Caymus Vs. AALTO Taste Off!

VS.

Taste Off

Saturday January 31st, 2008

11am - 8pm

2006 Caymus Napa Cabernet
2005 Caymus Napa Cabernet
2004 Caymus Napa Cabernet
vs.
2005 Bodegas AALTO
2004 Bodegas AALTO
2003 Bodegas AALTO

Let's say there was a place somewhere where time and space didn't exist and where movie stars from completely different eras and countries could be compared right next to each. They would be seen in their prime, not compared across the eons. They would be in distinctly comparative cinemas, not work as disparate as a gay Spanish melodrama and a violent macho Western.

Think about Antonio Banderas. Though he is now a Hollywood action figure, I think his best work is best represented by his brilliant portrayals for Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar, in beauties like Law of Desire, Matador, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! .

Now consider Clint Eastwood. Sure, he's still doing great stuff, but forgive me, does anything really compare to his work in oaters like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, For a Fistful of Dollars and The Outlaw Josey Wales. Unforgiven is his best directorial effort (and a hell of acting job) but is his performance that much better than in Dirty Harry?

Still, these are two completely different eras, styles, viewpoints and belief systems that are represented by these differing cinemas. I can't imagine how these two Hollywood heartthrobs might have looked in the same movie in the same era. And we'll never know.

But now imagine that Californian Clint Eastwood is represented by Caymus Vineyards, the winery that has been making the best wines of California since 1974 (the 1975 Special Select Cab is one of the greatest California wines I've ever tasted), guided by the old hand Charlie Wagner and then his son Chuck. Today, the wines remain benchmarks of California power and richness, even if there are other names that seem more novel and exciting.

And Spain? May I equate Antonio Banderas and his animal intensity somehow allied with a sweet, even gentle soul, with Bodegas Aalto? Aalto has been the new kid in Ribera del Duero for several years. There might be other more august names (say, Pingus?), but Aalto represents wine of power coexisting with a sweet and friendly nature.

So we are offering a face-off between the two great stars: AALTO in vintages 2003 (a hot, California-like year), 2004 (perfection), and 2005 (either a bit too California-like or perfection, dependent upon your attitude); and Caymus in 2004 (a great vintage), 2005 (a beyond great vintage) and 2006 (a vintage that has many flashes of brilliance).

Think animal magnetism. Think machismo. Think intelligence and sensitivity. Or if you prefer, don't think at all. Just drink.

Cheers,

Doug Frost, MS MW
Master Sommelier & Master of Wine