posted 07-12-2011 02:19 PM            

Way to go, girl!

posted 07-12-2011 01:56 PM            

One was a 2004 Cakebread Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon. Very, very smooth - a big cab with lots of black fig and blackberry, a hint of chocolate and minerals. We have another bottle so it will be fun to open it next year and see how it is - just have to remember what we said about it this year!

That was Saturday night, so Sunday night we opened a 2004 White Rock Laureate Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. The winemaker’s notes from the website say: the 2004 Laureate exhibits powerful, dark fruit aromas and a rich, broad mouth-feel. Ripe blackberry and currant are complemented by undertones of cedar, coffee and vanilla bean. Notes of chocolate and a hint of licorice linger through a finish of lush tannins and dark plum. I certainly got the blackberry and currant and hints of vanilla, but no coffee or licorice for me. Another very smooth and delicious wine.

Monday night, to wrap things up (doesn’t everyone spend at least 3 days celebrating an anniversary?) we opened a 2003 Sterling Vineyards Red Carpet Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. We were on a Cab roll! Here is what their winemaker had to say: Sterling Vineyards Red Carpet Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is a special limited edition blend created by the Sterling Vineyards winemaking team to commemorate a golden moment: the 79th Academy Awards Celebration.  A rich assembly of our finest Cabernet Sauvignon lots, with Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot components, Sterling Vineyards Red Carpet Reserve offers aromas of briar fruit and exotic spice, complex flavors of black cherry, plum and cocoa, and a lingering, velvety finish with hints of vanilla and allspice. I got the blackberry, black cherry, plum and cocoa and some spice, don’t know how exotic it was Definitely a velvety finish.