We had a big wine party at the Vacaville WineStyles Friday night. The theme was "Mount Veeder" A lot of people (standing room only) and a lot of wine. My highlights were:
1999 Godspeed Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon. Very mature dark color, great nose of roasted herbs, earth, and currant fruit. Medium body, with good mouthwatering acidity. An email will be flying to the owner seeking more, as this might have been wine of the night for many people (We cleaned out the shop's stock).
1998 Wing Canyon Mount Veeder Cabernet. Another excellent, fully mature mountain cab. Surprisingly enough for the cold year, this wine had more juicy fruit than the Godspeed, but shared the delicious mature earthyness. A close second for me for WOTN. Three bottles left, which are on hold for me in St. Helena. At $17, I ain't complaining!
2001 Hess Mount Veeder. Just got a small sip, but this wine showed poorly. Storage? It seemed to be falling apart-had that sour acidity. Maybe just a bad bottle.
2005 Lagier-Meredith Mount Veeder Syrah. Not a blockbuster, which is why I liked it. Very Northern Rhone-savory, meaty, quiet. Pretty young and pretty tight, it was probably a mistake to serve this at a party where it could get lost.
2004 Chateau Potelle VGS Mount Veeder Zinfandel. The estate was purchased by Kendall Jackson and will house their Lokoya line...so...this may be "it" for this wine. Another crowd favorite, excellent balanced moutnain zinfandel with great blackberry fruit, pepper, and spice.
2002 Sky Mount Veeder Zinfandel. By contrast, this bottling was much more tart cherry fruit and much lighter. UInlike the 2001 vintage, though, this had enough fruit and a good mouth feel that we enjoyed it quite a bit.
2005 les Fils de Charles Trosset Arbin Mondeuse Vin de Savoie. Not from Mount Veeder, but it is sorta a mountain wine. This was a "WOW" wine for me. It is even more aromatic than Poulsard from the Jura. Amazing mouthful of black pepper and plum fruit. My very first Mondeuse, and it confirms for me my love of Alpine Frence wines!
SUNDAY NIGHT at Joe and Donna's
2007 Bridesmaid White (Napa Valley). I met Pam Star at Backroom Wines, and this nice white blend (80% Semillon, 20% S. Blanc, steel), was very nice for our salad course. A negociant wine sourced from good fruit at a good price ($20)
2006 Philippe Verzier Cave de Chante Perdrix "Empreinte" Saint-Joseph. Recommended by Dan at Backroom Wines. Not that I need to be buying more wine (alas...I failed), this was a deliciously juicy wine for New York Strips. Strong red plum and white pepper on the nose. On the palate, a blast of mouth watering acidity and a ton of red plum fruit. Amazingly juicy mouthfeel
2001 Laird Family Rutherford Cabernet. Maturing Rutherford Cab, with plenty of that dusty licorice-y anisey flavor I am beginning to associate with maturing Napa cabs. Quite a blast of big fruit at the mid palate and on the finish. My friends enjoyed this, as did I, but I almost prefer the funkyness and more pronounced leathery elements in the 2003 William Harrison we had last week. Still... that blast of big fruit was quite nice. Paul Hobbs made this wine, I believe.
). But it merits long cellarage. It's probably the one wine I wish I had not brought for that very reason.