Taste it Again / Lost & Found

Taste it Again / Lost & Found: Best Day of Football 2016

24 Aug 2016

(January 24, 2016) ... This is the second year I've been invited to what is dubbed by my friend Larry as "The Best Day of Football", usually due to the stinkers and lopsided affairs the Super Bowl turns into - these are the divisional finals that put the 'best' teams into the BIG game. As usual when Larry and I get together, a mixed case gets opened and all hell breaks loose as far as the commentary goes - these are the notes and comments that were fit to print:

Kacaba 2006 Pinot Noir, Wismer Vineyard ... light in colour, dried and tight, "going nowhere" was a one off comment, but it was also true; wine was tried again a little later and it had gone nowhere good.
Original review

Reif 2007 Pinot Noir ... underwhelming red wine, dried out, which is surprising for a hot vintage 2007 wine, it was also riddled with oxidative notes.
Original review: NONE

  

Kacaba_2006PN Reif2007PN JT_Okan2001_Merlot WillowHeights2002Merlot MountainRd2002CF TV2002CF WillowHeights2003CM StrewnTwo-VinesCM Sanson2011BarnCat WillowHeights2002Cabernet Vineland2009Elevation Calamus2007CS Peller2007CFPR Stratus2007_WildassRose
   

Jackson-Triggs 2001 Merlot, Proprietors' Reserve - Okanagan ... one of the better wines of the day, it had nice cassis and blackberry, although dried, with chalky, smoky, and raisiny notes mid-palate; it turned out to be fairly smooth with time and even managed to maintains a fruit core that was an eye-brow raiser to many (in a good way).
Original review: NONE

Willow Heights 2002 Merlot ... this wine started off a little worrisome with a little bit of a stanky aroma that had many recoiling from their glass, but if you stuck with it and gave it a chance you'd notice that smell blew off and left behind some dried blueberry funk. Better than it first let on, but not that great in retrospect.
Original review: NONE

Mountain Road Wine Company 2002 Cabernet Franc ... this would be how many old timers remember their Cab Franc: it starts off smoky and earthy with hints of dishrag notes which kicked things off, and things never improved as there's a heavily oaked finish with some charred green and red peppers - and it's those peppers that scream Franc to many old school Ontario Franc fans.
Original review

Thomas & Vaughan 2002 Cabernet Franc ... port-like nose and flavours, drinkable for about 20 minutes with dark berries - but let it sit in the glass any longer and it's like the oxidization fairy swept in and dosed this one full of it. (Also noted, wine was sealed with plastic cork)
Original review: NONE

Willow Heights 2003 Cabernet Merlot (cellared in Canada from a Short Crop vintage) ... if memory serves these were Washington grapes that were used to augment what little they had from Ontario - smooth, dark berry, black cherry with a touch of vanilla, silky with nicely balanced acidity. Washington/Ontario seem to have been a good marriage.
Original review: NONE

Strewn 2003 Cabernet Merlot, Two Vines ... another short crop cellared wine but this one was just a plain old bland boring red wine with little to write home about.
Original review: NONE

Sanson 2001 Barn Cat Red (Cabernet Merlot) ... the nose kicks off pretty stinky (similar to the earlier Willow Heights Merlot) but here there is still a little fruit on the finish with some chalky / acidity notes and the oak starts to show through after about 40 minutes - there were some around the table that really liked this; though at this point we're eight bottles in and some are fading fast from sensory overload.
Original review

Willow Heights 2002 Cabernet ... for its age this Cabernet is showing very well:  sweet fruit, vanilla, silky smooth palate with licorice and a port-like finish - I'd drink this 14 year old wine happily.
Original review: NONE

Vineland 2009 Elevation Cabernet ... this one was quite the acidic monster, and considering the year I was not surprising; but there was also much to get excited about here with its mocha, sour cherry, and white pepper, simple but quite tasty - another room favourite, this time for good reason.
Original review

Calamus 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon ... Larry has a soft spot (maybe even a blindspot) for these wines and this one split the room as a wine to love or hate. Starts with some nice mocha, smoky, cassis, and herbal notes, but then swung wildly between things like tomato leaf, black cherry, and vanilla; always with a touch of green on the finish (how in '07 you get green I'm not sure); through all that it's quite tasty but a wine you'll need to drink sooner rather than later - got some in the cellar? Open it.
Original review

Peller 2007 Cabernet Franc, Private Reserve ... the most controversial wine of the afternoon:. corked or not? At first we were mostly positive, then less so, then more so, then ... maybe not ... smoky, oaky - not like the previous bottles I have had, maybe it is finally on the down swing of its life span, but it never resolved as a wine nor did we figure out its "corked" status.
Original review

Stratus 2007 Wildass Rose ... what a revelation: Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot are all in the bottle - the colour has gone rather dark (almost seemed like a light red - and tasted that way too) - it has maintained fruit character and seemingly has tannins ... it was the surprise of the afternoon - as someone said "best 8 year old rose I have ever had" ... granted I don't think 8 year old rose is a common drink, but it really was a wonderful experience.
Original review: NONE

 

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