WS Grand Tasting San Francisco
Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 3:39 pm
I went to the WS tasting Thursday evening. Say what you will about the WS and its worth, it was amazing to have that many wineries, and that many winemakers and principals, in attendance.
For me, it was an occasion to see hundreds of folks I rarely get to see---almost an old high school reunion of ITB types.
But primarily it was getting to see and chat with the folks who create the wines....Carole Meredith of Lagier-Meredith and vinous DNA fame, Dan Kosta, who remains impressively real despite all his fame and acclaim, Harry Peterson-Nedry from Chehalem, Lynn Penner-Ash and her marvellous PN, Tony Soter, Doug Shafer, Ed Sbragia (who looks like he lost 60 pounds or more, and looks marvellous btw), Marcia Kunde, Paul Draper (with the 1996 Montebello showinf just fine, thank you very much),
and so many, many more.
Standout wines, for me, were the
--2003 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon: lovely to drink now, dark and deep and complex, yet promising splendid things in years to come.
--an amazing assortment of Pinot Noirs from California and Oregon, in a dazzling array of different terroir and stylistic variations (and at this point, who can tell the difference?) that presages some wonderful things for this grape variety, and at the same time chronicles the excesses of passionate styling.
--likewise the stunning diversity of style the New World is capable of in Syrah, that amazingly flexible variety. Syrah may be the Chardonnay of the red wine world: it can be whatever you wish it to be.
--Montebello. For what it achieves consistently.
--Qupe Roussanne. An oddity in this crowd of Chards and Cabs and Merlots and Syrahs. But what a remarkably pleasing wine this is. And it proves you can be utterly hedonistic without being over-the-top
One amusing moment: about the middle of the evening, suddenly and without warning, the ballroom lights went out. Completely. Total darkness. No more than a brief murmur or slight chuckle in the crowd though---and it was a crowd, all elbow to elbow. After a bit, people began to take out their cellphones and flip them open and the room was lit by ghostly glow. When people talked, they would turn their cellphones to the faces of their companions, as lamps to illuminate them. Which may be a more profound use for a cellphone than the one it was intended for....
Then the lights came back on again, and the evening played on.
For me, it was an occasion to see hundreds of folks I rarely get to see---almost an old high school reunion of ITB types.
But primarily it was getting to see and chat with the folks who create the wines....Carole Meredith of Lagier-Meredith and vinous DNA fame, Dan Kosta, who remains impressively real despite all his fame and acclaim, Harry Peterson-Nedry from Chehalem, Lynn Penner-Ash and her marvellous PN, Tony Soter, Doug Shafer, Ed Sbragia (who looks like he lost 60 pounds or more, and looks marvellous btw), Marcia Kunde, Paul Draper (with the 1996 Montebello showinf just fine, thank you very much),
and so many, many more.
Standout wines, for me, were the
--2003 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon: lovely to drink now, dark and deep and complex, yet promising splendid things in years to come.
--an amazing assortment of Pinot Noirs from California and Oregon, in a dazzling array of different terroir and stylistic variations (and at this point, who can tell the difference?) that presages some wonderful things for this grape variety, and at the same time chronicles the excesses of passionate styling.
--likewise the stunning diversity of style the New World is capable of in Syrah, that amazingly flexible variety. Syrah may be the Chardonnay of the red wine world: it can be whatever you wish it to be.
--Montebello. For what it achieves consistently.
--Qupe Roussanne. An oddity in this crowd of Chards and Cabs and Merlots and Syrahs. But what a remarkably pleasing wine this is. And it proves you can be utterly hedonistic without being over-the-top
One amusing moment: about the middle of the evening, suddenly and without warning, the ballroom lights went out. Completely. Total darkness. No more than a brief murmur or slight chuckle in the crowd though---and it was a crowd, all elbow to elbow. After a bit, people began to take out their cellphones and flip them open and the room was lit by ghostly glow. When people talked, they would turn their cellphones to the faces of their companions, as lamps to illuminate them. Which may be a more profound use for a cellphone than the one it was intended for....
Then the lights came back on again, and the evening played on.