Hawley Winery Dry Creek Valley Red - 3 Pack (One Autographed bottle)

I do, autographed bottles make a great gift.

Can some body tell me why mill always wants to be first sucker?
What happens when your first?

[labrat]
Rattage, DAY 2
(or Part Deux)
24 hours later, Friday night. On a dry mouth, it’s sharp, with red fruit. Hmm, too acid, needs food. Aha, pistachios!
crack, munch munch. crack munch. oops, no Withnail, you can’t eat that, it’s a shell. I’ll feed you later.
Mmmm, nuts.
So, let’s hav a sip. Wait… that divine, lovely dusty nose again. Reminds me of that 09 Wellington Merlot we blended for the Victory on the rpm 2010 tour. Sniff sniff. Munch munch. Mmmmm. Holding off on sipping for the pure pleasure of the nose. And pistachios of course (Thanks, Mr Joe the Trader).
Ok, time for a si… mmmmm, dusty nose with hints of red loveliness. Mmmm. Ahhhhh. Don’t really want to start dirnking, as I lose my nose after a bit, and this has just so much olfactory omnipotence. A nasal nirvana, a wonder of whiffs, a perfect pong.

on the palate, mmm, sharp, red, acid! Perhaps thinner than yesterday, but still decent length, and this deep red cranberry and tart strawberry thing, with some toher nice red things like loganberry. And dust… I taste the dust! That lingers along with the red sharpness. Almost mineral, almost! Sweet softened tannins comign in the mid-late palate, sweetening the end, counterpointing the sharp entrance! medoim long redness fading to dust.
Second sip-set (refill) Mmmm, still depth to the fruit abov the acid and dust. Zings the tongue with nice acidity, so fresh! medium length, yes, ending as I said.

OK, time to try it after a TJ’s chicken quesadilla. Yes, mild j-pepper spice! Nice herbs, gnetle cheese and a little tongue zing. Wow, it brings out some spiciness in the MErlot, or perhaps the acid just piques my jalapeno-primed tastebuds. Still the fruit, brings it out more heavily, more rounded. Although the drink now seems less subtle, I think you get more round fruit, and taste the alcohol a little more also. Or that’s just the jalapeno perhaps!
Works, though not perhaps the best use of the wine! I’l keep some for later and some other funny foods.

EDIT: never got round to more funny foods. It was too good. I did try he last half-glass it on the fourth day, and it was still very good! As I thought, and it bodes well for further ageing.

Not bad this wine, at all, epecially for a 7-year-old Merlot opened a day. Translation for you lot: In England that’s praise indeed! I just bought some.

This offering is so tempting! But the price is going to keep me on the sidelines. If the discount was a bit deeper, I would have jumped in.

That is really too bad… I was thinking the same thing, but just reflected back on what I drank last night, figured out my per bottle price if I split 2 orders with Klez ($19.50) And damn that’s a great price for the quality of this wine if you are into the dusty aged thing and also don’t mind waiting a few hours to decant the wine.

I’m in for a set quite happily if Klez gets my email before they sell out.

Hi, I’m John. Both wines spent approximately 20 months in French chateau(thin stave)barrels, 30 % new, 60 %one and two year old barrels. I use mostly Taransaud and Remond and Seguin Moreau barrels in these bordeaux style wines.
John Hawley

I suppose I should check my email and then send one to woot service, eh?

Hi John. Club member here. Trying to remember if these have bee available for purchase or tasting at any of the recent events. I don’t recall ever trying them. Are they newly released?

I think you have to take the movie as it is- a story of two guys and their unique personalities and opinions during a very short segment of their life. I love the movie for its entertainment value- and I still love a good bottle of merlot, and pinot, and blends…

These are both library wines that we have held back. We try to hold back certain vintages that need more time in the bottle. We recently sent out an '02 Cab to our club. Our current Merlot is the '06 and Cab is '05 (we held it back and releases after selling out of the '06 and '07 Estate Cab).-Paul Hawley

Did any lab rats get the Cab?

I hope so, but it wasn’t me.

Actually after seeing the offering I am minorly piqued that neither Richard nor I got a SIGNED bottle :stuck_out_tongue: I mean Imagine that… ratting a signed bottle…

i did! left town for the weekend, just back and will pop open with lunch. please stand by…!

Excellent rattage from richardhod and klezman! Go to the head of the class, mon Elevés!

The wines certainly sound interesting, despite my known suspicion of California Merlot.

Hawley Family: I haven’t been up to Dry Creek since verasion began, please share with us how the grapes are looking today?

[labrat]
LabRat Report

Hawley 2004 Cab

As I was not around last night to taste, we will be day drinking! Lunch consists of brown rice pasta with spicy garlic marinara with artichoke hearts, criminis and wilted arugula.

Cork the bottle. Corking left a fair amount of sediment in the neck. Wipe away and pour…

My tasting companion likens the color to True Blood- , blue- red, super dark but not inky.

First sips brings lots of plummy blackberry with a hint of chocolate and a spicy finish. A bit hot for me from the get go- hoping the sharpness will ease with a little time. Pairs well with the red sauce, though I must admit the sauce turned out a lot spicier than intended. Wishing I had made steak tacos instead, as this wine almost begs for a meaty companion. Gonna wolf down lunch, let the bottle breathe and BRB with round 2.

The bottle has been open about an hour (and my mouth has recovered). Detecting raspberries now on the nose, still lots of spice. Mouthfeel is round and full, almost chewy. Earthy, almost herbal finish.

I think I am going to let this bottle open up a bit more and will post again in a coupe of hours…

We are just finishing verasion up on Bradford Mountain. It has been in the 90’s the last couple of days and that’s how we like it. Our grapes always ripen pretty early. We are usually picking our estate in August or early September. Looking about 3 weeks late this year due to late bud-break and cool spring. As on of the lightest crops this area has seen in a decade, everything should be pretty concentrated and flavorful.

Couldn’t resist the RPM endorsement( and still hurting from Monday’s missed Pinot)…

In for two!

But what about the Cab rat?

EDIT: Obviously by browser wasn’t updating properly. Still debating…

Day 2 lab rat post:

There was one glass of wine left in the decanter last night ( I made sure there was, we would have gladly finished it last night otherwise). I poured it back into the bottle, vacuumed it, and put it in the fridge for the night.

After letting it warm to cellar temp in the sealed bottle, I opened and poured myself the final glass.

Nose: this is stunning today. The fruit character in the front jumps out with bright sweet plum backed by a touch of mint and some vanilla caramel on the finish.

Palate: my first sip was greeted with lucious ripe red fruits but every sip after that seemed a bit more muted. Today, merlot’s typical lack of a mid-palate taste comes out, the gap is noticeable but not awful. More than making up for that is the change in the finish. The tannis are still certainly present but they form a wonderful base to the rest of the wine, balanced and soft. The tannins then give way to a LONG finish that has vanilla dancing little jigs across my tongue.

I have a set on it’s way, you should too!