Wine and Food Adventures

Saint-Émilion, Bordeaux, France
Alcohol 13.5 %
Tasted 2015-07-24

Medium to deep cherry red. The scent is warm and sensual. Blueberries, dark cherries, a touch of bourbon vanilla and a wonderful smooth cedar aroma. In terms of taste the wine is fruit oriented. The tannins are perfectly integrated; the sensuality promised by the aromas is confirmed on the palate. This wine is absolutely on the top. Don´t wait any longer. It will be still good in one, five or even ten years, but it is very rare that you have an opportunity to drink a wine on the peak.

This great experience confirmed my opinion that the Bordeaux vintage 2007 is underestimated. Of course the vintage was too pricy in subscription. But during the last years there was a significant price reduction for the whole vintage. I drunk the Léoville-Poyferré from the same vintage some months ago and it was outstanding, too. If you are looking for Bordeaux wines perfectly to drink now for a reasonable price, 2007 is your vintage.

Pair this silent beauty with a mild meat dish. Perhaps carefully prepared grilled quails?

Sonoma Coast, California
14.9 % Alcohol
Tasted 2015-07-23

Medium deep ruby red. Intensive Aromas of gentle sour cherry jelly, fruits pickled in rum, a mix of Christmas spices and some flower fragrances. Incredibly young and vibrant. This liveliness is continued on the palate. Fresh and fruity. The youthfulness of this wine is beyond any imagination. Sensational! The very long finish is forced up with a wonderful spiciness. I hate this term because it is very often used wrongly, but this wine is definitely a world-class wine. Kudos, Paul Clary.

This outstanding Pinot is the second wine of Paul Clary I described in my blog. The quality of his wines is amazing. And more and more it becomes clear: I bought too less bottles. Paul: I hope you still have some. Please! Furthermore with this wine the possible quality of the Petaluma Gap is proved. More, more, more.

There are two possibilities to enjoy this Pinot giant. I prefer the following one. It is a cold winter night. You are alone, sitting in a cozy and warm room reading a book of your favorite writer. I promise; after some hours the bottle is empty and you have no idea why. The other possibility? Plum pot with beef.

This wine is absolutely on the top. But this was already the case last year when I tasted it at Paul Clary's house. So I would say on this level it will remain another five years. Total lifetime? 2030+.

Mendoza, Argentina
14.0 % Alcohol
Tasted 2015-07-19

Extremely deep and dark cherry red. An explosive mixture of cold tobacco, green tea and dark chocolate paired with dark cherries. On the palate the green tea and the tobacco are dominating, Very fleshy and sexy. A Christmas wine! Very, very long.

This wine was a present of my very good friend Mr J. Even if it's of course just at its beginning, the wine offers already a lot of fun. I enjoyed it a little bit chilled with my family on a summer afternoon as part of a salmon barbecue. Extremely good. But of course the perfect pairing - in its current conditon - would be a goose dish in Christmas time. Also some heavy cheeses would be very good partners for this outstanding Argentinian beauty.

This wine will have a very long life of 15 years or more.

Sonoma Coast, California
14.2 % Alcohol
Tasted 2015-07-04

Deep golden yellow. Ripe yellow nectarines paired with dark forest honey. Already very broad and ripe. On the palate strong and claiming attention. Some petrol notes noticeable, but in total the ripe yellow fruits are dominating.

Seems to be in a difficult phase. The "juvenile" freshness is already gone and the wonderful ripeness of aged Chardonnays not totally reached. I have another bottle. I will wait another two years before opening it; at least this was my opinion at this moment.

The next day. Now the petrol notes are totally gone. Using the wine vacuum the wine developes overnight dramatically. Some very gentle vanilla notes become noticeable somewhere in the far end. And the dark forest honey tones are more subtle. Also on the palate a change. Suddenly the wine is fresher and definitely cool.

So a total different view now. The wine needs air, so decanting for minimum four hours is necessary. Then the Chasseur provides a lot of pleasure. And I could bet (now) that this will be the case over the next four to six years.

I would pair the wine with a terrine with almonds like you get it very often in the Alsace.

Napa Valley, California
14.8 % Alcohol
Tasted 2015-06-30

Deep and clear. Medium cherry red. Still very present tannins. Explicit cedarwood aroma. Cold coffee ground paired with an aromatic tobacco tone; also young black currants. On the palate at the beginning aggressive, but only for a very short moment. Then extremely fruity paired with a bunch of spices culminating in a wonderful fresh finish with a touch of vanilla. A masterpiece for this difficult, but in my opinion underestimated vintage. Cudos!

The next day. One small glass left. I used a wine vacuum the day before. Now all aggressive and bitter tones are gone. The Darioush is wonderfully smooth and velvety. Extremely balanced. A real pleasure to taste this Cab which obviously finds the perfect balance between the high alcohol and aristocratic elegance.

In 2011 I visited the winery the first time. We had an outstanding tasting presented by wine historian Nina Wemyss. The great thing was to taste the 2006 and 2007 Cabernets in parallel over more than two hours. And at this time I observed something similar for these two wines as for the 2011. The Darioush Cabernets interact more with air than the most other Cabernets I drunk so far. During our tasting at the winery we changed every half an hour our opinion. Sometimes we liked more the 2006, then the 2007. No final decision at this day.

The wine is of course too young. But the described behaviour gives you the opportunity to drink a wonderful young Cabernet without the "child murderer" thing in your mind. The wine will remain two more years on this level. And then you will have a perfectly balanced Cab for another five years. Pair it with lamb steaks. Delicious!