Similar quality, but I only paid 12 bucks for the Carménère retail and paid $50 for the Cab off a restaurant wine list. BYOB is my friend.

2007 Viña Ventisquero Carménère Root:1 [The Original Ungrafted] – Chile, Central Valley, Rapel Valley, Colchagua Valley (2/18/2010)
Aromas of baked fruit, pepper, and violets but rather simple sour cherry flavors in the mouth. Still, quite pleasant and recommended at $11.99 retail. (84 pts.)

2007 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Knights Valley – USA, California, Sonoma County, Knights Valley (2/14/2010)
Expressive cassis and tobacco flavors backed up by a healthy dose of sweet new oak, however it finishes very short and thin. Disappointing given the vintage. (82 pts.)

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2002 Round Pond Cabernet Sauvignon – USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford (2/24/2010)
Generally, folks love the 2002 vintage from Napa. I love them too – they are big, fruity, rich, and fun. I’ve often called our own 2002 “our party wine.” 02 Napa Cabs are loud music and colorful balloons. (And no small amount of alcohol.) The 2002 Cab from Round Pond fits right in with its peers: massive raspberry, currant, campfire, molasses, and vanilla. The thing holding this wine back – and what has held many Cabs from this vintage back – is a lack of developed, secondary, earthy flavors that can round out a wine and make it special. It’s always hoped that these flavors will develop with time but at least with the 2002 Round Pond, I don’t immediately perceive the necessary structure to develop further. (88 pts.)

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Part of a Wineberserkers.com 2002 Cali Cab Virtual Tasting

Round Pond just completed construction on a beautiful winery a couple of years back. The architecture and wines are worth a visit when you are in Napa. Their tastings (by appointment only, I believe) are paired with little nibbles in a very comfortable, sit-down setting.

2008 Philippe Raimbault Sancerre “Apud Sariacum” – France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre (2/22/2010)
Strong lemon grass nose promised MUCH more than this wine delivered. Mowed grass is out of balance — almost bitter weedy, melon, and some off flavor that I couldn’t id. Certainly not recommended at $22 retail. Drank as part of the Wineberserkers.com Loire Valley exploration week. (78 pts.)

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2004 Clos Rougeard (Foucault) Saumur-Champigny – France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur-Champigny (2/19/2010)
Light in color, body, and flavor. Mint and cedar nose. Initially, I couldn’t help but be reminded of grape kool-aid when one added too much water to the powdered mix. Luckily it did flesh out a bit with air. Tart strawberries, rhubarb, and celery in a delicate package. Not bad but could have used a little “something-something” to make it worth the $40 retail. Drank as part of Wineberserkers.com Loire Valley wine exploration week.(83 pts.)

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Wineberserkers.com will be exploring wines from the Loire Valley next week. Members will each try wines from this region and post their thoughts. It should be a good learning experience for me as I know virtually nothing about the Loire.

Here’s what I bought on recommendation from Paul Marcus Wines (Oakland):
N.V. François Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Brut $21
2004 Clos Rougeard (Foucault) Saumur-Champigny $45
2007 Domaine Deletang Montlouis-sur-Loire Sec Les Batisses $16
2008 Philippe Raimbault Sancerre “Apud Sariacum” $22
Why don’t you stop in at Wineberserkers.com and pop a bottle from the Loire with us.

One night. Two 2002s. One from Napa. One from Bordeaux. Identically priced at $159 on a relatively pricey restaurant wine list. Of course, not too much should be read in this head-to-head tasting. Comparing a vintage from two different wine regions is an imperfect comparison at best.

2002 Corison Cabernet Sauvignon – USA, California, Napa Valley (1/30/2010)
Full bodied and lavishly flavored as expected from the 02 Napa vintage, but beyond just a big boy party wine, Cathy Corison has crafted a wine that causes pause for thought as well. Aromas of a bowl of berries burst from the glass but those flavors are well in balance on the palate accompanied by black cherry, dark chocolate, and cinnamon with secondaries of clove and mellow sweet oak. It’s a little early for this wine: it’s lovely now with and hour of air, but will be awesome in 2012 and wonderful for years to come. (92 pts.)

2002 Alter Ego de Palmer – France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (1/30/2010)
Reticent nose. Soft and refined flavors, but lacks distinction. Currant, tobacco, cedar closet, black olive and a touch of stemmy greenness. Medium finish. Very good wine that doesn’t quite eek out excellence. Drink now though 2012 because I think it’s drying out. (88 pts.)

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By the way, neither of these wines are their winery’s flagship wines. Cathy Corison makes a single vineyard Cabernet from her Kronos Vineyard. Palmer, of course, makes the famous Chateau Palmer Margaux.

2006 Qupé Chardonnay Block Eleven Bien Nacido Reserve – USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley (1/29/2010)
Lemon meringue, almonds, and fresh baked scones. Buttery, but not overdone. Maintains a lively, spry character while still giving some ooomph on the finish. Nice wine. (89 pts.)

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2005 Concha y Toro Cabernet Sauvignon Marqués de Casa Concha – Chile, Central Valley, Maipo Valley, Puente Alto (1/29/2010)
Ripe plum with some pine and coffee secondaries. Oak is a bit disjointed and green but there is a chance this will resolve some. The wine fleshed out with air but the finish is short and thin. I thought the 2007 vintage was a significantly better wine. $16 retail would have been far more palatable than the $50 we paid off a pricey restaurant wine list. (83 pts.)

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2006 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Galitzine Vineyard – USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain (1/28/2010)
Monstrously good wine. Deep, rich, dark chocolate covered cherries. Brooding. Wood smoke, molasses, espresso, new toasty oak. Earth. Long and vibrant finish with licorice and milk chocolate. Obviously just a baby but far more approachable young than my experience with QC’s Columbia Valley Cabs from the early years of this millennium. Still, this wine is going to become seriously special in just a few. Best QC I have tasted. (94 pts.)

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• 2005 Judd’s Hill Cabernet Sauvignon – USA, California, Napa Valley (1/28/2010)
  Fleshy raspberry with a full, rich mouthfeel. Currant, tea leaf, and a touch of green herb that I love in many 2005 Napa Cabs. Tannins are fine and not off-putting but a few more years in the cellar will pay off for this wine. Not a 91 just yet, but I think it will be in time. A friend brought this to a restaurant but I see that it retails for somewhere just above $40. That’s a heck-of-a-deal for an excellent Napa Cab. (91 pts.)

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