ComfortWinery.com

2009 Andeluna Malbec, Mendoza

Michel Rolland, one of the industry's most controversial winemaking consultants, collaborated on the production of this Andeluna bottling with Silvio Alberto.   Malbecs can be difficult to distinguish from one another -- it's the predominant red varietal in Argentina but is a minor player (a "blending" grape) that is only used in Bordeaux blends in small proportions (typically less than 5%).  

The wine shows hot alcohol on the nose and is pretty difficult to distinguish from other low-end Malbecs from Mendoza (or the west of France for that matter) -- but it's appropriately priced at $10.   86 points

1964 Chateau Pape Clement, Graves

This bottle of Pape Clement was a gift to Kevin G, who was kind enough to share it with me on a special occassion.   I purchased it at a Bonhams & Butterfield auction in 2001.  The cork was still in decent shape after 47 years (thankfully)!   The wine is well past its prime, but the fruit has faded into red roses, with the oak contributing white pepper and pencil lead.   After it was open for about an hour, the red roses turned to candy-apple, with a caramel finish (typical in older wines).  88 points; $200

1990 Chateau Pontet-Canet, Pauillac

1990 was a monster vintage in Bordeaux, but especially in Pauillac-St.Estephe-St.Julien...   This was one of the vintages that helped put Pontet-Canet back on the map -- after 21 years this wine is still relatively tightly-wound and it has a long life ahead.   The acids are high and the dense black fruit is approaching maturity but not there yet...   Pontet-Canet sometimes has descriptors like "tar" and "rubber" attached to it, and traces of those elements are here too -- but they're far in the background.   This wine will likely last another 20-30 years without difficulty.

I enjoyed the bottle with my friend Kevin Gottesman at Bourbon Steak, Michael Mina's high-end steakhouse off Union Square in San Francisco.   $120 (retail); 93 points

2003 Vina Almaviva, Puente Alto, Chile

This wonderful blend from the mountains of Chile is one that you won't find in North America:  Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, and Cabernet Franc.  Almaviva is part of the Baron de Philippe Rothschild empire.  The Carmenere adds a complexity that is alien to most American drinkers -- it tends to make the wine less openly tannic and heavy than the Napa Cabs we're used to here in California.    This is a multifaceted wine that got several votes for "wine of the night"... It's not cheap, but Rich Johnson doesn't tend to bring mid-priced wines to our tastings (bless him)!  

1996 Penfolds Bin 707 & 1998 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon, South Australia

Our friend John Durham has a deep wine cellar, and he also pulls out fun bottles -- like this pair of well-aged Penfolds 707s.    The '98 is still fine, showing all the appealing characteristics of what I call "secondary maturity" -- red rose petals, a super-soft presentation on the palate -- stuff you don't get at all with young wines...   The '96 on the other hand was too far past it's peak to really be evaluated; the oak was almost fully dominating with little traces of fruit left.    This is one of Australia's top-notch Cabernet Sauvignon bottlings, so the lesson to me here is that you need to drink these in the first 10 years.

2005 Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

I know, I know -- "If you know so much about wine, then why are you writing about a Robert Mondavi bottling that is available by the million?".    The answer is simply that you need go-to wines for any mundane occassion, like pizza on a Monday at home -- and the picture below shows several of my favorite things: a homemade, whole-wheat-garlic-crusted pizza margharita with freshly diced pepperoncini and a nice glass of red wine...   Would it have been better with some high-end wine -- maybe, but the pepperoncini are powerful and tend to wipe out subtle flavors, and this cab is a perfect match because it stands up to the spice and still delivers plenty of flavor -- Mondavi and BV are my "baselines" for Napa Cab (if the wine is worse than their Napa blends, it's not worth buying, if it's better -- it's damn good!)...

2003 Martin 'Rockpile' Cabernet Sauvignon, Dry Creek Valley

One of my favorite small producers in Sonoma County is Martin Family Vineyards.  This fruit was grown at over 1,300 feet which usually adds some nuance to the fruit, but the 2003 vintage was a difficult one and like the fruit on the valley floor, much of it became overripe at the end of the season.   The results of overripe (higher brix -- the sugar level of the fruit when picked) fruit are jammy flavors and high alcohol (14.7% here, but it tastes higher).  

2006 Heitz Cellars Petit Verdot, Napa Valley

You have to really know your Bordeaux blends to appreciate Petit Verdot (it is used sparingly, as are Malbec and  Cabernet Franc).   It is super-rare in the United States, but it's no surprise that Heitz -- which has produced some of the finest Napa Cabs for the past three decades -- is growing the varietal and even doing single varietal bottlings!  I purchased this bottle at their tasting room/retail shop in Napa (which is disconnected from the winery and Heitz's vineyard properties).

The wine is very smooth, with focused black plum fruit and lip-smacking acidity.   It's easy to imagine why blending this with Cab and/or Merlot would produce a more complex and interesting finished wine...

1999 Heitz 'Martha's Vineyard' Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

Of Heitz's three single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon bottlings, Martha's Vineyard is the most famous (and collectible).   The 1999 vintage was a stellar one in Napa Valley, but it did not earn the special label (a fancier 4 color label depicting their stone winery) an elevated status that Heitz gives to the Martha's bottling in its best years (I'm not sure why this didn't get it; it was lovely). 

Mike Edelhart and I enjoyed this bottle together and paired it with a meal that was made entirely on the grill:  Merguez sausages, sweet potatoes, and white corn on the cob (grilled with husks on after soaking in water for a few hours).

$120; 92 points

Heitz Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 Napa Valley

There are two fundamental ways to judge most producer's efforts:

1) By their single vineyard bottlings

2) By their wide blends

Sure, there are plenty of other combinations & permutations (whether the producer owned and/or farmed the vineyards that produced the fruit) -- but typically evaluating the "baseline" blended wine (for whichever varietal the producer is known for) is a great indicator of the quality that the producer is capable of achieving.   Blends are typically easier to make a winning wine with because of their natural complexity (different vineyards, clones, oak profiles).  Heitz has been synonymous with high quality Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon throughout the rise of Napa as a world-class wine region, and sure enough, their Napa Valley blend is excellent.  

This 2002 blend is drinking wonderfully (nine years later).   The wine is balanced, with rich black cherry and red plum fruit in the front and light earth nuanced in the background.     It has some of the secondary-age characteristics of a Bordeaux, notably red rose petals on the finish.    At about $40/bottle, this is a fantastic value.  90 points