Birthday Throwdown

This weekend, I started the mourning of the passing of my early 20's and ringing in the coming responsibility of turning 26. To ring it in properly, I grabbed two amazing bottles. The first is the 2004 Quilceda Creek Cabernet, a very highly rated Cabernet, and the second is the retaste of a 2006 K Vintners The Deal Syrah, another highly rated wine and one that I had previously given a 96. I bought the 2004 Quilceda from J. Emersons in Richmond, VA for $225.00 and the K Vintners Deal for $30.00 from Cities Grille Wine Club.



The 2004 Quilceda Creek Cabernet is a highly rated and highly sought after wine from the legendary Quilceda Creek Vintners. Quilceda Creek Vintners is one of the most respected and sought after winemakers and was started by the Golitzin family with the encouragement and guidance from their legendary relative Andre Tchelistcheff in 1978. The 2004 received a 99 from Dr. Jay Miller of the Wine Advocate and other recent vintages having gotten 100 or 99, this is certainly one of the highest rated domestic wines and the most consistently highly rated Washington efforts to date. This particular vintage is 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot, and 1% Cabernet Franc, with the the fruit sourced from Champoux, Tapteil, Klipsun vineyards.

Initial Impressions: Whoa, if you want to see some amazing Cabernet color, this is the wine. This wine is pitch black, with flecks of crimson and ruby shining from the core and rim of the color. Pitching the glass does nothing to the color, showing amazing concentration and extraction. The intial smell was amazing, showing some great bell pepper, chocolate, and dark fruit aromas. I decanted the bottle for over 12 hours, and the aroma morphed and became much more open as it sat in the decanter. Simply amazing so far.

Nose: You really dont have to try to smell this wine, it will simply grab you and make you know smell it. This is an explosive nose, or as one of my good friends said, "has serious balls". On the nose you will be bowled over with huge red fruit, dark chocolate, fig, tomato, cabbage, white and black pepper. black currant, and spice. It evolves in the glass even more to show even more dark fruit and a beautiful amount of cinnamon and cassis.

Taste: Much like the nose, this wine is such a bomb. It bowles you over with loads of red fruit, black fruit, fig, earth, and dark chocolate. As it gathers more air in the glass, it really comes into its own with huge cassis, chocolate, great amounts of chocolate, and earth. The mouthfeel is huge and completely coats the palate, making your entire mouth taste this great wine. The finish goes on forever with this wine, as i was tasting for more than a minute after every sip. The structure of this wine suggests it can last many years, with suggestions stating it will be good to drink until 2045. Decanting is very necessary for this wine, as it was incredibly tannic when opened. The air softened the intial tannins greatly and made the wine much more smooth.

Overall: This is a great wine, period. Probably the best Cabernet I have had from just about anywhere, rivaling many of the cult wines that are oh so popular from California. At a fraction of the price upon release, this is definitely the go to wine for those who love big, New World Cabernets. I am a huge fan of these wines personally, and in my opinion this is a near perfect example of this for me. 99+ Points




The next wine is a retaste of a previously tasted wine and quite possibly one of my favorite. The K Vintners Deal Syrah is an amazing New World bomb with a nice amount of Old World love to make it interesting. This particular wine has great amounts of different non fruit flavors, featuring the gaminess and vegetal nature of the Syrah varietal.

Initial Impressions: Much like the previous tasting, this wine does not lack color in any way shape or form. It is black, completely opaque, with a small tinge of dark plum surrounding the outside. It is so viscous it sticks completely to the glass and completely coats the glass. It has a very pungent nose of spice and chocolate.

Nose: Again much like the previous tasting, this wine definitely is a smorgasborg of aromas. It is amazingly dense, with meat, dark chocolate, vegetables, and dark fruit on the nose. Secondary aromas include dusty plum, dark black fruit, and mulberry. I did not pick up as much on the alcohol on the nose thankfully, as the air helped to round it out quite a bit. Overall a very nice nose.

Taste: Mcuh like previously stated, this wine is so big and beefy, its more like a meal that a wine. This could definitely divide a room, but it just fills the mouth with this huge, bombastic, meaty, and vegetal bomb. This wine has loads of different flavors, with a beautiful amount of beef jerky, venison, red cabbage, dark fruit, and a great amount of Asian spices. The tannins are less pronounced than when previously tasted, with no alcohol present. It has great structure and I can see this finally sorting itself out and peaking in the next 5-10 years. The finish lasts and lasts, going for over a minute.

Overall Impressions: Much of what I love about Syrah is in this wine. I really think that additional bottle age could make it open up even more, which would be at the expense of the obvious explosiveness. It is as good as when previously tasted, showing immense structure and concentration in the wine. Simply amazing. 96+ Points

Budget Cabernet

In need of a wine that would not break the bank, I ventured into my wine collection and pulled out a budget Cabernet that I hope would pair nicely with dinner. Out of the cellar came the 2006 14 Hands Cabernet Sauvignon, a $12-$15 Cabernet hailing from the great state of Washington. I picked up this bottle from a local wine shop, Red, White and Bordeaux in Gloucester, VA for the princely sum of $15.50.

Color: This really is run of the mill dark purple, ruby color that one expects from a Cabernet at this price point. It is not too concentrated and completely translucent and transparent in areas when held to the light. The consistency is kind of thin, and there is a delicate quality to the color many reserve for Pinots at this price point.

Nose: Not all that expressive at first, but does open up with a little air. Once open there is a fair amount of chocolate, red fruit, raspberries are very apparent, bell peppers, and earth. Surprisingly complex and herbacious nose, atypical of the fruit punch you get from many at this level. So far, nothing special, but a nice nose.

Taste: It is definitely an easy drinker. There is nothing here that is going to challenge a palate or be off putting to the casual drinker. It does have a nice red fruit component, a bit sugarfied and fake tasting, showing some fruit juice characteristics that are a bit boring. The structure is almost non existent, I do not think this wine would last more than two years, with no tannins to speak of. Overall, pleasant, but not all that great.

Overall: This is an enjoyable wine for somone who is looking to have a pleasant Cabernet that will not break the bank. For the money, this is a good value but not something I would buy enthusiastically again. 82 Points

Night of Interesting Aromas

To celebrate the 4th of July, I brought out two heavy hitters out of my collection from winemakers that I just plain adore. Each of these producers have very different takes on the varietals they utilize, especially in comparison to the fruit bomb heavy contemporaries. The wines in question, Christophe Baron's 2004 Cayuse Cailloux Vineyard Syrah and Charles Smith's 2006 K Vintners Guido, were two very different wines from what you usually experience in either New or Old World.


Wine numero uno for the night was the 2004 Cayuse Cailloux Vineyard Syrah. This winery is becoming increasingly harder to come by, with most of the wines going to mailing list customers. I was lucky enough to stumble upon this bottle on WineBid.com, payed a nice hefty fee to get it, spending about $60 bucks in for this particular bottle.

Initial Impressions: Much like many Syrahs from around the world, this thing does not lack in color at the very least. It has an amazing dark plum color throughout the glass, not showing a bit of tranparency, even when the glass it pitched. Very very impressive so far.

Nose: This is wild. I have never smelled such a strong vegetal kick in a New World Syrah. Literally, this smells like V8 juice, with peppercorns, dark fruit, and chocolate sprinkled on top for good measure. One of the most delectable and weirder noses I have ever experienced. I really enjoy the fact that it is different from many of the jampot, smokey noses that one experiences with Syrah or Shiraz. Overall this is a perfect nose.

Taste: Again, much like the nose, this is a largely vegetal driven dense example of a Syrah. It starts off with a huge tomato, V8 kick, leading seemlessly into dense layers of chocolate, dark fruit, red fruit, peppercorns, and red cabbage. The structure of the wine is immaculate, and the fruit is so big and pure that you could not even tell that there was alcohol in this wine, even though it is a monster at 15.5%. If I had to take away anything, the finish isnt incredibly long, but defintiely satisfying.

Overall: I have not had a wine that is this distinctive and different (in a good way) in quite a long time. This really shows the flair of the winemaker and the terrior of the vineyard perfectly. I would say that if you can find the wine, do so and do so quickly. It doesn't get much better than this. 96 Points




The second wine of the night we had was again from probably my favorite and most accessible producer in the state at this point, Charles Smith. I will admit that I adore his wines. I have not had one that I disagreed with, as his style really emphasizes secondary and tertiary flavors, just not the super extracted fruit and oak that is so prevalent in many wines. The wine in question tonight was the 2006 K Vintners Guido. 80% Sangiovese and 20% Syrah, this blend is meant to mimic the some of the Super Tuscans, such as the Gaja Promis. I bought the wine from Wine Library for about $32.

Initial Impressions: This wine really does mimic the beautiful garnet color that many Sangiovese based wines have. Not opaque by any stretch of the imagination, but has a very beautiful, delecate color to it that extends all the way until then end of the glass. It is not the most concentrated looking wine, which is a downer if you are into that, which I am not. Overall, very nice.

Nose: Much like the Cayuse, this nose is incredibly different and weird in a good way. The most apparent aroma on this wine from popping to hours later is peanut brittle and salted cashews. I don't know how the hell you get that aroma, but its very tasty and something I doubt I will get again. Outside of the peanut play, there is a good amount of chocolate, red fruit, rose petals, and perfume. Very nice.

Taste: Peanuts, peanuts, peanuts. This wine definitely is bringing the peanut brittle and salty cashews to the table. Really just punches you in the face with that, but lulls you back in with a nice cassis, chocolate, red fruit and floral explosion to the back end. The finish is acceptable, but not terribly long, but lingers with a nice amount of lilac and perfume on the back end. The wine needs some time in the glass to really come together, as its a little disjointed if you pop and pour. The structure is good, although the tannins suggest that its for near term consumption rather than for the long haul.

Overall: Again much like the earlier wine, the K really brings a different flavor profile to the varietal. I really enjoyed this wine and after letting it get its footing, its definitely a great wine to have with food or alone. I would suggest letting the wine air out for an hour before consuming. Overall, very nice. 90+ Points.

Weird Little Find

After visiting some family and spending some time with my beautiful little baby niece, I strolled over to the nearest wine shop, the chain of Total Wine and More in the Southside of Richmond. Lately in all of their stores, they are starting to get some very interesting and off the path wines, such as an array of wines from Whitman Cellars, the AlderRidge Meritage I tasted a few weeks ago, and the wine tonight, the 1997 Brian Carter Solece. Made in the Brian Carter, winemaker for Apex Cellars in the Columbia Valley, it is a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Franc, Merlot, and Malbec. I picked up the bottle from the Total Wine and More in Richmond, VA for $39.99.

Initial Impressions: This definitely is an older style of wine color wise, mirroring earlier old world clarets. It has a very delicate and pretty dark crimson color, a tinge of brown around the edges, and a little transclucent throughout. Definitely not a huge ballbuster of a wine colorwise, but definitely very attractive.

Nose: This nose is tremendous, almost making it worth buying just because of it. Very robust cherries and red fruit come out at the front, and the balance out with earth and chocolate as the wine opens up. There are some cream components to the wine and also a great amount of dusty chocolate aromas on the back end.

Taste: This wine is definitely showing the value of bottle age. This is not the rambunctious and precocious wines that I and a lot of people typically taste, showing tremendous polish and acidity in the back end. It definitely is more subdued as the fruit kinda creeps along on your palate rather than exploding like it would have in its youth. It has great structure, with tannins still present, although is at its apex in drinkability. The acidity can be a little overbearing at first, but blows off as the wine gets more air.

Overall: If you are more seduced by the polish of the Old World and love the acidity that some quality reds bring, I would highly suggest this wine. It is definitely not the ballbusters many have become accustomed to over the past few years coming out of the US, Rhone, and Australia. I would highly recommend if you buy this wine to drink it now, and also allowing it to air out for about an hour before consuming. 90 Points