2009 Francis Coppola Eleanor

Dark, dark Cabernet Syrah blend with both Sonoma and Napa grapes. Coppola's wife is the name sake  and inspiration for the wine which is definitely a cut above their higher volume brands. I like most of their wine. Very approachable drinkable wines, good with food and with a wide range of styles. Completely consistent with the Italian tradition.

The Eleanor as noted is as dark red. The fruit jumps out of the glass on the nose and reminds you of the big fruit bomb Australian Syrahs. While it is a bold on the nose and has very generous fruit, it is also very well balanced. I wish it had a bit more tannins as I think it would give it more weight. Nonetheless, it is a very nice wine, one that is quite enjoyable to drink right now and should drink well for several years. 

A worthy name sake.

WS 93

WR

2005 Chateau Beausejour 3rd of 7

Pretty deep ruby red wine in the glass. The nose is very closed, heavy legs which foretold heavy tannin. The wine has a tangy strong fruit that packs an initial punch. It smooths out with a longish finish. The tannins have started to resolve nicely into the wine. I could see this wine being quite good in another three to five years and lasting many years beyond that. It has a good base and I think may lose some of that initial spunk which will make it more fluid.

I would expect this to be a particularly good good option with food.

RP 91 (higher rated in earlier tasting) WS 92-94

WR

2000 Chateau L'Hermitage 2nd of 7

L'Hermitage is a Merlot Cabernet Franc blend. The nose on this wine is very nice. It comes right up with pleasing cherry/berry aromas. Quite enjoyable. The wine itself is a bit more dense and heavier, with a shift to a more raspberry flavor (perhaps that was the nose and I just missed it, but cherry was more predominant to me) solid tannin's but a somewhat short finish.

It simply dies in the mouth which given the flavors was a bit of a disappointment. Overall a sold wine. RP 91 WS 84 Not sure what wine WS was tasting from the bottle it does not seem to bear any resemblance to what I had. Their barrel note is pretty close.

WR

1995 Troplong-Mondot 1st of 7

Another Beltramo's tasting. This time it was focused on 2008 Bordeaux, but included this 1995, and two 2005 wines. Overall it was an okay tasting. I thought a couple of the wines had merit, but with Bordeaux's expanding prices over the last couple of years, it requires one to dig deep to support the habit. One that I find more challenging with so much great wine flowing from so many regions of the world. To the Troplong-Mondot.

This wine was nicely ruby in color with a closed in nose initially. It had tobacco and cedar notes. The taste was very gritty, heavy with raisin and prune. It had a heavy flavor profile and a long but sweet finish. Tannins were still not fully resolved into this wine. RP 92, WS 90. Price $175. I would not buy this wine, but would not be disappointed if someone served it at dinner one night.

WR

2006 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Precious Mountain

Lovely nose of berries and cherries with a hint of spice. Reserved flavor of berries in the mouth, some dusty earth and a fine structured finish. This is a very well made wine and I have had enough of the Williams Selyem Pinots over the last year to taste a distinct style. It is more french in style. There is more structure, a bit more acid, but still typically sweet fruit. The wines go well with food, tonight in my case a simple tortilla soup and biscuits. These wines often have an almost perfume like nose of fruit. This one was a bit more forward on the nose and laid back a bit while drinking. Nonetheless, this is a well made and enjoyable Pinot Noir. Pricing on these is a bit of a challenge. They are pretty much all on allocation and so prices are naturally quite high. So for me, this kind of a wine would be for a treat, and it lives up to that challenge comfortably.



Williams Selyem is a noted producer of in particular Russian River Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. The winery tasting notes are here.

WR

2004 Chateau de la Gardine, Chateauneuf-du-Pape

Winter is my favorite time of year to drink Rhone wines. A cold day, a fire, a hearty meal, say beef stroganoff (substituting pork loin for the beef) and voila, a great way to end the day. Okay, in sunny California a cold day does not exactly measure up to the rest of the world's cold days (excluding those of you in Hawaii of course), but cold is relative when it comes to weather. Sure I put on a light windbreaker, rather than a heavy wool overcoat, but it almost feels bundled up. Anyway, to the wine.

This is another K&L Wine Club selection. It is solid if not spectacular. The wine went great with dinner (which was only okay, too much sour cream in the stroganoff blend I think). It was strong with dust and dirt flavor, but also had some very nice spice and a hint of chocolate/licorice nose. It is a deep colored and full bodied wine with good balance. It tastes quite a bit better than the nose right now. I expect this wine will drink very well over the next seven to ten years, but no one would be disappointed opening a bottle and drinking it now.


WR

2006 Achaval Ferrer Quimera

This wine is a K&L Wine Club wine for February and the buyer who found this gem for this price deserves a raise, a bonus or a couple of cases of this stuff as a reward.

This is a rocking good wine, right now!

It is clear that it will be a rocking good wine that you can enjoy anytime between now and 10 years from now if not more. It is a classic Bordeaux style blend out of Argentina. The nose is chocolate and spice, on the tongue it is bright and invigorating. It shows excellent balance and structure with very smooth and elegant finish. There is a light touch of oak in the flavor that I suspect will melt away, but get a bottle and open it now and enjoy it. You will not be disappointed with this wine.

2006 Pax "Obsidian" Syrah Beltramo's 6 of 6

This was the final wine of the flight. It was a shift to Syrah, so it stood out with more up front fruit and punch in terms of flavor impact from the Cabernet's and blends which were all more complex. It tasted great. Plump blackberry and herb nose, with a dark color. The flavor was very rich and lovely spicy bites flavored a long and velvety finish. Clear to see why Parker liked this wine.

I had not heard of Pax wines previously, so as an introduction it was very positive.

This wine finished 5th of 6 in the group. Now that may sound harsh, but quite frankly I would say that Parker has isolated a group of very nice wines here, and absent the Verite being off its game, any one of these wines served to most anyone would produce a very positive reaction.


WR

2005 Roy Red Beltramo's 5th of 6

My friend, who was with me at the tasting, bought a bottle of this and brought it home. It retailed for $95. Talked to him last night and he loved it. The look on his face when he said how he liked it said it all.

The tasting notes were very solid. Great fruit, good balance, a wine of depth and subtlety. This wine also should have many years ahead. It is a classic Bordeaux style blend, Cabernet, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Lovely wine, something that all types of wine drinkers can really enjoy. I think that it will also be exceptional with food in a couple of years. Right now bursting with fruit.

Roy Estate is located in Napa.

2nd place out of 6. Not really competition for the Araujo, but still a great wine.

WR

2005 Kapcsandy "State Lane" Cabernet Beltramo's 4th of 6

This wine was good. It was well made, showed as very young, which it is and seems like it would have a long life. The fruit was strong blackberry and cherry, with quite a lot of pucker on the finish. The tannins will die back and this wine will be very good. All the same, at $180 a bottle I really could only be a big fan if someone else was paying.

Kapcsandy on the web. They have a cool crest.

3rd place of 6.

WR