Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Night of Zind-Humbrecht, Kutch, Switchback Ridge, Cayuse, Saxum

Dudes,Sorry I'm tardy with my notes and comments. Work and family seem to get in the way of all the fun! Travis and Mario, thanks for hosting and putting out a kick ass spread of cheese, meats, salad, and hospitality. I'm definitely glad I hadn't eaten beforehand. Fun to meet a couple of new Seattle wine guys --Tim and Tom -- and always good to see Tom Lee, who is a beacon of wine reason amongst all of our wine blabbering! On to the notes...

2005 Francois Villard Condrieu Le Grand Vallon -- Served blind. Creamy roundness with a spiced baked apple tart note and dried pineapple. A lush white and once it was revealed, it made sense that it was viognier. I liked it alot. 92pts.

2002 Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer -- Dale is a big fan of ZH so I'm lucky to get to drink his bottles. This was another winner. Nice deep copper color with a nose of passion fruit, stones, along with honey. Dense in the mouth with a geat lush texture balanced by tropical fruits, minerals, and acid. Not as spicy as I was expecting but very good with Mario's spicy shrimp nonetheless. 92pts.

2006 Kutch RRV -- I am on the waiting list for this so was excited to finally try one. As with most pinot for me, it had a knockout nose but disappointed in the mouth. Nose of cola, stewed strawberries, and even a little underbrush. Medium bodied with a thin mid-palate did me in. Just not much going on for me. 87pts.

2005 Galardi Terra Di Lavoro -- This was thrown in and served blind. Strong nose of vanilla oak, baking spices, and dark fruit. Strongly tannic and acidic, this baby needs years to integrate all its parts. When that happens, it will be a very special wine. 90 pts. now with potential to be in the 93pt range.

2004 Switchback Ridge Merlot -- Not a big drinker of merlot but have heard good things about all of SR's wines. Very pleasantly surprised with this wine --thanks Tom Lee. Creamy nose of vanilla, dark fruits, and mocha. Filled with spicy plums, currants, and toasty oak all in balance. Delicious. 91pts.

2001 Blankiet Cab -- I don't think I even got to try this. Not sure how I missed it.

2006 Cayuse En Chamberlin -- After Jay Miller's tasting, we were all looking forward to drinking this and it lived up and even surpassed our expectations. 100 point nose with huge amounts of beef stew, fur, funk, pickles, and black fruits. Decadent mouthfeel giving way to layers of dried beef, blood, sour cherries and cabbage, all made tolerable by the copious levels of New World fruit. Gangbuster finish that leaves that wonderful Cayuse taste lingering for mintues. 96 pts.

2006 Saxum Bone Rock -- It was cool to bring this as a couple people had never drank a Saxum before, so I figured why not bring out a big gun. Decanted for around two hours, this puppy was rockin' from the get go. Big nose of blackberries, blueberries, jam, meat, and spice. Waves of ripe dark berry fruit in the mouth along with chocolate and even some spicy oak. As usual, everything is seamless so there's no hint of heat or tannin. This was so good now but will get even better with a few years under its belt. 95pts.

Wish I would have stayed a little later as I found out Travis and Mike opened a Carlisle Zin to cap off the night! By the way, great write up Tim!

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