2006 Geyser Peak California Sauvignon Blanc, 13% alc., $7.99-9.99:

2005 Geyser Peak Alexander Valley Chardonnay, 13.5% alc., $9.99-11.99: Medium straw color with a tinge of lime; all big toasty oak on the nose, with more of the same in the mouth, with a good dose of ripe pear, tropical fruit, a hint of lemon and a little mineral.  Full bodied, without excessive weight, but fairly low in acidity.  Not my type of Chardonnay, but it does have its fans.

Flight One – Meritage Round

 

These four were already poured when we arrived, so they had plenty of air by the time we got to them.  All show good, rich dark color, and continue to open nicely in the glass.

A) Sweet oak cassis and berry nose follows through on the palate with gritty tannins and finishes somewhat astringent; one taster mentioned an impression of “compost,” while another offered “herbal.”  My fourth place wine of the flight.

2 first place votes/ 3 second place votes/ 1 third place vote/ 8 fourth place votes

B) Toasty, smoky oak and chocolate on the nose isn’t exactly effusive, but the black currant, cassis flavors shaded with a hint of chocolate pick things up nicely enough; good structure, with a smooth texture, but not terribly complex.  One taster noted some black licorice, while another called it the most cellar worthy of the four.  My third place wine of the flight.

3 first place votes/ 3 second place votes/ 3 third place votes/ 5 fourth place votes

C) Stingy on the nose, showing only a little cocoa and black fruit; spice, cocoa and cassis flavors show silky tannins and a smooth texture; a wine of some elegance.  My second place wine of the flight.

3 first place votes / 4 second place votes / 6 third place votes / 1 fourth place vote

D) Shows a certain perfumed quality on the nose, but otherwise not that expressive; delivers more in the flavor department, and again, shows a perfumed cassis and black currant character.  Very smooth, very elegant, with deceptive structure and right there, right now; a wine of finesse. My first place wine of the flight, and several others were in agreement.

7 first place votes / 4 second place votes / 2 third place votes / 1 fourth place vote

The order of preference seems to have run from D to A, although perhaps some quibbling could be made between B and C.  The wines in the order tasted were:

A) 2003 Justin Paso Robles Isosceles - $70 Find this wine
B) 2004 Geyser Peak Alexander Valley Meritage Reserve - $50 Find this wine
C) 2003 Joseph Phelps Napa Insignia - $130 Find this wine
D) 2003 Flora Springs Napa Trilogy - $60 Find this wine

It seems that this unscientific survey would support the claim that Geyser Peak’s Reserve Meritage can indeed hang right in there with the big boys.  What surprised me was that the Trilogy received the amount of first place votes that it did, but then it was quite tasty.  I was also surprised that I enjoyed the Insignia more than I have in the past (and since the place to my left was vacant, I helped myself to that glass C as well, just to make sure); will wonders never cease?

We took a break to nosh on a spread of Sea Grille’s tasty hors d’ oeuvres, so that the second flight could be poured away from prying eyes.  Unfortunately, we may have tarried a little too long, because when we re-adjourned, we were somewhat rushed; it seemed as though we spent about half the amount of time with these that we did with the first flight.  But, we soldiered our way through, even though these were constantly changing in the glass, and so making it difficult to get a consistent read on them in so brief a session. 

Once again, all four wines show good, rich, dark color.

A) All toast and coffee on the nose, with more of the same on the palate, accenting rich black currant and blackberry flavors with a hint of underbrush underneath.  Just a little rough at first, but full bodied, well structured, long on the finish and quite tasty.  One taster was heard to comment on what she perceived as an “oily, petrol-y finish.”  My second place wine of the flight, but the one with the most first place votes.

5 first place votes/ 4 second place votes/ 3 third place votes/ 2 fourth place votes 

B) Toasty oak and cassis nose; rich, round and fairly expressive, with a refined, silky mouth feel; a note of something like violets caresses the toasty oak, cassis and black currant flavors and some maple syrup emerges with air.  This one received my first place vote of the flight, but had we been given more time to consider these, things might have been different.  The same taster who deemed wine B in the first flight the “most cellar worthy” of those had similar compliments for this, which I found most interesting, since both turned out to be Geyser Peak wines and said taster is a seasoned veteran of these blind evaluations.

2 first place votes/2 second place votes/ 4 third place votes/ 6 fourth place votes    

C) Almost no nose on this, maybe just a little tar; tarry black fruit in the mouth, being full-bodied and well structured, but coming off a little clumsy after the previous selection.  With a little air, it smoothes out nicely, tasting like what I might expect from this producer, and the closest thing to old world in character of any of these, although one taster said the same of the following wine.  My third place wine of the flight.

3 first place votes/5 second place votes/ 4 third place votes/ 2 fourth place votes

D) Modest berry and currant nose, with rich flavors that echo and expand, accented with a hint of herbaceousness; full bodied and well structured, but a step behind the previous selection.  However, this showed the most dramatic evolution with air, and had we been able to spend a little more time with it, my ranking might well have jumped at least one place.  One taster described this as “mossy, earthy and old world.”  My fourth place wine of the flight, but the group’s second.

4 first place votes/3 second place votes/ 2 third place votes/ 4 fourth place votes 

Wine A seems to have been the group’s favorite, with Wine D second, Wine C third and Wine B bringing up the rear.  The wines in the order tasted were:

A) 2002 Caymus Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection - $140 Find this wine
B) 2004 Geyser Peak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve - $50 Find this wine
C) 2003 Robert Mondavi Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve - $110 Find this wine
D) 2003 Darioush Napa Cabernet Sauvignon - $70   Find this wine

Although the Geyser Peak Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve was clearly the least favorite of the group, it still held its own and certainly didn’t suck.  I came away from this taste-off with a better impression for these two Reserves than I did from what we tasted five years ago, and we tried those previous incarnations and a few others then as well.  I have to admit that Ryan and the fine folks from Vintage Wine made something of a case for their claim that Geyser Peak Reserves offer good alternatives to the pricier big name heavy hitters from California.

Reporting from Day-twah,