[hubbahubba]

Originally Posted by Roman

We're in a wine club with a semi-local retailer where once every quarter we receive two bottles of a west coast red selected for us by the sommelier owner. As you might expect, some wines are decent, some are good and some are great. This one was one of the greats. Will definitely buy more.

AXR is dynamite! We visited them on Thursday, and in addition to the current cab, also did barrel tastings of their single vintage wines coming out in November. They are truly special, and maybe my favorite wines of this trip. Edit: Names of those would probably be important... Sleeping Lady Vineyard, and V Madrone Vineyard. I have 3 of each coming in November.

[hubbahubba]

Tonight we’re having a treat. A few months ago I mentioned a wine from Stags’ Leap, Winemakers Muse Tannat. It was delicious, and I was hoping to find a few more. We did just that at the winery. I was tickled they had some. Jim, the manager, was all too kind and broke some out for our tasting group. We took 3 home, and he said to give him a call in fall when it will ship better for more. Nice. We were also able to get in and see the speakeasy from prohibition days. It is in the cellar, and was flooded from the atmospheric river of rain that hit them just prior to our visit back in January . Back in the day, the windows and doors to exterior did not exist. Only entrance was through a secret door in the floor above. Cool stuff.

[hubbahubba]

Tonight we had an early wine hour. Heading to dinner later, but I was starving! Wine was Villa del Lago by del Dotto. Great stuff. I purchased this bottle back in January at the del Dotto estate. Some of you “get off my lawn” folks may remember Dave del Dotto from the late 80’s real estate infomercials. He makes a damn good wine, too. Side note, this cheese, Cypress Grove Midnight Moon is excellent.

[hubbahubba]

Last night was a 2015 Quixote Petite Syrah. Quixote is located in between Stag’s Leap and Schafer, and as one would expect the Petite Syrah is their thing. It’s a very nice, very bold wine that needs to get some good air before drinking. The winery itself is small, producing only about 3000 cases/year. The building has a whimsical and fun look to it. Drawn by an Austrian architect, (name escapes me at the moment), it is the only building he did on this side of the Atlantic. Fun stuff.

[RichF90M5C]

I want to open a bottle of red wine right now!

[hubbahubba]

Opened this to get some air for a few hours. Stag's Leap Ne Cede Malis. To me, this is the Holy Grail of Petite Syrah. It is estate grown, and in the map below from Google Earth (red lines are mine) you can see that it is at the very Northern end of the Stag's Leap Estate. It's a tiny portion. I don't recall the case number per year, but not much. One of the interesting things about this field is that it is the only field on the Stag's Leap estate that does NOT use a trellis to support these grapes. The pictures from out in the field are: 1 from January showing the size of the vine without any leafy growth. They are beefy. And 2, from a couple weeks ago with the grapes. You can really see how thick the skins are. I can't wait to drink this wine.

Side note: Also in the map you can see Quixote, which I posted the other day. That is the size of vineyard it takes to produce 3000 cases/year.

Also, not sure why the wine pics are flipped??

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by hubbahubba

... Also, not sure why the wine pics are flipped??

How many glasses did you had

LMFT4U

[hubbahubba]

JJ 911SC Thank you sir.

Edit: It’s been a good afternoon.😎

Our dinner plans fell thru, so we opened another bottle. It’s nice and chewy.👍🏼

[hubbahubba]

Don’t judge me… it’s Friday.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by hubbahubba

Don’t judge me… it’s Friday.

Hope you have a nice Friday evening with Mrs. Hubba.

[hubbahubba]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Hope you have a nice Friday evening with Mrs. Hubba.

Thank you brother. Same to you and Mrs Esteban!

[JJ 911SC]

A nice Baralo to enhanced a Rib Eyes Steak...

[BMWGUYinCO]

We're headed to Paso Robles in August - taking a driving trip from CO and will be in the area. Looking forward to visiting the following wineries:

Justin
Daou
Eberle
Tobin James
Austin Hope
Donati Family
Niner

Also have reservations at The Hatch restaurant, although we saw French and Italian as well. Anyone have recommendations for other dinners while staying there?

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by BMWGUYinCO

We're headed to Paso Robles in August - taking a driving trip from CO and will be in the area. Looking forward to visiting the following wineries:

Justin
Daou
Eberle
Tobin James
Austin Hope
Donati Family
Niner

Also have reservations at The Hatch restaurant, although we saw French and Italian as well. Anyone have recommendations for other dinners while staying there?

Damn, those are some good choices there... just picked up 3 x Austin this past weekend on sale for $39 each.

[RichF90M5C]

Had this the other night…

[RickFLM4]

We had a bottle of The Bard (2018) last night at Sunset Terrace in Asheville. I think I posted a picture of the bottle of that wine before so I’ll just put some pics of the view from our table before/during/after sunset.

[hubbahubba]

The first winery we visited this trip was Far Niente. The place is absolutely stunning, and the grounds are pristine. This was the one Mrs H most wanted to visit. We had reservations for their top tasting, and the setting did not disappoint. After the tour of the winery and caves we were sat in a little gazebo at the edge of their property along To Kalon creek. It really could not have been a more pleasant setting, just gorgeous. The family also has a nice little car collection onsite. Unfortunately, we really didn’t care that much for the wine. I did bring 2 bottles home, and also signed up for their white wine club. Why would I sign up for a wine club for a winery that I really didn’t enjoy, and buy 2 bottles to bring home? The first shipment is all that was required, and then I can cancel. Our tour guide said he would wipe out the tasting cost for both of us if we did it. The cost of the shipment and the 2 bottles of cab were about the same price as our tasting. In essence, free wine. Twist my arm. Today that shipment arrived. It shipped via Vinum55. It was chilled when it arrived. Nice!

[hubbahubba]

We are heading to the PNW tomorrow. On Saturday we are meeting our future in-laws. She likes Sauv Blanc, so bringing a bottle for her. Also bringing the Dolce for after dinner. Which red should I take to dinner? The rest of the bottles will also make the trip out, but they won’t make it home…

[BMWGUYinCO]

Originally Posted by hubbahubba

We are heading to the PNW tomorrow. On Saturday we are meeting our future in-laws. She likes Sauv Blanc, so bringing a bottle for her. Also bringing the Dolce for after dinner. Which red should I take to dinner? The rest of the bottles will also make the trip out, but they won’t make it home…

Can't ever go wrong with a red from the Stags Leap vineyards.

[hubbahubba]

Originally Posted by BMWGUYinCO

Can't ever go wrong with a red from the Stags Leap vineyards.

True! They don’t ever disappoint. Then Mrs and I could enjoy more of the Tor.😁

[kscarrol]

Originally Posted by hubbahubba

We are heading to the PNW tomorrow. On Saturday we are meeting our future in-laws. She likes Sauv Blanc, so bringing a bottle for her. Also bringing the Dolce for after dinner. Which red should I take to dinner? The rest of the bottles will also make the trip out, but they won’t make it home…

Great line up, particularly love that Dolce!

I've kept an empty bottle to hold dish soap at the kitchen sink. Add a simple bottle pouring spout and it's much more attractive than a plastic bottle...

[hubbahubba]

Originally Posted by kscarrol

Great line up, particularly love that Dolce!

I've kept an empty bottle to hold dish soap at the kitchen sink. Add a simple bottle pouring spout and it's much more attractive than a plastic bottle...

Great idea!!