May 15, 2008
Neal Bell's House
The group made the pilgrimage south to Neal's country home on a rather warm Thursday evening. Absent at the tasting were members Loren Bunnell (in California), Bill Kimmer (just returned from Bordeaux), and Mike Webb (getting his nails done). Neal invited two guests to fill out the empty seats.
We all gathered on Neal's deck and two thoughts came to mind. First, why in the hell was it so damn hot? And second, when was the snow going to melt at the higher elevations? Keeping all of this in mind, Neal requested that we "sample" two whites that were suspiciously located on the hot tub cover. Most agreed that both were pretty acidic and lacking in fruit. They turned out to be a 2004 Purcari, a dry white wine from Moldovia, and a 2006 Recase, a Pinot Gris from Romania.
We then were offered three Sparklers that had been wrapped in black electrical tape - Neal was unable to locate brown paper bags due to the ongoing remodeling job in the kitchen. These turned out to be a NV Jacob's Creek Brut Cuvee, a NV Mumm's, and a Yellow Label Vueve Clicquot. There was no general consensus about a favorite - some liked the Jacob's Creek and some liked the Mumm's. Most did agree, however, that the Vueve Clicquot might actually have been corked or somehow contaminated.
And before we made it to the second flight, Neal brought us three additional wines to sample. The first was located deep in Neal's cellar, an individual foil packet of Casterin from sometime in the 1970's - this was a Bordeuax blend of some sort. It was, in a word, interesting. Still deeper in the cellar, Neal was able to locate a 1979 Elk Cove Pinot Noir and a 1980 Eyrie Reserve Pinot Noir. Unlike the foil packet sampler, these actually seemed to have retained some structure and fruit. Tasting these old gems outside proved a difficult task for many though.
We finally made it to the last flight of the evening. Some guessed some, but not all, might be Zinfandels or Shiraz. Others suggested Washington or California Cabernet Sauvignon. But no one said they might be some of the newly released 2005 Bordeaux. As it turned out, two were California Cabs and the other two were from the much hyped '05 Bordeaux vintage. The two California Cabs, a 2004 Elizabeth Spencer and a 2005 Ledson, both garnered higher scores than the two Left Bank Bordeaux, a 2005 Ch. Duhart-Milon from Pauillac and a 2005 Ch. Lafon-Rochet from St. Estephe.
Accompanying the wines were three cheeses, an aged Spanish Manchego, a triple cream Bergenost from Norway, and an Irish Dubliner. The meat plate included a Canadian Parmesan coated salami and Dolmadas. For dessert, we all sat back and enjoyed a Chocolate cake with chewies soaked in cherry brandy with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.
Most seemed to prefer the Mark's Ridge Willamette Valley Riesling and the Elizabeth Spencer Cabernet, but both were secondary to spending a nice evening with friends in the beautiful setting known as Neal and Val's place.
For complete scoring results, click here: May 2008