Flora Springs Winery. Stopped in their new, swoopy, high tech tasting room in St. Helena on Friday. Sorta mini-Gehry in style (they are next door to the new Hall edifice complex!) I have to say I enjoyed their range of Cabernets. All painfully young, but they share a dark fruit earthyness that I find quite appealing. I would recommend this-the people behind the counter are quite friendly and professional, too.
At Lunch Saturday:
Whitehall Lane Leonardini Special Reserve 2005. I think my palate has moved away from Whitehall Lane. It's too young, but all I tasted is berry fruit and alcohol and oak. Will this evolve, as the abv is probably really above 15%? Was the favorite among others at the lunch, though.
Chateau Le Puy Cotes de Franc Merlot 2004. I was the only person who preferred this wine. Much lighter and leaner. The wine actually needed to be decanted for a couple of hours to fully show the rich black merlot fruit, as it did start out a little lean, minerally, and tart. I thought it went much better with lunch than the Cab, though...but I was voted down.
At WineStyles: Tried the 2005 "Forlorn Hope" Suisun Valley Petit Verdot-made by the winemaker for Elizabeth Spencer as a side project. Good black color, black fruit, touch of earthyness. However, the wine was seriously marred by prominent, to me, alcohol. Way too hot, which means I would probably not buy this again. Not just me, either. As nice as the fruit is, the wine would be better at 14% real alcohol (I am guessing it was pushing 15.5% in real terms) Or...maybe the Petit Verdot grape doesn't produce enough big fruityness to take on such high alcohol?