1980 Clos du Val Pinot Noir

12/12/12-The Wednesday Knitters was hosted by Ross and Donna McGuire, providing a dinner menu of herb pork loin roast, pumpkin ravioli with brown butter sauce, and salad.  The brown bag wine was a healthy, fruity, and enjoyable 1980 Clos du Val pinot noir.

1979 Pichon Lalande

11/14/12-Tim and Jane Curtis hosted the Wednesday knitters and provided a dinner of taco soup, Caesar salad and corn bread.  The brown bag wine was a youthful 1979 Bordeaux that was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

1987 Caymus Pinot Noir Special Selection

10/10/12-Gary Rose and Laura Laskowski hosted the Wednesday knitters with a delicious dinner of Roast Pork, Batatas Cozidas (potatoes with parsley and butter), sautéed cabbage, skillet apple crisp and vanilla ice cream.  The brown bag wine of the night was an incredibly well made 1987 Caymus Pinot Noir, still healthy and delicious.

1974 Simi Cabernet

9/12/2012-The Wednesday Knitters was hosted by Dave and Ann Vik who provided a delicious chicken dinner.  The brown bag wine of the night was a 1974 Simi cabernet, another excellent example of a well made wine to last several decades.  The wine was still reasonably youthful and pleasantly fruity.

1978 Ch. Larose-Trintaudon Bordeaux

9/2/12-Tim and Jane Curtis hosted the annual Burgers and Bordeaux party.  The selection of Bordeaux wines were outstanding, and the 2009 wines were particularly good, as reported by many wine writers.  The Ch. Larose was very fruity and still quite healthy and enjoyable.

Joe Cocker Concert

8/18/12-Tim and Jane Curtis joined the Hennige’s for a stay at the Tamaleena apartment and enjoyed an excellent concert by Joe Cocker and Huey Lewis and the News.  A dinner at the Edgewood outdoor restaurant included a 2007 Abreu cabernet,and a Vieux Telegraphe Ch. Du Pape, paired with sliders.

1978 Acacia Pinot Noir

8/15/12-Ross and Donna McGuire hosted the monthly Knitters and provided an awesome menu of smoked turkey, skillet corn and caramelized peaches.  The brown bag wine was a well made 1978 pinot noir that was still very enjoyable.

1979 Zinfandels

8/01/12-Carl Hennige and Tim Curtis participated in a horizontal tasting of 1979 zinfandels at the UC Davis Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine & Food Science.  Carl had donated 19 different 79 zins from his wine cellar and 9 of the non-foothill wines were tasted by 14 enology students.  The remaining 10 foothill zins will be tasted next week.  All but one of the wines were quite enjoyable and healthy.  The one wine had lost most of the fruit and was unremarkable.  Unfortunately that wine was the Robert Mondavi zinfandel.  The building shook a bit but the roof stayed intact.

4th of July Bash

7/7/12-The Annual 4^th of July Bash at the Hennige’s Tahoe cabin Tamaleen had fewer participants this year due to the 4^th falling on a Wednesday.  Nonetheless, 15 Wino’s enjoyed excellent food, wine and weather.  The festivities began with a dinner at the Fresh Catch, enjoying bottles of 2007 Dominus (RP98 points) and 2008 Dominus (RP99 points), and listening to the terrific music of Jesse Kalin and Mark Wilson.  Wines enjoyed in subsequent evenings included a partial vertical of Silver Oak cabs from the Hennige cellar and 98, 99 & 01 Shoket Cabernets provided by the Faust’s. 

1984 Ridge Cabernet

6/6/12-The Wednesday Knitters was hosted by Dave Vik (Ann was out of town), who provided a delicious dinner of rack of lamb.  The brown bag wine of the night was a 1984 Ridge York Creek Cabernet.that was extremely youthful for its age, and was enjoyed by all.

Dunn Howell Mountain Cab Vertical

5/19/12-The Faust, Curtis and Hennige couples spent a weekend at Tamaleen/Tamaleena enjoying a 4 bottle vertical of Dunn Howell Mountain cabernets paired with barbequed steaks.  Weather was like summer allowing cruising on Lake Tahoe and a round of golf at the Edgewood golf course.  The favorite Dunn was the 2008, followed by 2006, 2007 and 2005.  Parker ratings were 98+ (with patience), 95, 97 and 94 respectively.

1980 Amador County Zinfandel

5/9/12-The Wednesday knitters met at the home of Tim & Jane Curtis to enjoy turkey sliders, knitters salad and chips.  The brown bag mystery wine was a 1980 Amador County Zinfandel produced by Santino Wines (Scott Harvey winemaker).  The wine was labeled C.P. Huntington, commemorative of the 1862 locomotive now housed in the California Railroad Museum.  C.P. Huntington was one of the “big four” (M. Hopkins, C. Crocker & L. Stanford).  The wine was a very light style zin that was still quite healthy and enjoyable.

Boat Launch and 2008 Quilceda Creek Cab

4/17/12-Tim & Jane Curtis and Carl & Kathy Hennige christened the launching of our new Harris pontoon boat with a 2008 Quilceda Creek cabernet (Robert Parker 100 points).  The maiden voyage on Lake Folsom was successful and enjoyable.

1981 Wente Petite Sirah

4/4/2012-Gary Rose and Laura Laskowski hosted the Wednesday knitters dinner featuring pork tenderloin with sweet potatoes and carrots, with a Knitters salad.  The brown bag wine for the evening was an outstanding Wente Petite Sirah, which was guessed by the Host Gary Rose.  Our experience with this varietal is that it doesn’t change much after many years of ageing, and this wine was no exception.  Sweet plums, very fruity, little browning and surprisingly very enjoyable.

Wino Boat Club

Members of the Wino Boat Club celebrated the addition of a Harris pontoon boat to their flotilla (of one).  Boating should be fun this summer.

1986 Dunn Cabernet Howell Mountain

3/10/2012-Tracey Reichow, Winemaker & Proprietor of Black Cat Vineyard,  enjoying a 1986 Dunn Howell Mountain cabernet on her birthday.

1981 Joseph Swan Zinfandel

2/8/12-Keith and Helen Faust hosted the knitters and the group enjoyed another example of a well made zinfandel by Joseph Swann. The menu for the evening consisted of Sloppy Joe Mac and Cheese (casserole), tossed green salad, garlic bread and Ricotta Cheesecake (not your traditional cheesecake).

Champagne Tasting

1//29/2012-Members of the Folsom Wine Group met at the home of Gary Rose and Laura Laskowski to partake in their annual blind Champagne tasting. Food provided by the group included Turkey Meatloaf Sliders, Quiche, Devilled eggs with Caviar, Onion Tart, Caviar Pie, Lamb Chops, Baby stuffed potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, Ethnic Chicken and Shrimp.

Eight Champagnes in order of finish, with first, second and last votes noted.
1st - Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve 3, 5, 0
2nd - Michel Loriot Selection Extra Brut 0, 3, 1
3rd - Jaillance Brut 3, 1, 2
4th tie - Leclerc Briant Extra Brut 2, 0, 3
4th tie - Philippe Gonet Brut Reserve 2, 1, 1
6th - Michel Loriot Cuvee Reserve Brut 1, 1, 0
7th - Pierre Morlet Brut 1, 0, 2
8th - Bruno Michel Cuvee Millesime Brut 0, 1, 3

Interesting how 6 wines got first place votes and 6 got last place votes.

2006 Brunello Tasting

1/15/2012-Tim and Jane Curtis hosted the subject wine tasting providing a delicious spaghetti and meatballs dinner. The primary purpose of the tasting was to compare the three styles of Brunello’s; namely Modern, Traditional and Modern/Traditional. The following three wines were tasted blind:


Casanova di Neri (JJB97, RP93, WS93)-Modern
Fuligni (JJB93, RP96, WS94)-Modern/Traditional
Collosorbo (JJB95, RP93, WS93)-Traditional

The favorite of the three was the Collosorbo and was guessed correctly by the majority as a Traditional. Also, the Casanova was guessed correctly by the majority as a Modern. The Fuligni received nearly even votes for all 3 categories which would suggest a Modern/Traditional wine.

2007 Dunn Cabernet Tasting

1/12/2012-Helen and Keith Faust, Tim and Jane Curtis and Carl Hennige conducted a comparative tasting of the 2007 Dunn Howell Mountain (RP97 points) and Napa (RP95 points) cabernets at the Lakeforest Wines Folsom store.  Awesome wines!!!

1978 Hanzell Pinot Noir

1/11/2012-Ross and Donna McGuire hosted the monthly knitters dinner and served a roasted pork loin stuffed with corn bread, apples and bacon (just some bacon bits for flavoring), butternut squash/corn sauté, and butter lettuce salad.  The mystery wine was a pleasant surprise considering it’s age, and several participants came back for seconds, including the elegantly dressed Ann Vik.

2007 Bond Matriarch and 2000 Lynch Bages

1/10/2012-The Curtis and Faust couples met at the Hennige home to discuss TV sound systems and watch 3D TV.  The Bond and Lynch Bages were paired with a pizza appetizer and complimented with peanut butter to enhance the pizza crust.  Doesn’t hardly get any better!!

Scotch Tasting

1/7/2012-Dave Vik hosted a scotch tasting consisting of X single malt scotch whiskeys’.  Quality and preference ratings seemed to correspond closely with price.

Italian Dinner

12/21/2011-Carl and Kathy Hennige hosted a holiday Italian dinner with Keith and Helen Faust and Tim and Jane Curtis attending.  The main course was a delicious Veal Osso Bocco paired with 3 outstanding Italian wines: 2001 Solaria 123 Brunello (RP91 points), 2007 Luce Della Vite Toscana (WS95 points) and a Sicilian 2008 Firriato Harmonium (LM97 points) (Nero d’Avol grape), as well as a 2006 Lynch Bages Bordeaux. The Pierre Morlet champagne was a very pleasant surprise.  The evening ended with a 2001 Quinta Da Sonora Port.

1985 Santino Late Harvest White Zinfandel

10/7/2011-Members of the Folsom Wine Group met at Lakeforest Wines in El Dorado Hills to sample wines poured by Scott and Jana Harvey.  Carl Hennige brought a unique 1985 LH White Zin that was made by Scott Harvey when he was winemaker at Santino (now Renwood).  The wine was absolutely delicious and was greatly enjoyed by all the customers.

1972 Sebastiani Barbera

9/28/2011-The Wednesday knitters met at the home of Gary Rose and Laura Laskowski and enjoyed an interesting 1972 Sebastiani Barbera that was still alive and reasonably enjoyable.

Curtis Dinner

9/24/2011-After a fun time sipping wine at Raj’s, Carl & Kathy Hennige, Steve & Teri Price & Fransesca, Keith & Helen Faust and Gidget joined at the Tim and Jane Curtis home for a delicious dinner of pasta fagioli, salad, French bread and Tim’s “made from scratch” cookies.  Numerous wines were enjoyed with the dinner, including a Dom. de la Vieille Julienne 2005, Chateauneuf du Pape (Robert Parker, 95+ points) and a 2007 Revana Cabernet (WS 97 Points, #4 top 100 in 2010-Winemaker Heidi Peterson Barrett).

Lake Tahoe Visit

9/2-3/2011-Tim and Jane Curtis joined the Hennige’s for a stay in Tamaleena apartment and a fun weekend of barbeque, boating and sipping wine, including the following: 02 Penfold Grange, 07 Pahlmeyer cabernet, 05 Stewart Nomad cabernet and Perrier Jouet champagne.