Two Jakes Merlot by Winemaker Clark Smith (4)

Thanks for the response, and thanks for offering a quality of wine that I normally wouldn’t be able to enjoy at such a great price! If it ever seems like I’m going to live in the same place for more than a few years I’ll consider that wine cellar. In for one set for now, to be enjoyed too young!

Cool. Get back to me what you thought of it.

Got 2 orders last time around and opened one last week not realizing which wine it was. One taste and I was pleasantly shocked, looked up the order on my woot and confirmed it was not my expected weekday pizza wine. Look forward to it getting even better! Good work, Clark.

Clark,

I’m going to do a quick thread hijack, since you’re on this forum right now- opened a 2007 WineSmith Cab Franc last night- my first one. I’ve had the 2008 Diamond Ridge Vineyards Cab Franc, but not the 2008 WineSmith Cab Franc.

Threw it in the decanter while my wife and I were at work performing with the symphony last night, so got back to it after about 3.5 hours in the decanter.

Drank with some cheese and crackers- French blue and some KerryGold for St. Patrick’s Day. The wine had a lot of energy- very buzzy- pure red fruit, a fair amount of pepper, with the fruit maybe fighting for purchase from the texture and slight spice of such a long barrel time?

It was hard to keep it in the bottle, even though I was trying to take it slow to let it develop- and it seemed to be calming down and presenting a more unified front after another couple of hours. More of the truffle I’d read about in tasting notes, pomegranite, still lots of mineral. I managed to keep a glass for today in a 375ml bottle.

Overall, really enjoyed it, but wondering about hanging on to my remaining 2 bottles, or giving them a really long decant next. time. I notice you mention decanting a day early for this merlot (which I have a couple bottles left and plan to order more today). Do you mean to leave it in the decanter that whole time (24 hours!) or decant and return to the bottle and then come back in 24 hours? I love my decanter, and use it with most of my favorite wines, more for air exposure than for sediment.

Thanks for making great wine!

My cellar doth overflow. I have enough wine to last me a good four years as it is. I don’t need more.

I just bought more.

This had better be worth it, when I finally do open a bottle up in five years or so. After I work my way through what I have. 'Cause I won’t buy any more over the next few years, while I do so. Self-delusion is such a wonderful thing.

That is a very tough call. The main difference between the WineSmith '08 and the Two Jakes 2011 is extra time in neutral oak (five years vs 30 months), so the '08 is better developed than the '11, and is drinking well now, though not as well developed as the '07, which I had to give eight years. The only reason to hold it is that there isn’t any more coming, so find a special occasion.

The Two Jakes wines are much less expensive and we will undoubtedly woot the '11 again, so feel free to drink up - more on the way.

To add to the confusion, I am getting ready to bottle the 2010 WineSmith after 65 months, so reinforcements are on the way.

Also, save up for the Two Jakes Roman Reserve 2010 Cab Franc, an amazing excursion into the unconventional mysteries of ancient winemaking, which you won’t want to miss. That one won’t be cheap, but it’s really extraordinary.

Really the key to these Cab Francs is the right setting. They like wild mushrooms, stinky cheeses, anything grilled, with loud rock music in the dark with something on fire. Young or old, you can’t miss.

This is precisely where I am on this as well. Although with an extra dose of overstock to incentivize not buying more.

Clark + Merlot = in for 2.

Last Wooter to Woot:
joed10303

^.this.^
Ha! Seems the story of my cellar.