WTN; Great Cabs and Steaks

Notes from a great dinner with various premium steaks to compare.

2013 Ch. Ste. Michelle Syrah Rose – a small production wine that showed good balance and clean flavours.

2010 Varner Santa Cruz Mt. Spring Ridge Vd. Amphitheater Block Chardonnay – ties with many German wines for longest name prize. Light vanilla and floral elements in the nose, excellent balance and length. My kind of Cal-Chard!

2001 Ch. Montelena Chardonnay – some colour, lemony vanilla nose, obviously no stranger to oak, and with more colour and some buttery notes. Smooth and very pleasurable. More Californian than the Varner. Good.

1991 Joseph Phelps Backus Vd. Cabernet – still showing very good colour, and a nose of mellow wood and typical mint and nutmeg. The spice component continued on palate and it has a mellow long finish with very soft tannins. Drink up. Good.

1994 Ch. Montelena Cabernet Estate – this one, from my cellar, surprised me a bit – I hadn’t tasted it in quite awhile. The nose was big and earthy, with cassis notes and some heat. The tannins were soft and it had medium length. More ripe and slightly roasted than I recalled.

1994 Mondavi Cabernet Reserve – a stellar vintage for this wine, and it showed beautifully, with mint in the nose and dark berry fruit, it was a smooth, supple well integrated wine that was a pleasure to drink. Long finish.

1995 Grace Family – very small production wine that had great depth and intensity in the nose, showing currant, spiced plum, and anise hints. Long and full of fruit on palate, but the Mondavi edged it out for me.

2002 Viader – this proprietary red blend almost always has a high percentage of cab franc, but it didn’t seem as obvious in this vintage as in others I’ve tasted. Big nose with dark fruit and cocoa, quite fresh and complex fruit in the mouth with a good long finish. Tasty.

2001 Cakebread Cellars Three Sisters Cabernet – cocoa and roasted nuts in the nose, sweet and tasty on palate, medium length.

2003 Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill Cabernet – classic claret nose, a tad dusty and with nice chocolate notes, great concentration on palate, very long finish, no rush at all. Good.

2000 Caymus Special Selection Cabernet – nice mint and fruit in the nose, and a rather sweet entry, but I thought it seemed a tad flat in the middle, which surprised me. Enough acidity to overcome the ripe fruit at the end.

2004 Long Shadows Feather Cabernet – this Randy Dunn wine showed slightly ripe coffee notes in the nose, with some mocha, had decent concentration and wasn’t overly ripe. Very decent.

1985 Fonseca Port – wow! Sweet nose in this still very dark (almost opaque) Port and some mint and ripe plum as well as some spice. Pretty smooth and well balanced in the mouth, but I think it is still some time away from ideal drinking plateau and needs some time. Wish I had some in my cellar!

2001 Karl Lawrence Cabernet – some nice wood notes ion the nose of this fully mature cabernet and some chocolate, not too ripe, and decent length. Drink up.

The steaks we were comparing were 45 day aged Flannery from CA, a Missouri sourced steak, one from Montana and one from Washington. It was very close, but I preferred the Montana, followed very closely by the Flannery.

Great evening!

Thanks, Jenise - wonderful 4th of July.

[Jenise]

Thanks for the notes, Bill! I was too busy to take physical notes, but that didn't stop me from making mental notes!

2013 Ch. Ste. Michelle Syrah Rose – What stands out about this well made rose is that it's above average in intensity but also extremely dry. Tavel-ish without as much austerity. Best WA rose I've had, period.

2010 Varner Santa Cruz Mt. Spring Ridge Vd. Amphitheater Block Chardonnay – a big chardonnay wherein the heft comes from good grapes and that Santa Cruz minerality, not oak and ripeness. Was good that night but an inch or so in the bottom of the bottle two days later was superior--this wine needed decanting. Who knew?

2001 Ch. Montelena Chardonnay – From Magnum. Riper than some Montelenas I've had and it's put on weight as it has aged (this was my last of three). No oxidation at all, even two days later when Bob and I finished the bottle. Fantastic showing for 'aged California chardonnay', three words you don't usually see in the same sentence.

1991 Joseph Phelps Backus Vd. Cabernet – I like your description. This was a very emotional bottle for us to open--it's the very last bottle of our Alaska stash--it was purchased there in the early 90's when we were newly smitten with the wine bug and just starting to build a cellar--was great to share it now with some of our favorite wine people, kind of comes full circle. Should have been drunk a few years ago but it wasn't tired, just, as you say, a little extra mellow.

1994 Ch. Montelena Cabernet Estate – The roasted quality you mention is, I think, an indicator of past-dueness. It certainly did not show the way we all expected a 94 Montelena to show--just one of those slightly lesser bottles, I suspect, with no meaurable flaw. Especially apparent in view of its flight-mate:

1994 Mondavi Cabernet Reserve – what you said.

1995 Grace Family – This was my favorite red of the day. It wasn't quite as spectacularly in the moment as the Mondavi, I'll grant you, but for wow factor, surprising youthfullness and tannins/potential down the road, this one won my heart. A very Lafite style CalCab.

2002 Viader – what you said.

2001 Cakebread Cellars Three Sisters Cabernet – And again.

2003 Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill Cabernet – This reaffirmed my love for Diamond Creek wines. Even in a torid vintage like 2003, here's a classy yet burly moutfull of cherries and rocks that just delighted me to the tips of my toes. I was delighted that my neighbor brought it and fervently hope he remembers how much I liked it. (hint hint)

2000 Caymus Special Selection Cabernet – Agreed. I wonder if some decanting would have filled it out--another bottle from my neighbor, who spontaneously ran home and got it.

2004 Long Shadows Feather Cabernet – What you said.

1985 Fonseca Port – You captured it well.

2001 Karl Lawrence Cabernet – I didn't think this was exactly in "drink up" territory, though it drinks deceptively well now.

And re the steaks: all were 20-24 ounce 2" thick rib-eyes. You know what the takeaway for me was? That at half the cost of the Flannery, the Washington prime will do just fine. But value considerations aside, Montana (not prime) won the contest with just about everyone. It was interesting that Cooper and you both thought it tasted more like Canadian beef--I had not considered before that Canadian beef had particular characteristics. May have to go through Billings again and bring home more!

For some reason, I love reading notes on California Cab. I don't drink them much, but each time I have one I enjoy, I kick myself for not cellaring them when we started visiting the region about 20 years ago. In those days, we drank what we purchased. I'm thinking about opening a 1996 Dalla Valle this weekend with a ribeye. The steaks you had from Montana - did you order on a website?

[Jenise]

Diane, I feel just the same way re those old cal cabs. Fortunately I have some friends who were more prudent than I. Re the steak, no , bought it in Billings when passing through a few weeks earlier.