This is a very special lot. This is not from a winery, but from winery employees. A Palate Press Contributor, and more important a friend, Leah McNally, told her friends and co-workers at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars about Wine for Haiti, and they pulled bottles from their personal collections for the auction. Nice bottles, too. The generous contributors are Leah McNally, Ben DeLeon, Jim Duane, Pete Serrano, and Mark Smith. Retail value of this lot is $573.00.
- Lot 79 – Stag’s Leap Collection
2006 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon $110
“A sweet, rich perfume of Bing cherry, blackberry, cassis, and rhubarb leads to savory aromas of licorice, cedar, truffles and toasted almonds. Similar flavors coat the palate with additional notes of cocoa powder and vanilla. The wine is generous in character and framed by silky, smooth tannins.” – Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars
2005 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars FAY Cabernet Sauvignon $95
“The mildly leathery, coffee and loamy earth traits that mark all of the SLWC siblings is again evident here, but this wine conveys a bit more fruity depth and thus moves to the head of the clan. Fairly full-bodied and pleasantly supple in feel, it is at once both accessible and rather deep, and, if it has tannins in place for five years of growth, it is already inviting and will partner nicely with savory meats in the mid-term. Lacking the bombast of the bigger wines in this review, the SLWC Fay offering makes it way with balance and richness.” – 91 points The Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine
2006 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars ARTEMIS Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon $55
“Focused and complex, the wine opens with aromas and flavors of black fruit—blackberry, currant, and plum—that slowly give way to layers of nutmeg, rosemary, grilled game, and warm pie crust. This firmly structured and full-bodied wine gains depth and richness through the finish. Enjoy this wine with filet mignon with green peppercorn cream sauce or braised veal shanks with green olives and capers.” – Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars
2003 HawkCrest Cabernet Sauvignon Lake County $28
“This wine introduces itself with an attractive bouquet of raspberry, boysenberry, and Bing cherry aromas, alongside notes of cocoa powder and sweet tobacco. Rich flavors of berry and plum dance across the palate through a long, satisfying finish. Beautifully balanced, this wine is rich and full‐bodied, with backbone and supple tannins. Try this versatile food wine with roasted squab in a black cherry reduction or grilled marinated skirt steak and fingerling potatoes.” – Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars
2007 Pax Cuvee Christine Syrah North Coast $65
“The other 2007s I tasted include the 2007 Syrah Cuvee Christine, a 100% Syrah with 35% whole clusters. It exhibits plenty of meaty, berry fruit intertwined with underbrush, pepper, and tapenade characteristics offered in a distinctive, Crozes-Hermitage/northern Rhone style. Medium-bodied with excellent fruit, it should drink well for 7-10 years.” – 90-92 points Robert Parker
2007 Bucklin Bambino Old Hill Ranch Zinfandel Sonoma Valley $22
“The grapes for “Bambino” are from a 10-acre block we planted on Old Hill in 1998. This young vine field-blend is patterned after the ancient vine field-blend for which Old Hill is known. The wine is a blend of at least a dozen grape varieties – principally Zinfandel, but also Petite Sirah, Alicante Bouchet and Grenache to name a few – all fermented together to create this Zinfandel blend.” Bucklin
Opening bid is $200.00. Minimum bid increment $20.00.
[How it works- Each auction lot will get its own post. As soon as it gets its own post, the auction is live. Every item will got “hot” if bidding reaches retail value. Otherwise, it will go hot after 7 days. Once hot, each lot is on a 24-hour cycle, ending at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time. If a lot goes a full 24 hours, from 10:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., without a new bid, the last bid in the comments wins. If we get into a bidding war, with the same people going back and forth, one day at a time, we will post something in the comments of that Auction Lot and schedule a time to bid to the death, at a time mutually agreeable to everybody involved.]
For more auction Wine for Haiti auction items, please see the Wine for Haiti Auction Catalogue.
February 9, 2010