My wife and I invited three of our closest friends to have a casual dinner at home while watching the Cal/Tennessee game on our High Definition TV. To make it simple, we asked them to bring a couple of pizzas from the Cheeseboard Collective in Berkeley. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of trying their pizzas, let me assure you that they have the best pizza in town, bar none, period. They only make one type of pizza each day and usually you will see a long line out the door waiting to buy their pizza. We had a simple goat cheese & mushroom pizza but the ingredients just worked perfectly together. Drizzled some EVO on top when it is hot out of the oven and it is heaven.
For my part, I asked my kitchen staff to prepare some fresh pasta sheets so that I could make some hand-cut pasta. I also made a pot of Bolognese Sauce out of ground Kobe Beef Chuck and fresh Vine Ripe Tomatoes. We also sauteed some organic summer squashes from our local farmer's market.
The wines that we tried were 2002 Jericho Canyon Vineyard Proprietary Red (14.7 % Alc) and the 2004 Gary Farrell Redwood Ranch Sauvignon Blanc (13.8% Alc.). Jericho Canyon Vineyard is a small family operated vineyard at the base of Napa Valley's Mount St. Helena. The 2002 vintage is a classic Bordeaux-Style of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot & Cabernet Franc. The 2004 Gary Farrell Sauvignon Blanc is made from fruit out of Redwood Ranch, Sonoma Coast. Here are the tasting Notes:
2002 Jericho Canyon Vineyard Proprietary Red - Dense purple in color, aromas of Blackberry, Cassis, and Toasty Oak Note. Tasted extremely ripe. Hence, high alcohol, typical of the 2002 year out of California. This full-bodied, rich, full-throttle, nicely-textured, tannic 2002 drinks well now. Good mouth feel, well integrated tannin. No hard edges. Finish a bit dry because of the alcohol in the back of the mouth. (92 points)
2004 Gary Farrell Redwood Ranch Sauvignon Blanc - Golden canary color. Noticeable note of Guava and tropical fruit. No grassiness at all. Soft and velvety. Rather big in style for a Sauvignon Blanc. (87 points).
Between the 5 of us, we finished off two bowls of fresh pasta, and one and a half Cheeseboard pizzas. Of course, we easily finished off the two bottles of wines. On top of that, we watched Cal dismantled Tennessee 45-31 on national TV. Go Bears!!!!! Most important, we had a delicious dinner with our close friends and enjoyed great conversation. Life is good.
Wine: 2002 Jericho Canyon Vineyard Proprietary Red
Current Score (Future Potential): 92 (92)
Region: Napa Valley
Vintage: 2002
Varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot & Cabernet Franc
Date Reviewed: 09/01/07
Wine: 2004 Gary Farrell Redwood Ranch Sauvignon Blanc
Current Score (Future Potential): 87 (85)
Region: Sonoma, North Coast
Vintage: 2004
Varietals: Sauvignon Blanc
Date Reviewed: 09/01/07
Disclaimer: I am passionate about what I do. I tasted wines daily and evaluate them based on my own experience. I recognize and respect that making wines is a very hard work. It takes passion, huge financial risk, patience, and vision. Unfortunately, not every wine is a star. I tried to evaluate wines as objectively as possible. My score is my snap shot assessment of the wine at the time of my evaluation and it may changed as wines tend to evolve or develop in the bottle. My written evaluation of these wines are solely my expression of my opinion.
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