Ultimate California Wine Blog

This posting is working a bit backwards in time — my Pinot weekend was spent exploring the wineries of the Santa Cruz Mountains, meeting some amazing winemakers and winery owners, and a Pinot-tasting festival. All this culminated at an amazing dinner at Manresa restaurant in Los Gatos.

In attendance were Max, Anders, Maria, Xiaopei, Andrew, Lester, Ya Yoi, Jeff, Marcia, Ron, and your’s truly. We ate some amazing food and drank some amazing wine, as follows:

Red Beet and Olive Madeleine

1996 Chateau Woltner Chardonnay, Titus – Classic Burgundian that has aged nicely to show rich golden colors. Crisp, mineral entry with perfectly balanced oak, hints of coconut, and a whisper of citrus.

Citrus Salad in a Jasmine Tea Gelée. Tasted with the Nuits, stunning secondary notes of caraway appeared.

1997 Nuits de George, Les Saint Georges, Premier Cru, Domaine Henri Go – Earthy mushroomy with some hints of cherry and a tease of minerality. Heavier sulpher aromas provided some roughness which made the wine generally hot.

Salt Cod Fritter with Truffled Honey (sorry, forgot the picture!)

1999 Beaune Clos de la Mousse, Premier Cru, Domaine Henri Gouges – Great, opulent perfume with dark spice that is layered and even. Very heady and once upon, produces tremendous strawberry.

Strawberry Gazpacho with Almond Yogurt, Marcona Almonds, and Olive Oil

1996 Kent Rasmussen, Carneros – Dark cherry in bouquet and mouth entry. Some medicinal (sulpher) back notes and cocoa in the mid-palate. Secondary characteristics include tobacco, gelatin, and mint.

Oyster and Uni scented with Yuzu

2000 Brogan Cellars, Russian River, Lone Redwood Ranch – Intensely fruit forward with cherry and cola notes. Sharp entry with bright acids and bright spice. No finish to speak of with diminishing fruit.

Sashimi of Fluke with Olive Oil, Chives, and Dried Smoked Fish Flakes

2000 Ken Wright, Shea Vineyards, Willamette – Hot cola and cherry with spice providing back-up tones. Early maturity with an even, spicy entry. Worked very well with the Sashimi due to the smokiness in the fish’s preparation.

Torchon of Foie Gras with Asparagus spears, Asparagus puree, and Asian Pear

2001 Brick House, Willamette – Hot barnyard bouquet which gives way to cherry. Extremely tangy entry that showed all the elements of greatness but not enough follow-up. Feels well-balanced in the mouth, but no anticipated explosion. Almost Burgundian in feel.

Planked-cooked Black Cod with Crab and cured Salmon Roe

2001 Ryan, Pisoni Vineyards – Jammy with dark berry and black cherry. Extremely bright, engaging entry with levels of varied spices. Overall, a very elegant, amazing offering, despite the faintest hint of medicine on the end.

Shredded Veal Cheeks with Sunchoke Ravioli, Veal Sweetbread, and Parsnip Milk Foam

2002 Tantara, Gary’s Vineyard – Spice immediately presents itself and gives way to sweet aromas of cherry. Dark, musky entry that is fruit-forward blossoming into floral, perfume, and exotic incense.

Roast Farm Chicken with Roast Vegetables - One of the two dishes where it is shown in full presentation before being plated.

2002 Capiaux, Gary’s Vineyard – Intensely layered spices that is surprisingly clean. Dark boysenberry, black raspberry, and blackberry tones that is perfectly balanced with a long, silky finish.

1990 Gevrey Chambertin Premier Cru, Estournelles St. Jacques, Frederick Esmonin – Lester pulled this out near the end and I’m afraid it did it a disservice as we were ramping up the fruit and lessening the age of the offerings. After the opulent, jammy wines we had been tasting, I found this barnyard-stinky with reduced tar and concentrated gaminess. Dry mid-palate that was thin and full of mineral notes.

Roast Leg of Lamb with Chickpea Frittes and house-made Marguez Sausage

2002 Dehlinger, Russian River – Hot, dark Bing cherry that is sweet and round. Another with Burgundian tones of complexity with a dried orange peel finish.

2002 Longfellow, Sonoma Coast – While a tad green on initial sniff, this wine opened up to an offering that might be hard-pressed to pinpoint as Pinot. Spicy with BBQ meat and high toast oak. Lots of wood with exotic, incense aromas layered with chocolate. The tart entry blossomed with a sweet finish of spice that kept going.

NV Broadbent Port, Lot #1 – Dark, thick, sweet. Ron ordered to go with the desserts:
Honey Tuile with selection of Banana, Mango, and Litchi Gelato

Bittersweet Chocolate Souflée with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

The dinner was finished with another round of Pate de Fruits and Madeleines, however this time they were Blood Orange and Chocolate, respectively. Again, no pictures.

All-in-all, a love time was had by all!