100th Episode- Caymus Cabernet 2004

Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2007!

A burst of black fruit aromas, the essence of perfect summer berries. Sweet, ripe blackberry flavors with an undertone of mocha and toasted oak. Balancing acidity and a fine, chalky texture carry the wine through to an exceptionally long finish, with no falling off of the rich fruit flavors. From first sip to last, nothing is missing as the wine crosses the palate.

Caymus Vineyards has made Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley since the winery was founded in 1972. Charles F. (Charlie) Wagner, his wife Lorna Belle Glos Wagner and their son Charles J. (Chuck) Wagner built their winery among vines planted on the family’s ranch in Rutherford, a district long recognized for producing high-quality Cabernet Sauvignons. Charlie Wagner planted most of the Cabernet vines in the mid 1960s, before this variety was universally considered the "king" of Napa Valley wines.

For both the Napa Valley and Special Selection bottlings, the goal is a balanced wine that tastes delicious when bottled but can improve with age. Chuck Wagner attributes the quality of the wines to farming and winemaking techniques developed over the decades. These techniques are open to change if improvements can be made, even if doing so requires replanting a vineyard.

"Aromas of herb, currant and cedar are richer and fuller on the palate. Firms up, with dried currant, earth, vanilla bean and herbal sage notes. The tannins are tight. Decant. Drink now through 2011."
Wine Spectator
92 Points

96- Twin Vines Vinho Verde

Twin Vines is the latest wine to debut from J.M. da Fonseca. Established in 1834, family-owned J.M. da Fonseca is one of Portugal’s best-known and most historic wine producers, and one that enjoys worldwide recognition and respect.

Appropriately, Twin Vines is the creation of the newest generation of the Soares Franco family, owners of J.M. da Fonseca. The story of Twin Vines begins just a few years ago, in 2005, as Antonio Maria S. Franco, Jr., now 30 and currently Director of Marketing & Sales at J.M. da Fonseca, completed his MBA at Columbia University in New York. Columbia classmates, aware their fellow graduate came from a prominent Portuguese winemaking family, asked if J.M. da Fonseca produced a Vinho Verde -- for many the only category of Portuguese table wine they were familiar with by name. While J.M. da Fonseca is identified with many legendary wines, Vinho Verde was not among them. Antonio decided the time was ripe to remedy this situation, and thus the concept behind Twin Vines was born.

For inspiration for the name of his new wine, Antonio did not have to look far. It arrived in the form of twin girls, Francisca and Matilde S. Franco, born to Antonio and his wife Verónica in Portugal on May 25, 2007.

The finishing touches for Twin Vines come in the form of an especially eye-catching bottle design, a contemporary depiction of interlocking vines in spring-like shades of yellow and green. The selection of name and the presentation of Twin Vines is a fitting reference to Vinho Verde, which means “green wine,” alluding to the naturally youthful attributes of the wine.

95- Krug Grand Cuvee

Krug Grande Cuvée

Krug Grande Cuvée is the timelessly stylish signature of Krug, a breathtaking champagne that effortlessly balances richness and freshness, power and finesse. Out of contrast, harmony – a sensational taste experience.

TASTE
A gleaming gold colour, an extravagantly expansive bouquet, an almost creamy texture. Then, an explosion of flavours, at once mellow and mature, crisp and clean.
Toast – Soft spices – Dried fruit – Candied fruit

COMPOSITION
Krug Grande Cuvée is the supreme demonstration of the Krug art of blending. No recipe can define its intricate harmony, so every year the Krug family works from taste and memory alone to recreate this most complex of champagnes. Typically, Krug Grande Cuvée is blended from as many as 50 wines from three grape varieties, 20 to 25 growths, and six to ten different years.

THE KRUG OF KRUGS
Krug Grande Cuvée is the ultimate expression of the Krug style – so much so that all other Krugs may be said to have something of the Grande Cuvée in them. Krug Rosé, for example, takes the spicy notes of the Grande Cuvée to a new peak, while Krug Clos du Mesnil is more mineral. According to Rémi Krug: “If Johann-Joseph Krug tasted today’s Grande Cuvée, he would no doubt say that it was exactly what he dreamt of when he founded Krug in 1843”.

94- Lava Cap Merlot 2004

Lava Cap Merlot 2004

Discover gold for the second time with Lava Cap wine. People always ask, what is Lava Cap? “Lava Cap” is an old miners term denoting a hard, volcanic rock layer than locally overlies gold-bearing gravels. It weathers to a rare soil exceptionally well suited for growing fine wine grapes. We believe that this special volcanic soil imparts to our grapes intense flavors and aromas that are especially appealing, giving Lava Cap wines an outstanding and distinctive character.

Lava Cap’s 120 acres of vineyard are nestled in the Sierra Nevada foothills in Placerville, California just below 3,000 feet in elevation. This mountain setting offers unique soil composition, elevation, slope, and sun exposure. Different grape varieties are carefully planted within this array of microenvironments to insure optimum growing conditions and the highest quality fruit flavors and complexity. First planted in 1981, our vines are now fully mature and offer the best in mountain grown wines.

We are pleased to offer you our limited reserve Stromberg Merlot and Stromberg Cabernet Sauvignon. Lava Cap is the exclusive producer of wines from the Stromberg-Carpenter vineyard. This vineyard is one of the Sierra Nevada’s highest; at 3,300’ the vines are dry farmed and carefully tended to produce low yields (less than one ton per acre). As a result the fruit has a great concentration of flavors, full body and marvelous varietal characteristic.

93- The Prisoner Vertical

The Prisoner

2006 Red Wine

The 2006 blends the lush berry flavors of Zinfandel(51%), the power and concentration of Cabernet Sauvignon (23%), the dark black fruit of Syrah (12%), the intensity and structure of Petit Sirah (6%), the flesh of Charbono (6%) and a hint of Grenache (2%) - all combined for a decadent wine with great complexity.

2005 Red Wine

The 2005 Prisoner is a rich, fruit forward wine with the ripe berry characteristics of the 2003 with the balanced structure of the 2004. Aromatically, it may be the most complex and evolved vintage at this stage. The nose of this delicious wine is sweet, ripe, quietly smoky and very attractively fruity. You'll find hints of licorice root, black tea, vanilla and coffee toffee that meld seamlessly with dark cherry, plum and blackberry scents in an engaging mix. The wine is every bit as charming on the palate, where the creamy vanilla, toffee and black tea notes are reprised while the flavors shift toward pomegranate and red raspberry. The finish is lingering and never less than silky, and those savory tea/toast notes keep the wines fruitiness from overstating itself.

With airing, a more Zin-like personality emerges and black pepper, red raspberry, plum and pomegranate take center stage. Lovely already, it will serve brilliantly with many dishes, from roasts to bread and cheese picnics.

The blend has similar characteristics as past vintages with:

48% Zinfandel
26% Cabernet Sauvignon
14% Syrah
10% Petite Syrah
2% Charbono

92- Artesa Chardonnay 2006

Artesa Chardonnay

0ur Chardonnay vineyards span the entire cool climate Carneros region. Temperatures are moderated by the adjoining San Pablo Bay, cool afternoon breezes and persistent morning fog. This climate yields grapes that have both enough cool hang time and sunshine to develop great depth of flavor with great natural acid. In response to our late wet spring, we made an extra vineyard pass, hand removing excess fruit zone leaves. This assured that our fruit would get full benefit of both our plentiful sun and wind, drying the grapes quickly and hastening full ripening.

Winemaking
Our on going heritage and knowledge of sparkling winemaking is put to full use in this wine. This Chardonnay was hand harvested and whole cluster pressed using only the gentlest of sparkling wine methods. This step is critical to give us all of the great fruit flavor developed in the vineyard without any of the harshness that comes from rough handling. This wine was 50% barrel fermented with sur lees stirring and aging and partially stainless steel fermented (also with lees stirring) to achieve a nuanced balance of fruit, lees and barrel character. Half of this wine has undergone a secondary malolactic fermentation to enhance its buttery creaminess.

Tasting Notes
Lemon blossoms, green apple, ripe pineapple and honeydew melon are front and center in this Chardonnay. This crisp fruitiness is combined with nuances of vanilla topped cream brulee, butter, and toasted oak making this wine both easy to enjoy and seductively complex. Silky supple with lingering flavors, yet a tingle of crisp acid on the finish; a great accompaniment for food and friends.

Alcohol content, 14.3% by volume
33,000 cases produced

91- Vinum Pets Petite Sirah

PETS

2005 PETS Petite Sirah, Wilson Vineyards, Clarksburg
Food & Wine Magazine, April, 2008
67 Best American Wines $15 & Under, Petite Sirah 2005 PETS ($14)
"Vinum Cellars makes a number of appealing wines, including their fanciful CNW—“Chard No Way”— white blend, but the top value in its broad portfolio is this juicy, zesty, boysenberry-inflected red, made with grapes grown in California’s Clarksburg region."

90- Ironstone Symphony

2006 Ironstone Symphony

88 PTS WILFRED WONG. A pleasant expression of Symphony; a cross between Muscat of Alexandria and Grenache Gris; the '06 Ironstone Obsession is fragrant and soft; excellent with spicy entrees.

89- The Fountainhead Cabernet

2005 Fountainhead Morisoli-Borges Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford

Mercy. The boys at Fountainhead are hitting on all cylinders! Using pristine fruit from a primetime property in the heart of Rutherford, this is one intense Cabernet. Heady notes of purple flowers, blackberries and toffee give way to a fat, creamy texture through the mouth. If you’ve ever wondered what 'glycerin' meant in the context of a wine description, this is pretty much the poster child. We played 'guess the price' with our tasting panel and came up with something in the mid-$70 range as a likely bet. Whoops

88- Merlot, A Day Later!

Sawyer Cellars 2002 Merlot

Our 2002 Estate Merlot is another beautiful, full bodied
and complex wine with beautiful aromas of black
cherries, cedar and mocha. Consistent with the nose,
this wine displays prominent flavors of bright cherries,
red fruit and blackberries, complemented by a hint of
oak and spice to provide an elegant and silky finish.
Twenty-one months of barrel aging in the finest French
oak barrels, complement the wealth of intricacies in this
thick and structured Merlot.

APPELLATION:
RUTHERFORD
NAPA VALLEY
VARIETAL BLEND:
100% MERLOT
AGING:
TWENTY-ONE MONTHS
100% FRENCH OAK
ALCOHOL:
14.1%
PRODUCTION:
1,086 CASES
RELEASE DATE:
MAY 2005
WINEMAKER NOTES
2002 MERLOT
NAPA VALLEY


8350 St. Helena Highway, Rutherford, CA 94573
Tel: 707.963.1980 Fax: 707.963.3410
info@sawyercellars.com | www.sawyercellars.com

87- Eola Hills Pinot Noir 2006

Eola Hills Pinot Noir 2006

Situated in a natural weather shadow of the Coast Range, which shunts storms from the Pacific Ocean north to Portland and south below Salem, the Eola Hills vineyards are protected from weather extremes. Yet in summer, a gorge carved by ancient glaciers draws in maritime air to provide ideal cooling for sensitive varietals in those warmer months.

In 1986 the first crop was harvested and transformed into wine by a nearby winery. The wine's quality provided ample proof of the vineyards' great potential. Therefore, in 1987, Eola Hills Wine Cellars was constructed at Rickreall, 10 miles west of Salem. This location is central to the vineyard holdings as well as other prime vineyards searched out and placed under contract to Eola Hills.

87 Points - Wine Spectator - Feb 08

Professional Bronze Medal Winner - Oregon State Fair - '07

Pick of the Week - Seattle Times - '07

87 Points and Best Buy - Wine Enthusiast '07

This wine can go with a wide variety of grilled or smoked foods such as pork or a roasted vegetable salad.

86- Michael Torino Ciclos 2004

Michel Torino Ciclos Malbec-Merlot 2004

Producer Background: With over 1500 acres of vineyards standing at 5500-6600 feet above sea level, Michel Torino is the most important winery in the Cafayate Valley of Argentina.

Brothers Salvador and David Michel founded the winery in 1892, 22 years after discovering the Cafayate as an area suitable for fine wine production. The Cafayate Valley averages 330-340 sunny days per year, and has low humidity and a great thermal range, with evenly warm days (82 degrees) and cool nights (54 degrees). Irrigation is mandatory, as only 3-6 inches of rain fall per year.

All of the Michel Torino wines are hand-harvested in the estate's own vineyards. Additionally, Andrés Höy, Torino's production manager, practices sustainable, environmentally- friendly farming by minimizing the use of fertilizers and chemicals in the vineyard. The unique Cafayete climate manifests itself in the elegant, focused profile of Michel Torino's wines. These are wines with an indelible sense of place, wines which complement food rather than overpower, wines which are true to their origin.

Wine Type: Dry Red

Grape Type: 50% Malbec, 50% Merlot.

Country: Argentina

Region: Cafayate Valley

Vinification:

The soils are deep, poor and rocky, optimal for vine growing, and they receive water from the nearby Andes Mountains. A wide day/night temperature variation, approx. 22°C permits the grapes to develop phenolically ripe grape skins, the most important component necessary to make fine wines. There is high sun exposure, about 350 days per year, and the climate is dry, with approx. 120 mm. rainfall per year with an average of 15° humidity. This terroir produces grapes with a high concentration of color, aroma and flavor.

80% of the wine was aged for 12 months in both French and American barrels.

Tasting Notes: Intense ruby red with violet edges. Red berry aromas with vanilla notes. Soft and silky entry, round and well-balanced tannins. Plum and mint notes combine with a long finish.

Food Match: venison, red meat, pork, grilled meats, beef, BBQ.

85- Question to You

I need your help

84- Parallel 45 Blanc

Parallel 45 Blanc