What's better than an afternoon of friends and Cabernet? An afternoon of friends, Cabernet and PIZZA! A decent sized group met at my home for such an afternoon on Presidents Day Weekend Sunday. What a great time. The 2001 Cabernet theme was augmented with a few surprises. Many were served blind.2001 Bond Matriarch- Somewhat old red coloring on opening and decanting. So much so I thought it flawed. It darkened with decanter time. Nice cassis filled black fruited profiled cab with class and structure. Some tar and leather. A bit restrained in style. I was expecting a more lush style. This had a nice finish. 92/100
2001 Shafer Napa Decent dark color. Lots of red and black fruits going on. Some cassis & black cherry. The acid level was surely elevated from my last sampling about 3 months ago. Strange? There was some discussion on whether this was damaged. It just did not do as well today. N/A
2001 Justin Isosceles Reserve- deep dark black color. I guessed this on bottle shape alone! It had some pure and elegant cassis. A very wonderful Paso signature of black and green olives. Very nice. I really enjoyed this wine. It was a well structured mid-weight cab based wine with tons of character, breed, and elegance. Super long finish. A real treat. 93/100
2004 Maybach Materium- I knew I had this before by nose alone. An I knew I liked it before. It was dark and lush with some eucalyptus. A wonderful mouth feel with some decent structure and an exotic woven tannin level. I had pinned this for a Merus. It was long and full with tons of black cherries and currant. Some cola and cocoa. A Very early favorite. I would have decanted longer as a two hour decant did not seem enough. 92/100
2001 Beringer Reserve- This showed very odd. It was red in style with lots of new oak and vanilla. It reminded me of a Simi Reserve in some ways. The finish seemed slightly acidified and the mouth feel was a bit angular. I am a big fan of Sbragias wines and this was a bit of a shocker. More Foley than Sbragia. 89/100
2004 Buccella- Wow. dense and brooding. This had it all and it was all strutting. Dark chocolate wrapped black cherries . Soy, kirsch, cola, wow. This had structure and elegance with flash and fury. I love this bold in your face style of pure cali-cab. A super long dense finish with gobs of fruit. One of the greatest wines I have ever tasted. wow. 99/100
2003 Slaughterhouse Cellars Cabernet-Bright red fruit on the nose and palate. This was served blind. It had good reddish fruits of cherries and pomegranate. Some currant with some cherry cola. A fun and single dimensional wine that seemed the perfect foil for a fun pizza filled Sunday. You are as good as the company you keep. Nano purchased on name alone. Slaughterhouse.....88/100
2001 Forman- The color was deep and dark. The nose is all funky barn-yard and dirt mixed with a remnant of fruit......somewhere. Very European in style. The palate had some red and black fruits of cassis, red cherries, blackberries with some tar and anise. I have had this a half dozen times and this has surely declined from what it was from 5 years ago. A sloppy mess. Who brought this? 86/100 (me)
And then there was the pizza.......
Thanks to all for participating. See you at Ca-Blast II?
