Pictures Here. I didn't take many, I was too busy enjoying myself.

VC'S THIRD ANNUAL CULT SMACKDOWN - Sunnyvale, CA www.lionandcompass.com (11/4/2006)

Months of planning. People all the way from Texas made the trip. 30+ people, lots of good wine, delicious food.

The hors d'oevres were delicious! The champagne was excellent too minus the one corked bottle.

My food was also superb! The filet was done excellent and the sweet potato shavings on top were so aromatic that I thought they poured some truffle oil on it. Lamb was tender and great and the creme brulee and the chocolate tarte were also excellent. A+!!

THE WINES:
Champagne

• 1992 Bruno Michel Champagne Cuvée Millesimee - France, Champagne
  Excellent bottle showing no aging! Smooth with light crisp apple and pear. I never would have guessed this wine to be 1992. Color was light yellow. (91 pts.)
  

FLIGHT #1 of the Cabs

• 2002 Ladera Cabernet Sauvignon Lone Canyon Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley
  Brought to the CA cab classic. Delicious. The nose was of dark fruits and spice. Mouthfeel was good with textured mountain fruit. Similar to some of the Neal SVD in profile. I enjoyed this bottle. (93 pts.)
  
• 2002 Match Cabernet Sauvignon Butterdragon Hill - USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena
  This wine was slightly off for our table but we tried another bottle and it was good. For the flight, I felt this wine was sweeter than most of the other wines. A nicely balanced wine with dark fruits but it didn't stand out with the Switchback Ridge and the Bressler. Consumed any other night, I would have loved this with a nice steak. (91 pts.)
  
• 2002 Bressler Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena
  Nice rich and jammy. The finish was long and creamy. I really liked this! I believe I put this as my #2 wine of the flight after the switchback. (94 pts.)
  
• 2002 Jones Family Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley
  Unfortunately, this wine did not stand out in flight #1 for me. Well made Cabernet but it didn't have anythign special to add. This morning, I almost forgot that Jones was wine #4. Definitely didn't stand out. If I had only this wine though, I would have really enjoyed it. (90 pts.)
  
• 1990 Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain - USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain
  Cannot give this a rating because it was opened from a 5 liter 2 days prior to the event. Medicinal taste with little fruit left. Not my cup of tea or wine. People who had it on Thursday said it was great on Thursday. Not so great on Sat night.
  
• 2002 Switchback Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Peterson Family Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley
  Very nicely made. Evolved from the glass. I had this and the Bressler as my #1 and #2 wines but this one's richer complexity and fruit did it for me. The finish was long and rich. Very creamy finish that was superb! Excellent wine. (95 pts.)
  

Flight #2 of the Cabs

• 2002 Justin Vineyard Isosceles Reserve - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
  I thought this wine was very well made. Very open and held it's own with Flight #2, which included some blockbuster wine. I enjoyed this a lot. Unfortunately, I guessed this as the Q.C. (93 pts.)
  
• 2002 Pride Mountain Reserve Claret - USA, California, Napa Valley
  I really enjoyed this wine. This and the 02 Insignia stood out as being the best wines of the night. This was my WOTN because of it's long creamy finish. I felt it had a blueberry jam flavor and almost thought this might be the Q.C. but I guessed correctly that this was the Pride. DELICIOUS!!! I've been to Pride Mountain Vineyards and tried their regular bottling. This is seriously top notch and worth the price while the regular bottlings imho, are overpriced. Well made and kudos to Foley! Unique wine and the aftertaste is still felt today. (96 pts.)
  
• 2002 Ridge Monte Bello - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  This wine didn't do it for me. A little light on the palate and green. I thought it left a slightly bitter taste. I guessed Justin Iscosceles but was wrong. Lean green tannic machine. (88 pts.)
  
• 2002 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, Washington
  FUNKY!! Of all the 02 vintage bottles tasted, this one stood out as being funky. What the heck is it? I thought perhaps Ridge since it was so unique but should have guessed Q.C. due to it's blueberry taste. Not a 100 pointer in my book. It's still a great wine and goes well with rich meaty food with lots of fat. (94 pts.)
  
• 2002 Joseph Phelps Insignia - USA, California, Napa Valley
  Third time tasting this wine. Aromas of mocha and vanilla with dark sweet rich fruit. The wine has silky tannins and I had a difficult time picking which wine I liked more. I eventually picked this as wine #2, after the Pride Reserve 02. I got a little clumsy and poured half a glass on myself. My jeans and shirt sure smell delicious! Maybe I won't wash the jeans for a while haha. (96 pts.)
  
• 2003 Château Léoville Barton - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
  For a Bordeaux, this was nice and had plenty of dark fruits. The tannins weren't as overwhelming as I would have predicted but when compared to the 02 Insignia and 02 Pride Reserve, this wine underperformed for me. Definitely not 98 points. But then again, the 02 Quiceda Creek last night wasn't 100...
  
  Might need to revisit this in 10 years! (92 pts.)
  

Extra tastings + sweet wine

• 2002 Mount Eden Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Bottled - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Very good wine that was a treat. Thanks for bringing the extra bottle for us to try. (88 pts.)
  
• 1986 Château Raymond-Lafon - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
  Consumed at the VC's annual CA cult cab showdown. Served with dessert: creme brulee.
  I enjoyed this sauternes as it didn't have the really oily texture. It was light yet nice apricot and lemon smell and taste. Excellent! Not overly sweet. (92 pts.)
  

The Leoville Barton and the Q.C. underperformed given their hype and high ratings from wine critics. Pretty much every wine had at least a #1 and #2 vote, showing that everyone's palate is different. The wines were all excellent and I wished I could open up these types of bottles everyday. I can't wait for the next one!
Posted from CellarTracker

A big hand for Dave for making this happen. The whole evening was extraordinarily well organized and went off without a hitch - all we had to do was show up and start eating and drinking.

The Switchback Ridge and Bressler were clearly the group favorites in the first flight while Insignia and Pride Reserve Claret topped the second flight.

Here are the group's scores for both flights. (I've included the wines from the second flight since my tally was slightly different than Dave's):

Flight # 1 (scored first/second)

2002 Ladera Lone Canyon (6/2)
2002 Match Butterdragon Hill (0/5)
2002 Bressler (9/6)
2002 Jones Family (1/6)
1990 Dunn Howell Mountain (0/1)
2002 Switchback Ridge (11/6)


Flight # 2 (scored first/second)

2002 Justin Isosceles Reserve (2/4)
2002 Pride Reserve Claret (9/8)
2002 Ridge Monte Bello (3/1)
2002 Quilceda Creek (3/4)
2002 Phelps Insignia (10/7)
2003 Ch. Leoville-Barton (1/4)

Richard

Paul H has some photos as well so hopefully he can add to this.

Wow, we finally had a great meal to match our great wines!
Gail and I had never been to the Lion and Compass before and were a bit fearful so thanks for introducing us to this place. Thanks to everyone for bringing their special bottles. Kudo's to the staff for bagging the wines and dealing with the blind tasting hassles. Next time we'll bring our own glassware as the wines really shined in some of the better stems that some had.

Thank you again to David and Alison Tong as these events are a challenge to keep together and you did bloody well mates!

It was nice to see attendees from prior smackdowns as well as many new faces having the chance to attend as many regulars dropped.

Thanks to you classy folks that sent wine even when you couldn't attend.

I hope Mark considers a special discount or raincheck for missing his special entries...

It was especially thoughtful of Winetex to bring another bottle as a gift for our hosts! Now that is a great tradition that we will pay forward...

Best smackdown yet in my opinion. Cheers! Joe

"I hope Mark considers a special discount or raincheck for missing his special entries...


Joe;
I am very sorry that I could not make it. I ended up finishing harvesting for one of my clients (another winery)over that weekend with 1200 plus tons in three days. It sounds like everyone had a great time however.