1978 Conn Creek Zinfandel, 1982 Clos Du Bois Merlot, 1985 Stanford/Haywood Cabernet

5/6/09-The Wednesday knitters were hosted by Carl and Kathy Hennige, and the group enjoyed another brown bagged, well made and aged 1978 Conn Creek zinfandel. Mouth filling flavors of red currants and nuts, some cherry and vanilla, and a very, very long finish.

5/13/09-The Wednesday knitters were hosted by Dave and Ann Vik and tasted an incredible brown bagged 1982 Clos Du Bois merlot. The wine was truly enjoyable with good fruit and little aged flavors. The wine was finished by the group long before any of the other younger wines. Ann Vik selected it for her dinner wine and was reluctant to share it with others.

5/20/09-The Wednesday knitters were hosted by Keith and Helen Faust and tasted a brown bagged, aged 1985 cabernet made by Haywood Winery for the Stanford alumni association. Many of the group guessed the wine to be a Bordeaux.

1978 Leoville Las Cases, 1974 Louis M. Martini Zinfandel, 1979 Wente Petite Sirah

4/8/09-The knitters hosted by Ross & Donna McGuire enjoyed an elegant aged 1978 Leoville Las Cases bordeaux-boysenberry, nutty, coffee, with little tannin.

4/22/09-The knitters hosted by Gary Rose and Laura Laskowske enjoyed another amazing wine from Louis Martini winery. The well made wine was quite youthful (as was the 69 cabernet previously reported on) and as with the older zinfandels tasted earlier, had flavors more reminiscent of an aged cabernet (red currant and coffee/tobacco versus jammy blackberry).

4/29/09-The knitters hosted by Tim & Jane Curtis enjoyed a well preserved 1979 Wente petite sirah. 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, fruity, little browning and paired nicely with cheese (as reported by Helen Faust).

1980 St. Clement Cabernet

3/25/09-The Wednesday Knitters were hosted by Dave and Ann Vik, and enjoyed an amazing example of a well made, aged California cabernet. The 1980 St. Clement showed negligible signs of ageing other than a minimal amount of tannin producing a soft, fruity, elegant cab. Flavors of cassis, coffee and a hint of pepper that led some reviewers to guess zinfandel. Congratulations to the winemaker for this excellent and enjoyable cabernet.

Judgment of Folsom (as opposed to Paris)

3/18/09-You will recall the historic blind wine judging conducted in Paris where California chardonnay and cabernet wines won first place against the best of the French white burgundies (chardonnays) and red Bordeaux. The event was made into a movie “Bottle Shock”. Well, the Knitters conducted a similar blind tasting pitting a Robert Parker 91 point red burgundy against two California pinot noir’s. The wines were:

Wine #1-2005 Albert Morot Beaune les Bressandes Burgundy-Robert Parker 91 Points, $50
Wine #2-2006 Laetitia Pinot Noir Arroyo Grande-$38
Wine #3-2005 Donum Carneros Est. Pinot Noir-Robert Parker 91 Points, $64

The tasting did not result in the California wines coming in as clear winners, as in the 1976 Paris tasting; however, the pinot noir from Laetitia did hold it’s own against a 91 point burgundy selling for 30% more. The Donum was disappointing to most everyone primarily due to the smoky, earthy, barnyard nose and some sulfur that eventually blew off.

Wine #1 received 6 first place votes.
Wine #2 received 5 first place votes.
Wine #3 received 1 first place vote.

An unbagged 2000 Lemelson Pinot Noir, Stermer Vineyard, (Oregon Willamette Region) was also tasted and many felt would have placed ahead of them all.

The knitters also tasted a 25 year old Duff Gordon sherry wine imported by Corti Brothers. Some liked, some did not.

1973 Inglenook Cabernet, Cask C8

3/4/09-The knitters were hosted by Gary Rose and Laura Laskowski, and enjoyed another well aged cabernet. The 73 Inglenook was surprisingly healthy and enjoyable, attesting to the excellent winemaking skills of many of the winemakers of the era.

1984 Ravenswood Zinfandel

2/25/09-The Wednesday knitters hosted by Ross and Donna McGuire enjoyed another example of a well made zinfandel. The 84 Ravenswood, Old Hill Vineyard, showed incredible sediment that resulted in a soft, mellow, fruity wine with little or no tannin and a flavor of red currants.

1984 Dominus Meritage

2/18/09-Keith and Helen Faust hosted the knitters who enjoyed a very interesting brown bag 1984 California wine. This second vintage wine, made by the Frenchman Christian Moueix, who fell in love with the valley and its wines while studying at U.C. Davis in 1968 and 1969. This was the birth of Dominus, and its first vintage was harvested in 1983. Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wines wrote in 2004 “Could be 80 points. Could be 90 points. Yes, we do not usually give split scores to wine, and perhaps we should simply let the lower score stand, but there is fruit and richness aplenty here. And, if you have another two decades to wait and a fair bit of optimism, you might want to take the chance that this wine's virtues will someday outshine both its ridiculously abrasive tannins and the earthy, old leathery tones that have been in control over its first two decades”. After our tasting this wine in 2009 we vote for 90 points (Robert Parker has it at 92). The tannins have subsided and the fruit has come to the forefront. Gary Rose, a volunteer at the California State Fair wine judging, guessed either an older cabernet or a younger Bordeaux. The wine had little sediment, mild tannins and a long fruity finish.