Thursday night I had the pleasure (and challenge) of feeding myself and 3 teenage boys at home. Sasha is traveling. What better than some grass-fed rib-eyes from Long Meadow Ranch? LMR is a winery and farm in the Mayacamas Mountains of Napa. Although I have yet to have the pleasure of trying their wines, their produce stand at Rutherford Gardens is a regular stop on my way up the Valley. Selection varies by season. In the winter, one may only find an unattended ice chest full of delicious fresh eggs where you pay on the honor system but in season, a veritable cornucopia of fresh veggies and meats are available. We love their meats, especially the grass-fed rib-eye ($17.99 lb.). And if their produce and meats weren’t good enough, Ted and Laddie Hall and their son Chris, owners of Long Meadow Ranch, are some of the nicest folks in Napa. Check out their website. I just did and it looks like a visit to their produce market is just the tip of the iceberg in experiencing all that LMR has to offer.

Long Meadow Ranch Rutherford Gardens
1796 So. St. Helena Highway (SR 29), just north of the intersection with SR 128
So what would a great cut of meat be without a great wine?

• 1997 Viader Proprietary Red – USA, California, Napa Valley (7/30/2009)
  I’ve been breaking into my ’97s to see if rumors of their demise are true. The 1997 Viader Red Wine is at a good place. Youthful appearance of medium ruby with virtually no bricking. Blackberry cobler flavors are followed by sweet cherry tomatoes and a backbone of cedar and mint. Sounds odd, I know, but it works. Tannins are still significant. At first I thought it didn’t need a decant but found it better with about 1/2 hour of air and a big rare steak. Drink now until 2012. (91 pts.)

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In addition to the 2008 Quivira Sauvignon Blanc Fig Tree here are some white wines I’ve tried recently to quench the summer heat.

• 2008 Araujo Estate Sauvignon Blanc Altagracia – USA, California, Napa Valley (7/24/2009)
  This wine needs more body. It is tart and thin and possesses very little taste beyond a big burst of lemon. Served btg at “Go Fish” restaurant in St Helena.(79 pts.)
• 2006 Bodegas Naia (Viña Sila) Rueda Naiades – Spain, Castilla y León, Rueda (7/16/2009)
  Pretty golden color and aromas of a bowl filled with tropical fruit and a hint of jasmine. Flavor starts out with a very tart lemon zest but that mellows as the wine warms and opens up to more of a lemon flavored salt water taffy, banana candy, and a bit of petrol. Don’t serve this wine too cold and perhaps even decant for best results. Well made, but personally, I didn’t love it, especially with the tariff of $30 from a premium Napa Valley grocer. It would have been more acceptable sub $20. (83 pts.)
• 2007 Osseus Wine Company Sauvignon Blanc – USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley (7/12/2009)
  Lovely and vibrant. Zesty lemon grass, grapefruit, even unsweetened lemonade with a tart laser beam of citrus acidity. Blind, I would have thought I was drinking a wine from New Zealand rather than Santa Ynez. Awesome summer wine. I wasn’t familiar with this label but will look for more. (87 pts.)

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• 2001 Novy Family Wines Syrah Napa Valley – USA, California, Napa Valley (6/5/2009)
  I pulled this wine from the cellar with hope that it hold its own with the spicy food at Tamarindo Antojeria Mexicana (Oakland – awesome restaurant). With the exception of the grilled habaneros, anaheim chiles, and jalapenos, the wine did serve the meal fairly well. Fortunately, the very hot (EtOH) nose of this wine doesn’t overwhelm once you take a drink. Grilled teriyaki steak, dark berries, anise, a bit of a medicinal note, smooth and mouth coating. Drinking at its peak. Interesting, I’m going to give this wine a score not too different from previous tasters on CT but I liked it and their TN seem to indicate otherwise. Excellent wine. 88+. The “plus” is because I’d bet the wine would be even better with a rack of lamb. (88 pts.)
• 2005 Bodegas Sierra Cantabria Rioja – Spain, La Rioja, Rioja (6/2/2009)
  I’m not that experienced with Rioja, but this one seemed quite pleasant a great addition to the Spanish tasting meal at Mezze Restaurant in Oakland. Cherries, wood smoke, fresh turned earth, some crushed sage leaf… not a big wine or especially complex but certainly worth the $30 off a restaurant wine list. (84 pts.)
• 2001 Neal Family Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain Estate – USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain (5/27/2009)
  Tight with cedar and sour blackberries. A bit austere and angular right now but should improve with 2-3 more years in the cellar. By about hour 4 in the decanter, it edges had softened a bit and the wine displayed a smokier character. (88 pts.)

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The other night we celebrated a special occasion in San Francisco at Chef Hubert Keller’s Fleur de Lys. Amazingly, even after many, many years in the Bay Area, we’d never been to this famous restaurant known as one of the most romantic in The City. It is one of those restaurants that stays consistently outstanding (Chef Keller has been at the helm since 1986) and continues to thrive while trendy places come and go. The food, service, and atmosphere were impeccable. I’m not going to pretend to be a food writer since I can’t do this meal justice, so I will just list our menu. I would not hesitate to recommend anything here:
Amuse bouche
Chilled Carrot & Coriander soup and Chilled Cucumber & Mint soup
First Course
Pan Seared Artisan Foie Gras with rhubarb, corn, and truffle sauce
Veal Sweetbread “Meuniere” with morel mushrooms, poached egg “purse”, toasted brioche, veal jus
Second Course
Chilled Dungeness Crab Salad with shavings of young vegetables, lobster infused vinaigrette, and lobster fondant with caviar
Wild Prawns with brioche crust (unfortunately didn’t get the full description of this one)
Third Course
Slow-Braised Snake River Farm Waygu Beef Cheeks with Pretzel Crust on spatzle, choucroute gratin and scented beer sauce
Oven Roasted Venison Chop with Truffled Baby Bok Choy accented with rich cocoa nib red wine reduction, Spanish chorizo, and cocoa tuile
Dessert
Chocolate Souffle
Grand Marnier Souffle
A four course menu is priced at $82 per person though there are additional surcharges on a few menu items. Corkage was $35 which is reasonable in The City at a restaurant of this caliber — especially since they treat the wine you bring the same as if you had ordered it off their list providing proper stemware, decanting, and giving fantastic wine service. Kudos to Marcus, the manager and sommelier that evening for making our dinner special both in food and wine.
Speaking of wine, I guess I should explain the rest of the title of this post…

• 2001 Harlan Estate The Maiden – USA, California, Napa Valley (7/14/2009)
  Wood smoke, sweet blackberries, molasses, cedar, toasty oak, river rock, and chargrilled meat. It was an outstanding wine after about an hour in the decanter and proved to be a great compliment to the meal. Not overpowering, it was a graceful heavyweight that stood up to the rich, big flavors of the French Alsatian meal at Chef Hubert Keller’s Fleur De Lys (San Francisco). The one negative: after about 2 hours in the decanter, I did notice the fruit starting to trail off and the tannins coming across as a bit dry and dusty. It makes me wonder if the time to drink and enjoy this wine is now, not later. (91 pts.)
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• 2001 Neal Family Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain Estate – USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain (5/27/2009)
  Tight with cedar and sour blackberries. A bit austere and angular right now but should improve with 2-3 more years in the cellar. By about hour 4 in the decanter, it edges had softened a bit and the wine displayed a smokier character. (88 pts.)
• 1998 Château Pavie – France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru (5/18/2009)
  Absolutely wonderful. Creme de cassis, chocolate covered cherries, mint leaf, eucalyptus, and smooth, sweet oak. Drinking very youthful, but “ready.” Wine Searcher shows this wine around the country at $175 – $200. It would be worth it. (96 pts.)
• 2001 Gemstone – USA, California, Napa Valley, Yountville (5/2/2009)
  I had forgotten that 18 months ago I had decided to hold this for 3+ years. That shows how tough it can be to make such predictions because this wine is rocking and rolling right now. It is wonderfully balanced, walking the tight rope between lush, extracted fruit while still supported by a smokey, secondary complexity. Kind of the best of both worlds: Mouth coating, but not heavy. Earthy, but not rustic. Extremely long finish with tannins fully integrated.

  Gemstone is a list that I allowed myself to drop. When the wines were released, I found them cloying, but if this is how they can be at age 8, I need to rethink my decision to not buy. (95 pts.)

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Last Friday — I think I’m just now recovering a week later — was quite a day of wine tasting. I never take notes during such experiences but do try to at least write down the names of wines I would recommend for my own purchases and others. If I mention the wine, I would recommend it but an * indicates that I found the wine particularly outstanding. Note, I only tried a fraction of the wines available at these events. One would have to be some sort of super taster on a paid vacation to work through all offerings.
Taste Napa Valley – part of the Napa Vintners’ Auction Napa Valley. This event featured numerous wineries pouring their current releases, many local restaurants offering wonderful edibles, the closing hours of the online e-Auction with computers set up for last-minute bids, and the barrel auction of future releases. Personal observation and confirmed by several vintners was that bidding was down from previous years. Many bidders at the barrel auction were able to pick up some future cases of quite renowned wines for less than the ultimate release price. I was pleased however with our E-Auction lot which went for $5101. Ultimately the auction raised $5.7 million for local Napa Valley non-profits. This is a little more than half of what was raised last year.
Bottled Highlights:
*2007 Truchard Roussane
*2008(?) Heitz Grignolino Rose
2007(?) Broman Sauvignon Blanc
2007 Madonna Estate Pinot Grigio
*2005 Cornerstone Cabernet Sauvignon
Barrel Highlights and there were many reflecting the excellent 2007 Napa vintage:
2007 Blackbird Contrarian Bordeaux Blend
2007 Crocker Starr Cabernet Sauvignon
2007 DR Stephens Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
2007 Etude Cabernet Sauvignon
*2007 Jones Family Cabernet Sauvignon
2007 Keenan Cabernet Sauvignon
*2008 Mi Sueno Cabernet Sauvignon – if you don’t know Mi Sueno’s wines, you should
*2007 Realm Beckstoffer Dr Crane Cabernet Sauvignon
2007 Roy Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
*2007 Sonador Cellers Cabernet Sauvignon “The Dreamer” – a winery I’d never heard of but I think one to watch, very charming, lush, approachable, and I believe they said the price point of this wine is in the $50’s
*2007 Viader Cabernet Sauvignon
Next, it was on to Herb Lamb tasting at Acme Wines in St Helena. They were pouring their 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, 2006 EII Red Wine, and *2005 HL Cabernet Sauvignon. All were good to outstanding. If you’ve not had a chance to meet Jennifer and Herb Lamb, do it. They were wonderful, down to earth, and charming people. It was also a pleasure to meet face-to-face winemaker Michael Trujillo after so many years. His wife planned my wedding back in 2001.
Cheers St Helena – this is the first year for this event held the first Friday of each month (starting last month and ending in October). The merchants of St Helena stay open late and most have a winery pouring inside plus many have restaurants providing munchies. Tickets are $5 a taste, $35 for a VIP one night unlimited tastings, or $100 VIP unlimited for the whole season. This is not your run-of-the-mill wine festival. They limit the number of winery participants to 50 local wineries and there is a waiting list to participate. (I know, I’m on it.) This differs as usually these types of events are begging for participants. Sign of the times, I guess.
Highlights:
Scott Harvey Wines – a new one for me. I liked their 2007 Jana Rose (Napa) and their *2005 Old Vines Zinfandel (Amador County)
2006 Chappellet Mountain Cuvee – “hot” nose, but delicious taste
*2005 Venge Vineyards “Scout’s Honor” Zinfandel blend
2006 Bouchaine Pinot Noir Carneros
*2007 Cliff Lede Sauvignon Blanc
2006 Miller Wine Works Grenache Shannon Ridge Vineyard, Lake County – another new one for me. I’m not normally a big Grenache drinker but thought this one was quite attractive
2006 Pride Cabernet Sauvignon – undoubtedly this will be a great wine but it’s almost painful to drink now. Honestly, I’m surprised they would choose such a baby to show at this sort of mass venue.
I finished up the evening with the delicious Oysters Bingo and the Brutus Caeser sitting at the bar of Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen. One final “new” discovery, 2006 Six Sigma Sauvignon Blanc (Lake County) by the glass and a small taste from a neighbor’s bottle of *2006 Inman Russian River Valley Pinot Noir.
And then I slept.

• 1975 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou – France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (11/30/2004)
  A dull, dark, brownish-red wine gives off earthy aromas of cigar box and forest floor. Dusty tannins are still, as Mr Parker put it in 1996, “angular” but there are notes of rum-soaked black cherries, strong coffee, wood smoke, truffles, menthol, and cedar closet. Will this wine ever resolve in to something better? Perhaps. It seems to be holding it’s own and undergoing little change in the past decade. No rush to open. Could be that better things will come to him who waits. (87 pts.)
• 1989 Château Le Gay – France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol (11/29/2004)
  Inky dark, almost black wine — a fascinating color — with just a slight orangish browning at the edges. Aromas of leather, pencil shavings, and old wooden furniture but there’s fruit here too: fig, stewed plums, spiced fruit cake. Chunky, chewy tannins beg for even more time. A classy wine that I liked a lot. Only a mid-palate thinness held this one back from a higher score. Hold for another 3 years and then enjoy for years to come. (88 pts.)
• 1966 Château La Mission Haut-Brion – France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (10/23/2004)
  Not fading, but mature and beautiful. Cedar, leather, spicy fruity. Retains a beautiful red color with little browning. Elegant.
• 1989 Château Chasse-Spleen – France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Moulis en Médoc (3/24/2004)
  Beautiful deep color, no bricking, very clean with medium body. Pretty aromas of raspberry, cherry liqueur, pipe tobacco and pine forest. The flavors of the forest continue with cedar and pine, plus pencil lead, leather, mint, and a racy streak of wild berries. Pleasant acidity with firm, but sweet tannins, and wood smoke. Long finish. This wine is just starting to appear “mature” and while lovely after an hour in the decanter, it hasn’t quite completed the transformation from youthful exuberance to distinguished maturity. Give this one another couple of years and then enjoy for many years to come. (93 pts.)
• 1975 Château Pape Clément – France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (3/3/2004)
  Maintaining good color, medium to light red with very little bricking. Musty smell gives way to wet earth and tobacco. After about 15 minutes, the wine reveals currant with pencil lead and river rock flavors. A bit past its prime, but still drinking fine. If anyone has a properly stored magnum, that should be really good. (85 pts.)
• 1970 Château Fourcas Hosten – France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Listrac-Médoc (1/12/2004)
  Still good color. Muted nose of herbs and spice. Pencil lead, cedar box, cherry tobacco.
• 1970 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou – France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (9/29/2003)
  Had this again last night. This bottle, purchased and stored with the one I enjoyed back in June, was not showing nearly as well. Less body, less fruit, less… well everything. On the downhill slope. NR.
• 1970 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou – France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (6/11/2003)
  Superb mature Bordeaux. Elegant, but still vibrant after all these years. Dark brownish red with some amber bricking. Opens with sweet pipe tobacco smoke and cedar. Fantastic things happen in the mouth: black currant, prune, and dried fruit with notes of eucalyptus and tar. But even with these “aged” elements, there is still a youthfulness of sweeter, fresher fruit that emerged about 15 minutes after of decanting and remained for the next 1 1/2 hours. There’s an element of not unpleasant tannins on the finish, but I doubt this wine is going to improve much more. Drink it now while the fruit still leads this parade. (91 pts.)
• 1975 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou – France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (6/4/2003)
  Slightly dull, medium ruby color with only slight bricking. Thick full body with long legs. Earthy aromas of tobacco leaf and forest floor. Dusty, tight, stingy tannins but the wine still ekes out a some nice dark plums, menthol, and cedar. Drink now. (88 pts.)
• 1970 Château Beychevelle – France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (5/30/2003)
  Mid – Bottom shoulder fill. Dark amber, port like color. This bottle was in even worse shape than the one I had a couple of months before. Tar, oaky wood, little else with a quite EtOH nose. NR.
• 1995 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou – France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (5/19/2003)
  Way too soon on this one, very backward and tight tannins but I wanted to see how it was developing. Opened up after 2 hours to reveal nice saddle leather, cedar, raspberry, and blueberry fruit. Such a different style of winemaking from the evening’s other wines. I’ll wait at least another 3 years to open another one of these.
• 1970 Château Fourcas Hosten – France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Listrac-Médoc (3/21/2003)
  Slightly cloudy red but otherwise I didn’t detect any obvious flaws. Surprisingly youthful nose for a 30+ year old wine with aromas of dark fruit and tobacco. Tasted plum, black cherries, cherry-flavored pipe tobacco, tar, smoke, and pine wood. This wine must have been big when young — it’s still holding its own. Drink now. (88 pts.)
• 1970 Château Beychevelle – France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (3/15/2003)
  Soft and light with a bit of spice, there was very little fruit left, perhaps some plum if one hoped hard enough. The wine still maintains a nice color, but it has certainly seen its better days. Drink now or ten years ago. This bottle’s cork was dry at the core and crumbled on extraction. There was a high shoulder fill. NR.
• 1989 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou – France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (2/23/2003)
  Medium body with a dark ruby color. Aromas of cigar box and asian spices. On the tongue it revealed pleasant, but quite subtle cassis and cherry fruit with a touch of earthy minerals. Medium, balanced finish with some tannins hinting of better things to come. This wine has a bit left in its bag of tricks that should emerge (in a good way) over the next few years. I plan to look for some more. (91 pts.)

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• 2002 Woop Woop Shiraz – Australia (3/31/2004)
  This wine has taken on some weight since I last had it a year ago. Sweeter fruit, rounder, better integrated flavors. Score for me has jumped 5 points to a strong 88. (88 pts.)
• 2002 Marquis Philips Cabernet Sauvignon – Australia, South Eastern (2/9/2004)
  Initial blast of berry aromas, then decanted 3 hours. This bottle is a little more together than my last six months ago. Wave of fruit aromas, backed up by flavors of vanilla cream, cherries, blueberries, and cedar. Oak and tannins are more abrupt and bitter than they should be — they betray this wine’s rather pedestrian heritage and are the unrefined element keeping this wine from being great. Still, it’s not a bad drink at all for 13 bucks. One more point than last time — 87 points.Revisited the remainder of this bottle 24 hours later — only a point or two better perhaps but much more enjoyable. This wine will definitely benefit from 3-4 years in the cellar but the dilemma is whether to dedicate badly needed cellar space to a sub 90 point wine… (87 pts.)
• 2001 Kangarilla Road Shiraz McLaren Vale – Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale (11/17/2003)
  No notes. (89 pts.)
• 2002 Marquis Philips Cabernet Sauvignon – Australia, South Eastern (8/28/2003)
  Dark garnet, strong ETOH with fruity aromas that became more defined after about an hour in the decanter. This wine smells like the little syrup bottle racks they have at IHOP — or at least used to — blueberry in particular. Creamy blueberry, vanilla, medicinal, a touch of oak. This wine seems very disjointed to me. It has the right elements but they are not well integrated giving a sort of a haphazard start, middle, and finish to the wine. Youth? Bottling shock?Do I consider it a good value? For drinking right now, there are wines available at the price that I would enjoy more. However, this one seems to have a richness that hints of more potential. Sure would have liked to see this one have more time in oak, but then, that would drive up the price. I’ll try another one in a year and see if it was a good deal or not. 86+ pts.

  Note: after 24 hours served slightly chilled the various components of the wine have melded a bit better to make it more drinkable alone. The first day it was only enjoyable while eating the lamb and did not complement the rest of the meal or by itself. (86 pts.)

• 2002 Woop Woop Shiraz – Australia (5/22/2003)
  Deep crimson color in the middle with lighter edges. Light body. Lovely sweet cherry nose. Initially tasted of tart cherries soaked in alcohol, oak, wet earth and pebbles. After about an hour in an open bottle, the oak calmed a bit, the cherries tasted sweeter, and I picked up a bit of mocha and raisins. I agree that this makes a nice weekday wine. I enjoyed it with spicy Mexican food and the slight sweetness helped it hold its own. 83 pts. Not bad for $10.99 at a local wine store. (83 pts.)
• 1991 Yarra Yering Shiraz Underhill – Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley (2/28/2003)
  Almost black. Light bodied with a bizarre stewed tomatoes (Sasha thought it was a fruit) aroma. This oddity carried over on the pallate with an unidentifiable fruit, black pepper, and gamy flavors that flattened out in an unexciting way on the finish. I didn’t finish the bottle, or even my glass. What a waste for $110 dollars on a wine list. I’ll give it an 80 and figure that someone else who knows more about Aussie Shiraz would appreciate it more. (80 pts.)

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