2005 Justin Justification

Sara's parents came to visit us in Palo Alto. Sara made a cassoulet the first night they were here (which was excellent) and I wanted to open a nicer bottle to go along with it. You can see for yourself in the picture below that we enjoyed the wine.



The wine is a great blend of 64% Cabernet Franc and 36% Merlot. The wine was still young, with the some pretty recognizable vanilla flavors in it that will fade over time. The tannins were tame and it wasn't acidic at all; the wine was smooth and complex with a fairly short finish. It is a good drinking wine that goes great with home cooking. Now I can not decide if I like it or Isosceles better.

If that is the only difficult decision I have to make, I guess things are going pretty well.

2002 L'aventure Optimus

The more perspicacious readers will no doubt correlate the above title with the "My Favorite Wines" sidebar. It is true--Optimus is one of my favorites. The NYT Wine Blog, in a posting titled Greatness Within Reach, discussed Ridge's Monte Bello. I guess if you're a writer for the NY Times, $123 per bottle is "within reach." Those of us with Seattle area mortgages can't reach quite that far. However, the point is well taken.

Indeed, "greatness within reach" is really what I strive for in wine. I spent a few years trying all different sorts of things, ordering randomly from Garagiste, taking advice (good and bad) from wine shop owners, managers, peons and going to tastings. I've pretty much nailed down what I like, and I am at a point in my life when I really don't want to spend money on stuff that I don't like. I'll take recommendations from people I trust. I'll still go to tastings; I'll still accept the offered glass at a dinner party. But when I'm at my house, doing my thing, I only want to drink what I like. Life is to short to drink crap while the good stuff is sitting in the fridge.

So when Mr. Pasceri suggested we go for a "Gentlemen's Evening" (yes; he watches entirely too much television) at Morton's I pulled out my last bottle of 2002 L'aventure Optimus. The wine still has a good 10 years left in it, but it's tasting wonderful right now. It is really a beautiful thing. It's a $50 wine, but can be found as low as $40. Every vintage I've had is a different blend, with varying amounts of syrah and zin. The winemaker doesn't like to be restrained by rules about what varietals you can and can't use and how much. And this is why this wine will always be better than your average bordeaux, rhone or brunello. Coming from Paso Robles instead of Napa, I guess, helps keep the price below ridiculous.

This wine in particular has the following blend: 50% syrah, 46% cab and 4% zinfandel. Now when you name your wine "Optimus" which, as far as my amateur Latin can say, means "the biggest" you have to make a wine that lives up to that. This one certainly did. It has all the rich earthiness and velvety suppleness of a well made cab-shiraz, with the added kick of a mineral spiciness from the zin. I could taste no defects... the wine just made me really happy. And of course, we drank it with some of the best steak in town.

If you're ever at Morton's in Seattle, try to sit in Lisa's section. She is the best waitress by far. Tomorrow I'll tell you about the other bottle of wine we had.

2006 Justin Chardonnay

It's rare that I drink or review a white wine, but I'm in Justin's wine club, and they keep sending them. The other day we drank the Chardonnay.

It was good. Crisp, no alcohol burn, decent flavor. There was no oak, no butter... just fruit.

And that's about all I really have to say about it. Justin does everything well (except that Rose that I had--that was utter crap, but... it was a Rose).

2003 Justin Isosceles

I have my cache of Isosceles and I rarely dip into it. Ben was over, however, and I wanted to drink something of substance, so I grabbed a bottle of the Justin Syrah. However, before opening it, I consulted their Aging Chart. It said to hold on to the Syrah, but that I should drink the 2003 Justin Isosceles right now. So we returned the Syrah to the cellar and brought out the big bottle.

They were right about drinking it now. I don't think it will get any better with age. It was good, but not as good as the '02s that I have had. It was a very earthy wine, with the smell of vanilla and the taste of fruit, dirt and a bit of smoke. I love this wine, and it made me very happy, despite not being one of the stronger vintages.

I think you can pick this up from Internet sellers for around $50 (I believe it was $60 on release, retail). Other vintages, ('02 or '04) would be a better use of money, but if you already have some, drink it before it is too late.

2004 Justin Cabernet Sauvignon

I love it when my wine club wines are awesome.

Justin is the only winery of which I am currently a club member. That's not because I think they are the only one worth joining... it's just that I can only afford so much wine. The first time I had the Iscosceles I fell in love. It was teh awesome.

The other night Sara and I decided to open one of the 2004 Justin Cabernet Sauvignon bottles that came in the last shipment. I am happy to report that it was everything I've come to expect from this producer. The wine was a wonderful dark purple, the kind you can't see through when you hold it up to the light. There was fruit--cherry, blackberry--on the front and lots of oak in the back. It really made my night.

We drank the wine with Vegetable soup. Which seems like an odd pairing, but the soup had chunks of steak in it. I guess, maybe, technically, it wasn't what a purist would define as Vegetable soup. Anyway, it was a pretty decent pairing.