California Cabernet Demolition Dinner - March, 2011

In our continuing effort to drink up old wines from the wine cellar, we hosted a "California Cabernet Demolition Dinner" with our friends Rob and Wendy and Glen and Sylvie.

The food theme for the dinner was "Small Plates" to accompany and enhance old Cabs.

We made a stuffed leg of Wild "Boar" dish. Rob and Wendy prepared a lamb chop with Peas and wild mushrooms. Glen and Sylvie made a Venison tenderloin with Fois Gras with sweet cherry sauce .

Doris and I made an appetizer to accompany some bubbles to get the evening started and also made a small dessert.

The order of the evening was:

• To decant the old wines and let them breathe while enjoying bubbles and an appetizer.
• Next taste the wines...
• Then serve each small plate dish as we are ready and enjoy with the wines
• Finish off the wines with the cheeses.
• Dessert and coffee.

Doris made two appetizers to go with a bottle of George and Doris 1997 sparkling wine.

The 97 sparkler was disgorged the morning of the dinner, and had been on the yeast for more than 10 years. I expected this wine to be very yeasty, but instead had a very interesting mineral quality. I did not add a dosage, since I knew our friends like a bone dry wine. This is a very good sparkler! I have perhaps 1/2 case left. I read

somewhere about old Champagnes developing a mineral character...

The appetizers and bubbles went very well together.

I had thought that the corks on the old Cabs would be so dry that they would crumble when trying to pull them, but in fact they were all in good shape.

Here is the list of the wines:

• 1974 BV George Latour
• 1974 Sonoma Vineyards
• 1983 Carmenet
• 1983 Ridge Monte Bello
• 1987 Carmenet

and the labels....

Here are my tasting notes:

74 BV George Latour: This wine was very brown when opened. I thought that it would be dead and undrinkable. But there was still some life, but clearly showing it's advanced age. Port like flavors, dried out and woody with alcohol finish.

74 Sonoma Vineyards: Good Garnet color for being so old. Herb like nose, interesting flavors.

83 Carmenet: good purple-brick red color. Some green pepper in the nose.

83 Ridge Monte Bello: Brick red in color. Good Cigar box nose. Good flavors and still plenty of fruit. Some violet floral character in the nose. Very nice wine.

87 Carmenet: Good fruit flavors, soft tannins, some green chili character in taste and nose.

Sylvie's Tasting Notes:

a) '74 BV Latour
Nose: raisiny
Taste: raisiny, leathery
b) '74 Sonoma Vineyards
Nose: herbs,
Taste: big, rich, round back of mouth tannins
c) '83 Carmenet
Nose: balsamic, sweet
Taste: bell peppers, up front tannins, piny, more tart than others
d) '83 Ridge Montebello
Nose: chewy, thick, fresh asparagus, spearmint
Taste: solid body, fruit, floral, violets
e) '87 Carmenet
Nose: dusty, chocolaty, green chilies
Taste: raisins, big, smooth

With the lamb dish, the wines tended to taste sweeter, the BV and Sonoma were good with the lamb, the Ridge overpowered the lamb.

The bigger wines tended to go better with the vension dish, with it's sweet cherry sauce and rich flavors of the Fois Gras. Both of the Carmenets and the Ridge.

All the wines went well with the stuffed leg of wild boar and the wines were excellent with the cheeses.

This was another great dinner with interesting wines. Still there are plenty of old wines waiting in the cellar, so we need to do more of these dinners.

I was a little disappointed with the stuffed leg of wild boar as I overcooked it! e.g. it was the last dish served, but has finished cooking earlier in the evening.

I'll post a separate entry in this blog for the stuffed leg of wild boar.