So I was doing yardwork yesterday afternoon on the beach side patio; it was around 5:00 but I was determined to work until 6 or 7. I'd been neglecting that area for too long and needed it done NOW. Bob had tried to lure me away to other tasks, but nothing could deter me. Until a voice came from the other side of the fence, that is. "Jenise, you want to taste that 04 Karl Lawrence?"
End of yard work.
This is one of six bottles of 04 and 05 Mike emailed me about earlier in the week--he was in some grocery store in Seattle and just stumbled over them. I introduced him to Karl Lawrence cabs--he's a big Cal Cab drinker--about a year ago, and he bought heavily in recent vintages as a result. (Yeah, we know, 2010 is the last vintage.) No telling how long these bottles had been there but it's likely to have been a good long time. Not decanted. Purple-garnet color. Immediately aromatic and generous on the palate. Notes of black cherry, cedar and nicoise olive with a dash of mild green chile, though there is otherwise nothing underripe about it. Fleshier and more secondary than either the 00 or 01 right now; so not one for the long haul but should delight for the next 2-4 years. We discussed whether or not we preferred this to the 04 Montelena he opened a few weeks ago during another fence session, and agreed we did--at least for popping and pouring right now. The Montelena needs more time.
We drained that one pretty quickly so I scampered off to my cellar for a reinforcement and chose an 04 Caymus Special Selection to compare. Pretty scandalous to be drinking such spendy wines over a backyard fence, but it's what my neighbor does so I have to respond in kind. It has been so long since I had a CSS that I forgot how truly gorgeous these wines can be. Same floral nose I remember from the last bottle of Caymus SS we had, a '91 maybe five years ago, with complex, concentrated layers of fruit and spice. Silky, opulent, swoon-worthy. Beats the Karl Lawrence handily and will easily outlive it too, but the Caymus is drinking so well right now that it would not be a crime to get around to remaining bottles sooner than later.