“What wine goes with Captain Crunch?”
― George Carlin
George Carlin raises a good point: What wine does go with Captain Crunch? I rarely eat breakfast, and I never eat cereal, but 2020 was a year that everyone did things that were out of character. I am willing to bet someone can even answer George Carlin’s question after living through 2020.
67 and 68. Iridium Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 and DAOU Patrimony 2017 – One last tasting before the lockdown.
2020! Just writing that year brings back a flood of memories. Quarantine, masks, social distancing, working from home. Sound familiar? Do you remember life before quarantine? I do.
I had lost Laurel, my wife and love in November 2018. 2019 was a blur, a fuzzy memory: I was there, I know I was, but the fog still exists. I just know that it was a simpler time. I wandered around existing, as opposed to living. Laurel’s cat, Frankie, had adopted me, and he lived to be 20 years old, just to help me get through my loss and the quarantine. Friends also did their best to help me. Bless them, for I do not know what I would have done without them.
Sundays were the best. I would go home after church, change clothes, and go to Richard and Jarlene’s home for Sunday brunch. We called it “Sunday Funday.” Each of us would bring a dish and a bottle or two, and wile away the hours with great food, terrific wines, and better friendship.
I had resolved to take the sommelier exam, having toyed with the idea for several years. My wine group encouraged me. We would return to Richard and Jarlene’s home each Monday night, taking written exams and blind tasting wines.
Then came 2020. Everyone was talking about this thing called the Coronavirus, COVID-19, or just the “Rona.” I, along with the rest of the world, came to realize that we would have to quarantine for a few days, or maybe for a week or two, at some point.
In February, I received an email about a wine tasting scheduled for the following month, featuring wines from Beaulieu and Sterling Vineyards. The venue was a revolving restaurant at the top of the Stratosphere Hotel & Casino. I had not been to the Stratosphere in years. The restaurant used to have an amazing view of Las Vegas, especially at night. The Stratosphere was located at what had now become the dodgy end of the Strip. I liked both wineries, so I sent the notice to my wine group, and we resolved to go. It seemed like something nice to attend before we went into lockdown and would not see each other for a few weeks.
The day arrived, and I took a ride-share to the hotel. At some point, the hotel had been rebranded as The Strat. What else was awaiting me? My friends, Eric and Lory, Tom and Shawanda, Timm and Tom, Richard and Jarlene, Carmine and Cecilia, and the Vegaswineaux herself were all there. We queued up outside the closed doors and joked about the venue and Covid. Finally, they opened the doors. The restaurant’s view was still amazing. You could remain in one spot, and you would eventually see a 360-degree view of Las Vegas.
I had resolved to take the sommelier exam, having toyed with the idea for several years. My wine group encouraged me.
A lovely carving station was located to the right as you entered, and beautifully prepared food was at other stations throughout the restaurant. This was not the modest presentation we had expected. There was something else I had not anticipated. BV and Sterling were not the only wineries pouring for the comparatively small crowd.
The Australian wine group, Treasury Wine Estates is one of the largest wine groups in the world, and BV and Sterling are part of it. Those were the only wineries listed in the email. However, the wineries represented at the tasting included several other Treasury wineries, such as Etude, Stags’ Leap, Beringer, and Penfolds. Daou Vineyards was also present.
The first station was Sterling Vineyards. We started with a pouring of Petersen Ranch Diamond Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon, which was delightful. The presenter then moved to a wine from one of the most stunning and unique bottles I have ever seen. It was the Iridium Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2015. The Iridium Reserve bottle is capped in silver. I later learned that a special, limited-edition, personalized bottle of Iridium 2015 was placed in each swag bag presented to the 71st Emmy Award winners at the Governors Ball Winner’s Circle.
This is a wine that is at once lush, plush, and full-bodied. It is beautifully structured, full of dark fruits such as black cherries, ripe plums, and black currants, combined with notes of dark chocolate, blueberries, caramel, and spice. This wine is everything you would want a Napa Cab to be.
Another station featured Daou from the Adelaida District of Paso Robles, Central Coast, California—a place that does not exist. My friends tease me because I have never been to Paso. How do I know that it really exists, if I have never been there?
The Daou presenter poured generous amounts of Patrimony Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 and Soul of a Lion 2015, two wines I had never tried before. Daou is a winery founded by Lebanese brothers George and Daniel Daou, who immigrated to the United States in the 1980s to escape the Lebanese civil war.
Patrimony is a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that is aged for 30 months in new French oak. Jeb Dunnuck awarded the 2017 vintage 99 points. This wine will leave you gobsmacked. It is a balanced wine with a palate reminiscent of a chocolate-covered cherry dessert, featuring hints of blueberry and crème de cassis, complemented by notes of rosewater, spices, tobacco, and cedar. Patrimony has been in my cellar since that first tasting.
Soul of a Lion 2015 is a Bordeaux-blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Cabernet Franc, and 11% Petit Verdot. The bouquet is replete with ample notes of black cherry, blackberry, blueberry jam, and black currant. The palate, oh my goodness, the palate! Imagine undulating layers of chocolate, blue and black fruits, tobacco, mocha, vanilla, and toasted oak, all leading to a lingering finish.
I pray that Paso does exist to produce juice like this! I also have another prayer: Daou 
was sold to Treasury Wine Estates in 2023 for nearly $1 billion. Purchases of this kind often prompt the buyer to seek a quick return on their investment. Thus, they greatly increase the production and decrease the quality of the wine. (I will resist the urge to name names!) The Daou brothers are contractually required to remain with the winery for a period after the closing, so keep your fingers crossed that these two brilliant wines will not change.
The BV station was pouring Beaulieu Vineyard Georges de Latour Private Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2015. The Georges de Latour Private Reserve is BV’s flagship wine. There is a reason this is their signature wine. This wine is a beautiful opaque purple in color, with a nose that is a floral arrangement of violets, and roses. Dark red and black fruits flood the palate followed by displays of cedar, cinnamon, clove, and mocha.
Treasury Wine Estate acquitted itself very well that evening. The other wines they poured, such as Beringer and Etude, were wonderful wines. However, Penfolds was also there, and they were pouring the Grange, formally known as Penfolds Grange Bin 95 Shiraz from Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, and Clare Valley, Australia. The vintage was 2016, which Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate awarded 99 points. I did not know at the time that Penfolds was part of the Treasury Group. The Penfolds Luxury Wine Ambassador, Edward Lee, and I bonded over copious amounts of the wine. We discussed wines and especially Penfolds.
Edward was pouring from the most beautiful crystal decanter that spun around. As a decanter collector, I had to have it. The decanter only came as part of a special order of Penfolds, which included the Grange and a bottle of RWT – Bin 798 Shiraz 2007. Edward also threw in a book on the history of Penfolds as well as a wine refrigerator. That was timely, because I had planned on buying my brother a wine unit to store his growing collection of wines.
Edward and I made plans for him to return to Las Vegas. I was going to arrange a Penfolds tasting for friends at my home. The Vegaswineaux had made a similar connection with another of the wine ambassadors, so we decided to do something for a larger group. Unfortunately, Edward emailed me during the lockdown and informed me that he had left Penfolds, and we have since lost touch.
The evening was ending. What I thought was going to be just an evening out with friends before going into our temporary lockdown instead turned into an amazing evening of stellar wines and new friends.
My friend Jarlene and I gave each other a hug, and she turned back to me and said, “See you in about a month.” Little did we know what was coming.
