2012 Penfolds Bin 138

Well, it's the first Saturday of February, making this Cellar Saturday!  It's a magical day where I raid the cellar to find a wine to open that's at least a decade in the making.  Tonight, I've opened a bottle that was a recent holiday gift from some longtime friends, the 2012 Penfolds Bin 138 Red Wine.  This wine is a classic GSM blend of Shiraz (aka Syrah 66%), Grenache (23%) and Mataro (aka Mourvèdre, 11%) from the Barossa Valley of South Australia.  So, let's see what this wine has to offer!

The wine is a deep ruby color in the glass, just as you might expect from this blend.  A gentle swirl in the glass reveals aromas of ripe red fruit, currant, strawberry and cherry intermingled with earthy notes of tar, black olive and cedar.  Take a sip and you're greeted with a rush of ripe fruit, cherry, raspberry and currant that transition to some notes of green olive, basalt and tobacco midpalate.  The tannins are wonderfully structured to provide for a velvety, dry and meaty finish on this Australian bulldog.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's a pleasant wine with some interesting, earthy and meaty characteristics that make for great conversation, but perhaps a more challenging pairing.  This wine would be good with some heartier meals, with bold spice and flavor, like a venison tenderloin, curried lamb or spicy bison chili.  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a gilled veal loin chop, rice and Madras lentils and steamed asparagus.  Cheers!

2014 Forgeron Cellars Walla Walla Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Happy Sunday!  I had a busy work day, that being doing professional work which was good, since it was rainy and markedly chillier today than yesterday, so I was happy to huddle indoors.  And now that I'm done with work for the moment, I've decided to make dinner and open up a bottle of wine.  Tonight I've decided to open a bottle that's been sitting in my cellar for at least a few years, the 2014 Forgeron Cellars Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvigon.  This wine is a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Birch Creek, Minnick Hills and Seven Hills Vineyards in the Walla Walla Valley of Washington.  So, let's see how this wine is tasting!

The wine is a deep ruby color in the glass, just as you'd expect from a Walla Walla Cabernet.  After letting this one breathe for a couple hours, a quick swirl in the glass reveals aromas of prune and green olive, intermingled with dark chocolate and ripe black fruit.  Take a sip and the doors open to a more old work style of wine with a rush of blackberry, cherry and currant with notes of anise, before transitioning effortlessly to some spice notes of white pepper midpalate.  The beefy tannins are still holding up well, providing for a velvety mouthfeel amid the long, smooth and very dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, as it's really singing at this point in its life.  This wine would pair well with a variety of hearty dishes, from a big grilled steak to pork tenderloin or mushroom risotto.  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a classic Sunday dinner of a rare grilled USDA Prime ribcap, along with some bacon roasted Brussels sprouts and a big baked potato with sour cream and scallions.  Cheers!

2007 Stag's Leap Napa Valley Petite Syrah

 Happy Cellar Saturday!  It's the first Saturday of the new month and that means it's time to raid the cellar for something at least a decade in the making and tonight I've opened a special wine from a stellar Napa Valley Vintage, the 2007 Stag's Leap Napa Valley Petite Syrah.  I am a fan of Petite Syrah as I find that it's generally neither petite nor very Syrah like, as it tends to be a much bigger, bolder wine.  I've decanted this wine and let it open up a bit so let's see how it's shaping up!

The wine is a deep, inky black at the center, with bright garnet along the edges, much more reminiscent of a Cabernet.  The nose is an interesting combination of ripe black fruit intermingled with a bit of mint, green herbs and earthy notes of tar and basalt.  The taste is exactly what you might expect from the aromas, with a rush of jammy fruit that quickly subsides to reveal flavors of green olives, white pepper and a bit of earthy funk midpalate.  The tannins are quite subdued revealing a soft, voluptuous dry finish that lingers on the palate.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's an excellent sipping wine that might be a year or two past it's prime.  This wine would pair well with just about any Labor Day fare, from grilled steak to barbecued ribs.  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a rare grilled Angus New York Strip, along with some grilled leeks, fire roasted peppers and grilled corn on the cob.  Cheers!

2014 Sleight of Hand Cellars "The Psychedelic Syrah"

So a few weeks ago I happened to be speaking with Julie Titus at Seven Hills Winery, making sure I had the wines that I thought I had (after my hard drive crash, it seems there are wineries that have a better idea of what's in my cellar than I do!) and she mentioned that she had recently enjoyed "one of the best Syrah's" she had ever had.  Of course I was intrigued, and she was kind enough to give me the contact information for the kind folks at Sleight of Hand Cellars so that I could get a few bottles of their 2014 "The Psychedelic Syrah"!!!  Now I do love me some Syrah, and this one is crafted from fruit of the Stoney Vine  Estate Vineyard in the Walla Walla AVA.  The folks at Sleight of Hand bill their wines as "Serious wines without the serious attitudes" so I think I could definitely get along with these guys!  I encourage you to check out their website (here: http://www.sofhcellars.com/) and see some of the interesting wines they are producing, but now let's get on with the show!

The wine is a deep ruby color in the glass.  The nose is just an explosion of everything that's great about Syrah, green grass, lavender, green olives, smoke and minerals with lovely undertones of ripe purple fruit.  The taste is like nothing I've experienced before, it just takes me right back to the many lovely tasting rooms in Walla Walla, with wild earthy flavors, bursts of ripe cherry, blackberry and blueberry, earthy limestone, licorice and smoke that just give you such a sense of the place that produced this wine.  The tannins are elegant, creating a velvety mouthfeel than envelops you creating a long, dry finish that's silky and very memorable.  This is appropriately names, as this was a psychedelic experience!

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9.5, as it's one of the best examples of the varietal that I've ever had the pleasure to drink.  I could tell you about pairings, but why ruin the experience?  Just sip this wine on the patio with a group of friends and you'll forget all about dinner.  Of course I'm hungry though, so tonight I am pairing this with a lovely grilled lemon herb halibut filet with some grilled organic rainbow carrots, earth meet sea!  Cheers!

2010 Seven Hills Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Well, it's time to at last bid a fine farewell to 2016, and I must admit I have no idea where the last 12 months have gone!  But at least to help celebrate what was a pretty good year (now that it's over), I've decided to open up a nice bottle of wine that I found while updating my cellar list this past week, the 2010 Seven Hills Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon!  This wine is a special, limited production (only 82 cases) wine from the old vines at the Seven Hills Vineyard and the Fire Ridge Vineyard in the Walla Walla Valley.  So let's see if it was worth the wait!

The wine is an intense ruby color along the edges with a center of inky indigo.  The nose offers some stunning aromas of leather and rich black fruit, blackberries, cherries and cassis with a residual of green olive that lingers at the end.  The taste is absolutely stunning, with rich black fruit intermingled with some wonderful notes of cherry cola, anise and dark chocolate, which transition elegantly to some fantastic notes of olive spice that brings back images of a local Italian grocery in New York.  The finish is divine, with robust tannins providing a velvety mouthfeel and a supple, dry finish that seems to last a minute or more.

What a great wine, that is not surprising to be given reserve status by the winemaker.  I would rate this one as an easy 9.5, as it's arguably the best Cabernet I've had in all of 2016 (good to end on a high note)!  This is an ideal big steak wine, which is a good thing since my New Year's Eve dinner consists of a prime dry aged Angus Porterhouse that I bought at Eataly yesterday in Chicago, along with a big baked potato with sour cream and chives and some steamed orange cauliflower.  Cheers and best wishes for the New Year!