Great Wall Cabernet 1992

I am back posting again, this time from the Peoples Republic of China. I was able to climb on the Great Wall of China this week, after a thorough viewing of the Forbidden City. Went out for Peking Duck and was daring enough to order Chinese wine, called Great Wall Cabernet, 1992 vintage. The wine was surprisingly good, 15 years aged in Beijing, opened up after awhile, and had a nice full-bodied taste and went very well with the duck and other courses served. I would definitely try Great Wall wine again, due to being pleasantly surprised. Not overpowering, but very solid and smooth tasting wine, will give it a rating of 88.

2005 Radio-Coteau Timbervine Syrah Russian River Valley

A neighbor brought over a bottle of this Syrah, and it was a new label for me, probably because it is a low production wine with only 370 cases produced. This was a nice full-bodied Syrah, quite bold and went well with our appetizers that night. A nice sipping wine, I would definitely try this one again. Radio-Coteau Vineyards is located in Sebastopol, CA, and the wine was handcrafted by Eric Sussman.

1996 Chappellet Signature Cabernet

We opened up a bottle of this wine recently and while it was very good, it did not seem to open up for us. Seems like it needed more air to really show us the full taste of the wine. It did seem to have lots of potential still, and might need 5-10 more years of aging. I will check other reviews of this wine and see what I find out.

2005 Irony Pinot Noir Monterey County

I found this Pinot in my collection of wines the other day, and enjoyed it with dinner. I think Irony sells this wine at a very low price, and don't recall if I purchased this wine or if it was a gift. But I was surprised with the solid quality of this Pinot, it was fairly well balanced, smooth to drink and overall a good Pinot. I would rate this wine 86/100, and for the price, a good buy.

2004 Ryan Pinot Noir Birkmyer Vineyard

We tried the 2004 Ryan Birkmyer Vineyard Pinot a couple of weeks ago, and it was not as great as some other Ryan Pinots I have tried. It was a very drinkable Pinot and enjoyable during our dinner, but the wine seemed a little on the spicy side. I still enjoyed the wine, but think some of the other Pinots from Ryan are a better bet. I rate this wine a 88/100.

1994 Robert Mondavi Stags Leap District Napa Cabernet

We also enjoyed the 1994 Mondavi SLD Cab this weekend, a mini vertical tasting, and these are very different wines at this stage. The 1994 was very mellow, a smooth and very drinkable Cab, but lacked the robust flavor of the 1995 wine. I think the 1994 is now beyond its peak, but is still enjoyable if you like well-aged Cabs. I rate this one a solid 90.

1995 Robert Mondavi Stags Leap District Napa Cabernet

After cellaring this wine from its release date, we opened it this weekend, and the aging proved successful. This is a still robust Cabernet, with pepper, raspberry, and hints of vanilla, with an ultra smooth finish. I wish I had more of this in my cellar, but it was very enjoyable. I rate this wine 93/100, an excellent bottle of Cabernet.