From the Cellar

Black Mountain Vineyard 2008 Fat Cat Cabernet Sauvignon

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Category: Uncorked Tonight

(June 20, 2014) ... If you have ever seen, heard, talked about, thought about, looked at, dreamt about, made mention of, owned, sold, traded or anything else to do with a Fat Cat, this wine is for you ...

I once owned a fat 28lb tabby named Elvis, he lived up to his name, because of his weight many thought I abused him (he of course felt the opposite - he was happy as a clam), but really, when you're living in a bachelor apartment how much exercise can a cat really get ... heck it seemed I was treating him like a veal - left him in the apartment all day to feed and sleep.  He died over ten years ago from a blood clot, but I still think of him on occasion and remember the good times we shared, like eating cheesies together on the couch while watching TV.  And it is for him and in his honour I bought this bottle - sentimental old fool that I am.

As you can see it took me some time to get the courage up to drink it, but when finally I did it was full of smoky blackberry and cassis ... No cheesies, no peanut butter, no ice cream, no licorice* - Elvis would not have been impressed ... I, on the other hand, was.

*these were all Elvis' favorite TV-time snacks

Penfolds 2005 Thomas Hyland Shiraz (Australia)

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Category: Uncorked Tonight

(May 23, 2014) ... Dinner with friends is always made more enjoyable when you can pull out an interesting bottle of wine.  Which is why tonight proved to be a hell of a lot of fun.  When most people think Penfolds they think of their Grange wine, but here is an under $20 bottle that truly delivered without having to break the bank or 'wait 15 years till it's ready'; I know it's nine years old already but I didn't have to wait that long, I chose to.  Nose is still very fruit forward with raspberry, blackberry and a hint of white pepper - it's like the pepper casually showed showed up because it had nothing better to do, and it was just a dash mind you.  The palate had a nice spice and lasting acidity so that jammy Aussie Shiraz notion one might bring to the table threw itself out the window by the third sip.  The fruit was deep, rich black cherry and cassis with a smooth mid-palate yet with peppery nuances on finish.  Glad I gave this one a little time as it expressed what Oz Shiraz should be:  balanced ripe fruit with a tannin/acid backbone.