By: AJ McClellan
Saturday Afternoon was a great tasting at Graileys. We had a good group in and some fun bottles were popped around the table. I would have to say the Cardinale was my wine of the night. It had some stiff competition but the elegant tannins and great fruit were showing very well.
1995 Phelps Insignia – This wine was showing well but not fantastic. The tannins were still grainy and the fruit, while being ripe and full of life, was hidden behind a wall of oak and wood spice.
1995 Cardinale – This bottle was surprisingly delicious. In a perfect drinking window right now the fruit was soft and refined with black and blue berries and the tannins were soft and well integrated. There was a subtle note of vanilla and tobacco that added to the complexities of the wine.
1998 Guigal Chateau d’Ampuis – This was a massive bottle with huge pepper, smoke, tobacco, tar, and leather on the nose. The palate was full of smoked meat massaged with black and white pepper and finished with cloves.
1998 Louis Latour Corton Charlemagne – Normally one of my favorite bottles but this one was showing some signs of premature oxidization … That being said the wine was still palatable and there were still some pleasant quince and lemon/lime notes on the palate.
1994 Jarvis – Another very nice bottle of California Cabernet. The wine was showing signs of maturation with dry tannins and shriveling fruit but the wine was still hanging in there.
1997 Monsanto Chianti – This was a surprisingly good bottle of Chianti, drinking perfectly in the zone with dusty cherry, dry tobacco and liquorish.