By: AJ McClellan
Yesterday was a bountiful feast of fantastic wines. We had a great group of members in along with another group who were there for a charity dinner that Simon had donated to his school. From beginning to ead all of the wines that we pulled out where fantastic but the grand finale, the 85 Giacosa Red Label was what set this day apart in Graileys history.
2009 Amon-Ra – Full juicy and ripe with black fruits and huge soft tannins.
1994 Dominus – This was my second time to try this bottle and it was just as good as I remember it being. Soft red and black fruits with an elegant earthy aroma that would put me in the mind of a great Bordeaux. The body was plush showing a great complexity that gives me hope for other California Cabernets.
2007 Araujo Cabernet Sauvignon – Another great example of California Cabernet. Parker rated this wine 90 points and I think that was an embarrassingly inadequate scoring for this wine. The fruit is ripe and complex with fresh cherries and currants with a subtle hint of wood spice and a very pleasant elegant earthy undertone. I think in years to come this will be a great Cabernet.
1982 Ducru Beaucaillou – Wow, a contestant for wine of the night indeed. Rich earthy notes of tilled earth and dry flowers. The fruit was dry but still prevalent adding another level of complexity to this classic Bordeaux. A great bottle of wine.
1982 Branaire Ducru – This was a quaffable bottle of Bordeaux that is ready to drink now. Soft fruits with elegant earth and slight cooking spice.
1999 Groffier Chambolle Musigny 1er Les Amoureuses – Brilliant cherry notes that allowed me to peg this bottle as a Groffier when tasting it blind. Great mineral notes showing blue and white rock combines with sweet red fruits and dry tobacco leaves.
1985 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano di Neive Red Label – This wine blew me away!! The glass was full of decadent earthy notes so complex that they would resemble one of the finest 10 course meals a grub worm could possibly imagine. The palate was a dream of dusty fruits filled with cigar smoke and rich earthy spices piquing with fresh notes of warm soil basking in the morning sun. This is what wine is all about.