The Wine Closet Blog

Last night we had our friends Kathie and Mark Johnson over for dinner.   What a fun evening and some great wines.  Linda and I have been to thier house several times, but this was the first time we have had them over. 

We started the evening off with a 2005 Shadow Canyon Viognier.  This wine is crisp and buttery with some hints of citrus, almost lemony.  This went very well with Linda’s Gazpacho soup. 

Our second wine was the 2003 Fiddlehead Lollapalooza, this is a tight pinot with some barnyard nose, took a while to open up.  Complex and somewhat earthy.

We decided to grill a pork tenderloin and some veggies, unfortunately I started talking to Mark about the wines he brought and lost track of time.  Needless to say the veggies didn’t fair too well, charred yet edible.   

 Mark let me pick from his selection for our wine with dinner.  It was difficult because he brought such good stuff.  Two from Kosta Browne, a 2004 Seasmoke Botella (mmmmm), and a 2004 Foxen Seasmoke Vineyard (All Pinots).   Parker rates all of these wines in the mid 90′s and I know that Mark has an excellent pallet so I really couldn’t go wrong.

We decided on the 2004 Kosta Browne Cohn Vineyard Pinot.  This is an excellent pinot from the Russian River area.  Very big for a pinot, new world style but not over the top, nice long finish and good mouth feel.  Really a fabulous wine, definately the best for the evening.  This went very well with the Chipotle Orange sauce on the pork…  mmmm

Our last bottle was the 2005 Herman Story White Hawk Vineyard Syrah.  Very big, fruity and jammy (as a syrah should be)., nice finish and good staying power.  Glad we saved this for the end because it would have overpowered the meal.   16.2% alc.

For a good Cabernet that is value priced, check out the McManis Family Vineyards ’05 Cabernet Sauvignon.  The wine was lively with fruit notes and balanced tannins.  A very drinkable wine that would pair well with any steak.  I’d consider this one of the best buys for a good drinking cab.

We finally checked out La Dolce Vita in Downtown Oxnard.   Really cool location and a beautiful old house.  The bread and brushetta were fantastic.  The wine list is pretty good and n0t overly priced.  We decided on a 2005 337 Vineyards Cabernet from Lodi.   This was a nice wine and went well with our pasta dishes.  Slightly alcholly at first, but then opened up with some nice fruit.  Not to many tannins.  Not spectacular but I have had much worse.  It was $30 bucks at the restaurant so I am sure we can get it cheaper.

Just opened a bottle of Melville’s 2004 Estate Syrah from Verna’s Vineyard. There was some sediment around the cork, but the nose was all dark fruits, blackberries and blueberries. Color’s dark ruby red, not inky, you can actually see through it when you hold it up to the light.  First sip was shows fruitiness up front with even tannins on the finish…slight bitterness at the end.

Robert Parker gives this vintage 91 points: The lush, fruit-driven 2004 Syrah Verna’s is a beautifully textured, dense purple-colored, full-bodied, highly nuanced effort offering aromas of flowers, black currants, and creosote. Already drinking well, it should keep for 7-8 years.

Robert Parker gives the Cognito 89 points! And says it’s the sexiest, most complex offering, a blend of Mourvedre, Grenache, Zinfandel, and Syrah from six different parcels. Its deep ruby/plum color is accompanied by a spicy, earthy, black fruit, licorice, and smoke-scented bouquet.

 We had this with BBQ over the weekend and it starts out with a slight effervescense feeling in the mouth which is pretty cool.  It went perfect with tri-tip.  Edward Sellers has to be one of my favorite vintners right now.  They’re receiving great reviews from both Parker and WS and besides the Cognito, I’ve also been enjoying the Cuvee Des Cinq and the Syrah, both scoring high ratings with the critics with the Syrah coming in at 91 points from WS.  All would go well with any on the BBQ or spicy foods.

Had this wine over the weekend at a barbecue. It has a ton of flavor that bursts in your mouth. Was great with our sausage and tri-tip! Would recommend letting this one age a bit or decanter and let it breathe.
2004 Edward Cellars Cognito @ The Wine Closet

63% Shiraz, 19% Merlot, 16% Cab Sauv.  Mollydooker from Australia:  Lots of Jammy fruit, high alcohol nose.  Dark ruby red color.  Long finish with some mild tannins.  Good mouth feel, very velvety.

 Rating: 8.4

Friday night we had a great meal at Brooks restaurant here in Ventura with our friend Steve.  Brooks has an excellent menu and a really good wine list.  We decided on drinking the bottle we brought and we were very happy.  The 2004 Edward Sellers Cuvee des Cinq is a great wine.  Slightly barnyard on the nose, but lots of body and character.  Deep red color and nice long finish.  This is a great rhone style wine. 
More Edward Cellars Wines

Had a busy day on Saturday, went to a mountain bike race then came to the wine store and built a new triple tier maximizer to hold our wine.  When filling up the rack we noticed that our 2003 Zaca Mesa Syrah had a leaking cork.  We decided to take it home and try it out.  Suprisingly it had not gone bad.  The wine is very dark in color and still somewhat tight.  This definately needed time to open and when it did there were nice fruit flavors.  Somewhat strong tannin on the finish.  For the price it is a nice wine.
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