2008 Chateau Montelena Estate

Just a stunner.

2008 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon – The Montelena Estate

Appellation: Napa

Notes:  Stunning.  Still a little young, but wonderful structure, fruit, and creaminess.  Like drinking velvet.  A very nice juxtaposition of California Cab and Bordeaux, it has the American cluster but settles down with a great deal of refinement, much like an AMG can smoke the tires, but still be a wonderful grand touring car. Delicious.

Price: $150 at North Charles Fine Wines and Spirits.

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2009 Koyle Reserva

Got a few wines from The Thomas Collective, the folks behind Wines of Chile. Tasted one today.

2009 Koyle Riserva Cabernet Sauvignon

Appellation: Colchagua, Chile

Notes: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% ABV. The nose is fruit and wood, with a little must, but not so much that you think it’s corked. Chocolate covered cherries that have been in a cedar chest in the basement (which isn’t bad, mind you). Finish is astringent, though, making the wine off balance. That’s unusual, because they usually send excellent examples. I wouldn’t search this out. OK.

Price: Unknown, this was a sample.

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William Kavney Cellars Napa Valley Cab

Segway: I first discovered this wine at the Brookside Golf & Country Club Open House Wine and Spirits Tasting, with my dad. It was all the rave and I remember thinking it was pretty good but not paying too much attention to it, since I was more focused on the socializing than I was the wine. I forget the details but the generalities behind the story of this wine are that William Kavney apparently bought the best wines that were left over from the production of some top Napa producers. He then blends them together to make his small production creation with a Bulldog logo on the clearly hand-crafted label.

The story behind the Hausfrau Haven wine store is pretty cool too. Hausfrau Haven is where I purchased the William Kavney Cellars bottle. I was asking around at the open house, trying to pinpoint who in Ohio distributed and/or retailed Guigal wines. I was a winemaking apprentice, A.K.A. Cellar Rat, at Guigal during the 2009 vintage and so naturally I’m deadset on getting my hands on one of the 2009 LaLas. I’m pretty damn proud to be able to say that I helped make those wines and was part of the EPIC 2009 vintage. By the way I was also part of spilling a few thousand dollars worth of wine on the cellar floor, after failing to properly fasten one of the pumps. I considered it an offering to the French wine gods. LaLa, by the way, is the nickname for Guigal’s top single-vineyard Cote-Roties (La Turque, La Mouline and La Landonne) that demand between 3 and 5 bills a bottle! But more importantly, these are some AMAZING wines!

So how the hell does Guigal have anything to do with this William Kavney Cellars tasting, other than me selfishly plugging my 2009 vintage? Well nothing yet, except that after asking around at the Open House, I was told that the top wine buyer in Columbus was Faye, owner of Hausfrau Haven wine store and “the best palate in Ohio”. And additionally, I was told that she would be the best bet for finding a bottle of a Guigal LaLa. So I dropped in for a visit to Hausfrau and sure enough they carried Guigal, including the LaLas! Now my name’s on the list for the 2009 vintage, which is still in the barrel btw, and won’t be in the shop for another 6 to 12 months. Some of the LaLas are aged for up to 4 years in barrel. Now that’s what I call barrel ageing!

Sorry I understand that I STILL haven’t got to the point of today’s tasting. So much buildup I know! Well the closing chapter of this saga is that after speaking to one of the wine reps and asking for his favorite bottle under $20, he immediately grabbed the William Kavney Cellar 2007 Cab, the exact same wine that was all the rave at the Brookside Open House. The End!

William Kavney Cellars “Cabernet Sauvignon” Napa Valley 2007
Tasting Notes: 100% cabernet sauvignon, 13.8% vol. Dark ruby red in the glass. A decent amount of alcohol on the nose, accompanied by pleasant and subtle notes of black fruits, cinnamon and vanilla spice. Silky-smooth texture up front, followed by strong fruit, black cherry jam, good balance of acidity and finishing with dry tannins and notes of dark chocolate and oak. Certainly nothing magical and not all the rave, BUT definitely an overall enjoyable wine.
Rating: 15/20 (89/100)
Price: US$20 @ Hausfrau Haven in German Village, Columbus, Ohio

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California Cab, Bordeaux and Duck

Last weekend we hosted a small dinner party for 3 other couples.  For dinner, we served a spice crusted duck via Avec Eric (the base recipe can be found here, although I used very large breasts and grilled them, but the idea is the same).

Protip:  have your fire extinguisher handy when grilling duck on a gas grill.

Anyway, it was a bit of a celebratory weekend for us, so we decided to open a few bottles we’d been saving for just such an occasion.  Here’s how they were.

First, we opened our most prized bottle, a 2002 Silver Oak Napa Cabernet . (5/5. $100 when I got it, but now unavailable from the winery.)  We’ve been to Silver Oak in Napa twice, and I had tasted this wine at the winery. I bought the bottle locally a few years ago, and was a bit concerned that it hadn’t been stored well before I got it, but knowing how much we liked it and how special the wine is, we gave it a go.

We decanted it, but not for long, perhaps 15 minutes.  The main point was to make sure we didn’t have any sediment issues.  It was as expected – fantastic.  It was an excellent match with the duck, the spiciness and richness of the dish were complimented by the big bold Cabernet.  A wonderful wine and a great pairing.

After finishing that bottle, we opened a 2002 Chateau Langoa Barton (5/5, $50.)  From Saint Julien and bottled at the Chateau, this is predominately a Cab, but probably a similar blend to the Silver Oak.  Decanted it while we were finishing the Silver Oak, again, maybe 10-15 minutes.

This Bordeaux was also a stunner, more rounded, less bombastic than the Silver Oak.  An excellent wine, velvet in the mouth, with just the right balance of fruit, acid, and tannins.  A good time to drink it, in my opinion, although it certainly had the structure to keep for years.  Also a great match with the duck.

Comparing the two brought about some interesting conversation.  The Silver Oak was bigger and bolder, and tasted younger.  The Langoa Barton was more refined, less bold and more earthy.  There were clear differences in style of wines that were similar blends, and both were outstanding.

After the two big boys, I decided to open something I had just picked up at my local wine store (Chesapeake Wine).  The owner of the store and I have similar palates; if he likes it, I tend to like it.  He had raved about this 2010 Chateau Les Arromans (4/5, $14).  While I thought it might be a bit young, I picked up a bottle just to see.

Glad I did.

It was certainly different from the first two.  Not over the top, but far more fruit driven, with good structure, but the tannins weren’t in the way… this isn’t something I would hold on to for very long, but right now, it’s a fun wine.  Juicy, mouth watering, and screaming to be drunk with food.  Again, a pretty good match with the duck, although in a different way, picking up more on the spiciness than the richness.

All in all, a fun comparison, and a good meal with some great wine.

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