Wine Notes

2003 14 Hands Chardonnay - Wow! Fresh, clean, grassy nose, light to medium body, steely, sort of like a good premier cru Chablis, mineral and stone - you can almost taste the stainless steel tank. Nut, mace and fruit! Carol says, "little oak, definite fruit in it." Sam says, " sweet and peppery."

2003 McKinley Springs Columbia Valley Syrah - from Andrews Horse Heaven Ranch Vineyard. Big, tastes like a Zin, tobacco, chocolate and prunes. Big, chewy, with a slightly burnt undertaste. Need 1-3 more years of age. Thanks Mary for a great gift.

Ravenswood Vintner's Blend Zinfandel - jammy, jammy jammy.

2003 Chateau Reignac - 17,000 cases made under the supervision of French wine consultant, Michel Rolland. All the right things - green harvesting and pruning to 1.7 tons per acre, hand harvesting and double hand sorting, cold maceration, malolactic in 100% new French oak and ageing for 21 months, bottled unfined and unfiltered - lead to a a globally appealing, fruit forward wine dominated by the 75% Merlot with the remainder Cabernet Sauvignon. Delicious, but ultimately somewhat boring. Still a Bordeaux Superior, and as an old acquaintance once said, "you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear", but you can make the best sow's ear possible and this would be a good lesson for all those producers contributing to the mighty "lake of wine " in France.

1996 Mazzocco Matrix - A classic Bordeaux style blend with 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Petit Verdot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 2% Malbec and 9% Merlot. A little old - showed more fruit with some breathing in the decanter. Lots of mixed berry fruit - more interesting and complex than the Reignac, if less fruit forward. Reminds me of a Cotes de Bourg Bordeaux.