1980 David Bruce Pinot Noir

12/29/10-The Wednesday Knitters were hosted by Ross and Donna McGuire and presented the group with an outstanding assortment of champagne, some good wine, chicken gumbo and a lot of toasting and singing. The brown bag wine of the night was a superb example of a well made California wine, a 1980 pinot noir by David Bruce. The 30 year old wine held its own against a 2008 Caplaux pinot noir.

Christmas Dinner

12/25/10-Members of the Folsom Wine Group enjoyed an outstanding Christmas dinner at the home of Keith and Helen Faust. The delicious main dishes of roast beef and ham were complimented with the following wines, with Wine Spectator (WS) or Robert Parker (RP) ratings noted: 04 Chatoupier Ermitage (Rhone white wine) RP94, 03 Schramsberg Sparkling Wine WS92, 00 Lynch Bages RP95+, 07 Kobalt Cabernet WS95, 08 Lewis Caberrnet WS93, 06 Hall Cabernet WS94, 02 Hartwell Cabernet WS92, 06 Altus Cabernet WS02(05), 06 Chimney Rock Magnum, and a delicious 08 Thomas Pinot Noir provided by Lionel Wade.

1987 Cilurzo Petite Sirah & 1972 Caymus Pinot Noir

12/8/10-The Knitters annual Christmas gathering and exchange of gifts was hosted by Laura Laskowski and Gary Rose. The participants enjoyed two brown bag older wines, a 1987 Petite Sirah from Cilurzo Vineyards in Temecula provided by Gary Rose, and a 1972 Caymus Pinot Noir provided by Carl Hennige. The Petite Sirah was unusually light, smooth and fruity, with flavors of spice and hints of cedar and dried currant, and was guessed by most to be a cabernet. The Pinot Noir was somewhat past its prime with flavors of walnuts and red currant. The knitters sang Christmas Carols with a Karaoke.

15th Wedding Anniversary

11/30/10-Carl and Kathy Hennige celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary with an exceptional 1995 Heitz Cellars cabernet.

Older Wine Party

11/12/10-The Folsom Wine Group met at the Hennige home to taste numerous "older" wines, which were: 1971 Lanson Champagne, 1987 Recolte French Chablis, 1979 Mondavi Chardonnay, 1987 Mure' Pinot Blanc, 1990 Chalone Chenin Blanc, 1980 Charles Krug Gewurztraminer, 1979 Margaux Bordeaux, 1984 Keenan Merlot, 1974 Ch. Montelena Cabernet, 1980 Lytton Springs Zinfandel, 1978 Z/D Pinot Noir, 1985 Clos du Mont-Olivet Rhone, 1981 Pat Paulsen Muscat Canelli, and a 1985 Santino Late Harvest White Zinfandel. The hits of the tasting were the Margaux, Montelena Cab and the Lytton Springs Zin.

Burgers and Bordeaux Party

9/5/10-The annual Burgers and Bordeaux hosted by Tim and Jane Curtis was again an enormous success. The quality of the wines provided by the participants were far superior to previous years and the burgers were outstanding as always. The 97 Lynch Bages was reviewed by the Wine Spectator, giving it 98 points, and noting "perhaps the greatest Lynch-Bages ever produced". The wine was absolutely delicious. The magnum of 1978 Chateau Larose-Trintaudon was surprisingly youthful and fruity, and extremely enjoyable.

1985 Adelsheim Pinot Noir

8/11/10-The Knitters were hosted by Carl & Kathy Hennige and enjoyed a well aged pinot noir from the State of Oregon. The wine was produced by David Adelsheim, an early pioneer in the Oregon pinot noir industry. He was his own hands-on winemaker from 1978 to 1985, despite his self-confessed "lack of formal training in wine making". The wine was still youthful and very enjoyable, attesting to the early introduction of quality pinot noir from Oregon.

2002 Sloan Cabernet

7/24-25/10-Keith and Helen Faust joined the Hennige’s at Lake Tahoe and stayed in “Tamaleena” for the weekend. The newly completed apartment was toasted with the 2002 Sloan cabernet (Robert Parker 100 points, Wine Spectator 99 points). An outstanding wine, surprisingly showing absolutely no sediment, with flavors of deep blackberry and sweet coffee. A good competition to the 2002 Harlan we enjoyed last 4th of July.

4th of July Bash

7/4/10-The annual 4th of July Bash went off as usual with a less than normal attendance; however, hats, horns and fine wine were enjoyed as always. Carolyn’s sister and brother-in-law, Marilyn and Jim Williams were newly added attendees’ and Jim’s silk voice was added to the Wino Band (4 minus 1) renditions, in addition to the newly added Ann Vik’s ukulele.
The just completed garage/apartment “Tamaleena” adjacent to our cabin “Tamaleen” in Tahoe was enjoyed by Donna and Ross McGuire.

1976 Kenwood Cab, 1982 La Croix Bordeaux

June 1010-The participants in two previous wine events enjoyed superb examples of well aged bordeaux and California cabernet wines. The 1976 Kenwood was still youthful and fruity, as was the 1982 La Croix (1982 was an excellent year for bordeau wines).

1976 Raymond Cabernet

3/10/10-The Knitters gathering was hosted by Gary Rose and Laura Laskowski and the group enjoyed an incredible example of an aged California cabernet. Most of the members guessed the brown bag wine to be very much younger and the wine had little browning and intense sweet plum fruit. One of the very best aged cabernets we have tasted.

1983 Knudsen Erath Pinot Noir

2/10/10-The Wednesday Knitters were hosted by Carl and Kathy Hennige. The brown bag wine for the night was another great example of an Oregon pinot noir. Knudsen Erath wines are an expression of the land that the winery has cultivated for more than 40 years, longer than any other winery in the Dundee Hills, Willamette appellation of Oregon. Dick Erath established the winery in 1968, and in 1975 he was joined by Calvert Knudsen. The 1983 pinot noir was incredibly fruity and youthful and still had a few more years of enjoyable life. Jane Curtis ignored the substitute wine bottle and came the closest to guessing the mystery wine.

2nd Annual Champers Champagne Tasting

2/6/10-The subject blind tasting was again hosted by Gary Rose and Laura Laskowski. The group sampled 8 champagne’s and sparkling wines with results as follows:

Producer 1st votes 2nd votes
Montaudon Brut 7 1
Piper Heidsieck Brut 3 5
Perrier-Jouet Grand Brut 0 1
Gosset Brut 0 1
De Margerie Brut 0 1
Pertois – Moriset Brut 0 1
Taittinger La Francaise Brut 0 0
Francois Montand Brut 0 0