1980 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay

10/22/08-The brown bag tasted at the Knitters weekly dinner was the 1980 Montelena Chardonnay in celebration of the current movie Bottle Shock. The dinner host Laura Laskowski nailed it as being a Grgich chardonnay. Understanding that Mike was the winemaker for the 1973 chardonnay that won the shootout in France, and left shortly thereafter to start his own winery, the winemaking style and grapes at Montelena were probably very similar in 1980. The wine was an incredible treat. The color was a brilliant gold and the wine had intense fruit of sweet apples with absolutely no negatives. In the past the older brown bag wines were rarely finished, the 12 participants were usually satisfied with a small sip to evaluate the wine. This chardonnay was totally consumed before dinner began. Kudos to Mike and Ch. Montelena.

1976 Souverain Cabernet 1976 Joseph Phelps Cabernet

5/16/07-The Wednesday wine group tasted the 76 Souverain and 76 Joseph Phelps cabernets. An interesting contrast. The Souverain was unbelievable good, quite fruity with red currant flavors and very little tannin, little browning and enjoyed by all. The Phelps was a much bigger wine, very dark with flavors that leaned toward coffee, tobacco and cedar, not enjoyed by some and some went back for seconds (and even thirds).

Opus One Vertical--1986 Mouton Rothschild

7/4/08 (4th of July Bash) Vertical Opus One-1986 Mo

Opus One 1979 (first release), 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1990, 2004

1984-1st Place-Very fruity, lots of sediment, berry, plum.
1982-2nd Place-Excellent fruit, still young wine, bigger and more tannic than 84.
1979-3rd Place-Red currants & tobacco/earth, balanced, smooth, still healthy, tannin’s gone.
1981-4th Place-Fruity, mouth filling, big, some tannin.
1983-5th Place-Austere compared to others, pleasant and smooth. Red currants.
1980-6th Place-Bigger than others and not quite as fruity (1980 record summer heat) some tannin.
1990 & 2004-Young, needs more time, ripe blackberry fruit, long finish.

The 1986 Mouton (100 Points Robert Parker) lived up to its pedigree; elegant, intense,complex fruit, mouth filling, long finish, still with lots of life left.

1978 & 1979 Jekel Cabernet

10/15/08-Jekel 1978 & 1979 Cabernet Reserve and 1978 regular cabernet.
These wines were tasted in the early 80's by the Northern California Wine Society, and at that time exhibited very intense vegetal flavors. Surprisingly, the vegetal component was not apparent in these wines, and all three were showing excellent ageing, with minimal browning and no negatives. The 79 was particularly enjoyable and one member chose it over numerous young wines for her dinner wine. Excellent examples of California cabernet ageability.

Blog Purpose

The blog entries describing wines tasted by the Folsom Wine Group are the result of wine activities and parties conducted at members homes and wine tasting at Lakeside Beverages in Granite Bay on Friday nights. Activities include a smaller group of knitters/guitar players/wine tasters that meet each Wednesday night, and a half dozen full member annual parties conducted each year (Halloween, 4th of July, pool party, rib shootout, Italian party, Cajun party, burgers and Bordeaux, etc.).