Back on the Wagon

I've been really delinquent with posting my tasting notes lately. I still have to try to turn my chicken scratch from the NZ Wine Expo into something intelligible. This weekend I promise I'll get to that. I need to get into the habit of churning out acutal intar-web content before the Super Secret Club goes live.

That having been said, Tuesday night Tania, Eric and I hit our usual haunt, Grapeseed, over in Bethesda. Eric's moving in to the Pallisades, two doors down, next week. Well, there goes the neighborhood!

We had a flight of 4 Sauvignon Blancs - 2 from California, 2 from Loire. The first wine was the best of the lot, I thought, exemplifying what I like out of a new world style Sauvignon Blanc. The other Cali (Joel Gott '04) was a bit of a Napa oak bomb (I like this.. Kangaroo Punch:Australia as Oak Bomb:Napa), limey, grassy with some acidity but an overall vapid mouthfeel and a light finish.

From France we had the '04 Domaine des Corbillieres Touraine which had a nose of topsoil, grass and peas. Yes, I said peas. That's one of those things that I find crop up in SBs that I find rather repellent, though it wasn't overly off-putting in this guy. The other, another 04 from Loire, Alphone Mellot "Les Moussierre" Sancerre, offered the same soft lemon that I loved in the Quivira, along with nice minerality, fig and a little bit of grass with a refreshing finish. Still didn't top the Quivira which was far more complex.

While sitting at the bar we made friends with Paul, a bicoastal professional foodie with a formidable resume, some pretty amazing friends and a silver tongue. I saw him get into the Conundrum, a Sauternes (to go with the fois gras.. such a sweet, sweet pairing..), and at my reccommendation Worthy Sophia's Cuvee, a good old fall-back of mine. Not sure if it stood up to his filet mignon, but worth the taste for future reference. An excellent dinner was had, at least on our part.

Without further ado, my favourite SB of the night and long overdue (from Eric's earlier-chronicled birthday dinner) notes on our new best friend, Walter Clore.


Quivira, Fig Valley Vineyard 2004

Meyer lemon and mineral dominate the nose on this lovely Dry Creek Valley Sauvignon Blanc. Nice round palate of sweet lemon with hints of lime, creamy fig, spice and a touch of vanilla, melding into a bright and elegant, mineral finish.


Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve - Columbia Valley 2002

A Cabernet-heavy Merlot blend, this Bordeaux style wine is firm and graceful with earth, blackberry and cocoa on the nose. Blackberries macerated with currants and blueberries dominate the mid palatte and persist all the way through the long, chocolatey finish.