Budman
Master of Wine
Posts:11877
 | | 07/10/2003 7:06 PM |
| lcc,
I thought I heard the screw-up was while the wine was in barrels. I could easily be mistaken, though. | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 07/10/2003 7:14 PM |
| | 2000 is a considerably better vintage than 98. It will always be overlooked however because 2001 and 2002 follow it. | | | |
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ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:12891
| | 07/10/2003 7:26 PM |
| | is 02 to be a good vintage for cali? | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 07/10/2003 7:28 PM |
| | Based on my tastings, I would say 2002 is going to be at a minimum a very good year for Cabernet. | | | |
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Bob Bressler
Napa Valley
Wine Lover
Posts:4862
| | 07/10/2003 7:51 PM |
| | in general, the 02s seem to be bigger than the 01s, but just as tasty | | | |
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ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:12891
| | 07/10/2003 10:00 PM |
| | could you compare it to a past vintage? or is it too early to tell? | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 07/10/2003 10:42 PM |
| | Still too early to tell re general characteristics. | | | |
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Jeremy Matthew
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2067
| | 07/11/2003 1:03 AM |
| So the Cults have remained unchallenged, remained stabilised and consistant and haven't fallen at any point?
As I said earlier Sreaming Eagle may be a bad example, but what about the others? Or have they remained all at the top of their game? | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 07/11/2003 1:05 AM |
| | Araujo stumbled with their 97 Eisele Cab and Syrah. | | | |
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Jeremy Matthew
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2067
| | 07/11/2003 1:10 AM |
| And in your mind the factors were...?
Has Araujo sorted the problems out or are they a "2nd" growth in comparison to the other Cults? | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 07/11/2003 1:37 AM |
| | Transitioning away from Soter to Peschon did not work out as well as they hoped. Bart Araujo appears to have fixed things by bringing in Rolland and creating a second wine in the 99 vintage. Bart claims he did not like the 97 Syrah so he didn't release it. I don't buy that because Parker rated the wine in the low nineties from barrel. I think somebody screwed that wine up in the winery. Araujo is still a cult but it is a touch tarnished. 2001 will cure that. | | | |
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GATC
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2420
| | 07/11/2003 2:10 AM |
| | I just realized that I've never had a "cult wine". I've never thought about it since I've been very fortunate to drink many great wines that most people haven't had the opportunity to try. I guess I have something to look forward to. | | | |
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skwid
Wine Connoisseur
Posts:5452
| | 07/11/2003 2:19 AM |
| | I've had either a 92 or 93 Bryant but that is the only cult I've tried (I shared a bottle with one other person). It was good but I'm not totally sure I'd pay the bucks at auction for one. I was supposed to have a 94 Bryant for my birthday last year but it got swapped out for a 90 La Tache. My birthday last year wine wise was a bit odd. I had been a big CA red wine guy and I had two frenchy wines at the dinner. | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 07/11/2003 2:32 AM |
| | We will have to fix that problem GATC. | | | |
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Jeremy Matthew
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2067
| | 07/11/2003 3:17 AM |
| | Cheers for the info. | | | |
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skwid
Wine Connoisseur
Posts:5452
| | 07/11/2003 3:44 AM |
| | Btw, GATC you are missing something but the wines you served at the BAWE tasting last week were really quite nice. You can't really get any better rieslings and the cabs were pretty good with the Chapellet being spectacular. So for you there might not be much missing. But I figure that one should taste these wines at least once to use as a reference. Like JW1 says, "unless you have tasted the best you do not have a complete reference". | | | |
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GATC
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2420
| | 07/12/2003 2:15 AM |
| I agree. If I were on the mailing lists of the cults, I'm sure I would be buying like crazy. I've had a lot of the very best CA cabs from 1966-1974 when they were young and when they were at their peak, so it would be great to compare with the cults today. The only reason I have not bought any is that my limit for a bottle (until the 2000 first growths at Costco came along) was $150.
I really enjoyed the auslesen flight. The 5 wines that were rated were 94, 95, 96, 97 and 99. The one that was not rated won (but rieslingfan is right - it was not a fair comparison, it was a high BA or TBA masquerading as an auslese). I also enjoyed the Chappellet, and it is drinking as well as it has been for the past 10-15 years. I've had the pleasure of having enough to try the 69 Chappellet, 68 BV GDL, 70 Mondavi unfiltered (reserve), 70 Mayacamas and the 70 Mouton about every 3 years since the early 70's. We would drink these blind and the 68 BV GDL won most of the time with the Mondavi winning a couple of times. Unfortunately, the 68 BV GDL and the 70 Mondavi is gone so we could not compare. The 70 Mayacamas always got the same comment - this will be ready in 30 years. Actually, after everyone left, I was really enjoying the 70 Mouton and the 70 Leoville Las Cases. I think both started out well, went down, then started to come back after an hour. I think the 74 Stags Leap is definitely over the hill. Even though the 73 is famous and the 74 is better, it NEVER competed well with BV, Mondavi and Chappellet during the past 29 years. We definitely have to finish these up soon.
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Joseph Bembry
Wine Lover
Posts:4875
| | 07/15/2003 3:04 PM |
| My only cult....
'93 Bryant Family. Bressler was kind enough to share this gem with Jones and myself. It was fantastic.
jb | | | |
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David Niederauer
Los Gatos, CA
Master Sommelier
Posts:15756
| | 07/15/2003 3:18 PM |
| So let's set up an offline cult tasting.
We could have one here in the Bay Area or Napa Valley and you could have one around NYC on the same night. Maybe even set up a third and fourth other places. Maybe even one overseas? We should all try to have the same wines at every location and they should be set up double blind. Then we can compare the results.
So pick a date. I'd volunteer to have people here. Give me some direction.
If I get some support I will put it over in "offlines". | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 07/15/2003 4:05 PM |
| | I consider Marcassin a cult JB. The only white cult wine. | | | |
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