Happy New, Old and New Lunar Years!
I still need to finish the report on the Jeju Island trip (Day 4 was the longest, will take a lot of photos and text to describe, other days are more straightforward).
In the meantime, let's start a new series. We are members of Dover Canyon Winery wine club, primarily for the ability to buy Cujo Zinfandel at a pretty darn good discount, although we've discovered since joining the club that pretty much every wine of theirs (and their wines these days are all Zinfandels and Zin blends) ranges from pretty darn good (Primitivo, Renegade Red) to amazing (Dusi).
Yesterday I got an email from Dover Canyon informing me (and other club members, I am assuming) that they are clearing their storage and have a bunch of wines from 2000-2010 they are trying to get rid of. Buy one regular bottle, get a library bottle free.
So, today, we trekked to the winery, and got a case of Cujo, Renegade Red and Vincenzo, and added to it, a total of 14 vintage bottles in the picture above.
The plan is to blog opening of each of the bottles as we decide to go through this stash, and document which wines turned out great and which - less so. Some of these bottles are quite literally the last bottle available of the wine....
From left to right:
2007 Zinfandel Port (2 bottles). I have a Zin Port from something like 2010, I think, and one more - 2017 vintage. They Port has been great, and these bottles can be kept for a while.
Non-vintage Renegade (1 bottle). A blend of Primitivo and Zin today, I wonder what it was back when this bottle was released - judging by the label - some time in 2007-2010.
2007 Reserve Syrah (1 bottle). A candidate for being opened first, and if not the only bottle left, then one of just a few. The label says 65% Jimmy's Vineyard, 35% Stark Ranch, bottled in March 2009. 2007 was a great year for Syrah (one of my favorite wines ever was Ancient Peak Syrah from that year).
2004 Jimmy's Vineyard Syrah (1 bottle). Different label style and the oldest Syrah we got. They produced (according to the label) four barrels of this wine ~ 100 cases, I am guessing. I am pretty sure they had only one bottle of this wine left, so when we open it, this will be it for this vintage.
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| Last bottle to 2000 Menage with the pre-St. Bernard label. |
2000 Menage (1 bottle). This one we were told was the last bottle ever. 64% Cab Sauvignon, 22% Cab Franc, 14% - a pure Bordeaux blend, different from the 2009-2010 blends that are (see below) mostly Rhone varietals. The label predates the introduction of the iconic St. Bernard (see archive photo below). I am really curious about this one. It's pretty much the two Cabs, so it has a chance to turn out really well. This is possibly (see below) the oldest bottle of wine we brought home.
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| At Dover Canyon winery in 2013, with the St. Bernard. |
1997 Dusi Zinfandel or 2009 Dusi Zinfandel (1 bottle) in an umarked bottle (the writing was done in front of us). The other candidate for the oldest bottle, if it winds up indeed being 1997. It is more likely that it's a 2009 Zin, which, given how great Dusi Zinfandel is, might wind up being the best wine form the bunch.
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| 2007-2010 wines |
2008 Jimmy's Syrah (2 bottles). The most recent of the three Syrahs we have. We have two bottles, so one of them might also be opened pretty soon.
2008 Grenache (2 bottles). Another two bottle pickup, so one bottle can also be opened shortly. According to the label, 75 cases produced, and bottled in March of 2010.
2007 Carmenere (1 bottle). 50 cases produced, Bottled in March of 2009. I believe they had only a small handful of these bottles left. as well. We were asked specifically to let them know how it turned out - which gave me the idea to blog the whole experience of drinking these wines.
2009 Menage (1 bottle). This and the 2010 Menage were actually for sale, and were open at the winery so we tasted it. This vintage is 38% Carmenere, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Syrah, and 12% Grenache. Tasting notes from the tasting are below.
2010 Menage (1 bottle). This wine eliminated Cab Sauvignon from the blend, leaving it a Rhone Carmenere (52%) - Syrah (26%) - Grenache (22%) blend. We got to taste it too before deciding to get a bottle of each to complete the raid on Dover Canyon's library.
Tastings.
While at the winery, we tasted the 2010 and 2009 Menage and a 2004 Viognier - the only white wine that participated in the mix.
Menages. We tasted the 2010 vintage first, as it is much lighter (absence of any Bordeaux grapes). Interesting wine - no tannins and no residual sugar to speak of - very light. Starts quite bland, but the finish is interesting and flavorful. Our conversation was about the need to decant this wine before drinking and let it breath for 5-15 minutes.
Then came the time for the 2009 blend. We also did a side-by-side for these two. The Cab definitely makes this vintage more expressive, although it still is pretty low on tannins, I think. The two wines create a nice contrast, and I think we should open them and do side-by-side tasting at a single occasion.
2004 Viognier. We were offered this bottle - also the last of the batch and agreed to take it. This was the last bottle of that particular wine. In the followup conversation we asked for the bottle to be opened and together all three of us have sampled it. After that, the bottle, by chance was placed under the table - where all other bottles were, and I did not notice that, so instead we wound up picking up that 2007 Carmenere, This wine definitely is past its time. We nose is rather stale - ripe banana is one note that was distinct. The taste though was pretty good for a 16-year old white wine. There is some residual sugar in the bottle, and with age it became more prominent, but it does not dominate the wine. I was the only one of the three of us who tried it to appreciate it fully.
So, that's the story. I'll post more entries in the Vintage Wine Tasting series, as we open and drink the bottles. In the meantime, I have "documented" these bottles individually for posterity. We'll probably keep a couple of empty bottles when we finish them (I am thinking of keeping the 2000 Menage for the label, and the Dusi bottle because, heck - autographed!)
In the meantime, I decided to use the bottles as a backdrop for shooting some thematically appropriate playing cards... With only 7% of battery, I did not make it a long photoshoot, but I did get to place a few of the decks in the environment. As a parting shot, below are the pictures of King's Wild Project's Maduro deck, and with Stockholm 17's gaff cards from the Parlour project.
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| Dover Canyon Library wines with King's Wild Project's Maduro playing cards |
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| Dover Canyon Library Wines with Stockholm 17's (and Gentleman Wake's) Parlour gaff cards. |
