Steve DeShaw's House
July 17, 2008
On a beautiful sunny evening, we all made the trek to Steve's lovley home set high in the hills in Silverton overlooking the valley floor. All members were able to attend this month. Loren tasted but did not score any of the wines. We all met on the back patio and enjoyed a couple bottles of Veuve Clicquat Yellow Label Champagne while hummingbirds buzzed all around.
One of Steve's friends, Norm, had just returned from his lodge in Alaska and shared some of his bounty with the group, a lovely Sockeye Salmon that spent just the right amount of time in the Traeger. Along with the fresh fish, we all sampled Country Pate with Black Peppercorn, Robusto, Blue Agur, La Tur, Sheep Ossau Iraty Valle D'Aspe, and Nuxe Enrichi en Creme Fraiche.
The first flight arrived to everyone's delight, fresh red wine. The wines were soft, but not flabby and most could detect strong aromas of cherries and red fruit. None were overly tannic. Without much fanfare, we moved to the second flight with similar notes. To a man, all believed these were Pinot Noir - and for once in a very long time, we got it right. Bill went so far as to guess that one was a Ponzi Tavoli and Greg ventured that one was a St. Innocent Seven Springs.
As it turned out, the first flight did contain a St. Innocent Seven Springs from the wonderful '98 vintage - it was the first pour out of a magnum. The second pour would find its way to the second flight. The first flight also contained a 2003 Domaine Drouhin Laurene, a 2005 Archery Summit Renegade Ridge, and a 1998 Beaux Freres Vineyard PN. The Beaux Freres rated slightly higher at 91 points than the other three, but not by much.
The second flight contained the second pour of the Seven Springs, as well as a 2004 Laurene, a 2004 Regegade Ridge and a 2000 Beaux Freres. But this time, the Seven Springs was rated slightly higher than the Beaux Freres. Overall, the tasting garnered an 89 point rating with Brad and Neal rating the tasting overall at 92 points.
For dessert, Steve served a wonderful Raspberry pie with fresh cream to go with a sentimental favorite, Jack Meyer's '85 Pinot Noir Port.
For complete scoring results, please click here: June 2008