8 Drinkers, 13 bottles and a BevWizard

So here’s a quick list of tasting notes after a business dinner I hosted last week in my home. A total of 7 guests, 6 folks in the wine trade, 1 drummer and Henley my black lab (he hung out under the table hoping someone would drop a piece of beef tenderloin). Also, we tested the BevWizard, so I’ve included our thoughts and results. Here’s how things broke down – sans the food (oh but the food did turn out delicious!).

2004 Storrs White Riesling: “Why does is say white?” was one of the first questions after smelling rose petals on the nose. So the answer – it’s just an old – really antiquated way of labeling Riesling – the Germans use to do so. The mouth feel was full of lychee fruit and honeysuckle. Great acidity to boot as well, a nice wine.

2004 Handley Cellars Dry Creek Sauvignon Blanc: this wine has always been a favorite white wine of mine, and was an eye opener for the group since this was the first time many tried this wine. Overall - very crisp, bold fruit – a tinge of mandarin orange, some minerality and a quick hint of lemon peel. The Handley Sauvignon Blanc would pair perfectly with sushi no doubt.

2004 Handley Cellars Anderson Valley Chardonnay: this Gold Medal Winner can be summed up in 4 words: soft, creamy, lovely chardonnay. I hope to God all the women who are hooked on La Crema will find this wine on shelves soon. This wine exhibits many of the characteristics you have come to expect from Handley’s Estate Chardonnay: baked apple, mineral, and pear, with elegance and balance.

2004 Storrs Santa Cruz Chardonnay: The 2004 vintage has tropical overtones, with hints of tangerine and pineapple. Just a few hints of French oak really made this Chardonnay a winner. Great length and mouthwatering chardonnay for us all.

2002 Fort Ross Reserve Chardonnay: I close my eyes and think of John Coltrane and Duke Ellingtons “In a Sentimental Mood” every single time I sip Fort Ross Chardonnay’s. Our group rarely has the opportunity to drink such a distinguished tasting white wine from California. I think we could have just stopped here – oh but we had way to many amazing reds to get to next…

2004 Handley Cellars Pinot Noir: Oh yeah! This was drinking awesome! Spice and super rich dark fruit with an amazing amount of finesse in each sip. We were a bit surprised since Handley’s pinot is usually a bit lighter – this drank more like their Reserve Pinot - just gorgeous. I kept going back to this bottle all night.

2002 Fort Ross Symposium: utter silence. The bottle was passed around counter-clockwise and started making heads shake from side to side. This is an unbelievably good bottle of Pinot Noir and Pinotage from the California Sonoma Coast region. Another great wine that we rarely have a chance to enjoy – only a few hundred cases produced, thinking on splurging on a case of this incredible Fort Ross Pinot for myself.

2002 Fort Ross Reserve Pinot Noir: now we are talking smooth, this bottle was opened at 7:00pm and tasted around 10:0pm and finished off by midnight. Another delightful reason we all choose to be in the wine business. It tasted like our first sip ever of a sensual, sexy, classy pinot noir. Notes of wild savory spices with lush berry fruit were oh so well balanced.

2004 Duchamp Slaughterhouse Syrah: By this time, the group was discussing “who’s your favorite guitar player”…which complemented this Syrah from Dry Creek perfectly. This syrah is full bodied and supple. Robert Parker gave this 88pts last Fall, I bet it’d score over 90 now that it’s had more bottle aging time. Oh - Jeff Beck was and is by far everyone’s favorite guitar player – give or take a few votes for Dave Navarro and a few other’s not worthy of mentioning here.

2004 Storrs Rusty Ridge Zinfandel: think back to the old Batman and Robin television show “Wham”, ‘Pow”, “Bang” , exactly how the fruit popped in our mouth during the first sip! Many agreed this bottle was “Wine of the Night”. This Rusty Ridge Zin held up to it’s reputation, a hedonistic red wine, full of curves and smooth moves in all the right places.

Wines tested with the BevWiz:

2003 Château de Cugat

OK - we first tasted this bottle with the Bev Wizard, then a second pour withhout. First remark – from the drummer – “Yeah, absolutely smoother, not tart at all.”. This $11 a bottle Bordeaux blend imported by Charles Neal, is my house red. It’s usually better the second day after opening, so I thought this would be a perfect “test bottle”, and indeed – it was fascinating how smooth the wine tasted after passing through the BevWizard. It basically took away harshness on the nose and in the mouth and allowed the fruit to shine.

2003 Susana Balbo Malbec

This Malbec retails for about $45 and was pulled out of my winecave to compare with the Cugat on the fly. The group chose to taste this one opposite, first without the BevWiz. Ahh, Susana makes such lovely Malbec, right out of the bottle still a little too chilly even – the first sip was exhilarating - like taking your first flight on a private jet, everything you imagine a luxurious experience to be. So next, we placed the BevWizard on the bottle, once again, the wine became a bit smoother and more fragrant on the nose.

We also tested the BevWizard on a 2004 Chilean Carmenere, the group decided even after the BevWizard made some improvements to the wine that Carmenere just sucks. Our overall conclusion regarding the BevWizard, “it works, this is a great accessory to have in our arsenal of wine tools”. Cheers - Ali