Talk-A-Vino

Today, I want to share two recent wine experiences. One, unfortunately, as expected. The second one is unexpectedly surprising.

About 10 days ago, I had the opportunity to open a wine from the 2002 vintage to celebrate my youngest daughter’s birthday. I don’t have a lot of 2002 lying around, so I had to decide which bottle to open.

I asked wine friends on Twitter (can’t bring myself to call it X, I still prefer Twitter) which one of the two 2002 bottles you see in the picture above I should open. A few people said “come on, open both and compare!” which I would gladly do if I had a good supply of both. I also got suggestions to open BV, and somehow, this was also my inclination, so BV it was.

Now, deep inside, I knew that I was probably making a mistake opening my only bottle. Based on my experience, California Cabernet Sauvignon wines need 40+ years to truly shine, but hey – wine is meant to be drunk, especially when you have a good reason… So yeah, the decision was made.

BV, which stands for Beaulieu Vineyard, needs no introduction to wine lovers. One of the oldest producers in Napa Valley, and one of the legendary ones, as the name André Tchelistcheff, “The Maestro” and literally the father of Californian winemaking, is closely associated with BV, where he was making wines for almost 50 years. Georges de Latour Reserve, the wine named in honor of the winery’s founder, is a flagship Cabernet Sauvignon made at the winery. So while I was opening this 2002 Beaulieu Vineyard Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford Napa Valley (14.5% ABV), I knew that I’m making a mistake.

The mistake was very simple – too early. The wine of this caliber probably had another 25 years ahead of it before it would really reach its peak. Don’t get me wrong – the wine was classic and delicious, with Rutherford dust, gobs of black currant, mint and eucalyptus, powerful, voluptuous, big and fresh, with well-presented tannins. This was the wine in its prime, but not at a peak. As expected. And a bit sad as I know I can’t find out how well this wine could evolve. Sure, first-world problems.

Now, let’s talk about surprises. Over the weekend, we visited friends whom we hadn’t seen in a while. Over the years, they have accumulated a variety of bottles – nothing of the “collector” level, no, just simple everyday wines which were acquired to be enjoyed at a party and simply left unopened. Now, when we come over, knowing that I’m a wine geek, they always love to pull out some random bottle to try. This time, the random bottle was a 2002 Gallo Family’s Gallo of Sonoma Syrah Reserve Sonoma County (13.75% ABV).

If you would generally offer me a bottle of Gallo wine, I would almost take it as an offense. I would never buy a Gallo wine on my own. But in this situation, why not? I had a backup in the form of Turley, so I was definitely not afraid :).

By the way, before we talk about the wine, you can also have a laugh at my expense. This is the first time that the actual Gallo wine is discussed on this blog – I can even quote myself saying “Rest assured – Gallo is the last wine I want to ever discuss on this blog“. And yet here I am, talking about Gallo wine on this blog. Never say never, huh?

The cork crumbled and I had to push it in, so we were pouring the wine into the glasses using a little tea mesh. The first smell was not bad at all – mostly plums, no tertiary aromas. The first sip found a well-rounded wine, with plums, roasted meat notes, still present tannins and earthy undertones. I was absolutely not expecting to be so pleasantly surprised by the wine, but I guess California wines are just full of surprises. And let’s not forget that this wine was probably acquired for $5 if not less…

I always advocate that California wines can age, and yet I was surprised at how well both wines have aged.

If you have California wines in your cellar, and you are not afraid to wait – give them time, let them surprise you at some point.

What do you think about the ability of Californian wines to age? For how long do you think you can wait to let your wines truly shine? Cheers!