1982 Chateau Duhart-Milon-Rothschild, Pauillac

Very dark, brick colored around the edges. Open nose with aromas of red cherry, chassis and cedar. Big red and black cherry fruit flavors with the cedar, high acid, still substantial backbone of soft tannins, and a long fruity finish. A big fruity Bordeaux that is still going strong. My rating 90.

This estate is owned by the Rothschild’s that own Lafite-Rothschild, and the label has a Lafite-Rothschild look to it. According to Parker’s recent ratings, the 1982 was the best wine produced by this estate in the last 50 years. I do not believe I have ever tasted any other vintages from this estate. I probably bought this wine after it arrived in the US based on Parker’s recommendation. The price sticker still on the bottle shows I paid $18.50.

1999 Ridge Vineyards, Zinfandel, Dusi Ranch

Very dark garnet color. Strawberry and raseberry aromas on the nose. Big raseberry, strawberry, black cherry fruit flavors, high acid, moderate tannis, and a long fruity finish. This is a big, fruity Zinfandel. The alcohol is 14.5%. The fruit seemed very ripe, but not overripe to me, like a lot of California Zinfandels. My rating 87. This was a Ridge ATP wine.

2002 Leeuwin Estate, Chardonnay, Prelude Vineyards, Margaret Rive, Australia

Moderately dark straw. Nose has lemons, grapefruit and oak. Forward fruit of lemons and grapefruit, with buttery, oaky overtones, high acid, and a long fruit finish. I found this a big fruity Chardonnay. I paid $23. My rating 90.

I tried the Art Series Chardonnay too at a retailer tasting. It was similar, but had some heat on the finish, and I didn’t like it as well. It was about $53 a bottle.

1983 Chateau Gruaud Larose, St Julien

Dark, brownish around the edges. Big red cherry nose. Intense forward red and black cherry fruit, high acid, soft tannins, and a long fruity finish. A big, mature Bordeaux which is drinking beautifully, and show no hints of decline. My rating 89.

Bonny Doon and Randall Graham

I attended a Bonny Doon wine tasting last weekend and got a chance to talk briefly with Randall Graham. Randall Graham is California’s original Rhone Ranger, an innovative wine maker who is always trying new things, and the producer of the most original packaging of any winery in California.

Bonny Doon has switched almost entirely to screw caps. Randall Graham said that he tried plastic corks, but found that they seal more poorly than real corks and that wine ages faster with plastic corks. Randall also said that there are two different kinds of screw caps. One kind seals very tightly, which slows down wine aging. The other lets a little air in, similar to a real cork. Bonny Doon apparently uses both kinds of screw caps, depending on the type of wine.

Randall Graham complained about the quality of the grapes he has been getting lately in California. He said he felt that the growers that Bonny Doon has contracts with are not working very hard any more to produce the best quality fruit and that the quality of grapes he is getting has declined over recent vintages. I thought this was a rather surprising thing for a wine maker to say. Perhaps Randall is not a marketing person. In the latest copy of the Wine Advocate that just arrived, Parker says that the quality at Bonny Doon has declined from the mid 80s, but Parker suggests it is because of the production, now almost 400,000 cases a year.

Bonny Doon is now making a number of wines in Italy. The wine is made and bottled in Italy and then imported to the US to be sold by Bonny Doon. Randall Graham goes over to Italy to supervise much of the wine making. He had just gotten back from Italy.

Randall talked about his latest crazy idea. He is thinking about planting a vineyard from seed. All grape vineyards are planted by grafting from existing vineyards onto root stock. This gives vines that are genetically identical to the vines the grafts came from. He said, if you plant from seed, then you would get random genetic variations. Many of the seeds may be sterile. Some of the vines might not produce any grapes, but he would like to try it and see what happens. He was thinking of taking a vineyard planted to a mix of Rhone varieties, so that the different varieties would cross pollinate, and then take the seeds from the grapes and plant vines from those seeds. This would produce some totally new type of grapes. He would like to try it, even though it might well produce mediocre or terrible wine. He just wanted to try it once and see what happens.

Interesting Randall Graham fact: he drives an old Citroen because it is cigar shaped.

These wines were available for tasting. I didn’t really have time to rate them:

2003 Big House White, $8
Blend of all kinds of whites, but tasted like a Sauvignon Blanc. Good value.

2004 Ca del Solo Malavashia Bianca, $10
Some Italian grapes I had never heard of, but good, and a good value.

2004 Cigare Volant Blanc, $16
Made from white Rhone grapes. Very interesting and different. I liked it.

2004 Vin Gris De Cigare, $10
Basically made from the free run juices of the Cigare Volant. Nice summer sipping wine.

2003 Cardinal Zinfandel, $15
Ok Zin. Not overripe like many California Zins nowdays.

2001 Old Telegram, $25
Made from Mourvèdre. My favorite of the tasting.

2002 Cigare Volant, $25
Rhone mix. I was disappointed. Some other tasters said they thought the 2001 was better.

2003 Montepulciano, $9
Some Italian grape. Interesting. Needs some time.

2003 Ruche, $14
Another Italian grape. More ready to drink.

2001 Uva di Troia, $10
Yet another Italian wine. Interesting, ready to drink.

2004 Muscat Vin de Glacier, $14
Muscat desert wine. Ok.

Framboise, $9
This is raspberry wine, and tastes like you are drinking raspberry jam. Not my cup of tea.

Boutielle Call, $17
This is a port made from the Framboise, sort of a raspberry port. I thought it tasted better than the Framboise, but still not something I would buy.

1986 Beaulieu Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon, Georges De Latour, Private Reserve

Medium dark. Cherry with vegie overtones on the nose. Cherry and green beans are the forward fruit flavors, high acid, very soft tannins, and a long fruity finish. This is the 50th anniversary bottling of the of the Georges De Latour Private Reserve. The year 1986 was generally regarded as a good vintage in California, but this is a very disappointing wine. Not rated.

2004 Beaulieu Vinyards, Sauvignon Blanc, California, Private Cellars

Light yellow. Grass and lemon on the nose. Lemon and grassy on the forward fruit, high acid, long finish. This is a pretty good Sauvignon Blanc with some nice varietal character. My rating 83.

2002 Savannah Chanelle, Pinot Noir, Laetitia Vineyard, Arroyo Grande Valley

Dark garnet. Red cherry on the nose. Red cherry and strawberry fruity flavors, high acid, soft tannins, long fruity finish. This wine seems tight, and may improve in a few years. My rating 86.

2001 Ridge, Grenache, Lytton Estate

Medium dark. Nose had raspberry aromas. Dark raspberry fruit flavors, high acid, still some hard tannins, and a long fruity finish. Lots of good fruit intensity, but just slightly overripe fruit flavors. Alcohol is 14.4%. My rating 83.

Dinner Party Saturday Night.

Had a small dinner party Saturday nigh. We served both Salmon and beef with these wines:

2002 Testarossa, Chardonnay, Michaud Vineyard
Lemony nose with tropical fruit. Forward fruit has lemon, peach and mango flavors, with high acid, and a long creamy finish. This is an elegant, intensely fruity Chardonnay, with just a touch of cream, oak in the aftertaste to round it out. My rating 92.

1984 Ridge, Cabernet Sauvignon, Monte Bello Vineyards
Very dark garnet, slight brownish around the rim. Tight nose with red cherry. Intense forward fruit with red cherry and currant flavors, high acid, and a long fruity finish with very soft tannins. This bottle was a let down after the last bottle. It is still a very good wine, but just not mind blowing. My rating 90.

With desert, which was a bluebery cheese cake we had:

1983 Chateau Rieussec
Amber color, very dark for a Satuern. Forward nose of apricots and honey. Intense fruit flavors of apricots, pears and honey, high acid and a very long fruity finish. Delicious. My rating 91.