Could have used some blogtherapy back
then.
And then we have the pending release of the first
of two movies based on the legendary Paris tasting, and
reported by George Taber in his book the "Judgement
of Paris...."; the historic blind tasting in
1976, that revolutionized the California wine industry,
when expert French panelists were shocked to learn
they had judged a Napa Valley/Alexander
Valley Chardonnay and Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
to be better than their French counterparts. "Bottle Shock" focuses on life with
the Barrett family, and their winning 1973 Chateau
Montelena Chardonnay, although strangely no
credit or acknowledgement is given to Mike Grigich's
role as winemaker. Even crazier is how 15 years later, I
stopped purchasing Chateau Montelena wines for The Wine
Consultant, because the winery required me to
purchase two cases of its Chardonnay for every one case
of Cabernet Sauvignon I wished to
purchase. "Bottle Shock" has some big stars
power in the cast and opens in the Sacramento area at the
Tower Theatre on August 15th. For a theatre near you,
cast, preview trailer, et al. go to www.bottleshockthemovie.com
Coincidentally, Cos d' Estournel, the famed
2nd Growth Bordeaux estate in St. Estephe, has just
entered into escrow to purchase Chateau
Montelena for an estimated $100+ million dollars.
Timing is everything!
* * * *
*
Back in January of 2007 we visited Casa
Lapostolle's revolutionary Clos
Apalta winery in the Apalta Valley, a subregion of
the Colchagua Valley about 120 miles south of Santiago,
Chile. Clos Apalta is an amazingly beautiful winery
combining dramatic modern architecture, a gravity
fed state-of-the-art winemaking facility, luxurious
accommodations, all in a breathtaking setting perched
high above the valley. Little wonder, as Clos
Apalta is owned by the Grand Marnier
family. After a "chef's tour", we were priviledged
to sit down with Diego, one of the assistant winemakers, for a
private tasting that included the 2005 Clos Apalta. I have
tasted and sold small quantities of previous Clos
Apalta vintages. But I was unprepared for the
greatness Renee and I experience from this old vine
Carmenere based proprietary red. By now, readers
should already know the virtues I have sung about this
relatively unknown transplanted Bordeaux varietal. To the
point, I forewarned Renee...."We will have to horde whatever
we can when this wine is finally
released......this is WOTY quality ("Wine of the
Year" - Wine Spectator), and should easily
contend!"
Just this June, the Wine Spectator rated the
2005 Clos Apalta the highest
rating it has received to date at 96 points.....and we have been
"stockpiling" whatever we can get our hands
on....!
"Gorgeous
aromas of warm ganache and mocha lead to a rich, velvety
palate loaded with currant, fig paste, black licorice, cassis
bush and bramble notes. The long, juicy finish has great grip
and density, with echoes of graphite, dark fruit and mineral.
Should greatly reward cellaring. Carmenère, Cabernet
Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Best from 2009 through
2019."
Let's keep in mind that this is not
a fluke for Clos Apalta. As a matter of fact, the
winery has an amazing track record of ratings by the
Wine Spectator for this benchmark wine:
2000 - 94 points and ranked #3 in 03
WOTY
2001 - 95 points and ranked #2 in 04
WOTY
2002 - 93 points
2003 - 94 and ranked #44 in 06
WOTY
2004 - 93 points
And now, I repeat..... 2005 at 96
points!
Yes, we are saving some of the 2005 Clos Apalta for the end of the year,
and for our personal collection!!..... HOWEVER, at this
time I thought we would offer a limited quantity of our
stash to readership at the standard list price of
$79.95 a
bottle. You can
thank me later!! ORDER NOW BY REPLYING DIRECTLY TO THIS
EMAIL!
