Spif7's profile

2005 Caymus - Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
Super silky smooth. Nice balance of fruit, tannins and decent finish. Easy drinking cab no decant or waiting. 2nd night not nearly as good.

2007 Luca - Malbec
Wine shop said this was a more approachable Malbec than the Dona Paula needing less decant time. Still poured through vinturi and decanted for one hour. Nice dark fruit tastes however the tannic backbone was slightly too overpowering. The balance just did not seem to be there. The second night did not prove to be any better. Ok wine, nothing to write home about.

2005 Dona Paula - Malbec Seleccion de Bodega
Opened, poured through vinturi and decanted for 2 hours. Dark fruits, peppery overtones and a solid tannic backbone. 2nd night the tannins had calmed down significantly and the wine became extremely smooth. Definitely needs some time in the cellar.

2005 CORRA - Cabernet Sauvignon
Saturday night, I hosted a small blind tasting of some recent 2005 cali cab purchases to determine my future purchasing preferences. The three wines were: Buccella Cabernet, Maybach Materium & Corra Cabernet. Previously I had only tasted the 2004 Corra by itself and absolutely loved the wine. This time I wanted to see if Corra was really that good as well as determine if I will be purchasing the other two wines in the future. Four of us tasted and completed a simple ranking from 1 (best) to 3 (worst). The results were as follows: (5pts) 2005 Corra Cabernet Even blind the Corra performed as I expected, unbelievable. The nose was a beautiful mixture of fresh berries and floral notes. It had layer upon layer of flavors, none overpowering the next. The strength of this wine is the subtle finesse of all the components in complete harmony. Corra will definitely continue to be a part of my cellar. (7pts) 2005 Buccella Cabernet The Buccella was a close second in everyone's opinion. It was masculine in comparison to the feminine style of Corra. This wine was almost chewy in consistency with a rich core of fruit. I enjoyed this wine thoroughly, yet I question the future direction of the wine without Mark Herold at the helm. Anyone know what vintage was his last? (12pts) 2005 Maybach Materium Finally and probably the most disappointing for me was the Maybach. The wine was very tannic and austere. You could tell that it would age for awhile; however, I kept asking myself if I didn't like the base components now would I like them aged? It was a good wine, yet not in the company of the other two. At the $100+ range, I expected more and will spend my money elsewhere the next time. Overall, it was a wonderful night of good wine that helped fine-tune my ever expanding annual cabernet purchase that I keep failing to contain.

2005 Buccella - Cabernet Sauvignon
Saturday night, I hosted a small blind tasting of some recent 2005 cali cab purchases to determine my future purchasing preferences. The three wines were: Buccella Cabernet, Maybach Materium & Corra Cabernet. Previously I had only tasted the 2004 Corra by itself and absolutely loved the wine. This time I wanted to see if Corra was really that good as well as determine if I will be purchasing the other two wines in the future. Four of us tasted and completed a simple ranking from 1 (best) to 3 (worst). The results were as follows: (5pts) 2005 Corra Cabernet Even blind the Corra performed as I expected, unbelievable. The nose was a beautiful mixture of fresh berries and floral notes. It had layer upon layer of flavors, none overpowering the next. The strength of this wine is the subtle finesse of all the components in complete harmony. Corra will definitely continue to be a part of my cellar. (7pts) 2005 Buccella Cabernet The Buccella was a close second in everyone's opinion. It was masculine in comparison to the feminine style of Corra. This wine was almost chewy in consistency with a rich core of fruit. I enjoyed this wine thoroughly, yet I question the future direction of the wine without Mark Herold at the helm. Anyone know what vintage was his last? (12pts) 2005 Maybach Materium Finally and probably the most disappointing for me was the Maybach. The wine was very tannic and austere. You could tell that it would age for awhile; however, I kept asking myself if I didn't like the base components now would I like them aged? It was a good wine, yet not in the company of the other two. At the $100+ range, I expected more and will spend my money elsewhere the next time. Overall, it was a wonderful night of good wine that helped fine-tune my ever expanding annual cabernet purchase that I keep failing to contain.