Is the 2009 Belle Glos Meiomi as Good as the 2008?

Get 50% off shipping when you purchase six or more bottles of French wine with promo code "drink84"

icon
No, it's not. At least not for me, of the three bottles of the 09 I've tasted and compared to the eight bottles of the 08 I've tasted.

That said, it's still a good value in California Pinot Noir. The 09 is just lacking that little something extra the 08 had - and still has. I thought the 2008 was a 92 point wine and while the 2009 doesn't reach that same level of excitement for me, it is coming to market at very compelling prices. Whereas I'd never seen the 08 available for less than $19.99 I've seen the 09 for as little as $17.59 at Costco locations in Massachusetts and Arizona.

This price adjustment could be related to an intentional decision Caymus Vineyards (Belle Glos is Caymus' Pinot Noir label) made to drop their wine prices in response to the economic downturn that began a couple years ago. Gotta love a company that has a sense for market trends and eases pricing a bit at just the right time. I've seen Caymus Special Selection drop from around $125 to $99 and Conundrum from $20 to $15. I haven't seen Caymus drop below $55 yet however - have you?

Here are my notes: 

2009 Belle Glos Meiomi Pinot Noir

I was very interested to try the 09 vintage of this wine after thoroughly enjoying the 08 (92 pts across a half-dozen bottles). The signature sweet spice is still there but I also get ample chimney smoke at Christmas. It's a little unusual - we'll see whether I sense it in future bottles. But I still think this is a solid wine. Will buy more for sure.

89/100 WWP: Very Good 

Recommendation: If you see the 08 around buy it. There's not much left in the market and the 09s are replacing the 08s at most all high volume retailers. That said the 09 is still a pretty good play - especially south of $17.

Question of the Day: What do you think? Is 2009 as good as the 2008?


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/fRdrZX0sjA0/is-2009-belle-glos-meiomi-as-good-as.html

cabernet sauvignon pinot gris pinot blanc champagne chardonnay

Born Digital for the best online wine content

What was the best wine article or video that you read in 2010? For many people, the answer is probably something the rest of us have never heard about. It might have escaped our attention, it might have been by someone who doesn’t publish that regularly, or more likely, it was written in a language [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/dWmKzCvqoYY/

chardonnay wine racks wine clubs winery moet

Trump, not so interested in wine, buys Virginia winery

Donald Trump has purchased Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard in Virginia for the terroir, saying, “I?m really interested in good real estate.” Er, wait. He added that he’s not so interested in wine. He continues: ?This place had a $28 million mortgage on it, and I bought it for $6.2 million. It?s a Trump deal!? [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/GuSC/~3/5bgOMXC0e1E/

champagne chardonnay wine racks wine clubs winery

Good News Spreads Fast

Word on the winners of the Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition is spreading like wild fire! A preview tasting for the media last week in Beverly Hills has generated a lot of buzz that we are really excited about! Take a look at some more posts: http://gastronomy-101.blogspot.com/2009/06/event-la-wine-competition-preview-... http://thirstyinla.com/2009/06/19/2009-la-wine-spirits-competition/ http://lablips.dailyradar.com/story/los_angeles_international_wine_and_spirit... http://www.womenwine.com/posts/journals/18487-winners-of-the-2009-la-internat...

Source: http://blogs.fairplex.com/blog/wine/?p=90

Barolo Pinot Grigio Barbaresco Semillon Viognier

Scarecrow Second Label Unboxing Photos

Flying high off a 100 point Wine Advocate rating for their 2007 Scarecrow, check out these shots for the packaging of Scarecrow's second label wine - the 2008 M. Etain:
 Pretty impressive - I wonder what kind of treatment the flagship wine receives?
With a $225/btl release price and current auction prices of the '07 Scarecrow approaching $600/btl it's intriguing to seek a taste of their wines. One way to taste the greatness is with this second label Monsieur Etain that goes for $125/btl.

Another is to seek out Scarecrow winemaker Celia Welch's Corra where she's the winemaker and owner: http://corrawines.com

Or you could just live vicariously through RJ's Wine Blog. His notes on the '06 Scarecrow and the '08 M. Etain. 

Question of the Day: Have you ever tasted a wine rated 100 points by Wine Spectator or Wine Advocate? If so was it a disappointment? Or could you see where their perfect rating was coming from?


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/x8F7DRuB5oE/scarecrow-second-label-unboxing.html

perrier dom perignon tatinger chard farm neudorf

The Top 10 Wines of 2010

I’m officially declaring 2010 the year of the rosé. Yes, I know that many wineries have been producing stellar rosés for years, but I felt that this year was the tipping point where the public started to get behind the pink drink again. It was the year when wineries paid much more attention to the [...]

Source: http://www.beyondnapavalley.com/blog/the-top-10-wines-of-2010/

Viognier Chenin Blanc Gewurztraminer Muscat pinot noir

Affordable, Expensive Washington Wines Upstage Napa Cab Blind Tasting

What started off as a chance to taste small production 2007 Napa Cabs turned into an intriguing game of "guess which one is from Washington?" at a recent blind tasting. Fellow Boston-area wine blogger Adam Japko (Wine-Zag.com) lined up 6 2007 Cabernet Sauvignons from Napa Valley ranging from $30 to $125 then added a twist: Two of the wines mixed into the lineup were from Washington State.

The Washington vs. California angle wasn't so much the story as the specific wines he chose to throw into the mix: The $125 2007 Quilceda Creek Galatzine Vineyard Cabernet (97 Wine Advocate) and a $10 wine you can find in any supermarket in America: The 2007 Columbia Crest Grand Estates Cabernet. The results might surprise you...read on.

The evening started off with a tasting of older Stony Hill Chardonnays: 1990, 1991, 1993, and 1997. These wines weren't my favorites - they were kind of just "there" at best and in one case they took on spirit-like flavors (the 1991). I thought the 1997 was slightly corked. Overall, I was reminded of a recent Tweet from Garagiste: "alcohol never dissipates- fruit does". These wines were at a reasonable 13% - how will wines north of 15% fare in 20 years? Not so well I think.

We tasted the Cabernets in two flights of 4. For whatever reason I liked the wines from the first flight a lot more than the second.

Here are my notes on the wines, ranked in order from what I thought was best to worst: 

2007 Stanton Cabernet Sauvignon
$75/NR

Most tannic of the first flight. A big wine with a delicious Napa Cab flavor profile of blackberries, black currant, and some savory notes. Great now but will get better as the tannins integrate. I guessed this was the Realm for whatever reason but I was mistaken.

This wine was also the crowd favorite.

93/100 WWP: Outstanding 

2007 Quilceda Creek Galatzine Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (Washington State)
$125/97 Wine Advocate

Herbaceous eucalyptus and bell pepper notes. Powerful with gritty tannins. Long finish.Very high quality, but not my style.

The crowd voted this wine 5th place out of 8 - a surprisingly low showing for a $125 wine rated 97 points.

92/100 WWP: Outstanding


2007 Taken Napa Valley Cabernet
$30/NR

Slightly sweet fruit. Some pleasant coconut aromas. Smooth. Quite nice. Drinking nicely for such a young wine.

90/100 WWP: Outstanding

2007 Mica Napa Valley Cabernet
$75/NR

A delicious and flavorful fruit-forward single-note kind of wine. Is this the Columbia Crest?

No, it wasn't the Columbia Crest - though others thought it might be too.

89/100 WWP: Outstanding

Emerson Brown Napa Valley Cabernet
$50/NR

Closed nose. Awkward, but I can see this one improving with time. Caught some acetone aromas perhaps?

86/100 WWP: Very Good

Ad Vivum Napa Valley Cabernet
$125/89 Wine Advocate

Grippy. Kind of bitter. Very tannic. Hot.

A pretty poor showing for a $125 wine.

84/100 WWP: Good

Realm Farella Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet
$95/91+ Wine Advocate/90 Wine Spectator

Meaty. Smells like a ball park hot dog, and a bit like spoiled produce behind a grocery store. Smoky. Lots of grip. Drying tannins.

Finished 2nd amongst the crowd.

83/100 WWP: Good

2007 Columbia Crest Grand Estates Cabernet
$10/89 Wine Spectator

Flat, bitter, rough. Caramel. Smells like a wood shop.

3rd place amongst the crowd which is quite an accomplishment considering it sells for 90% less than the top wines in the tasting and a-third the most affordable wine.

82/100 WWP: Good

Conclusions and Outlook

I'm a big fan of Napa Cab and I've had some good experiences with the vintage so far. But trying to guess which wine was the famous Quilceda Creek and which was the lowly Grand Estates was so much fun - it stole the show!

I was surprised how well the Columbia Crest did with the crowd as well as how little I thought of it personally - I've really enjoyed that wine in prior vintages. The Columbia Crest Grand Estate Cab and Merlot (along with their next-level-up H3 bottling) are my go-to grocery store recommendations. I'm still a fan - just not of this bottle on this night.

It was a treat trying the Quilceda Creek. I've heard so much about their wines, and although I'd never tasted it before I wasn't surprised which it was. The quality was undeniable even if its flavor profile didn't align with what I'm looking for in a domestic Cab.

Almost all of these wines will benefit from bottle age, but it's fun checking out wines when they're more readily available. Stanton, my top pick and the crowd favorite as well, doesn't seem to be widely distributed at retail. Here's a link to their website if you're interested in checking them out.

I was surprised and kind of bummed the Realm didn't show better for me. That was one of the few producers I'd heard of before and I was looking forward to trying it. Others liked it so maybe I was off my game after the intermission. Oh well - I guess I saved myself $95 tasting it instead of buying a bottle.

Adam puts on great tastings - my thanks to him for hosting me and others at this event. He's such a generous, kind, and wide open kind of guy. Definitely check out his wine blog when you have a chance - especially his piece that focuses on the Stony Hill Chardonnays at this tasting.

Question of the Day: Have you had any of these wines? If so what do you think of these results? If not, what are some of your recent discoveries in Napa or Washington Cab?


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/I_raQk78KGg/affordable-expensive-washington-wines.html

Chianti Beaujolais Barbera Barolo Pinot Grigio