Nov. 9, 2007 - Recent High-End Merlots

The November tasting of recent, high-end merlots included a lot of excellent wines, but two stood out from the pack - the 2004 Pahlmeyer, which finished first, and the 2005 Pride Mountain, which was second. Third place was a somewhat controversial wine from Washington state - it got three first-place votes and nothing else.

1. 2004 Pahlmeyer (4 firsts, 3 seconds, 2 thirds, 0 fourths, 29 points)
2. 2005 Pride Mountain (4/2/1/1, 27 points)
3. 2004 Pedestal, Washington State (3/0/0/0, 12 points)
4. 2004 Blackbird (0/2/2/2, 12 points)
5. 2004 Gainey, Limited Selection (0/2/1/2, 10 points)
6. 2002 Beringer, Bancroft Ranch (1/0/0/3, 7 points)
7. 2002 Joseph Phelps (0/1/1/1, 6 points)
8. 2002 Keenan, Reserve (0/1/0/3, 6 points)
9. 2001 Del Dotto (0/1/1/0, 5 points)
10.2003 Corte Riva (0/0/2/0, 4 points)
11.2002 Behrens & Hitchcock (0/0/1/0, 2 points)
12.2004 Keenan, Mailbox Reserve (0/0/0/0, 0 points)

Oct. 11, 2007 - 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon & Bordeaux-Style Blends

The 1997 Ch. St. Jean Cinq Cepages was the runaway winner of our October tasting of 1997 cabernet sauvignons and Bordeaux-style blends. It was followed by the Saddleback Cellars and the Silver Oak, Napa Valley. Most of the wines were surprisingly young, with quite a few years ahead of them. The complete results:
1. Ch. St. Jean, Cinq Cepages (4 firsts, 0 seconds, 1 third, 1 fourth, 19 points)
2. Saddleback Cellars (1/1/2/2, 13 points)
3. Silver Oak, Napa Valley (1/1/2/0, 11 points)
4. Seavey (0/2/1/2, 10 points)
5. (Tie) Joseph Phelps, Insignia, and
Hanna, Bismarck Ranch (0/1/0/0, 3 points)
7. Dunn, Howell Mountain (0/0/0/1, 1 point)

Sept. 20, 2007 - Napa Valley Sub-Appellation Cabernet Sauvignon Taste-Off

The September cabernet taste-off of Napa Valley sub-appellations proved quite interesting, with some expected and some unexpected results. Those of us who are Stags Leap District (SLD) fans weren't surprised that the top two wines were from that sub-appellation. However, to most people's surprise, most of the mountain wines faired poorly - perhaps because of their youth. The winner by a wide margin was the 2004 Shafer One Point Five, SLD, followed by the 2003 Hartwell, SLD. While the sub-appellation comparisons were interesting, some of the variations were undoubtedly the result of wineries' stylistic differences. The complete results:

1. 2004 Shafer, One Point Five, SLD (6 firsts, 1 second, 0 thirds, 1 fourth, 28 points)
2. 2003 Hartwell, SLD (3/1/3/0, 21 points)
3. 2004 Revana, St. Helena (1/3/0/5, 18 points)
4. 2004 Von Strasser, Diamond Mountain (1/2/1/1, 13 points)
5. 2003 Flora Springs, Rutherford Hillside Reserve, Rutherford (0/1/2/1, 8 points)
6. 2004 Ehlers Estate, 1886, St. Helena (0/0/2/3, 7 points)
7. 2003 Sherwin Family, Spring Mountain (0/2/0/0, 6 points)
8. 2004 St. Clement, Steinhauer Ranch, Howell Mountain (0/0/3/0, 6 points)
9. 2004 Piedra Hill, Purple Label, Howell Mountain (0/1/0/0, 3 points)
10. (Tie) 2003 Hess Collection, Mount Veeder, and
2002 Pine Ridge, Oakville (0/0/0/0, 0 points)