  In my own defense, the year on the bottle is shown in tiny text that is difficult to read without reading glasses and good lighting.  Regardless of what I thought I was drinking, this wine is in a great state right now.  The wine presents nice fruits in terrific balance and smooth texture.  After a 90-minute decant (which this wine desperately needs), I noted flavors of sour cherry, cranberry, sweet black prunes, leather, and well-balanced minerals.  This was the first vintage of Oracle that I experienced (back in 2007) and I have always been impressed by this wine.


2003 Miner Family The Oracle Red Wine