Family, Friends, Isabelle, Wine, Snowboarding
Concerts:
In the pit at Linkin ParkFront row at Van HalenFront row at Mary J Blige & Jay-Z
My wine pick:
Tom Eddy Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2001
Winemaker's Notes:2001 will go down in California history as a classic Cab vintage in Napa along with 1997 and 1999. This is quite possibly the biggest “tannic monster” we have ever produced! Owing to the lighter crop set and earlier harvest the vines had no problem packing everything they could into these grapes, making the wine into a stack of complex richness. Deep red-violet color unfolds to black cherry, violet, cedar, tar and dark chocolate notes in the aroma. The wine flavors include palates of Bing cherry, violets and chewy tannins. The finish of the wine is sturdy and mouth filling. Due to length and richness of the flavors, we expect this complex wine to age for many years! Open a bottle, relax and enjoy life!Harvest Notes:The mild winter provided 20% less rainfall than normal, with a couple snow dustings in February, before some warmer weather signaled the start of spring and the mustard bloom. A huge abnormal cold front out of Alaska in March/April provided us, along with our growers, with 10-15 days of stressful, sleepless nights with hours and hours of frost protection. Considered the most severe frost since 1972, vineyards without protection lost 10-50% of their crop. Then in late April/May, the heat returned pushing the plants two weeks ahead of normal. Weather changed again in June, bringing significant rain and cooler temperatures. Heat during the rest of the summer kept all vineyards maturing early and growers and winemakers alike were worried about everything becoming ripe at once. Despite the large numbers of clusters, crop set was lighter, thanks in part to the frost, and quality was very high. Finally, after several more gray hairs, initial tasting of wines after fermentation revealed high quality, with dynamic wines of power, tannin and fruit.
