By: Ryan Tedder
We had quite the celebration this last Friday for the Birthday bonanza occurring this month at Graileys! In the span of just a week AJ, LA, and Ryan all had their birthdays. We decided to mark the occasion with the always enjoyable Champagne Friday at Graileys featuring a massive 6 Liter bottle (an Imperial in wine geek speak) of Bollinger Special Cuvee.
I don’t know what it is about big bottles but boy, grape juice sure tastes better out of them! We popped the 6 liter to kick things off at 4pm. The Bollinger Special Cuvee NV was brought by Ryan-it was a congratulatory gift from the great people at Republic National Distributing and Terlato International for his win at Texsom 2012 – the annual Texas Sommelier competition that occurs every August at the Four Seasons in Los Calinas. The wine showed that distinct rich baked apple and lightly vanilla-ed rich round mouthfeel that Champagnes fermented in oak vessels take on. The wine tasted like a bakery-marzipan, baked bread, buttered croissant and quince jam all came through on this fantastic bottle of juice. It got better with each successive sip. What the wine lacked in finesse it made up for in power and generosity of flavor.
Other bubbly highlights included the oft criticized yet nonetheless oft enjoyed Armand de Brignac “Ace of Spades” Silver Blanc de Blancs NV – it came across with precision and crisp, earthy flavors. Green apple, button mushroom, mint, chalk and lime came through. Per haps it need a bit of bottle age to add more layers. We really enjoyed the Lanson Black Label as well. Lanson does not use malolactic fermentation on any of their wines and the resulting wine is crisp and pure with high toned aromatics and a long finish. Yellow and white flowers, fresh cut bosc pear, smoke, toast, honey and a long bone dry finish. Even a bit of dried cherry-quite a fantastic NV bubbler!
After the bubbles came out we followed up with a number of great Cabernet Blends from around the world and a couple of whites. There were a number of great bottles enjoyed including Modus Operandi Sauvignon Blanc, Pahlmeyer Chardonnay, Tortouga Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 (WOW!), Ghost Block Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Chateau Monbousquet 2000 (WOW X 2) & Chateau Cos d’Estournel 1990 (Triple WOW!!!)
Some other thought provoking wines included the Pape Clement 2006 – it had a very high percentage of Merlot (52%) and came across more Right Bank in style-purple, blue and black fruits, cigar wrapper, roasted clay, dried violets and cocoa. Interesting stuff. The Markham Cabernet Sauvignon 1979 – the third vintage for legendary winemaker Robert Foley is holding up extremely well in my opinion. This is a birth year wine for me as well-the fruit is now dry-black cherry, cassis, fig- and the secondary aromas somewhat dominate the wine-dried leather, tobacco, gravel, graphite, and dried green herbs- and the finish it probably not as long as it used to be. But by-the-by a great bottle of vinous vino.
The trio of Culty but balanced Napa Cabs finished out the tasting for me and all where delicious in their own way. The Jones Family Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 is the perfect example of a wine that has amazing power and generous fruit but can have elegance and almost float across the palate with soft round tannins and great acid. If elegance in a New World Cab is your thing this is hard to beat. Purple Flowers, sweet spices, plush black cherries, mocha, and juicy red and black berries. The Barbour Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 is always simply fantastic-I have always called it Caymus Special Select with more class. The wine is wonderfully made and layered better than almost any other wine in Napa. A myriad of red and black fruit is framed by plush caressing tannins, light toasty, coffee bean oak, and a minute long finish. Kudos to you Jim Barbour! Lastly Gallica Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 was drank again-this has been a house favorite the last few months. This wine is BIG and very grippy. Purple and Black fruit make you stand up and take notice of this regal Cab offering. Cassis, fudge, violets, blackberry cobbler, black licorice and a powerful, wound up mouthfeel showcase the potential and pedigree of this wine by Rosemary Cakebread. Quite a trifecta of delights!
I’m glad birthdays don’t come too often – I don’t know if we could indulge like this every day!!! All of our fantastic members came to celebrate and support and we greatly appreciate them. Cheers to you all!