I’ve been excited about trying out this Limited Edition wine again, hopefully it’s almost ready. I decanted very briefly before first taste; it’s still very foamy. Not much “soapiness” on the nose, mostly light, bright fruits with hint of spice. Very clear garnet in color. Good oak on the tongue giving slightly buttery mouthfeel, with […]
Tag archive: tasting note
I entered two wines into the San Diego County Fair Homemade wine competition: ‘Bahia Belle’ Bordeaux Blend, a 50/50 blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot made from fresh grapes, and ‘Sail Bay Sundown’ RJ Spagnols Argentinian Trio Limited Release white blend. One of my fellow winemakers also entered the same cabernet sauvignon and merlot as […]
It is really too early to be opening this wine, but I was dying to try it. Definitely has that “kit nose”, that weird “soapy” scent that most red kits have (but do lose over time). I used a Riedle balloon glass for this tasting, no decanting. The nose is dominated by “kit scent”. Very […]
Tonight we’re drinking our last bottle of 2007 “Del Mar Racetrack” Bourgeron Rouge. We did a taste comparison with 2007 BV Vin Pays d’Oc Pinot Noir. Our “Racetrack” had much more fruit character, much more depth of flavor. The BV almost tasted like plastic when tasted head to head. All in all, we are very […]
This wine has really taken its time to come together, but it is definitely improving now more and more. I did decant, but tasted just after decanting. Not a lot of solids thrown out or left in the bottle. Kit taste and aroma is gone, with no foam at all. Velvety aromas of chocolate, brambles, […]
This wine is now approaching 2 years, it’s hard to believe it made it that long, it’s so good! After time the honey/flowery notes have come forward, although there is still a good spicy bite in the finish too. Still a great wine, it will be hard to let this one go. I hope this […]
There are only 2 bottles of this wine left, though it is surprising that it has lasted this long. This wine has really developed nicely over the years. It now has very rounded, mellow nose of apricots and melon. Coconut notes develop on the tongue coupled with crisp flavors of lychee and apple. This wine […]
Since we were talking about our barrel wines while pruning yesterday, I wanted to check the progress of the 2008 merlot. It wasn’t as clear as I wanted when I bottled it, and so I wanted to check if it was OK, or if I needed to open them all and let the solids settle […]
Most of the east coast is blanketed in snow today. Meanwhile, we finally got our southern California sunshine back — just in time to prune the syrah vines at Live Oak Vineyard. Mike Hoffman gave us a short tutorial on pruning for his vineyard; he already cut off the bulk of the canes, so we […]
It’s been 6 months since I touched my “La Jolla Caves” Winexpert Montagnac Vieux Chateau d’Oc, wanting to give it time to come together better. Now it’s at the 2-year mark, which sounds like a good time to test it out. I did not decant this time, I wanted to see how it developed out […]