2009 Thanksgiving Dinner

THANKSGIVING DINNER - Dietra's House, Portland OR (11/26/2009)

Event photos on Flickr.

Thanksgiving dinner at Dietra's, with Dietra, Dave, Steve & Kirsty, Jason, Phil, Woody, Liz & Scott, and LeRae (+1), Chris and her daughter left before dinner, and Trish & Ian, Brian & Emy, and Didi & his sister showed up after dinner for board games. Dinner was roast turkey, stuffing, butternut squash gratin, mashed sweet potatoes, Crescent rolls, butternut squash salad, dumplings, cranberry, and a number of other things I'm either forgetting or didn't get a chance to eat. Several tasty appetizers and desserts were also present, including the ubiquitous pumpkin pie, the remains of which I took home with me (pumpkin pie for breakfast...yum!).

Before Dinner Wines

• - 2002 Leonetti Cellar Reserve Walla Walla Valley - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
  While I have had some so-so wines from Leonetti this year, the Walla Walla Reserve has been a consistent hit. Even from the tough, overly hot 2002 vintage, this wine is drinking at absolute peak right now. Everything is integrated perfectly, and the fruit is lush and mouth-coating. Big blackberry and vanilla flavors. So delicious...No decant on this one, just a pop-n-pour before Thanksgiving dinner. It was an instant hit with all present, and was the first bottle to be finished. At $90/bottle, not a very good QPR, but for a special occasion wine it worked nicely. Sad it was my last, but glad I was able to share it with friends. (93 pts.)


• - 2002 Hazyblur Shiraz Barossa Valley - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
  Pop & Pour. This wine was a joy to drink. Like pouring ink into your glass, it was black-purple in color, and very thick. Heavy pepper to go with the huge blackberry fruit, and perhaps some smoked meat and earth. Very tasty, and a crowd pleaser all around. Apparently, I can't lose with 2002 vintage wines from South Australia! (93 pts.)


• - 2005 Cakebread Cellars Syrah - USA, California, Napa Valley, Carneros
  Pop & pour. This wine should have been decanted. Even after several hours of being open, the wine was closed and unforgiving. Tannic finish, and the fruit was lurking in there somewhere under the leather and tar, but not overly apparent. I detected some raspberry and maybe a hint of cherry, but the fruit was quite sour and disappointing. Needs time or a serious decant at this point. (86 pts.)


• - 2005 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve - USA, California, Napa Valley
  Decanted 6 hours. First sip right out of the bottle was like getting hit in the face with a hammer. The aroma of red and black fruits was intoxicating, but the huge slathering of fruit flavors, followed by the wall of tannins was almost too much. Even after 6 hours in the decanter, and several more with the bottle open on the counter, it was still very, very young. The WE drinking window on the is 2011+, and I'd have to say AT LEAST 2011. Maybe 2015...but I digress. Back to the wine: Lots of huge cassis, blackberry and cola (or is it mocha?) flavors. This wine is just immense, and oh-so tasty. I love the purity of the fruit, but elegant this wine is not. Too 'in your face' with the fruit and tannins. Speaking of the tannins, they are still fairly harsh on the finish, even after 8 hours. Yikes. Put this one away for another 3 to 5, and you will be rewarded. (94 pts.)


• - 2005 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
  Steve's wine, no decant. Very elegant Cab...great dark fruits, tobacco & earth. A bit tannic at first, it started in integrate after about 3 hours, and ended up being one of my favorites of the night. I would like to revisit this wine in about 3 or 4 years. (92 pts.)


• - 2005 Grgich Hills Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Grown - USA, California, Napa Valley
  Steve's wine, no decant. This one wasn't as enjoyable as the 2005 Groth or 2005 BV Georges de Latour. Seemed somewhat closed in comparison. Cherry fruit with lots of earthiness and cedar wood. Enjoyable, but not as much as I had expected. (89 pts.)


• - 2003 Fireblock Grenache Old Vine - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley
  Phil's wine, no decant. This one was an anomaly. People either loved it (LeRae) or were very disappointed (Phil). I fell somewhere in between. It was nice and fruit, as expected from an Aussie Grenache, certainly not over the top. Muted and restrained, it started drinking much better toward the end of the night. Not sure if this is because the air time improved the wine, or our level of intoxication and palate fatigue rendered us unable to tell the difference (or care, for that matter...) (85 pts.)

Wines with Dinner

• - 2001 Monte Antico Toscana IGT - Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
  From magnum, popped & poured. This actually was quite popular at dinner, as it paired decently with all of the different foods, including the turkey. Smooth and simple, the flavors of cherry and earth, as well as the wine's softness, just worked with everything. Sad when a Cakebread Syrah is outscored by a $10 Tuscan table wine. (87 pts.)


• - 2006 Cameron Pinot Noir Arley's Leap - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
  Pop & pour. This is the wine I brought as a pairing to the turkey, and it did so quite well, even overshadowing the bird somewhat. Quite big and fruity for a Pinot, 2006 vintage non-withstanding. Deep garnet in color, with a beautiful raspberry and saddle leather nose. Flavors of cherry, leather and a nice earthiness, finishing with a bit of sweetness that was surprising. This wine is so well-integrated, it was enjoyable to drink. I ended up kidnapping the bottle over to our table and spent more time enjoying the wine than eating my dinner. Nice work, John Paul. (91 pts.)


• - 2003 Anam Cara Pinot Noir - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Very dark and thick, almost like a port. Huge blackberry and raspberry fruit, with just a touch of earthiness under the raisiny port-like sweetness. Enjoyed by all. (90 pts.)

Unfortunately, there were many more wines present (18 bottles in all!) that I either didn't get to taste, or forgot my notes.
HUGE thanks to Dietra for hosting the event, AND doing most of the cooking. The turkey, stuffing and butternut squash gratin were all amazing, as always! Our foray into into the world of board games ended in hilarity, and fun was had by all. Sorry about the camera Steve...or rather the contents of the camera.

As always, tasting notes posted from CellarTracker

I Walk The Vine

One of my good friends abandoned her good-paying corporate radio station job to jump into an entrepreneurial endeavor dealing with wine and wineries, called I Walk The Vine. She provides great wine-related t-shirts and such to wine shops and wineries everywhere. This weekend marks her first year "walking the vine", and she threw a party to celebrate that accomplishment. In an economy that is literally tanking more each day, she has been able to remain positive and march forward into the unknown. Yes, the economy is in the toilet. I know this first-hand, being laid off from my own Internet Marketing job back in March. Things SUCK right now. But she's still out there, making sales, getting people excited about Walking The Vine, and wearing the t-shirts. I have one myself, and my girlfriend has several. Great shirts. Last forever, great graphics, and, yes, they are wine related, which I love. So, yeah, I'm biased a bit. But you need one. Oh, yes, I think you do. At least check them out!

Anyway, back to my original thought process...there was an I Walk The Vine 1 Year Anniversary party tonight. Wine pairings with various cheeses, meats and nuts, along with many attendee-supplied wines as well. I personally brought a 2000 Gaja Pieve Santa Restituta "Sugarille" Brunello di Montalcino and a 2004 Cana's Feast Winery Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Nebbiolo. There were so many other great wines, including a 2006 Archery Summit Premier Cuvee Pinot Noir and a 2007 Patricia Green Pinot Noir. Just an amazing selection of great wines, and great friends to share them with. I couldn't ask for a better group to hang out with and drink wine with. And congratulations to Liz for her first year of business with I Walk The Vine!

Wine Tasting - Anam Cara Pinot Noir Vertical

ANAM CARA VERTICAL TASTING - Dietra's House, Portland OR (2/21/2009)

My friends Trish and Dietra joined me in organizing a vertical tasting of the Pinot Noirs from Anam Cara Cellars (Anam Cara is Gaellic for "friend of my soul"). We ended up with at least one bottle of every Pinot Noir the winery has released to date, as well as a Riesling and 2 bottles of Late Harvest Gewurztraminer dessert wine. It was a great event! A very special thanks to Nick and Sheila Nicholas at Anam Cara Cellars for the tasting notes, as well as the very generous donation of a bottle of their delicious 2003 Pinot Noir! And thanks to Timothy Nishimoto at Vino Paradiso for the nifty wine pouring spouts. They worked extremely well. And now the tasting notes, posted from CellarTracker as always.

Pre-Vertical Wines

A selection of random wines to quaff as we waited for guests to arrive. The Glass and Riesling were supplied by Trish, and the Lange Pinot by Jim and Allison. Thanks guys!

• 2007 J.K. Carriere Pinot Noir "Glass" - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
  Pre-vertical tasting wine. Light, pale pink. Rose of Pinot Noir. Not my favorite wine, but better than previous tastings. Nice acidity, keeping the light strawberry fruit alive. (84 pts.)


• 2007 Anam Cara Riesling Nicholas Estate - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Color is a light yellow-gold. Melon and pineapple on the nose, with green apple and citrus on the palate. Nice body, and much drier than many Rieslings I've had. Tasty. (88 pts.)


• 2006 Lange Pinot Noir Reserve - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
  Pre-vertical tasting wine, to get us in the groove. Nice fruit, dark color, sweet, leathery nose. Drinking very well right now. Not sure on QPR, but most liked this wine a lot. (89 pts.)

2004 Anam Cara Pinot Noir

• 2004 Anam Cara Pinot Noir Nicholas Estate - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Color is a brownish red, quite lighter than I remember. Nose of leather and cherries. On the palate, sweet cherry fruit, lots of leather and tobacco, and a sour cherry finish. No tannic structure to speak of, but nice acidity. Probably nearing the end of its drinking window. (87 pts.)


• 2004 Anam Cara Pinot Noir Reserve - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Color is a brick red, not as brownish as the regular 2004 Estate wine. Nose of subdued leather, with cherry and raspberry fruit. More body in the mouth than the Estate, and much smoother as well. This seems to be holding up better. Sweet cherry and raspberry fruit, and a touch of tannins on the finish. (89 pts.)

2005 Anam Cara Pinot Noir

• 2005 Anam Cara Pinot Noir Nicholas Estate - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Ruby red color. Nose is tight, not giving me anything at first, then grudgingly throwing me a tiny hint of raspberries. The taste is much better. More fresh and bright than the 2004s, although tighter as well. Fairly complex, with a chocolate raspberry dessert flavor, ending with a bitter, earthy/tobacco finish. I dig the complexity of this one. (90 pts.)


• 2005 Anam Cara Pinot Noir Reserve - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Color is identical to the 2005 Estate, ruby red. Nose is the best so far, with a lovely earthy raspberry and cherry aroma. Taste is quite tannic, with some cherry flavors, and a bit of alcohol heat on the finish. This may have been better if we had decanted it. It seemed to calm down as the night wore on, and I revisited it several times. One taster wanted to combine this nose with the flavors of the 2005 Estate to make 'the perfect wine'. (90 pts.)


• 2005 Anam Cara Pinot Noir Heather's Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Decanted 1 hour. Color is identical to the 2005 Reserve. The nose has similar aromas, but more sweetness than the Reserve. On the palate, I get fresh raspberries, tobacco, earth and a nice chocolatey finish. (92 pts.)

2006 Anam Cara Pinot Noir

• 2006 Anam Cara Pinot Noir Nicholas Estate - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Color is a bit darker ruby than the 2005s. Nose of toasty oak, leather and raspberry, following to the palate. The oak is really evident, and in my opinion, makes the wine very enjoyable. Long finish of sweet cherry fruit wrapped in saddle leather. (93 pts.)


• 2006 Anam Cara Pinot Noir Heather's Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Decanted 1 hour. Color is a bright ruby, shimmering in the glass. Nose of black cherry, oak and some pepper(?). In the mouth, this wine is tight and oaky, despite the decanting time. Black cherry flavors rule the roost, with some leather and pepper and a sharply tannic finish. (91 pts.)


• 2006 Anam Cara Pinot Noir Reserve - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Decanted 2 hours. Color is a dark maroon, the darkest so far. Nose of coffee or mocha...wow. Some leather there as well. Flavors of spicy black cherry, leather and a nice coffee finish. Some tannins evident, but controlled nicely by the acidity and fruit. Some oak is present as well, but not standing out as much as the 2006 Estate. (93 pts.)


• 2006 Anam Cara Pinot Noir Mark I - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Decanted 2 hours. Color is a duplicate of the 2006 Reserve. Nose is huge! Peppery raspberries and earth. Taste is really spicy! Lots of pepper coming through, wrapping around the black cherry and raspberry fruit, and finishing with the zing of tobacco. Astounding wine...may be my Wine of the Night. (94 pts.)

2003 Anam Cara Pinot Noir (A donation from the winery!)

• 2003 Anam Cara Pinot Noir - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  This was a gift from the winery, their first release. Color is the darkest Pinot Noir I've ever seen! Almost looks like a Syrah... Nose is super-sweet and perfumed, very port-like. On the palate, this does NOT taste like Pinot! More like a port, with sweet blackberry fruit, and a lonnnng earthy finish. A great wine to end the red tasting with. Someone said this is a great wine to enjoy with a cigar after a big steak dinner. It was definitely the crowd favorite, but coming in #2 for me. (93 pts.)

Dessert Wine

• 2007 Anam Cara Gewürztraminer Nicholas Estate Late Harvest - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains
  Color is an almost clear straw yellow. Sweet citrus and honey on the nose, following to the palate. Baked apples join the party, and the honey finish goes on for days. One of the better, if not the best, dessert wines I've ever tasted. (92 pts.)

View my photos of the event on Flickr.

Wine Tasting - Thanksgiving Dinner

THANKSGIVING DINNER - Jeff McHugh's condo (11/27/2008)

A selection of wines for an unforgettable Thanksgiving Dinner with great friends: Jeff, Mark, Dave, Steve, Jill, Jake, and Amy.

• 1988 Château Clos des Jacobins - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
  Decanted 1 hour, mostly due to cork and sediment issues. Cork was wet halfway through, but no seepage. My first 20 year-old wine. Nose just blows my mind...very complex, with tobacco, red raspberry fruit, pencil lead, and a vegetal component I can't place. Complexity follows to the palate...huge flavor explosion! Earthy, with tobacco leaf, tomatoes (the vegetal component on the nose, I think), raspberries, pencil lead, just delicious! Finish goes on for a good minute, with flavors swimming all over my tongue. Tannins are very soft, and this is drinking very well. I feel that it is probably at the end of it's drinking window, but showing quite well tonight. An outstanding bottle of right bank Bordeaux! (95 pts.)


• 2003 Mitolo Shiraz Reiver - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
  Decanted 4 hours. Darkest wine I've seen in awhile, and very thick, like blackberry syrup. Coating my decanter, glass, mouth, teeth...Nose is beautiful. This is going to be something special! Aromas of dark blackberry fruit with a touch of vanilla and earth. In the mouth, very thick and coating, with blackberries, blueberries, a bit of vanilla 'oakiness', and tasty earthiness that I love. Not to hot, acidic or tannic, and the fruit, while prominent, isn't exploding like a fruitbomb. This is integration! Finish goes on for a minute or more...Astounding wine that makes me wish I'd bought more. (95 pts.)


• 2004 Renato Ratti Barolo Marcenasco - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
  Decanted 1 hour. Steve's wine. Much too young (I see the CT drinking window OPENS in 2013...) even with an hour+ decant. Was just starting to open up towards the end of the bottle. Nice earthiness, old world and very tasty, but the fruit remained hidden behind a wall of tannin. (90 pts.)


• 2003 Nicolis Angelo e figli Amarone della Valpolicella Classico - Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
  Steve's wine. I typically love Valpolicella wines, Amarone in particular, and this one was somewhat of a disappointment. Could be palate fatigue, as we had tasted many wines prior to this, but the flavors fell somewhat flat for me. I didn't get a chance to poll other tasters, but I got some fruit, and a nice earthiness, but the wine seemed to be missing the signature sweetness that comes from most Amarone I've tried. (88 pts.)


• 2006 Mollydooker Shiraz Blue Eyed Boy - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
  Decanted 4 hours. Very dark purple color, coating the glass. Nose of blueberries. A bit hot. Sweet on the palate, but with an overabundance of alcohol heat. Very mouthcoating, with a long bittersweet finish and light tannins. At $47 at WTSO, a terrible QPR. This drinks like many $20 bottles of Shiraz I've tried. Not impressed. (91 pts.)


• 2005 Cakebread Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley
  Decanted 2 hours. Steve's big wine, and big is the correct word. Big price, big bouquet, big fruit...and big oak. The over-oaked taste was what kept this wine from being wine of the night. I usually don't mind some oak in my cabs, but this went a bit too far for me. Even with the oak, serious gobs of concentrated raspberry fruit and earth showing. Tannins were present, but not bothersome, only lightly drying the mouth on the finish. Color was somewhat lighter than I expected for a Cali cab. All in all, a nice showing, but overshadowed (for me at least) by the 20 year-old St. Emilion, and the Mitolo shiraz. (92 pts.)


• 2007 Torzi Matthews Shiraz "Schist Rock" - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley
  Decanted 4 hours. This is the youngest wine of the bunch, and even with a 4 hour decant, is showing it's youth. Very pretty bouquet of strawberries and vanilla. Lots of oak...picking splinters out of my tongue. Needs a year or two to integrate. Big fruit, big oak, big acid, but not too tannic. My least favorite so far. (88 pts.)


• 2005 Dominio IV Tempranillo Midnight Skies - USA, Oregon
  Decanted 2 hours. Nose of blackberries, smoked meat and earth, following to the palate, and ending in a sweet finish, about 30 seconds, that is full-on blackberries. A bit tannic, but integrating nicely with air. (90 pts.)


• 2007 Seghesio Family Vineyards Zinfandel Sonoma County - USA, California, Sonoma County
  Steve's wine. I can see why this was included in the Wine Spectator's Top 100 of 2008, but #10?? I'll admit I'm not much of a Zin fan, but still...I got a LOT of alcohol heat on this one. Almost like taking a shot of vodka or something. Delicious red fruit, and that Zin "zing" of spiciness. Tasty, but way too hot. Maybe too young? (89 pts.)


• 2005 Hay Shed Hill Chardonnay Pitchfork - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia
  Good with turkey and other items at dinner. Nice acidity to cut through some of the bigger food flavors. (87 pts.)

A migrane headache prevented me from enjoying several other wines in our lineup. My sincerest thanks to Jeff for inviting me to dinner, and to Steve for providing many of the tasty wines we enjoyed that evening (the Cakebread Cabernet in particular!).

Tasting notes posted from CellarTracker

Hood To Coast 2007

The Hood To Coast Relay was this past weekend. If you don't know about it, and haven't read my previous blog posts about it, here's a quickie (and I know you all love a quickie, now and again): A 12-runner relay race starting at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood, down Highway 26 through Sandy and into Portland, then continuing up Highway 30 into St. Helens and over the Coast Range, finishing on the beach in Seaside. 197 miles total. 13-18 miles per runner, over 3 legs. And a kickass party on the beach afterwards! Was that a quick enough description for ya?

My team, Bunghole Liquors, finished in 26:24:30. Nike gave us some magnetic signs to keep track of our "roadkills" with (a roadkill is a runner you pass during your run). Our van of 6 runners had 119 total roadkills, of which 41 were mine. I think van 2 had 93 roadkills, bringing our team total to 212. My legs were Leg 6: 7.42 miles in 48:15 (6:30 pace, 15 roadkills). Leg 18: 4.15 miles in 28:41 (6:55 pace, 10 roadkills). And Leg 30: 5.35 miles in 34:55 (6:32 pace, 16 roadkills). My average over approx. 17 miles was 6:37. Not too bad, considering I hadn't trained much the month or so prior! Our team had a blast on the road. Of course nobody slept between legs. We were able to grab showers between our first and second legs, and shovel Olive Garden's nasty excuse for italian food down our necks, but sleep was next to impossible. I think one guy did grab an hour of sleep. Weak. It's not fun if you sleep! Here's a link to some Hood To Coast photos on Flickr, if you are so inclined. None of me, of course, since I had the camera...hopefully some of the others with cameras will kick down some more pics.

[EDIT]: I have to add a huge THANK YOU to the people at Red Bull for handing out so many cans of regular and sugar-free Red Bull to our team. I think every person in our van picked up at least 4 cans, and we drank them all (most of them with copious amounts of vodka!). My friend Kat was 100% correct when she said in her blog: "Red Bull = Liquid Crack".