[wine] Sonoma Cabs at JP's

Thanks to Russ for sharing his excellent notes. Sonoma Cabernet at JP's American Bistro . 5/13/2004 Note: winetasters' noses and palates had heavy competition from kitchen smells and spicy food on this particular evening. The kitchen smelled delicious and the food tasted delicious, but as a result, my notes may be even farther off the mark than usual. As the notes reflect, I found several wines fairly inscrutable, and of course I'm anything but an expert at tasting young cabernets. Bubbly . NV Roederer Estate, Anderson Valley. Clean and attractive nose, well structured wine rich enough to balance its acid, quite good. This particular wine, after being a house favorite for a decade, had been tasting thin and sharp to me (upon release, at least) for a couple of years. Annette S. reported that this bottle is the current release; good to see them back on form. W1 . Lovely fresh nose with bright white grapey fruit, Sancerre? (Nope, got the grape wrong immediately!) Plenty of fruit in the mouth, excellent snappy acid balance, excellent length, outstanding aperitif. 2002 Macon-Lugny Les Charmes, Cave de Lugny. Speaks extremely well of the vintage, as well as the skill of some young winemaker, when the local cooperative in Lugny produces this quality. 1.1 . Dark color, cloudy? Alcoholic, characteristically cabby nose; moderate fruit in mouth, very tannic and acidic finish, seems very young but is there a touch of maderised flavor? 1996 Gallo of Sonoma, Reserve Cabernet. 1.2 . Dark, crystalline, glyceral legs, generally deeper-looking; an earthier, less forthcoming nose than first wine, less fruit and more wood; round and bright fruit flavors in the mouth, smooth finish, good length, doesn't seem that serious but it sure is tasty! 2000 Roo Cabernet, Coonawarra. I really like this appellation. 1.3 . Dark, again crystalline and showing substantial legs, much the best nose of the first flight, currants and cedar, bit of a jammy Aussie-style touch on the nose; midpalate pleasant enough, lacks fruit at first, then the wine really started to open with 10-15 minutes' air, finish lengthened and fruit came up. 1997 Sebastiani Cabernet, Appellation Selection, Sonoma. This was quite good with the main course, after it had been open an hour. 2.1 . Dark, jammy looking; smooth, fruit-driven wine giving an Ozzy impression from nose thru finish, very long, plenty of chocolatey oak, rather shiraz-tasting but excellent of its style. 2001 L de Lyeth Cabernet, Sonoma. 2.2 . Dark; touch of prune on nose; smooth and sweet mouthfeel, overly sweet? Alcoholic power is prominent; overall impression is another smooth, fruit-driven wine that rather lacks cabernet character. 1991 Benziger Cabernet, Sonoma. 2.3 . Assertively spicy and herby nose, plenty of fruit too; midpalate very sweet and tannic, big fruit, lots of fancy wood, fruit seems to lack length, is the finishing power mostly just alcohol or is the tannin still drying out this young wine on the back end? 1994 Gundlach Bundschu Cabernet, Rhinefarm Vineyard, Sonoma Valley. 2.4 . Ultra dark, crystalline look. Considerable depth and varietal character on nose; a smooth, sweet, powerful midpalate; finishes with runaway truck power, spice chest and black fruits, a terrific bottle showing very well tonight in spite of its apparent youth. 1999 Kendall-Jackson Cabernet, Great Estates, Napa Valley. 3.1 . Dark color, glyceral-looking; attractive nose of balanced fruit, wood and alcohol, lacks varietal character though; extremely smooth, round and sweet midpalate; finishes rather briefly for its size. 2000 Napanook by Dominus Estate, Red Wine, Napa Valley. 3.2 . Very dark and leggy. Dark fruit nose with impeccable balance. Midpalate impression is a great big wine rather hiding its fruit, going thru a closed stage? Very powerful finish, again giving the closed impression despite the wine's considerable size, difficult to evaluate, improving with air but the tannin also grows more prominent with air. 2000 Dominus, Napa Valley. Also tasted, two tasty faux Burgundians from south of the bay: 2001 Carpe Diem Pinot Noir, Edna Valley, Firepeak Vineyard, and 2002 Carpe Diem Chardonnay, Edna Valley, Firepeak Vineyard. Thanks to Annette S. for letting us sample these wines. -- ------------------------------ * * Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *