Red wine

At dinner last Thursday at the Pacific-Union Club in San Francisco, my friend who is a member treated us to a 2006 J. Davies cab from his cellar. The wine was sensational, one of the best Cabs I have ever tasted. This is a Diamond Mountain wine that he had purchased from the winery way back when. It had been ideally stored and was in pristine condition.

 

These made for a fun weekend with friends.

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You wouldn't be the first Brit to recommend it...from "Wikipedia":

[...] 1649, Lord Arnaud III de Pontac became owner of Haut-Brion, and the wine's growing popularity began in earnest. The first records of Haut-Brion wine found in the wine cellar ledger of the English King Charles II in 1660. During the years 1660 and 1661, 169 bottles of the "wine of Hobriono" were served at the king's court. Charles Ludington states: "The re-establishment of a royal court and of court culture generally required an increase in luxury goods. This demand inspired Pontac to launch the prototype of top-growth claret in London. The wine was called Haut-Brion, after the name of the estate from which it came."

Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary, having tasted the wine at Royal Oak Tavern on April 10, 1663, to have "drank a sort of French wine called Ho Bryen that hath a good and most particular taste I never met with". Pepys provided what Prof. Ludington called "the first tasting note of Haut-Brion".

Therefore both Charles II's cellar book and Pepys' note "provide the first mention in any language of estate-named claret and are among the many proofs that Haut-Brion was created specifically for the English market." Pontac went even further in developing the renown of his wine: "By improving and "branding" a product, [...] he created and named a wine that came from a small, circumscribed area of land for the purpose of enhancing its value in the minds and on the palates of discerning English customers."

Among the "Grand Cru Classés", Haut-Brion is the one with the oldest attested history.

Rgds

 

Good man! "Haut-Brion" and "La Mission Haut-Brion" are situated either side of the same road, and couldn't be more different; the Ying and the Yang.
Even if those in the know and who have had enough money to taste them all along the years say that "La Mission" has lost slightly a bit of its character nowadays.
I'm partial to "La Mission Haut-Brion" myself, or should I say I WAS, as the skyrocketing prices have left me high and dry: these trains have left for good.

Rgds

 

Just made a little order to stock up some in my cellar:
1) 2018 Caymus Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon - 6 pack in O.W.C.
2) 2019 Quilt Cabernet Sauvignon - 6 pack (made by Caymus)
3) 2020 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon - 6 pack
4) 2018 Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon - 6 pack
5) 2021 Rombauer Carneros Chardonnay - case/12

Next 6 bottles of 2018 & 2019 Chateau Nenin Pomerol from Saratoga Wine Exchange ordering tomorrow!

 

Love the Clio!! Remember when no one knew what it was, now it can be a PIA in get some

 

I got a group together for dinner last night and everyone brought a bottle:

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1998 Ornellia
1995 DuCru Beaucaillou
2017 Dunn Howell Moutain
2005 Opus One
2010 Penfolds RWT

JK

 

Jim:

That’s a righteous collection of fine wines!

Alan
N.J.

 

Way at the other end is a daily drinker I enjoy and a terrific QPR wine. Marietta Old Vines Red. They produce it in lots (mixed vintages). This wine used to always make Parker's greatest wine bargains back in the 80's and 90's. I just rediscovered it. Had a bottle of Lot 73 last night. Delish and I think around $ 16. Cheers!

 

Thank you!

It was a good time. We had a nice selection of white wine as well, but somehow I didn’t get a picture. I let my own thread down.

Jim

 

Last night’s choice. I like Cos D’Estournel, and the 2010 is maturing nicely. It was pretty solid in the December tasting I attended, and this one was even better.

JK

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New to me and quite good.


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Cos is one of the best Bordeaux, outside of the first growths.

A bit of wine trivia: there are no first growths in St. Estephe.

Alan
N.J.

 

Recent tasting + a Caymus 40th that didn’t make the photo.

the Sassicaia was fantastic.

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Another fav from London.

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With the duck tonight we had a 2018 Ch. Siran. Nice mid priced Bdx, I think about $ 40. Medium body, rich color, nice finish. In balance Not complex. Short finish. Pleasant enough. Keith

 

Delicious…soft, light hints of caramel, well balanced. ~$30

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Ok- I'm the epitome of ignorance in this crowd- but from a big-ass Cab standpoint if you have not tried Cuttings by Oren Swift I highly recommend it.

Cheers

 

Can’t find it?


Sent from my iPad using FerrariChat.com mobile app

 

I can't find it anymore either...

 

Best friend visiting. Snuck out of work early for wine tasting in the valley. Trisaetum makes very good, fairly priced pinots and J. Rieslings. Purple Hands pinots gaining notoriety with 92 - 95 point WS ratings. Fun day.

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Lovely!
Have you done Domaine Serene also?

 

Yes. I visit OR wine country several times a year. Serene. Drouhin. Dobbs. Patricia Greene. Soter. Stoller. Etc.

I’ve settled on Trisaetum and Purple, for now

 

This one was easy to drink
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