frogstachio wrote:My go-to resource for generalized vintage comparisons: Robert Parker Vintage Chart

Looks like '06 was a down year for Napa Cabs.

Hang around this site for a while, and you'll find very little enthusiasm for Parker's opinions about anything. Most of the "experts" here prefer wines a bit more refined than the monstrous fruit bombs that get high marks from him.

frogstachio wrote:My go-to resource for generalized vintage comparisons: Robert Parker Vintage Chart

Looks like '06 was a down year for Napa Cabs.

Actually, it was sandwiched between 2005 and 2007, two excellent years, which is causing it to lose some hype. It very well may turn out to be a great sleeper vintage, especially as the cabs age a bit.

Would love to pull the trigger here but pretty concerned about the heat already.

WD and crew, have you considered a "premium" summer shipping option at checkout? I would gladly opt-in and pay a little more to guarantee 1 or 2 day delivery with upgraded packaging (thinking styrofoam here).

Even with the "standard $7" summer shipping last year we ran into some disappointment with leaky bottles and pushed corks. It's already pretty hot here in Texas and SWMBO says I have to wait until Fall for my next wine woot :o(

jmdavidson wrote:100 woots without a job? Just think how many you would have bought with a job. My guess is that you also need to invite alot of people over to help you drink some of that wine!

If I got a job, when would I golf?

losthighwayz wrote:1. Is the cathedral cab sourced from atlas peak?
2. Was 2006 a good year for napa wines?
3. What are the characteristics of atlas peak cabs? I love howell mountain cabs for their sweet fruit characterisitics. How does this ava compare?


Thanks! I usually drink sonoma wines and napa sauv blancs and some zins but not too familiar with cabs

The Cathedral is Coombsville which is an area just east of the city of Napa on a slight rise just up off the valley floor. Atlas peak is the same elevation as Howell Mountain in the same Vaca mountain range boardering the east side of Napa Valley. Atlas peak is about 5 mile south of Howell Mountain. I find Atlas Peak to have a little more of the mountain characteristics than Howell Mountain does.

redwinefan wrote:If those were 100 wine woots, you probably need to start building a very large cellar.

Nah, only 28 were wine.

slm9951 wrote:If I decant this, is this wine drinkable now?

If you like your wine more on the fruit side as a posed to bottle bouquet, you will like it better now. No need to decant unless you want to soften it up a bit. If you are drinking the wine without food, I would decant. If with food, I would not decant.

North316 wrote:Just to prove that I mean what I say:

Current numbers (updated each minute)
First sucker: mill
Speed to first woot: 1m 2.833s
Last wooter to woot: North316

Scott, can you share some of the production details on this wine? I noticed that its a 2006 and wasn't bottled until June 2010, thats a lot of barrel aging. What was the 'oakage' on this, for a lack of a better term?

Any RS in this?

No Risidual Sugar in the wine. It had alot of hard mountain tannins, so it needed a lot of barrel aging. Aging all done in French oak, some new barrels, but not sure how much. It was egg white fined. The Merlot was added for complexity. The merlot comes from Paul Johnson's home ranch which is at the base of Atlas Peak just south of the Stag's Leap area. The vineyard is surrounded by eucaliptus trees. So the Merlot gives the wine a little of that mint character. With the Atlas Peak Cab character and the Stag's Leap Merlot character there needed to be a third component to tie those two different flavors togehter. The estate Petit Verdot did just the trick lacing its way through the wine pulling everything together.

sukeiasa wrote:curious... what's entailed in the 'everything else'??

Everyting else, is the aging of the wine in barrel and the processing as it aged. Deciding how long to age before bottling. Making the final blend and bottling.

ThunderThighs wrote:Actually, it's not even one year yet.

It's still up to wineries to decide to license each state.

I stand corrected about the time; seems like longer. I've invited three of my favorite wineries to "come over" and two have done so. I even send them the links to the state's webpages outlining the process.

And yeah ... wasn't implying it's on Woot to square away the registration. That's completely a winery issue.

ScottHarveyWines wrote:No Risidual Sugar in the wine. It had alot of hard mountain tannins, so it needed a lot of barrel aging. Aging all done in French oak, some new barrels, but not sure how much. It was egg white fined. The Merlot was added for complexity. The merlot comes from Paul Johnson's home ranch which is at the base of Atlas Peak just south of the Stag's Leap area. The vineyard is surrounded by eucaliptus trees. So the Merlot gives the wine a little of that mint character. With the Atlas Peak Cab character and the Stag's Leap Merlot character there needed to be a third component to tie those two different flavors to bring them togehter. The estate Petit Verdot did just the trick lacing its way through the wine pulling everything together.

Interesting, though I will admit I had to look up what "egg white fined" meant, as I was previously not too familiar with the fining/filtering process. For other likes me, I found this interesting write-up on ye' old internet:

Is Your Wine Fined?

One more comment to Scott. I'm pretty sure that in Wooster Jana said she wants to sell her Reisling on woot....she said it...I swear! (I won't push my luck with the Eis Wine).

hokiedevil wrote:Would love to pull the trigger here but pretty concerned about the heat already.

WD and crew, have you considered a "premium" summer shipping option at checkout? I would gladly opt-in and pay a little more to guarantee 1 or 2 day delivery with upgraded packaging (thinking styrofoam here).

Even with the "standard $7" summer shipping last year we ran into some disappointment with leaky bottles and pushed corks. It's already pretty hot here in Texas and SWMBO says I have to wait until Fall for my next wine woot :o(

Hear, hear!

I've got two shipments ordered in mid-May that have been listed for the last 30 hours or so as "in transit" in RENO ... and the expected deliver date - yesterday - has been changed to May 31 ... and I'm concerned.

No word from Woot since I wrote to them yesterday. Guess I'll just wait and see what I get. It'll be hard to decide about cellaring the wines; might be better to just rest them for a few weeks and then pop 'em.

At this time of year, and with apparent delays (and desert routing!) it's a crap shoot.

Or is that carp shoot?

North316 wrote:Interesting, though I will admit I had to look up what "egg white fined" meant, as I was previously not too familiar with the fining/filtering process. For other likes me, I found this interesting write-up on ye' old internet:

Is Your Wine Fined?

To "fine" a wine it to add something to it to make it finer. Egg whites have been used since the Roman Empire and are used to pull hard tannins out of the wine. It is a common practice in Bordeaux.

ScottHarveyWines wrote:If you like your wine more on the fruit side as a posed to bottle bouquet, you will like it better now. No need to decant unless you want to soften it up a bit. If you are drinking the wine without food, I would decant. If with food, I would not decant.

This (decanting) confuses me. I always thought it best to decant-or at least let it breathe-for a good hour before drinking (red) wine. Obviously, I'm wrong, but how do you/I know when and for how long to let a wine breathe? I'm guessing it has something to do with age and composition, but do I just need to learn more about wine?

My last Wine Woot order was last June, the Jana Cathedral, which was fantastic. All the great things I hear about Scott Harvey wines, and my one past experience, I went ahead and ordered 2 at this price.

bolligra wrote:This (decanting) confuses me. I always thought it best to decant-or at least let it breathe-for a good hour before drinking (red) wine. Obviously, I'm wrong, but how do you/I know when and for how long to let a wine breathe? I'm guessing it has something to do with age and composition, but do I just need to learn more about wine?

Taste! Pop the bottle and taste it. If it seems tight, not expressive, etc. decant. And taste again in a while. Rinse. Repeat.

kylemittskus wrote:Taste! Pop the bottle and taste it. If it seems tight, not expressive, etc. decant. And taste again in a while. Rinse. Repeat.

Thanks. One great thing about Wine Woot is somewhere in the thread for each wine is opinions on drink/hold, decanting time, etc. When I decide to open a particular bottle, I go back to the forum and generally find out what to do. I'm thankful for everyone's input on this site.

ScottHarveyWines wrote:Yes the bottling date is correct. High elevation wines, Atlas Peak growing region is 1,800 ft, all have big iron like tannins and they need an extra year in barrel to soften down.

Scott - would you be willing to expand on that comment a bit. Is it generally true that in a given region higher elevation growing will have greater tannin content, or is your comment more specific to Napa/Nor Cal appellations?

bolligra wrote:This (decanting) confuses me. I always thought it best to decant-or at least let it breathe-for a good hour before drinking (red) wine. Obviously, I'm wrong, but how do you/I know when and for how long to let a wine breathe? I'm guessing it has something to do with age and composition, but do I just need to learn more about wine?

When I'm in doubt I will pour a taste into two glasses - one pour straight from the bottle, and the other through a vinturi. I give each pour a few minutes to settle down, then I taste and compare. If the vinturied pour is better then I decant, and if I don't have a lot of time for decanting I transfer into the decanter through the vinturi.

bolligra wrote:This (decanting) confuses me. I always thought it best to decant-or at least let it breathe-for a good hour before drinking (red) wine. Obviously, I'm wrong, but how do you/I know when and for how long to let a wine breathe? I'm guessing it has something to do with age and composition, but do I just need to learn more about wine?

In the old days a lot of wines had more Bret and other off odors. Today's winemaking is much more scientific and these odors are rare. Decanting and letting the wine breath, absorb oxygen, blows off the off odors. It also softens the wine a bit. I like wines that talk to me and tell me what variety they are, where they are from and the vintage. Therefore, I prefer not to decant or let the wine breath unless there is to much Bret or some other off odor.

noslensj wrote:Scott - would you be willing to expand on that comment a bit. Is it generally true that in a given region higher elevation growing will have greater tannin content, or is your comment more specific to Napa/Nor Cal appellations?

A winemaker has to figure out what the regional problems are and develop regional tricks to deal with them. High elevation always develops wines with high tannin levels. I make wines from three high elevation areas. Scott Harvey wines from Amador. Astrale e Terra from Atlas Peak and Hawk and Horse from Lake County. All about 1,800 feet in elevation. All three areas produce high tannin levels in the wines, so the winemaking needs to be done in a way that lessens the high tannin extraction.

bolligra wrote:Thanks. One great thing about Wine Woot is somewhere in the thread for each wine is opinions on drink/hold, decanting time, etc. When I decide to open a particular bottle, I go back to the forum and generally find out what to do. I'm thankful for everyone's input on this site.

I second that...you just beat me to the punch "bolligra"! My palate and my brain are getting an education! The most enjoyable one as well.
Cheers all!

ScottHarveyWines wrote:If you like your wine more on the fruit side as a posed to bottle bouquet, you will like it better now. No need to decant unless you want to soften it up a bit. If you are drinking the wine without food, I would decant. If with food, I would not decant.

Thank you sir!

hokiedevil wrote:Would love to pull the trigger here but pretty concerned about the heat already.

WD and crew, have you considered a "premium" summer shipping option at checkout? I would gladly opt-in and pay a little more to guarantee 1 or 2 day delivery with upgraded packaging (thinking styrofoam here).

Even with the "standard $7" summer shipping last year we ran into some disappointment with leaky bottles and pushed corks. It's already pretty hot here in Texas and SWMBO says I have to wait until Fall for my next wine woot :o(

Sometimes the winery packs in styrofoam if they are concerned. Last week, I received some wine from Pedroncelli packed in styrofoam. I live in VA so was very worried. When I opened the package, the bottles were cool to the touch after being in the FedEx truck all day and who knows where else the previous week. PS- GO Hokies!!

If I could, I'd order these bottles just on the basis of Mr.Harvey's generous participation here alone.

As others have commented in this thread and elsewhere, Mr.Harvey comes in here with a perfect mix of informed and thoughtful opinion, plus clear explanations. What an asset!

klezman wrote:Ask and ye shall receive?
Scott...is this the one we tasted at your place back in February? Or was that the 2009? If it's not the same one, how does this compare?
Thanks!

If it was, then can you describe for us?

sdbcmr wrote:If I could, I'd order these bottles just on the basis of Mr.Harvey's generous participation here alone.

As others have commented in this thread and elsewhere, Mr.Harvey comes in here with a perfect mix of informed and thoughtful opinion, plus clear explanations. What an asset!

To boot, his wine ain't half bad. And by "ain't half bad" I mean pretty darn tasty!

In for 2! Happy Memorial Day weekend to me :-)

We loved the 2005 Jana. Had one bottle, storing the other for awhile.

Also, had 1 bottle of the InZinerator...which we absolutely adored!

Might try a bottle of the Old Vine Reserve Amador Zin this weekend.....

After all a girl has to try 1 to make sure the others will be good, right? ~hehe~

Have a great weekend all!

Why yes, I/we are Scott Harvey fans!

Seriously overbought during the woot-off....BUT, definitely in on this one as well. Deciding if I want want one or two...SH participation helps. Thanks for your wealth of knowledge!

in for one....

Newby question: What is bottle bouquet?

peakfreak wrote:Newby question: What is bottle bouquet?

Scott gives a nice description here http://www.scottharveywines.com/aged-wines-and-bottle-bouquet/

vannknight wrote:Scott gives a nice description here http://www.scottharveywines.com/aged-wines-and-bottle-bouquet/

THANKS Vannknight!Happy Memorial Day weekend!

time2testit wrote:If it was, then can you describe for us?

It's the same wine we drank in February. I just recently tried it again with Drew from woot and the description is the one here on the offering.

ScottHarveyWines wrote:It's the same wine we drank in February. I just recently tried it again with Drew from woot and the description is the one here on the offering.

Thank you for your always appreciated comments and the invaluable education I get from them, Scott. My cellar has grown to "ridiculous" proportions, but your wines are on my short-list of must buys and always enjoyed! Thank you for all you do!

ScottHarveyWines wrote:It's the same wine we drank in February. I just recently tried it again with Drew from woot and the description is the one here on the offering.

Thanks Scott - reaffirmed my decision to pick up 2 of these.

My decanting approach - one bottle out of the bottle and one bottle decanted

Speed to First Woot: 1m 2.833s
First Sucker: mill
Last Wooter To Woot: emccarl

emccarl wrote:Speed to First Woot: 1m 2.833s
First Sucker: mill
Last Wooter To Woot: emccarl

Tried to resist, but I love a good Cab, and love Scott Harvey's wines !!!

You had me at "Scott Harvey"! Can't resist.