Saturday January 2nd - Sunday January 3rd
11am - 8pm
Featuring:
2007 Darioush Caravan
2007 Robert Foley "Griffin"
2007 Snowden Cabernet "The Ranch"
2007 Stolpman Estate Syrah
2007 Anderson's Conn Valley Right Bank Red
2007 Justin Cabernet Sauvignon
2007 Caymus Cabernet
2007 Brewer Clifton Ampelos Pinot Noir
2007 Tablas Creek Espirit de Beaucastel
2007 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay
2007 Brewer Clifton Santa Rosa Chardonnay
For years, there's been a disconnect between what people say makes a great California vintage, and what they want from their California red wines. They say that a long, cool vintage makes for a great wine (it does) but they seem to prefer wines that are overripe, powerful, high in alcohol and lack balance.
Maybe that style of wine is on the wane; the world's greatest wine writer, Jancis Robinson, has penned a recent piece offering that prediction. I don't know that Americans are quite ready to give up on their powerhouse Napa Cabs. I think they're crazy, but they have a right to their own opinions or why else would refer to that sort of thing as "taste"?
Still, the California vintages that get bally-hooed are the cooler, longer ones, such as 2005 and 2007. In 2007, some folks picked early; you could do that if you wanted. But September turned cool and turned the ripening down from 11 (on the Spinal Tap scale) to something close to 2 or 3. The rain didn't hit till late October.
Those who wanted to make overripe wines could do so. Those who want to drink them can do so, as far as I'm concerned, and you can have my portion too. But a lot of producers took what nature gave them and made wines with some of the fruit purity and balance of 2005, and some of the weight and power of 2004. Yields were down, sometimes as much as twenty percent, and that's not always a great thing in California – it can lead to over-ripening with the grapes that are left out there. But in this case, it added intensity.
When the vintage charts are updated a few years from now, I don't know what will be said for sure. But I know what I think: 2007 may be the best vintage among the "naughts", with 2005 and 2002 close behind.
We'll see you on Saturday and Happy New Year!
Doug Frost MS MW
Master Sommelier & Master of Wine
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