The Wine Thread

[RichardW]

Originally Posted by Vitis

Cold and snowy here and I have the weekend to myself, so time to do a little cooking and drink some wine. Heres the weekend VanDamage so far.

----<snip of a nice photo>----

2005 Dunham Cabernet XI, Columbia Valley
Enjoyed this on Friday night with steak and frites. So Im a little bias on this one. We distribute the Dunham wines and I know the winemaker/owner very well. Due to this I have had the cab 40+ times in various vintages and done full verticals several times. That being said, I was very impressed with this bottle. Extremely clean aromatics of dark cassis and oak, rich and dense in the mouth with more black fruit, a touch of sweet oak and a light herbal note. The oak and the tannins are already well integrated and the acidity is very fine. This was a realy great bottle of wine and I feel like one of the best Dunham cabs to date. Showing great compared to my last tasting 3mos ago. If you want to know what Washington tastes like, this would be a great bottle to try.

Cheers
~Vitis

I see the Dunham 2005 syrah made one of the top 100 Washington wines (No. 18) -- I assume you've tasted this one as well ......your thoughts?

Originally Posted by RichardW

I see the Dunham 2005 syrah made one of the top 100 Washington wines (No. 18) -- I assume you've tasted this one as well ......your thoughts?

The Syrah is a nice wine. Wont age as long as the Cab will but a few years will make it even better. If you are looking at Gregutts top 100 list (Seattle times), its not the regular Columbia Valley Syrah he has listed. Its the Lewis Vineyard Reserve Syrah. A big heavy hitter wine. The winemakers seem to love this vineyard as it has interesting cola notes and realy bright fruit which can be more akin to Australia than Washington in alot of ways. Erics Lewis vineyard wines can be epic and age very well. ME LIKEY

~Vitis

[aldukes]

Last weeks office party:

2006 Bethel Heights Eola- Amity Hills Cuvee Pinot Noir
Eola-Amity Hills AVA, Willamette Valley, Oregon

Lots of cherry and vanilla on the nose and even more in the glass- raspberries, light charcoal, I would recommend this. Had it with everything from Tuna Tartare and crab cakes to ribeye- etc.

2005 Hardin Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley, CA

According to the interweb this retails for about $23. It tastes more like a $40 bottle. A little sweet, but went very well with steak and all the tasty steakhouse sides. Really high quality for the price, but a tad too sweet for me.

1994 Niepoort
Porto, Portugal

Now were talkin'- really good for a newish port- chocolate, black pepper, perfect raisin. I will be buying a bottle of this soon- if I can find one. Awesome.

1977 D'Oliveria Terrantez Madeira

Lots of raisin, lots of plum- drank way too much of this. Very good.

Had a quick sip of '85 Dow's too- but I wasn't in any conditions to remember note taking.

[JohnnyFlake]

I am really loving the great information and reviews posted here by many, especially Vitis, Aldukes, Mosesbotbol and Richardw.

If it's possible, I would love it, if you guys and others, would mention the approximate prices of the wines you list and review. This will help me decide, if it's worth it for me, to search out a particular offering or not, when one peaks my interest. It would probably help many others as well.

Johnny

[aldukes]

Originally Posted by JohnnyFlake

I am really loving the great information and reviews posted here by many, especially Vitis, Aldukes, Mosesbotbol and Richardw.

If it's possible, I would love it, if you guys and others, would mention the approximate prices of the wines you list and review. This will help me decide, if it's worth it for me, to search out a particular offering or not, when one peaks my interest. It would probably help many others as well.

Johnny

Try www.wine-searcher.com wine prices vary state to state so this would give you a better representation on how much it will cost you locally.

[JohnnyFlake]

Originally Posted by aldukes

Try www.wine-searcher.com wine prices vary state to state so this would give you a better representation on how much it will cost you locally.

Thanks for the link!