Monterey Wine Festival

April 30, 2005
Jen’s Notes

Shane and I had been looking forward to this for a long time. The tickets were Shane’s birthday present to me in March – and I am always glad to continue the celebration!

The festival is a weekend-long series of events. We saved our palates for the Saturday tasting, aka Red Night. We bought our tickets in the morning and then headed out to see the sights. We drove the famous 17 Mile Scenic Drive and picnicked on the beach.

After that, the wine most definitely flowed.

Charles Krug Winery
1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Vintage Selection Reserve, $51.00
2001 Family Reserve Generations, $38.00
2000 Family Reserve Merlot, $36.00
1986 Cabernet Sauvignon, price not available

After watching Robert Mondavi get crucified in that horrible, technology-phobic, American-phobic, “documentary” Mondovino, we really wanted these Mondavi/Krug wines to taste fantastic (even though they are made by Peter and not by Robert). Unfortunately, all the generalizations that the film fired at American wines applied to these wines: they were pleasantly fruity but, unfortunately, lacked complexity, structure and tannins. When we noticed they were pouring a 1986 Cab, we almost didn’t try it. What would their tannin-less wine taste like after that much bottle age? The answer is musty, flat and undrinkable.

Jordan Vineyard and Winery
2001 Cabernet Sauvignon, $48.00

This wine exhibited a charming floral aroma and cherry flavors, spiked with herbs. It was quite dry. It was tannic and very tight – it could benefit from a few years of bottle age. Otherwise, it was well-balanced and structured, considering its youth. It should develop nicely over the next five years or so.

Gloria Ferrer Champage Caves
NV Blanc de Noirs, $20.00
2002 Pinot Noir Carneros, $26.00
2001 Pinot Noir, Rust Rock, $40.00
2000 Cabernet Sauvignon Katnook Estate, Australia, $22.00

As always, I enjoy the bubbly. In fact, I had a little extra splash of it when Shane tried the Aussie Cab (which was actually quite nice!) Our favorite was the Rust Rock Pinot. It had nice, subtle fruit flavors with a long finish and good tannins. It was surprisingly full-bodied for a Pinot. The Carneros Pinot was also good, exhibiting a mild palate “reverb” and zesty cherry fruit. It was quite a bit lighter in body than the Rust Rock.

Qupe Winery
2001 Bien Nacido Hillside Estate Syrah, $45.00
2002 Los Olivos Cuvee, $25.00

We both liked the Syrah. It has a black cherry flavor with a clean finish and nice tannins. While it wasn’t complex, it did have soft fruit flavors. It has a fruity/floral aroma and is pleasantly chewy in the mouth.

Neither of us liked the Cuvee. We found it too buttery, lacking in fruit flavors, and unpleasantly inky and chemically.

Cockburn’s
2000 Quinta dos Canais, $55.00

This vintage Port exhibited pleasant sweetness, good fruit, and was smooth and silky on the palate. It was, however, very tannic; way too young to be tasting. This one was built to last – it has great potential for aging; we estimate that it needs 10 years of bottle age, and will probably continue to develop even longer. When Shane mentioned that this port required more age before it would be drinkable, the Cockburn’s representative said that if it had more age, it would not be a vintage port. Momentarily stunned at this answer, I realized she thought he was talking about cask aging as opposed to bottle aging. When we told her we meant that it needed 10 – 15 years bottle aging, she merely said that everyone is entitled to their opinion. It is our opinion that Cockburn’s should send a more knowledgeable representative to a wine festival. (Oh, and you can quit laughing – it’s actually pronounced “Coburns”).

Treana Winery
2001 Cabernet Sauvignon, $52.00
2003 Liberty School Cabernet Sauvignon, $13.00
2002 Westside Red. $18.00

All of these wines were fruity, easy to drink and would be great paired with food. They showed good structure and are ready to drink now. The Westside Red was particularly nice. It is a Rhone-style blend of Mourvedre, Syrah and Grenache, reminiscent, though not quite as good as the Rhone blends of Tablas Creek.

Black Box
2003 Shiraz, Barossa Valley, $18.00/3L

Why is it called Black Box? It’s not some obscure Aussie name for an old coal mine. It is, alas, wine in a box. When we walked by their table, Shane couldn’t resist laughing out loud. The lady pouring was amused and undaunted – she dared us to come back, and we did. There were quite a few wines in boxes on the table, and we tried this Shiraz, said to be the best of the lot by both the pourer and a very inebriated wine writer nearby.

The wine was not complex, but it showed surprisingly pleasant fruit. It was mainly notable for what it lacked: in a cheaper wine, I expect pasted-on vanilla, butter or oak, and this wine didn’t have any of that. So, points to Black Box for letting the juice rise or fall on its own merits. There were no tannins, and we certainly wouldn’t call it a serious wine but it is drinkable for your house red.

Niebaum Coppola Winery
2003 Diamond Series Pinot Noir, $17.00

Shane tried this one on a whim, while I partook of yet another glass of bubbly from Mumm’s. There are times when only the exact quote will do, and this is one of those times. He pronounced it “lousy, like Kool-aid; leaves you wondering how they managed to strip out the tannins and the taste.” I didn’t need to try it after that.

Grgich Hills Cellar

Amazingly, they poured a Zinfandel that smelled like rotten eggs. Shane’s subsequent research suggested that the wine was contaminated by too much hydrogen sulfide. They should not have been serving it. As with Cockburn’s, they need to send a more knowledge representative to a wine festival.