Special Wine Tasting for NYE

Finally got around to posting my NYE tasting notes (yes, I'm lazy). We had a great time, and opened some spectacular wines! See below.

• 2013 Saxum Heart Stone Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (12/31/2019)
  Tied for my WOTN. Decanted 2 hours, could have used more. Massive wine, full of fruit, structure, and deliciousness. Gobs of black cherry, fig and plum fruit at various times and depending on what I was eating, followed by a wall of tannin and some vanilla sweetness from the oak. This has a long life ahead, so unless you're planning to decant for many hours, I recommend holding another year or two and drinking through 2035 or longer. (95 points)
  
• 2014 Cayuse Syrah Cailloux Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley (12/31/2019)
  Tied for my WOTN. Decanted 2 hours then funneled back into the bottle to serve. Lots of funk and savory flavors with this one, as expected from Cayuse. Black olive, espresso, almost a coppery sanguine flavor, grilled meat, and some black fruit showing nicely. The 2 hour decant was perfect on this wine, which I would consider too young to really enjoy otherwise. Drink now with air - 2030+. (95 points)
  
• 2014 Rasa Vineyards Fianchetto XL Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley (12/31/2019)
  Decanted 2 hours and funneled back into the bottle for serving. The label on this bottle is a mess, thanks to my new wine fridge getting too humid inside over the summer. Looks like mold starting to form, and the label had fallen off at one point but I got it to stick again. I love this blend and the wines from XL are massive. Delicious, big black fruit, lots (!!!) of structure, and a very nice mocha finish. Could have used more time in the decanter, but was very enjoyable. Drink 2022 - 2035, perhaps longer. (94 points)
  
• 2012 Owen Roe Cabernet Sauvignon 1973 Block Red Willow Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley (12/31/2019)
  P&P. Black cherry fruit, loamy earth, cigar box, mocha finish. This was a hit at the party and was gone pretty fast. Easy drinking and tasty! Drink now - 2028. (93 points)
  
• 2015 K Vintners Syrah Phil Lane - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley (12/31/2019)
  Popped and poured (could have used a couple hour decant, IMO). Lots of luscious black fruit with espresso and oak flavors. A tad chunky right now, as this could ideally use another couple more years to evolve. Good now, especially if given some air. Drink now - 2030. (93 points)
  
• 2015 K Vintners Syrah The Deal Sundance Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Wahluke Slope (12/31/2019)
  P&P. Followed the 2015 K Phil Lane, and paled in comparison. While still quite tasty, it was less delicious and not showing as much complexity. Blackberry and plum fruit, a bit of wood and pipe tobacco. Drink now - 2025. (91 points)
  
• 2014 Natalie's Estate Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Red Willow Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley (12/31/2019)
  P&P. Opened this one later into the evening, so my notes are not very detailed. Sweet cassis and black cherry fruit, violets, and earth. Drink now - 2029. (90 points)
  

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Owen Roe Winery DuBrul Vineyard Vertical Tasting

OWEN ROE DUBRUL VINEYARD VERTICAL TASTING - My House (3/11/2017)

I've been building this vertical of every vintage of Owen Roe Winery's DuBrul Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon since 2007. I was able to source vintages from auction and retail websites, or directly from the winery via their awesome wine club. What was supposed to be a 10-year vertical somehow turned into 16...how the time flies!

Palate Primer

• 2011 Owen Roe Chardonnay DuBrul Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
  Had first as a palate primer. Probably past it's prime, this was surprisingly funky. Not drinking like a Chardonnay at all...more like Roussanne. Quite creamy, lots of funk, buttery oak, pear fruit. Interesting wine! (85 points)
  

The Cabs!

• 1999 Owen Roe Cabernet Sauvignon DuBrul Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
  The first vintage of DuBrul Vineyard Cab released by Owen Roe. Showing it's age...quite a bit of bricking, and smells like you'd expect an older wine to smell. Much less fruit, but still hanging in there. Flavors of mushroom, loam, cranberry, black tea and cherry. Past it's prime for sure, but still tasty and fun to drink. (89 points)
  
• 2000 Owen Roe Cabernet Sauvignon DuBrul Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
  Amazing transition from the 1999...this one is ALL about the fruit, and not showing it's age at all! Huge red and black fruit flavors: Cassis, black cherry & raspberry. Black tea, light wood, and tobacco flavors as well. This one is up there close to my wine of the night. Still very lush and alive. (94 points)
  
• 2001 Owen Roe Cabernet Sauvignon DuBrul Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
  Another great wine, although showing more tannin than I expected for the age. Earth, red berry fruit, saddle leather, and a zip of acidity. Still drinking well, but on the downward side. (90 points)
  
• 2002 Owen Roe Cabernet Sauvignon DuBrul Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
  Wow, what a fruit bomb! Gobs of cherry fruit showing from this hot vintage wine. Started to get a bit overwhelmingly sweet once it had a couple hours of air under it's belt. Past it's prime, but was a crowd favorite for the lush fruit alone. (92 points)
  
• 2003 Owen Roe Cabernet Sauvignon DuBrul Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
  Another crowd favorite and certainly near the top for me. Again, big masses of lush black fruit, silky texture, and sweet dark chocolate on the finish. Touches of wood and earth as well. Drinking spectacularly right now. (94 points)
  
• 2004 Owen Roe Cabernet Sauvignon DuBrul Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
  Popped 2 bottles of this, as it was the crowd's 2nd favorite of the night (mine as well). Both bottles knocked my socks off (SOCKS! -Kaz) with the lush fruit and full body. Black cherry, currant/cassis, this is like drinking silk. Amazingly fresh and absolutely delicious! Still has lots of life left, despite the CT drinking window. I'd say this is a 20-year wine, easy. (95 points)
  
• 2005 Owen Roe Cabernet Sauvignon DuBrul Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
  Wine of the Night! Another vintage that I opened 2 bottles for, due to the overwhelming love from all guests. Both bottles were absolutely stunning! Lush, silky, full-bodied, long finish...this wine has it all. Big cassis fruit, touches of black tea, oak, vanilla, and baking spices. Lonnnng finish of dark chocolate that matched our dark chocolate brownies. Can't say enough good things about this wine! It's at prime drinking right now, and is another 20+ year wine, in my opinion. (96 points)
  
• 2006 Owen Roe Cabernet Sauvignon DuBrul Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
  Another winner...seems like 2002-2006 were the most-liked vintages of the tasting. Similar flavors to the 2004 and 2005, but lacking that extra "something" that made those two stand a hair above the rest. Black currant, cherry, tobacco and earth. Another long chocolatey finish here too. Drink now - 2022+. (94 points)
  
• 2007 Owen Roe Cabernet Sauvignon DuBrul Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
  Arrgh! Out of 19 bottles I opened for this tasting, only 1 was flawed: 2007. Corked! Not horribly so, but certainly noticeable to most tasters and undrinkable to me. We noted that it was flawed and asked everyone to taste it and tell us how. Most got it right: Flat flavors, hints of wet newspaper/damp basement. Very bummed I didn't have a backup bottle for this vintage! (NR/flawed)
  
• 2008 Owen Roe Cabernet Sauvignon DuBrul Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
  Similar to the 2006, but a touch leaner (cooler vintage I think). Quite delicious and a bit more acid and tannin. Red currant, cherry, tobacco, and spice. Drinking very well, but has a ton of upside still. This could have the stuffing to push past 2030. (93 points)
  
• 2009 Owen Roe Cabernet Sauvignon DuBrul Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
  Very similar to the 2004, flavor-wise. Black currant fruit, gobs of chocolate, less acid and tannin than the 2008. Drinking very well, but I don't think it's potential will match that of the 2008. Drink now - 2023. (94 points)
  
• 2010 Owen Roe Cabernet Sauvignon DuBrul Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
  Another 20+ year wine candidate. Very similar to 2008 in structure and fruit. Red currant, red cherry, great acid/tannin structure. Slightly leaner in terms of fruit than the earlier vintages. (93 points)
  
• 2011 Owen Roe Cabernet Sauvignon DuBrul Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
  Out of 16 vintages, this and the 1999 were the only bottles not finished (well, the corked 2007 too). Much leaner and more acidic than any other vintage (coolest in recent memory?) this one just wasn't as enjoyable as the others. More on the cranberry fruit side, with black tea, leather and earth. Hard to call the drinking window on this one. (89 points)
  
• 2012 Owen Roe Cabernet Sauvignon DuBrul Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
  Decanted 2 1/2 hours. When first opened, this had some VA. The decant helped blow it off before we consumed it. Cassis, spices, dark chocolate, espresso/mocha on the finish. Drink now - 2030. (93 points)
  
• 2013 Owen Roe Cabernet Sauvignon DuBrul Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
  Decanted 3 hours. Showing it's youth for sure. Big fruit, tannins, nice acidity. Loads of black cherry, cassis, baking spices, oak and vanilla. Better with food at this point. Drink 2018-2030+. (92 points)
  
• 2014 Owen Roe Cabernet Sauvignon DuBrul Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
  Decanted 3 hours. Another infant! Even with the decant, this was still just a baby...lots of fruit, lots of tannin, hard to get past all of that fruit to taste the secondary flavors. Black cherry, currant and vanilla, with an espresso finish. My palate may have been shot by this point too...drink 2020-2035. (92 points)
  

Thanks to everyone who shared this experience with me...it was so much fun!

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Memorial Weekend Wine Tasting

Memorial weekend upon us again! This time we did things in bulk: 25 friends in a 30-passenger party bus! She's the crown jewel of the Aspen Limo Tours fleet. Our driver, Kawika, was AWESOME! Ranks as one of the best wine tours I've done, even though we only hit 3 wineries. The first:

Sineann recently relocated to the old Owen Roe Winery out on Champoeg Road near St. Paul. A new facility is being built for Sineann and the resident winery, Lady Hill (more about them below). For a $10 tasting fee, we were able to taste through the entire Lady Hill and Sineann lineups:

• 2013 White Table Wine (mostly NZ Sauvignon Blanc) - $13
• 2013 Columbia Gorge Gruner Veltliner - $18
• 2013 Wyeast Vineyard Pinot Gris - $20
• 2013 Celilo Vineyard Gewurztraminer - $18
• 2012 Oregon Pinot Noir - $30
• 2012 Yates Conwill Vineyard Pinot Noir - $42
• 2012 Resonance Vineyard Pinot Noir - $48
• 2012 Red Table Wine - $16
• 2012 Columbia Valley Abondante - $24
• 2012 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon - $30
• 2012 Baby Poux Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon - $42
• 2012 Red Mountain Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon - $48
• 2013 Sweet Sydney Zinfandel Port - $24

Out of the lineup, the 3 Cabs were my favorite, with RMV topping the list. Well done, Peter!

After co-founder Jerry Owen split from Owen Roe, and that winery moved to Union Gap Vineyard in the Yakima Valley, he went to work with consulting winemaker Erik Brasher to form Lady Hill Winery in the old Owen Roe space on his family's farm property. These wines were a treat! I'm a huge fan of Erik's winemaking style, first experienced during his tenure as Director of Winemaking at Owen Roe. Included in the $10 tasting fee noted above were the following wines:

• 2013 Lady Hill Willamette Valley Pinot Gris - $18
• 2012 Lady Hill Freedom Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir - $35
• 2012 Procedo Columbia Valley Proprietary Red: 62% Sangiovese, 15% Cab Franc, 13% Merlot, 10% Cab Sauv. - $20
• 2012 Procedo Columbia Valley "Credente": 50% Sangiovese, 20% Cab Franc, 20% Merlot, 10% Cab Sauv. - $35
• 2012 Ad Lucem Columbia Valley Proprietary Red: 62% Syrah, 17% Mourvedre, 11% Grenache, 10% Durif - $25
• 2012 Ad Lucem Red Willow Vineyard "Daystar" Syrah - $35
• 2012 Ad Lucem Red Heaven Vineyard "Daystar" Blend: 51% Mourvedre, 29% Syrah, 20% Grenache - $40
• 2012 Ad Lucem Red Willow Vineyard "Daystar" Blend: 62% Mourvedre, 38% Syrah - $40
• 2011 Lady Hill Tapteil Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon: 79% Cab Sauv., 21% Merlot - $45
• 2012 Lady Hill Tapteil Vineyard "Cuvee Marie Dorion" Blend: 62% Merlot, 38% Cab Sauv. - $35
• BONUS POUR: 2012 Procedo Columbia Valley Cabernet Franc: 76% Cab Franc, 24% Merlot - $N/A
• BONUS POUR: 2012 Columbia Valley Cabernet Franc Barrel Sample (unknown label or blend) - $N/A

The winery also produces a number of other wines that were not open for tasting on this visit. All of these wines were hitting on all cylinders, and at amazingly reasonable price points. My favorites were the Ad Lucem single-vineyard blends, and the Tapteil Vineyard wines from the Lady Hill label. Keep your eyes on this up and coming new winery!

Cayuse Weekend in Walla Walla

This past April, our wine loving group made the trek from Portland out to Walla Walla for "Cayuse Weekend". We went last year also, but one (large) difference this year was the fact that yours truly finally made it onto the Cayuse Vineyards mailing list, after a 7 year (!!!) wait. This means I get to buy wine from the winery, and get to attend release weekend tastings. I didn't get to pick up any wine this year, as the 2012's were still in barrel, but next year I'll get my first allocation: 1 3-pack of 2012 En Cerise Vineyard Syrah. YES!!!

Note: If you haven't signed up for the Cayuse Wait List, I would HIGHLY recommend that you do, as well as Baron's second label, No Girls Wines. 

Back to the weekend! We hit Cayuse on Friday, after a quick lunch at The Worm Ranch, and a palate-cleansing tasting at Basel Cellars. In addtion to meeting founder/owner/winemaker Christophe Baron, who was extremely nice and quite fun to chat with, we tasted through barrel samples of the 2012 lineup, paired with some delicious hors d'oeuvres. Here are the wines:

• 2011 God Only Knows Grenache
• 2012 Camaspelo (84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot)
• 2012 Cailloux Vineyard Syrah
• 2012 En Chamberlin Vineyard Syrah
• 2012 En Cerise Vineyard Syrah
• 2012 Bionic Frog Syrah
• 2011 Armada Vineyard Syrah
• 2012 Impulsivo Tempranillo

All were amazing and, although very, very young, drinking quite well. I'm quite sure they had been decanted for some time. The Impulsivo was locked up pretty tightly, and several 2011 wines were included due to the un-readiness of their 2012 versions. 

The snacks served all came from estate-raised livestock. Here's the list:

• Cucumber with Olive Tapenade
• Slow-Roasted Lamb on Chickpea Crisp
• Rosemary & Thyme Lamb Meatball with Arrabiatta Sauce
• Chevre and Thyme Gougeres
• Country Pate and Cherry Gastrique

All were delicious, although I avoided the pate/cherry thing (I don't like either ingredient), with my favorite being the lamb meatballs. So good with the wines! 

Other wineries we visited over the weekend were Sleight of Hand Cellars (epic Grenache party Friday night), El Corazon (epic "Pants Optional" party Saturday night), Rasa Vineyards (epic wines, ALWAYS), Mark Ryan Winery (epic carnitas tacos), Charles Smith/K Vintners, Reynvaan Vineyards, and Cadaretta Winery. A great weekend, tasty dinner at T. Maccarones, extremely fun and laid back. We missed a lot of wineries this trip, but made up for it with the higher amount of fun. If you haven't visited Walla Walla, I really think you need to plan it! 

Owen Roe Wine Club Pick-Up Party

Owen Roe Winery in St. Paul, OR is relocating their winery to the Yakima Valley in Washington. A brand new winery facility is being built on their Union Gap Vineyard (estate), and all winemaking will move there after 2013 harvest. Rumor has it Owen Roe will move their Oregon tasting room to an old nut barn in the Newberg area sometime in early 2014 (location to be announced). 

As a side note, the "old" Owen Roe winery has been taken over by Lady Hill Winery, owned by ex-Owen Roe partner Jerry Owen, with ex-Owen Roe director of winemaking Erik Brasher as winemaker. Expect some amazing wines under the Radicle Vine, Procedo, Ad Lucem, Lady Hill and Pinnacle labels coming from them in the very near future. 

The final Owen Roe wine club pickup party at the old winery was Sept. 14, and I attended with several good friends. Free for club members and their guests ($10 for all others), the following wines were offered for tasting (and sale - 15% wine club discount!): 

• 2012 Corvidae "Wise Guy" Sauvignon Blanc ($10)
• 2012 Owen Roe "DuBrul Vineyard" Chardonnay ($48) 
• 2012 Owen Roe "Eola-Amity" Pinot Noir ($42) 
• 2012 Owen Roe "Lenne Vineyard" Pinot Noir ($55) 
• 2012 Owen Roe "Merriman Vineyard - Wadenswil Block" Pinot Noir ($55) 
• 2012 Owen Roe "Sharecropper's" Pinot Noir ($21)
• 2012 Owen Roe "Abbot's Table" Red Blend ($24) - Great blend of 5 varietals 
• 2012 Owen Roe "Sharecropper's" Cabernet Sauvignon ($15) - A great value Cabernet 
• 2011 Owen Roe "Yakima Valley" Cabernet Sauvignon ($55) - New offering this year 
• 2011 Owen Roe "Red Willow Vineyard - 1973 Block" Cabernet Sauvignon ($72) - Always a favorite
• 2011 Owen Roe "DuBrul Vineyard" Cabernet Sauvignon ($72) - Wine of the Tasting for me 

As always, a great event, and amazing red wine line up! I love all of the Owen Roe Cabernets. I look forward to visiting the new winery on my next trip to Yakima.