The Wine Group
Diamond Creek Vineyards
Red Rock Terrace Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1988
One of the bottles I provided for a co-hosting with Mark at the City Club wine group.
Always a treat to open a birth year wine. I had this last year and this bottle seemed to have more stuffing. It was less muddled/clay driven and more distinctly black fruit and spice heavy. Next to a ‘79 Montelena, it wasn’t as full-bodied, but it certainly had more tannin. The tannic finish was quite pronounced and bolstered throughout the lunch. Mid-palate was herbal and black currant with faint tart red fruit and tobacco. Fun to drink. — 2 years ago
Diego Conterno
Barolo Nebbiolo 2020
Diego Conterno’s 2020 Barolo is, once again, a terrific wine in its peer group. Deep, fleshy and super-expressive, the 2020 is ready to go. Crushed rose petal, spice, blood orange, menthol and cedar are front and center. Vibrant, fleshy and terrifically balanced, the 2020 is an absolute delight. I loved it. (Antonio Galloni, Vinous, September 2024)
— 5 months ago
Penfolds
St. Henri Shiraz 2005
A Collection of great Australian Reds - Christmas break up of the Tennis Group. This was the wine I brought. I forgot to say all these wines were tasted blind. Only the owner of the wine knew the identity. This was a standout thanks to the vintage with a long life ahead of it. HH has a drinking window through to 2040. As well as the savoury liquorice accents like the 2007, this had plenty of red and black fruits. That was my 3rd of 6 - 3 to go. Next in a couple of years if I have the willpower. — 2 years ago
Continuum
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2014
305 group annual 10 yr Napa cab retrospective — a year ago
Dehlinger Winery
Estate Bottled Russian River Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
Hosted my wine group (SJOS) and this was part of my Cab-ish theme tasting. — 2 years ago
Domaine du Pegau
Cuvée Réservé Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhone Blend 2019
The first of my small tranche of 2019 Cuvée Reservée’s and I figured it would be fun to share with the Tasting Group. Popped and poured and presented double-blind. The wine pours a translucent, deep ruby with magenta rim, near opaque core, medium+ viscosity. On the nose, the wine was clean with macerated raspberry, cranberry, and pomegranate fruits. There were purple flowers, some black pepper and rocky minerality along with a slightly gamey note which was quite charming. Both the fruit and non-fruit characteristics were confirmed on the palate. The wine finishes dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. There’s a compelling sense of power and energy in this wine. Everyone was in the Rhône but most were in the North; from Saint Joseph to Cornas, citing that they believed this was Syrah. However, two in the group called Châteauneuf du Pape and one actually called producer (!!) but missed on vintage (2016). Universally, the wine was fawned over and the dude who called Pagaü thought he actually favored the 2019 over the 2016 he had a while back. While I’m not sure I would go that far, the 2019 is truly quite stunning already and seems to have the guts to see a very long and wonderful life ahead. These are currently enjoying their customary early drinking window however, that window will likely close within a year or so and then I could see this shutting down pretty hard until 2025 — 3 years ago
Demir Mehovic
Great with steak — 2 months ago