Christmas Cabs

 It's our Christmas Eve tradition to blind taste some wines. This year we had an addition to our family: Asher Kent. He had trouble getting to sleep, so he joined us for a bit.

Results

C - 2019 Double Diamond, Oakville, Cabernet Sauvignon came in first place with an average of 3.50. It cost $125. It was the 2022 Wine Spectator #1 Wine of the Year.

B - 2021 Chimney Rock, Stag's Leap District, Cabernet Sauvignon came in second place with an average of 3.25. It cost $110. It was the 2024 Wine Spectator’s #5 Wine of the Year.

A - 2021 Faust, Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon came in last place with an average of 2.88. It cost $65. It was the 2024 Wine Spectator’s #4 Wine of the Year.

After we made Adam happy with a Silver Oak and a hand decanter. I also opened a 2018 Louis M. Martini, Lot 1, which tasted the most like what I expected in a cab that night.

Fall Cabs And Blends

We've been wanting to get back to two parties a year so we decided to throw a Fall Get Together.

I advertised a wine tasting, "Optionally bring a cab or red blend (wine) to blind taste with everyone." I should have said cab blend, but didn't, so I prepared for pretty much anything anyone decided to bring. I mean a Pinot cuvée, is a red blend.

Results

E - 2012 Hartwell, Estate, Stag's Leap District, Merlot came in first place with an average of 4.17. Ted and Shannon brought this. Teed said, "Hartwell makes one of the best Napa cabs ever in my opinion. I thought I was bringing that :-) I had some older ones in my collection 11s and 12 so I thought they’d be prime. Just brought the wrong varietal :-)"

C - 2016 Nickel and Nickel, John C. Sullenger, Oakville, Cabernet Sauvignon came in second place with an average of 3.77. Mac and Rebecca brought this. Rebecca said, "I wanted to bring a basic Napa Cab, that I had previously tried before, from a maker I liked, from a good vintage year. I bought several bottles of these at a Nickel and Nickel tasting event, held at The Wine Steward wine shop in Pleasanton during 2019. The price was discounted to 80 per bottle, if I remember correctly. When I first tried this in 2019 it had very bitter and strong tannins. I re-tried it this year and feel it has mellowed out pleasantly. I was curious to see if other people would like it too, and how it would compare in a blind tasting. "

F - 2016 Carte Blanche, Napa Valley came in third place with an average of 3.75. Carlos and Ling brought this. Carlos said, "I think it was $150 at k&l. Why? I’d never had it so…"

D - 2021 Cult, Napa Valley came in fourth place with an average of 3.55. Jose and Lili brought this. It cost $40. It had good reviews, 93 and 97.

B - Tenuta San Guido, Sassicaia, Bolgheri came in fifth place with an average of 3.30. Sue and I brought it. It cost $300. It received 100 points. It's not supposed to be drank for another 5 year. I should have decanted it for 5 hours. We'll never know if it would have made a difference. I was looking for a wine to save for my first grandson's 21st birthday. Sassicaia is my thought, which made me notice the 2021's 100 point rating.

A - 2017 Silver Oak, Alexander Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon came in last place with an average of 2.77. Michel and Linda brought this. Michel said, "It was $75 / bottle - I picked it because it is one of my favorite cab from the area (Napa / Alexander Valley)."

I'm not certain the winner was a cab or red blend, but we did vote it as our top pick. Miles would not be happy.

Spring Paella and Pinots

All of our friends, including one we hadn't seen in much too long, soldiered through traffic to join us for a Memorial Day weekend party. We referred to the occasion as a Spring Get Together, which was technically correct, but mostly a misnomer given it was so close to the unofficial start of summer.

We started with magnums of Roederer Brut Estate and Brut Rose. Paul and Jennifer turned us on to Roederer, gifting us a magnum a few years back. It's a great tasting, and reasonably priced sparkling. We were curious about it, and made a day trip to Anderson Valley last year to taste and see how it was made.

We had a casual tasting before dinner. Sue was making paella and had a special pan for 20. We had been to a couple of events with paella. Sue wanted to give it a try and had practiced a couple of times before.

Sue and a number of others worked together to prepare the tasty paella. It was a team effort that everyone greatly appreciated.

There were a couple of birthdays on or around the party, so we had to serenade them with birthday wishes.

Our neighbor made a wonderful basque cheesecake that all enjoyed. When she mentioned she was bringing it the first time, I heard bass. This cake was wonderful and not a bit fishy.

Results

A - 2020 Papapietro Perry, Peters Vineyard, Russian River Valley came in first place with an average of 3.43. It was 2023 Pinot Cup Winner. It cost $66 from the winery. We're members of Papa. We love their light and fruity Pinots.

C - 2021 Wayfarer, Wayfarer Vineyard, Fort Ross - Seaview came in second place with an average of 3.36. It was 2024 Pinot Cup Runner-Up. It cost $85 ordered from the winery.

D - 2021 Merry Edwards, Georganne Vineyard, Russian River Valley tied for third place with an average of 3.32. It was Wine Enthusiast #9 wine of 2023. It cost $70 from the winery. I had ordered it to be delivered, but they called and asked if we wanted to come in for a taste. A brilliant move on their part. I bought more wine than I had ordered. We had a wonderful experience when we picked up the wine. A young Chilean wine maker told us about his worldly adventures honing his skills.

E - 2021 Convene, Russian River Valley tied for third place with an average of 3.32. It was Wine Enthusiast #13 wines of 2023. It cost $68 from the winery. Convene is owned by Dan Kosta, of Kosta Browne. We first ran into them at Healdsburg Crush and had to pay them a visit or two. We've enjoyed our experience both times we went.

B - 2019 Read Holland, Deep End, Anderson Valley came in last place with an average of 2.93. It was 2024 Pinot Cup Winner It cost $60 ordered from the winery.

Pinot Cup is the award given at Pigs & Pinot's Friday night tasting, a wonderful event where they stuff you with so many great pork dishes and Pinots. We had never heard of it before we moved to Sonoma. We went for the first time this year with Ted, Shannon, Mac, and Rebecca. We hope to go back. We were told we have to get a hotel package, which includes more events than the tasting. Maybe some year we'll budget for this extravaganza.

Correction

I somehow missed Jennifer's scores. It wouldn't have changed first place, but it would have changed others. Sorry Jennifer!

Christmas Pinots

 Last year Alex and Adam came up for Christmas Eve. We has a wine tasting. Adam asked if we were going to have a testing this year. It seems the start of a tradition.

I ordered 6 wines from Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wine of 2023 and Wine Enthusiast's Top 100 Wine of 2023. I whittled it down to 4 for the tasting, thinking 6 was too much.

• 2019 Rippon, Mature Vines, Central Otago, NZ
• 2021 Big Table Farm, Cattrail Brothers Vineyard, Eola Amity Hills, OR
• 2021 Occidental, Freeatone-Occidental, Sonoma Coast, CA
• 2021 Merry Edwards, Georganne Vineyard, Russian River Valley, CA

I did not include 2021 Convene, Russian River Valley, CA and 2021 Resonance, Willamette Valley, OR.

Results

D - 2021 Merry Edwards, Georganne Vineyard, Russian River Valley, CA came in first place with an average of 3.31. It was Wine Enthusiast #9 wine of 2023. It cost $70 from the winery

A - 2019 Rippon, Mature Vines, Central Otago, NZ came in second place with an average of 3.25. It was Wine Enthusiast #5 wine of 2023. It cost $55 from K&L.

C - 2021 Occidental, Freeatone-Occidental, Sonoma Coast, CA in third place with an average of 2.94. It was Wine Spectator's #2 wine of 2023. It cost $69 from Aabalat.

B - 2021 Big Table Farm, Cattrail Brothers Vineyard, Eola Amity Hills, OR came in last place with an average of 2.13. It was Wine Enthusiast #22 wines of 2023. It cost $72 from the winery.

Spring Cabs

Things have been kind of slow since we've moved to Santa Rosa. Late last year we threw a party. I wasn't convinced that our friends would drive two hours to see us, but they did. This year we decided to try a traditional blind tasting.

Last year we joined the BV wine club and acquired a vertical of Georges De Latour. I was thinking we should taste that and the clones that it's made of, but I threw together a couple of other options.

Option 1: Georges De Latour Cab Tasting

• 2017 Georges De Latour
• 2018 Georges De Latour
• 2019 Georges De Latour
• 2018 Clone 6
• 2018 Clone 4
• 2018 Clone 169

Option 2: Cab Tasting

• 2018 Ehret, Hillside Reserve
• 2018 Louis M. Martini, Lot 1
• 2018 Mayacamas
• 2016 Passalacqua, Block 18 & 19
• 2018 Stag's Leap, Cask 23
• 2018 Trujillo, Gary Morisoli

Option 3: Everyone bring a cab

I asked a couple of people what they thought and both of them went for option 3.

I sent out the invite, saying I would bring a Georges De Latour. Ted had mentioned that he would love to see how the Georges De Latour and Hartwell compared.

Sue and I were forced to taste the Georges De Latour vertical and decide which bottle we thought we should bring. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it. We both had different favorites, but compromised on the 2018.

Unfortunately, Carlos and Ling, and Michel and Linda couldn't make it, but we were blessed with the company of the rest of our wine tasting friends.

Sue kept our bellies full with Duck Fat Fries and Fred Steak to name a few standouts.

I debuted my new Fourth of July shirt, that I got on a recent visit to Missouri for our nephew's high school graduation.

Results

E - 2011 Hartwell, Estate, Stags Leap District came in first place with an average of 3.86. Ted and Shannon brought this.

B - 2019 Raymond, Reserve Selection, Napa Valley came in second place with an average of 3.73. Jose and Lili brought this.

D - 2018 BV, Georges De Latour, Napa Valley came in third place with an average of 3.42. Sue and I brought this.

A - 2011 Silver Oak, Anderson Valley came in fourth place with an average of 3.13. Mac and Rebecca brought this.

B - 2006 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, S.L.V., Block 4, Napa Valley came in last place with an average of 2.76. Paul and Jennifer brought this.

It was nice to taste some great cabernets with friends. Many of the cabs were older than I can ever see myself cellaring (they wouldn't last that long).

People brought a lot of nice cabs to share in addition to the wine for the tasting.

One Last Zin Tasting for the Road

Our move was a weekend away. Friday we were moving all the wine. I had a crazy idea to do one last Zin tasting on Saturday. I figured as long as we kept it simple, like ordering pizza, it would be a welcome break from the the moving. I pinged Ted Wednesday night. He was game. He offered his place in order to save a dog sitter. I was cool with this, but he had to agree I could pay for the pizza. He did. I had a zin tasting ready to go, but would only do it if Jose were involved. Jose used to be big into Zins, he's now more into Cabs. I pinged Jose. He was in too. It was on!

I had a zin tasting in the cellars, yet another inspired by the 2021 SF Chronicle Wine Competition results. I had never tried any of the wines.

• Wilson Winery, Sydney's Reserve - 2021 SF Chronicle Wine Competition Best of Class Medal Winner
• Rockpile Vineyards, Florence - 2021 SF Chronicle Wine Competition Double Gold Medal Winner
• Robert Biale Vineyards, Black Chicken - I've been telling Jose we need to try this wine for years. It shows up on a lot of best of lists
• Once and Future Zinfandel Bedrock Vineyard 2018
• Made by the original owner of Ravenswood. I heard about this in a video: Why California Wine Companies See Opportunity in IPO Boom

Ted had a couple of bottles he wanted to share, so I was supposed to bring only two bottles. I knew I wanted to bring the Best of Class and Black Chicken, but I also wanted to bring the Once and Future, so I did.

Ted was set up for four wines, so he randomly chose two of the three I had brought. It was a warm day. We started with a refreshing Savvy B from Halleck.

We had a great time tasting with everyone.

Results

W - 2018 Wilson, Sydney's Reserve, Dry Creek Valley came in first place with an average of 4.14. It cost $60 directly from the winery.

Z - 2019 Robert Biale Vineyards, Black Chicken, Napa Valley  came in second place with an average of 3.98. It cost $50 directly from the winery.

Y - 2016 Taft Street, Alexander Valley came in third place with an average of 3.55.

X - 2017 Dutton-Golfield, Dutton Ranch, Morelli Lane Vineyard, Russian River Valley came in last place with an average of 3.18.

The Zins were all really good.

I DoorDashed Round Table Pizza, which was enjoyed with a salad Shannon made from vegetables out of their garden. We also enjoyed a GrGich Zin Jose brought and the Once and Future.

Post Vaccination Blends

I was fully vaccinated and we were going to celebrate with a once in a lifetime tasting, again.

I decided on the following Cabernet Blends

• Opus One
• Dominus
• Insignia
• Sassicaia
• Pontet-Canet, Pauillac

Most of them were younger than I would have liked, but I would try to give them time to open up, planning to decant them for 6 hours. I was still worried, but what could I do?

The day of the tasting, it warmed up. I was worried about the wine during the decanting and turned on the AC.

We started with a variety of Chardonnay. The heat was giving me problems and I struggled to serve the blends at the preferred temperature (61 - 64). Ling and Lili gathered their fill of loquats.

We had a great time tasting with everyone.

Results

D - 2017 San Guido "Sassicaia" Bolgheri, Italy came in first place with an average of 3.87. It cost $220 from K&L.

B - 2017 Opus One, Napa Valley came in second place with an average of 3.49. It cost $325 from K&L. When I tried this I figured it was the 2009, because it was so smooth. One of my tasting notes was, Wow!

C - 2016 Dominus, Napa Valley came in third place with an average of 3.46. It cost $290 from K&L.

E - 2017 Joseph Phelps "Insignia", Napa Valley came in fourth place with an average of 3.40. It cost $250 from K&L.

A - 2009 Pontet-Canet, Pauillac, France came in last place with an average of 2.89. It cost $300 from K&L. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate gave it 100 points.

After we had revealed the winners, I brought out a one of a kind, 5L Santa Cruz Mountains Cuvee, won at the 2014 Premier Cruz silent auction. Dave, from Burrel School, had suggested we wait 5 to 10 years before opening. We had troubles with the cork and had duck taped it closed.

It's fun to wield large bottles!

We thought it was going to be horrible because we had tried the cuvee twice before and had given the wine to the tree out back after one sip. We opened it because I didn't want to move wine that we would never enjoy to our new place in Santa Rosa. From the big bottle it actually tasted pretty good.

Who knows how many more of these occasions we'll have in the future, given our move. It's not like we're never going to see anyone ever again, but it does seem unlikely we'll have as many of these kinds of gatherings in the future. We're blessed to have such incredible friends.