This post starts with Cave de Ribeauville at kiosk 23. I've already covered it in my initial post on first impressions and highlights. As I discuss there, the Prestige series from the Cave de Ribeauville was definitely a value highlight at the show.
The two St Hallett wines we tried at kiosk 26, the Gamekeepers Reserve (Shiraz/Grenache) and the Faith (Shiraz) were well made in the big fruity Aussie style. We preferred the Faith even at $8 more than the Gamekeepers Reserve. Your view on this wine will be very much a matter of style - this is not for those who like an Old World approach. The rep at the booth was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. He said these wines are meant to be drunk relatively young - now or within the next 5 years. While they will last longer, they will lose their varietal character without gaining a lot of compensating complexity.
Kiosk 28: Chateau Quintus: "Meh" says Kelly's note.
We got a taste of the Silver Oak - I think it was the Napa (it was a quick pour just as the 4:00 show was closing). It was excellent - whether it was $117 excellent depends on the state of your wallet.
The next prestige wine we tried was the Catena Alta Malnec, which regularly scores 93-94 from Wine Spectator. The vintage at the show, the '04, scored 93. We were underwhelmed. Good, but soft and blowsy. Not worth $60 of my money.
More to come . . .
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I really liked the Catena Malbec from last year ($25-30 range) and was looking forward to the Alta, but when I tried the Catena wines, I preferred the Cab at half the price.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the softness of the Alta may be to blame for its inability to stand up to many other wines at the show, including the Catena Cab. I still have faith in the Alta, and I hope that I will get a chance to try it again on its own.
(but at $60 I don't know if I will buy it myself...)
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