Monday, June 4, 2007

FIRST TWO WINES FROM THE TASTING

Hello,

Well, it took a bit longer than anticipated, but here is the first review of wines from the WineSaver Red Wine Tasting from last week.

Today, we look at the 2005 Castle Rock Russian River Reserve Pinot Noir ($15) and the 2002 Cedar Knoll Cabernet Sauvignon ($20).

Both of these wines were brought by Tom and Kim.

The Castle Rock was the first wine tasted. Dorianne, who rated the wines from 1 to 8 at the end of the evening, had it at #7. It was noted as having a light to nonexistent nose. Most of those who detected something in the nose noted berry, pepper, and floral influences. I noted currant, licorice and pepper.

Tasting, the wine was smooth and light, with light hints of fruit and minerals. Dorianne noted a hint of sweet raspberry; Tom noted that it was slow to open up, noted berry flavors and called it "just okay."




The Cedar Knoll (interestingly, Dorianne and I have the identical vintage in our collection - neither of us are sure where it came from), got a warmer reception from the tasting group. Dorianne rated it #2, noting a "heady bouquet, blackberry & raspberry; and good tannins, nice complexity, great with meat; not a tasty as the nose would suggest."

Other cooments included Rob, who noted that it had a "light nose for a Cab"; Tom noted "light tannin, no aftertaste, great flavor"; Diane noted "pepper, flat aftertaste - which is good"; I noted the presence of "terroir and pepper."

So overall, the Cedar Knoll Cab was a hit and the Castle Rock a miss, at least for this group. Two more wines will be reviewed in the next installment.

What do you think?

The Wine Saver






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