With all of the media hooplabuzz about how the ‘97 CaliCabs are fading, we repeated the “2nd Tuesday’s 2003 September Tasting” of 1997 California Cabernet to see how the vintage seems to be getting along. There were a few ringers, but for the most part it was 1997 CaliCab.

Back in 2004, the Whitehall Lane Leonardini was a huge hit at “South by South Wine XI“ so it was especially fun to see how it, in particular, had evolved. For all purposes, it was the ‘97 Wine-of-the-Night since the V. Sattui was a ‘96. The ‘97 Dominus was corked, otherwise I think it would have been a strong contender for top marks. All in all, it was a fairly strong CaliCab showing with 10 folks attending. 1997 is still alive, but I think most at the tasting would agree to drink’em while you can. Safe than sorry.

Folks were asked to name their brown-bagged juice with a new wine term (one they had to make up, along with definition). The terms/definitions are at the bottom of this post, below my results. Thanks to all the players! YOU are why this works!

Remember to practice your new wine terms (winotrivia) and avoid the germs (sigmold)…

“THAT GUY’S GOT THE BLEUBES!”

Chateau Randle. Blind Tasting.

Group’s preference.

1. ‘96 V. Sattui Cab Sauv Morisoli (pavrodrill)

2. ‘97 Whitehall Lane Cab Sauv Leonardini (smabulous)

2. ‘97 Silverado Cab Sauv Rsv (dawnsin)

3. ‘97 Lewis Cab Sauv Rsv (bleubes)

4. ‘98 Harrison Cab Sauv Rsv (fantabulous)

5. ‘97 Hess Collection Cab Sauv (skaya)

6. ‘97 William Harrison Cab Sauv (winotrivia)

6. ‘97 Terra Valentine Cab Sauv Wurtele (corksnopper)

7. ‘97 Sempre Vive Cab Sauv (comeondelay)

7. ‘97 Iron Horse Cab Franc (crodnatz)

8. ‘97 La Jota Cab Sauv Howell (cognizor)

8. ‘97 Cenay Cab Sauv Blue Tooth (ernihole)

8. ‘97 Terra Valentine Cab Sauv Wurtele (bassakwards)

9. ‘97 William Harrison Cab Franc (puppelnack)

10. ‘96 Whitehall Lane Cab Sauv Rsv (rosadoodle)

11. ‘97 Caymus Cab Sauv (vinsodo)

12. ‘97 Miner Cab Sauv (scooterflash)

12. ‘95 Ch. Talbot Saint Julien (sigmold)

12. ‘97 Dominus (falcundous)

13. ‘97 Sterling Cab Sauv Rsv (yellow jail)

13. ‘99 Raymond Burr Cab Sauv (snosdrain)

13. ‘00 Cain Cuvee NV4 (senses vin)

13. ‘95 Markham Cab Sauv (mothfab)

…and for dessert… ‘00 Olivares Dulce Monastrell (500ml)

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My order preference.

1. ‘97 Cenay Cab Sauv Blue Tooth (ernihole) $34 A +8 *** 100907

2. ‘97 La Jota Cab Sauv Howell (cognizor) $95 A -41 ***

3. ‘96 V. Sattui Cab Sauv Morisoli (pavrodrill) $70? A -18 ***

4. ‘97 William Harrison Cab Franc (puppelnack) $38? A -2 **

5. ‘96 Whitehall Lane Cab Sauv Rsv (rosadoodle) $80 A- -54 **

6. ‘95 Ch. Talbot Saint Julien (sigmold) $60 A- -34 **

7. ‘00 Olivares Dulce Monastrell (500ml) $28 A +8 *** (pulled after tasting)

8. ‘97 William Harrison Cab Sauv (winotrivia) $? tl25 A- **

9. ‘99 Raymond Burr Cab Sauv (snosdrain) $46? A- -17 **

10. ‘97 Sempre Vive Cab Sauv (comeondelay) $60? A- -34 **

11. ‘97 Iron Horse Cab Franc (crodnatz) $40 A -4 **

12. ‘97 Miner Cab Sauv (scooterflash) $66 A- -42 *

13. ‘97 Hess Collection Cab Sauv (skaya) $40 A- -16 **

14. ‘98 Harrison Cab Sauv Rsv (fantabulous) $85 A- -64 *

15. ‘97 Whitehall Lane Cab Sauv Leonardini (smabulous) $200 A- -186 *

16. ‘97 Silverado Cab Sauv Rsv (dawnsin) $110 A- -97 *

17. ‘97 Terra Valentine Cab Sauv Wurtele (bassakwards) $66 A- -55 *

18. ‘97 Sterling Cab Sauv Rsv (yellow jail) $100 B+ -74

19. ‘97 Lewis Cab Sauv Rsv (bleubes) $220 B+ -211

20. ‘97 Caymus Cab Sauv (vinsodo) $135 B -126

21. ‘97 Terra Valentine Cab Sauv Wurtele (corksnopper) $66 B+ -55

22. ‘00 Cain Cuvee NV4 (senses vin) $27 A- -11

23. ‘97 Dominus (falcundous) $200 corked

24. ‘95 Markham Cab Sauv (mothfab) $24 F

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Made up wineTERMS & their made up DEFINITIONS

bassakwards – lopsided wine, shutdown

bleubes – red wine stained lips

cognizor – a wine restaurant know-it-all

comeondelay – wine needs to move its butt and get going (tightly wound)

corksnopper – ring of dry, crusty wine left on wine glasses

crodnatz – a disliked client/customer

dawnsin – soapy residued wine stem

ernihole – where bad winemakers are buried

falcundous – shiny & loud muscle wine

fantabulous – fantastic & fabulous wine

mothfab – old crusty, yet fabulous wine

pavodrill – wine that tastes like motor oil

puppelnack – cheap Plumpjack knockoff

rosadoodle – rose-colored cheeks caused by too much wine intake

scooterflash – when you have to make a quick, but subtle getaway after tasting a bad wine

senses vin – where you find your taste

sigmold – wine cork dust formed by bacteria and a lick

skaya - ohst ?

smabulous – smashing & fabulous wine

snosdrain – runny nose caused by smell of bad wine

vinsodo – earthy terroir

winotrivia – complicated wine themes at tastings

yellowjail – Aussie for “sucko”