Comparing Pahlmeyer’s Cabernet Blends – Old And New.

Posted by thewineinsiders in Wine Reviews on Feb 17th, 2009 | 0 comments

Pahlmeyer Cabernet

On Valentines night, my wife and I popped a cork of the 2002 Pahlmeyer. I’m thrilled to report that this wine was truly stunning, fulfilling my highest expectations for a “perfectly aged” Napa Cabernet. It’s no secret that the concept of “drinks well now but ages well” is considered the ‘Holy Grail’ in Napa (+ worldwide). Everyone aspires to this hurdle but very few actually achieve this success. Pahlmeyer’s winemaker Erin Green has a long track record of fulfilling the promise of age-worthy red wines (and some Chardonnays).

One of my ‘first loves’ in the wine world was the 1997 Pahlmeyer Merlot and the Cabernet (bottled ‘Red Blend’) has always been a personal favorite. I must say that for my individual tastes, I rarely swoon over the Cabernet blend upon release. In fact, the latest release 2005 vintage has achieved the highest rating ever (from Robert Parker) for a Pahlmeyer Red. I can only dream that the 2005 will age into the grandeur of the 2002 we drank recently. The entire experience was seemless with integrated, silky smooth tannins that had melded together with a galaxy of dark fruit flavors that delivered a magnificent experience! When I origanally sampled, I rated this wine 95 points. Today, this wine is clearly a 98 point wine!

Pahlmeyer Pinot Noir: Cultish Pinot, Half The Price.

Posted by thewineinsiders in Wine Reviews on Feb 9th, 2009 | 0 comments

Pahlmeyer Pinot Noir

One of the silver linings of this current economic downturn is that formerly inaccessible collector wines are now available in small allocations. A marvelous example is the rare new Pahlmeyer Pinot Noir which we originally rated 94 points when tasting the pre-release sample (fyi, Parker did, too). We popped a cork last Friday and now believe this wine is well on the way to a 96+ rating within the next 2 years. Paired with a grilled pork chop at Nopa restaurant in San Francisco this wine was easily a 95+ point experience.

At $94/bottle, the Pahlmeyer 2006 Pinot Noir is not exactly “cheap” but trust us when we say that it is comparable in quality to the oh so ’Culty’ best vintages of Kistler and Marcassin which both trade for more than double Pahlmeyer’s price. We’ve been fortunate to sample Kistler and Marcassin each vintage as well as Williams Selyem, Kosta Browne, Sea Smoke and other highly rated Pinots. We can assure you that this Pahlmeyer bottling is on par and will surpass many of those highly sought after wines this vintage. Tasting notes below!

THE WINE INSIDERS “CLASSIC 95″ RATING (updated 2/09):
“This is a flamboyant, sexy effort displaying a voluptuous texture, and ripe spicy cherry, cranberry, and creamy strawberry fruit intermixed with creamy liqueur characteristics. The most succulent new Pinot we’ve sampled in a while, it is impossible to resist NOW (after decanting 1/2 hour) and will age well for 3 – 5 years, peaking around 2012 in our estimate! 95+ points now and perhaps 96 points in just a few years.”

BUY: Pahlmeyer Pinot Noir 2006

The first ever Pahlmeyer Pinot

Posted by thewineinsiders in Wine Reviews on Aug 11th, 2008 | 0 comments

“(8/8/8) We popped the cork on this wine and enjoyed it immensely with Salmon last night {Watching the Olympic opening ceremonies}. While lots of Pinots are known to go through so-called ‘dumb’ phases during aging, this Jayson 2005 seems to be going through a particularly strong (!) phase. Overall, I was very pleased with the progress of this wine and think it will age into a gorgeous, gracefully experience in the next 24 months as it calms down a bit. My estimate is this wine will peak in 2011. I would rate this wine a 93 right now.”

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