ComfortWinery.com

Artesa 1999 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

These wines were made during Don Van Staaveren's time as winemaker at Artesa, straight off a number of fine vintages at Chateau St. Jean.  It is drinking at close-to-full maturity right now, with balanced fruit, acid, and round tannins.    A lean nose is belied by a powerful wine on the palate, with strong blackberry, tea, chocolate, leather, and a long finish.

$40; 90 points

Bottom Line:  There were a lot of great '99 Cali Cabs, made in the $30-40 range, which are drinking like wines that typically cost $100+ -- this is one of them.

Williams Selyem Hirsch Vineyard 1998 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

Lots of barnyard pre-decanting (a strong indicator of spoiled wine).  After several hours it was still omnipresent.   The next day, the brettanomyces had blown-off enough to at least taste the wine, but it was still borderline-undrinkable because the "bad brett" was so prevalent.

$90; spoiled

Bottom Line:   When you buy wine from producers like Williams Selyem that are upfront about telling you (on the label) that the wines are unfiltered -- you're always running a higher risk of ending up with a contaminated bottle (an argument for drinking wine sooner after release!).

Gundlach Bundschu 1997 Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon

"GunBun" has been one of my favorite wineries in Sonoma for many years now, I it's fun to drink from the wide variety of wines they produce from their estate fruit.

This estate cab from the legendary 1997 vintage is past its prime, with heavy tannin and residue in the bottle, showing very thick on the palate with lots of wood up front and charred black fruit behind it.

$40; 86 points

Bottom Line:  This wine is nearing the point in its life where there is no fruit left -- I will open another bottle soon to see if bottle-variation is playing a factor here too...

Penfolds Bin 128 1998 Coonawarra Shiraz

Very dark color, light nose, far heavier on the palate (like most '98s).  Jammy black fruit, lots of structure and char from new oak that's now starting to fall apart.     These "Bin" wines from Penfolds are oftentimes good values...

$30; 88 points

Bottom Line:  The smooth mouthfeel is wrecked by the rough finish, but this was a well-built wine that's showing negative signs of age.

d'Arenberg The Twentyeight Road 1998 McLaren Vale Mourvedre

Heavy tannin and sediment.   The Twentyeight Road bottling is named after one of the dirt roads bordering the vineyard in the McLaren Valley.   "Mataro" is the traditional Australian name for the varietal.    This wine was blended into d'Arenberg's Shiraz and Grenache blends for years before it was bottled on its own.   A mix of French and American oak is used.   

The wine's color is very dark, it could be a Malbec it's so dark, and the earth shows some earth and smells like freshly cut lumber, like a woodshop.   The wine is loosely knit, and seemingly fully mature with tobacco-driven black fruit falling apart gracefully on the palate.   

$30; 88 points

Bottom Line:  This wine reminds me a lot of 1990 Bordeaux; it's nice to drink lesser-used varietals like this from Oz.

Schug Durrell Vineyard 2002 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

70 cases is a funny number for anybody to make (about three barrels worth of wine (or 3,000 lbs of fruit), but I am so glad that I was able to get a case of this wine... 

2002 was a very good vintage, and this combination of top-notch Sonoma Coast fruit with the Cox/Schug winemaking team resulted in a wine of excellent clarity, depth of red fruit flavor (bing cherry and cola dominating), and oak highlights that compliment the finish and give reason to believe that this wine will cellar for another 10 years without serious degradation.

$35; 91 points

Bottom Line:  The high-end Schug wines are some of the best values in Northern California.

Paolo Bea 1997 Montefalco Sagrantino Passito

Paolo Bea's dessert wine.   The Sagratino varietal from Umbria is a wonderful botrytis wine with rich raisin and plum flavors.

I have a lot to learn about Italian dessert wines, and Amarone...

Thanks to Norm Page, for opening this with us!

$75 (375ml); 93 points

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 1997 Podere "I'll Poggiolo"

Sleek, sexy, racy fruit with lots of life, not heavy oak, excellent integration.    This wine is calm and mature now, but will clearly last another decade or two...

$75; 92 points

Bottom Line:   Fantastic, thanks to Norm and Jacqui Page (pictured) for opening it!

Chateau St. Jean Cinq Cepages 1997 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon

Chateau St. Jean was on a white-hot streak with their reds during the mid-90s.   In 1996 CSJ's Cinq Cepages (five varietals, a classic Bordeaux blend) was recognized by Wine Spectator as one of the finest wines in the world.     1997 was an epic year, weather-wise, in Northern California -- so this wine is especially interesting as a follow-up to the winery's 1996 effort...       I love their Merlots too, try their Reserve Tasting room when you visit -- it's one of the best in Sonoma.

Tonight was a perfect night to open this bottle because Macha, Marissa, and I visited Chateau St. Jean together many years ago and I bought this bottle at the cellar door.

We decanted for 90 minutes before drinking (I cheated and tasted it a few times along the way though).

This wine will last another 15 years easily, but it's drinking very well now, showing textured layers of dark red fruit and subtle oak.   The acids are strong (and make this wine taste far younger than it is), low tannin, and the kind of smoothness that only comes from blends of several varietals.    On the palate:  red roses, cranberry, bing cherry.

$125 (today's prices); 95 points

Bottom Line:  This is one of the most delicate high-end Cali '97s I've tasted to date.

Cloudy Bay 2004 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

Tangy green apple, almost too grassy as it has lost some of its youth and acidity.  Not as crisp as another bottle from the same case, which I opened a few weeks ago.  Despite that,  Cloudy Bay is amongst the most consistent producers of this varital on the planet...

$30; 91 points

Bottom Line:  There is going to be more bottle variation amongst Sauvignon Blancs as they age -- it's my fault for waiting until 2007 to drink this...