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Sunday January 23 2011
It has been an adventure but I finished
tasting all our 2009 wines
bottled last week. As I mentioned before these are wines that were aged
in new oak for 6 months longer than the wines we bottled in July after
10 months of aging in about 25% new oak. I tasted all the 2009 wines
bottled in July against all the 2009 bottled in January after aging for
a total of 16 months. In general the wines bottled in July had a much
more pronounced bouquet of fruit while the ones bottled last week were
a little muted (Hey this was the day of bottling, no bottle age for the
16 month oak aged wines). My impressions were varied: I preferred
about half of the July wines over the January wines.
After tasting three to four days here are my notes:
2009 Block 4: Every night I tasted the Block
4 I preferred the
wine bottled last week. It seemed to have more complexity and even had
more body. The Block 4 bottled in July did seem brighter with more
fruit.
2009 Carignan: In general I preferred the
Carignan bottled
last week. Again it had more complexity and body, but the Carignan
bottled in July is close with more fruit.
2009 Escuro: Overall I preferred the Escuro
bottled in July.
It just had more brightness of fruit and complexity. The one bottled
last week was closed and may be better in a few months.
2009 My Zin: We are having Pizza tonight so I
am saving this
one to taste tonight, but after tasting the first two nights I
preferred the July bottling.
2009 Aca Modot: I preferred the Aca Modot
bottled in July. It was brighter with more complexity, time will tell.
2009 Cabernet Sauvignon: These Cabernet's are
so intense and
young they are hard to evaluate. I would give them 3 to 5 years to
decide. I did take a glass up after dinner while looking at tennis
because I wanted to cut through the very intense stuffed bell pepper
and rice casserole I consume for dinner. The intensity of the wine met
well with the pepper and rice.
2009 Lagrein: This is still my favorite wine
of the 2009
Vintage. I preferred the July bottling right now because it showed more
intensity. This like the Cabernet is not a wine I could consume
everyday.
2009 Terre Melange: The first day by far I
preferred the Terre
Melange bottled last week. It had more body and complexity although by
the second day the wine bottled in July still had more fruit and had
filled out.
2009 Zinfandel: The 100% Zinfandel bottled in
July is still
the wine I could drink everyday and I will try it again tonight with
pizza. The Zinfandel bottled last week had a nice spice finish but was
less full in the middle.
2009 Zinfandel Block 6: I will taste this
wine again tonight
but my first impressions were similar to the 100% Zinfandel bottled
last week. These grapes are very young and are planted in a different
area from our 100% Old Vines. We have a lot planted for the future.
Monday January 24 2011
As you know from time to time I post a personal
message because this diary is mostly for me to document some of my life.
Several years ago I lost my Auntie Helen and 10 days ago I lost my
Uncle Al. Here is a slightly edited version of what I said at my Uncle
Al's funeral today:
I know this is a celebration of a great person's life who lived to be
90. But this is still a very sad day for me. I have lost two of the
most important people in my life, my Auntie Helen and now my Uncle Al.
My most cherished moments were the Thanksgiving dinners our two
families shared together when I was a teenager. In all my life I don't
remember either My Auntie Helen or Uncle Al saying a negative thing to
me. I remember times when my cousin Danny and I would get in trouble.
Of course I only remember it was always his fault. Even though I might
have been only slightly in the wrong my aunt and my uncle only gave
back love because there was a bond between us that could not be broken.
The first day I really remember my Uncle Al was the hardest day for
both of us. It was November 5th 1953. My Uncle Al had to pick both
my sister Lynda and I up at a nearby school. Lynda was 9 and I was 10.
I remember asking myself during the 15 minute drive over to his house:
Why would my Uncle pick us up at school. I don't remember that he said
anything but I will never forget the look in his eyes as I looked over
at the side of his face from the passenger seat. He was focused but
there was a glassiness in his eye that I can still see to this day. By
the time we were there I had figured out that my Grandfather had
probably died. My grandfather was not doing too well for the last
several months. My Uncle Al had to hold him self together because he
had to drive us to my Mother. I was wrong it was not my Grandfather. My
Mother had to tell us my Father had died of and industrial accident at
the age of 34. My Uncle Al was only 33 on that day and that had to be
the hardest thing he had done. From that day froward he was the most
important Father image I had. I never spook about that day to Uncle Al.
I am sure if I had asked him at his 90th birthday celebration last
August how he held himself together, I am sure he would have said
"Davie I just had to do it". I will miss him deeply.
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January
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- January 29, 2011 
