2006 Courtney Benham Stags Leap District Cab Sauvignon: A-

We were in the presence of our mystery wine specialist, who all agreed never disappoints with his...or her...wine selections. This particular friend of ours showed up for the 2 hour 24 premiere and felt as though he should bring a jack bauer-esque vino, or as beck-o posited "a wine with balls as big as jack". So we ripped into the Courtner Benham Cab. Josh felt that it might have left him with a similar sensation as eating a cold spoonful of hershey's chocolate syrup that you wish could be a bit warmer. Our present wine royalty agreed that although a premium juice, the 06 could maybe use a bit of age...not much. I agree with the assesment of an "iron fist in a velvet glove" apparently a popular way to characterize stag's leap cabs....with the exception that most stag leaps cabs start at 50 bucks, and this one is 29. Mainer beck-0 requested that we ready a case on the delivery of her "baby wilson in the works"...duly noted beck-o. Honestly, I am just happy to be in the company of an old friend and could probably be drinking piss and be as happy as i feel at the moment.

I should also include the minor detail that as we drink this one Wake Forest is beating UNC in an ACC basketball slugfest...given Josh's...hmm...loose affiliation with with the Blue Devils, we are a happy group.

Josh asserts that this is veeeery well balanced. And I think that this actually captures very well my feelings which are that i can't pin down many real tastes or smells, but i absolutely love this one. it is rare that i love not tannic wines. but that is the case. over and out.

mainer chris

ps. the photo may give you an idea of how much i love this wine....holy shizzzy.

Elyse Sonoma Pinot Noir 2006: A-

After an approximately half year break, we have returned to the wine blog. josh and i both attempted to invent some excuses for why we have not blogged since may, but the best we could come up with was josh's guess that it might have had something to do with the hot weather. were that the case, however, we probably should have started back up in october....but oh well - it seemed most appropriate to start back up with the beginning of a new year.

Josh and Becky have recently come into copious amounts of wine from the sonoma producer Elyse. As a result I got a beautiful bottle of the 2004 zin, my family was lucky enough to enjoy the cab over christmas, and we had a bottle of the 2006 pinot noir to crack open and enjoy with some black eyed peas.

Josh felt that this wine was soft and floral which I agree with wholeheartedly - sort of a light rubbing alcoholish feel on the nose - but doesn't burn. Upon further reflection I got hints of a syrup on the nose - maybe cherry cola, but not fruity like cherry. Josh got a similar tone, but he expressed it maybe more articulately as the vanilla extract syrup richness one might detect in a brandy

on balance, josh hit the nail on the when he simply classified this juice as delicious and well balanced , saying that if he had another one in the wine closet he would open it to have with a roasted chicken in october. We all agreed that this juice is maybe held back only by the fact that we opened it in 2009 - could have waited another year. Regardless - this is an unapologetic A-.

OK - we are back on the wagon - expect posts with more frequency. Happy vino drinking!