After multiple phone calls and worries about the bottles freezing and bursting in transit, I finally received the shipment of wine from our California trip today. It was cold but not frozen. Here it is:
1 Bottle of Reynolds Family Winery "Persistence" (blend)
2 bottles of Hopper Creek Winery 2005 Merlot
2 bottles of Arger-Martucci Vineyards 2005 Syrah
1 bottle of Jessup Cellars 2005 "Table for Four" (blend)
I opened one of the bottles of Hopper Creek (http://www.hoppercreek.com/) tonight with dinner. I took a sip almost immediately and it tasted very heavy and overly dry. After it sat for about 30 minutes it mellowed quickly and tasted fantastic. Not too dry, fruity with a nice finish and little aftertaste. This was the one I wasn't very impressed by in California, but here, it was very different. Well worth it and not that expensive ($35). You can't buy this on line yet but according to their website they will soon be making it available.
The Arger-Martucci 2005 Syrah (http://www.arger-martucci.com/arger-martucci/index.jsp) will probably not be saved for very long. Syrah's aren't usually stored for long periods of time, although a few years would certainly be OK. I remember this as on the fruity side, but better than the Hopper creek. It is labeled as the "Gold Medal Winner" at the Orange County Fair (how big can the Orange County fair really be??) and sells for $30, still not very pricey.
The Reynolds Family 2005 "Persistence" (http://www.reynoldsfamilywinery.com/index.cfm) is a blended wine, meaning it is a mix of several different grape varieties. I did not get to taste this wine in California as this was the winery that had only a barrel tasting when we were there. It is a more expensive wine ($50) and is labeled as being "Estate Bottled".
Saving the best for last. The Jessup Vineyards (http://www.jessupcellars.com/) 2005 "Table For Four" ($80) is another blended wine. We didn't get to taste this one in California either, but every wine I tasted here was wonderful. This one will get saved for some special event in the distant future. I joined the wine club from this vineyard and have already received my first shipment.
3 comments:
The Orange County Fair is actually huge as is their wine competition which is put on by the Orange county Wine Society!
http://www.ocws.org/
What's included in your wine club shipment?
The wine club changes the shipment each quarter depending on what is current and what they want to share. For the month of December they included a 2005 merlot, 2005 cab sav and a 2005 Zin port. They do the port only once per year since it is not a widely loved desert wine. It's an aquired taste, a little on the sweet side.
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