After another weekend of overindulgence, I have a few really great bottles to put on the list and a few to avoid as well.

Thursday started out harmlessly when I went to pick up a couple boxes of wine at a friend’s house that UPS dropped off for me while I was out of state. My buddy asked me if I was thirsty….six bottles later I went home.

Selby Pinot Noir – Outstanding Pinot. Crisp, ripe fruit on the nose and pallet. Nice finish. Medium body. http://www.selbywinery.com/vintages/currentvintages/a05LovePinotNoir.html

Can Blau Celler – Another great bottle from Spain. It’s a red blend that we found to be very well balanced with a nice fruity nose and pallet with just a hint of spice and smoke. This one is hard to believe it’s under $20. http://www.wine.com/v6/wineshop/Detail.aspx?product_id=93492

Nickel and Nickel chardonnay – Excellent chard with just the right amount of oak. At about $50 though, it’s not one I’d buy.

Rudd Winery Sauv Blanc – All of us were in agreement that this is the best Sauv Blanc we ever had. It was amazingly crisp with all kinds of ripe fruit. Pretty spendy for a Sauv Blanc at $35 though…. http://www.ruddwines.com/wines_sauv.cfm

2003 - Lamborn First Vintage Cab Sav. This bottle was opened to see if it was still good due to a mistake when storing it. It was stored too close to a cooling unit and had ice on the bottle. My buddy has several of these and all were stored wrong, so he decided to open one and get the anxiety over with. It was freaking wonderful. This bottle is on my top five now. Definitely one of the best bottles I’ve ever had. The nose was amazing. It’s one of those nice crisp fruity noses that you don’t need to put your nose in the glass to smell and not a hint of being too ripe or jammy – a perfect nose to me. I couldn’t find any fault with this bottle. They are out of the 03, but you can still buy some 04’s, which is their second vintage. I was told the 04 is even better, but have not opened one yet. http://www.lamborn.com/lambornfamily/page/exclusive.jsp

1927 Alvear Pedro Ziminex – This is a half bottle I bought from wine.com. They blend new barrels with old barrels, which is how it can be called a 1927 wine, because they blend it with the 1927 vintage. I’m not all that familiar with the process, but the wine sure was tasty. It’s super viscous and very, very sweat. A half bottle goes a long way. If you like thick desert wines, you’ll love this one. http://www.wine.com/v6/wineshop/Detail.aspx?product_id=92464


Friday night was a birth day party for a friend’s kid. We all brought a bottle of wine and tasted each. Out of all the bottles drank (many), only one is worth mentioning.

06 Wattle Creek Pinot. I am a wine club member of this winery and have yet to drink a bottle of theirs I haven’t enjoyed. The Pinot is one of theirs that sells out pretty fast, so this was a first time trying it for me. It did not disappoint any of us and I’ve already ordered two more cases because all my friends want a few bottles. It had everything I like; fresh fruit on the nose, nice crisp pallet and a good finish. http://shop.wattlecreek.com/product.php?productid=66&cat=53&page=1

Last night was another BB party. This time a friend turned 50, so we all chipped in and splurged with some real nice bottles. One’s worth mentioning……

99 Silverado Merlot. I’ve been hanging on to this one for a while and was concerned it might be too old. It wasn’t. Unfortunately, it just didn’t do much for me. The birth day boy loved it, so that’s all that really counts.

2000 – Marietta Angeli Cuvee. YUK…. I can’t believe I’ve been keeping this one for so long. It sucked. The 99 was an outstanding bottle, but all the other Angeli Cuvee’s have been horrible in comparison.

Selby Zin – I was disappointed with this one. Too jammy, even for a zin. http://www.selbywinery.com/vintages/currentvintages/a06BobcatZin.html

05 Jericho Canyon Cab Sav - I had to redeem myself for the Marietta, so I opened one of two of these I bought a few months ago. It was outstanding. I’d put this one right up there with the Lamborn we drank Thursday. On a point scale, this one would be a 96 with the Lamborn being a 97 (to me anyway). A little pricey (Napa, go figure), but I don’t feel ripped off. http://www.brix26.com/products/Jericho_C...alley-25-0.html

05 Papillon Cab Sav – I’ve mentioned this one before in this thread, and it’s still just as good. http://www.brix26.com/products/Orin_Swift_2005_Papillon_Cabernet_Sauvignon_Napa_Valley-335-0.html

05 Nickel and Nickel Merlot. We were a little disappointed with this bottle. After the Jericho and Papillion though, it would have to be a heck of a bottle to be noticed, which it wasn’t.

03 Fleury Red. At a $140 I was not impressed. Pretty bottle with a wax seal, but not worth the money.

99 Ridge Monte Bello – We finished the night with this bottle. The Monte Bello is the Napa Cab that dethroned France back in ’71. Year after year, the Monte Bello continues to score in the mid to high 90’. I’m not sure if my pallet was saturated at this point of the night, or if this bottle just all that great because it just didn’t “wow” me like I thought it would. It was a damn nice bottle, but just not on pare with the Lamborn or Jericho. http://www.wine.com/V6/Ridge-Monte-Bello-Cabernet-Sauvignon-1999/wine/55568/detail.aspx