Foodie Confidential

Last night we opened this bottle of Seavey 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley.  We paired it with Turkish Kebabs.

The winemaker at Seavey is Philippe Melka.  In spite of 2000 being a sub-par year for California Cabs, this wine received ratings of 91+ by Robert Parker and 92 by Stephen Tanzer.  I feel like they sold this wine a bit short, but perhaps at the time they wrote their review the wine was substantially younger?  The wine is 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Pettit Verdot, 3% Merlot and aged in French Oak (60% new). 

A mistake we made with this wine was not appreciating its sediment.  Thus, we wound up having to pour through cheesecloth from the decanter because we really disturbed the sediment.

The color is dark, inky purple.  On the nose is dark, sweet fruit.  When you drink this wine it is thick and jammy such that you can practically chew it.  It is fruit forward and well balanced with swirls of vanilla flavor among the blackberry, fig and dark plum tastes.  It is one of the more drinkable wines that we have tasted recently (Margaux excepted).  The fruit taste was appropriately restrained such that it does not come across as cheap.  It paired well with the lamb kebab but this would have stood alone. 

Well worth the cost in our opinion.  Just be careful when you decant....

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This weekend we opened another bottle of Kistler Vine Hill Chardonnay 2005 Russian River Valley.  This wine is creeping toward the end of its "drinkable dates" and our worst nightmare would be to let it go to waste! 

In keeping with the theme of my previous post about how differently the same wine can taste, this one was different even from January.

In my tasting note from January 2011, I said:

"The color is deep yellow/golden. On the nose is orange and vanilla.  Palate: Orange creamsicle, chestnuts and oak.  Full bodied."

This weekend we paired this with a Moroccan Chicken Tagine that Oz prepared here at home.  It was outstanding and I wish that I had taken a photograph.  Its not the most beautiful dish, but the flavors are unusual, exotic and delicious.  I will take a picture next time.  The Kistler paired well, but this time the wine had more of a "scorched earth" on both the nose and the taste.  A little unexpected.  I enjoyed the wine but the sweetness and orange creamsicle was nowhere to be found.  Of course, isn't that what makes pairing wines with different foods interesting?  I would argue that its actually kind of what makes wine so fascinating.  The chestnuts were pretty much in keeping with the scorched earth theme, they were just more pronounced with this dish. 

As I blogged a while ago, Kistler has increased its production and availability so it is going to be interesting to see whether they maintain the same standards and quality.  I am hoping that they will, as it would be a real loss to lose such an outstanding American producer of quality Chardonnay.  With the increasing number of "cult wines" out there today, the pressure really falls on Kistler to maintain their standards.  There are currently so many lists that it would be very easy at this point to drop one and pick up another.  A great position for the American consumer to have such a range of quality choices in wine. 

We opened this on 7/23/2011 with Salmon and Pork Tenderloin at Manna Avenue in Wilmington, North Carolina.  Araujo is located in the Napa Valley and the Eisele Vineyard is felt by many to produce some of the best Cabernet Sauvignon in the Napa Valley.  This wine is 91% cabernet sauvignon, 5% cabernet franc, 2% petit verdot and 2% merlot.  Araujo is considered to be a "cult" wine.  We get our Araujo directly from the winery.

We opened a bottle of this about 2 years ago and it still amazes me how differently two bottles of the same wine can present.  There are numerous factors at work which make this happen:

1) The wine has aged an additional two years.

2) The setting was completely different: inside a restaurant versus eating outside at home.

3) The amount of alcohol consumed (second bottle versus the third bottle in the company of friends) prior to opening this bottle is different.

4) The food was different: last night was Salmon (Oz) and Pork Tenderloin (Mike) versus Skirt Steak with Carne Asada 2 years ago.

5) The temperature of the wine varied somewhat.  Last night we were in an appropriately cool restaurant while 2 years ago we were outside in July.

6) Last time we decanted and this time we settled for allowing the wine to sit in our glass 30 minutes before drinking it as the restaurant did not have a decanter.

7) Intangibles: undoubtedly psychology plays some role such that when in a great mood things seem better.  In this case we were in a great mood on both occasions although one was a little more "party" with music and friends and last night was more a calm and subdued occasion.

We both liked the wine more 2 years ago.  The color was essentially the same and was a deep red.  On the nose is leather, tobacco and dark fruit but not particularly sweet.  Perhaps due to not decanting, the wine just felt very "wound up" and really never opened up to its full potential.  The first glass had hardened tannins and the acidity was glowing.  As the evening went on, this improved.  Gradually those tastes that we remembered started to shine through including everything from the nose but also a note of earth/barnyard that I did not notice 2 years ago.  If you read online, the ratings range from 92 (IWC) to 98 (Wine Advocate).  Wine spectator gave it 92 points.  For me, this was a 90-92pt experience although two years ago I would have been more in the 96-97 range.  Who knows what it may be tomorrow?!

 We paired this Peter Michael 2008 Belle Cote with Spaghetti alle Vongola.  This wine was spectacular.  The color was a moderate clear yellow. 

On the nose was citrus and floral notes.  On the palate the taste was complex with an array of flavors including vanilla, honeysuckle and

 sweet cirtus.  The finish was long and pleasant.  It paired well with the seafood pasta and look forward to drinking it again. 

This received 94 pts from Wine Spectator and 95 pts from the Wine Advocate and we agree.