We happy that Bernard, who has sampled so many wines, has shared his notes with us. We do have, or have had for sale a few of the wines Bernard writes about, and we include a link to our stock page whenever it is a producer we carry (but since the stock page is kept up-to-date and the wines are sold, don't expect any but the newest of wines to show up in our stock!). Mostly though, since we specialize in County of Santa Barbara Wine and Central Coast Wine, we don't carry a lot of the wines Bernard writes about. But we think it is important that you be able to have an idea what they're like in case you are planning to buy some somewhere, or have them in your own collection. Enjoy.

Here are Bernard's notes from July 18, 1998:

95 W.H. Smith Pinot Noir Hellenthal Vineyard--Wet fur, barnyardy bouquet is quite within acceptable bounds. Nice nose. Full flavor, black cherry, minerals, complex, tannic backbone. Medium body and length. Very Burgundian as pointed out by Tom Garcia.

96 Beaux Freres Pinot Noir (OR)--Floral, black cherry nose. Very deep, long. Big oak mid-palate. Tannins are somewhat drying. Medium weight. A definite ager.

96 Ojai Pinot Noir Bien Nacido Vineyard--Black raspberry, spicy nose. Soft tannins. Round, smooth. More sustained tannins in the excellent finish.

96 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Olivet Lane Vineyard--Floral, wet fur, violets and perfume. All the ingredients of a great pinot. Balanced, excellent structure, fine tannins. Layers of flavor. Raspberry, oak. Sweet attack. Slight stemminess detectable in the finishing tannins.

96 Elderton Shiraz (Aussie)--Lovely blackberry and oak nose. Black cherry. Sweet attack, but then...Gunpowder. Bitter, vegetal, tarry flavors like the awful Madiran I had last month. Finish is marred by a flat, briny character. Really foul stuff.

95 Hamel Syrah--Sweet vanilla, cinnamon, eucalyptus nose. American oak. Cherry, tar. Good tannins and balance.

96 Clarendon Hills Shiraz (Aussie)--Dense in the nose. Gunpowder, earthy elements. Tarry and salty like the Elderton, though not as extreme. Dead flowers in mid-palate. Needs many years of bottle age if it is to overcome these sore points. Madiran again. Blechh.

96 Neyers Syrah --Lush ripe nose. Medium weight. Smooth. Black raspberry and plums. Good finish, but some lingering dry tannins.

94 Frankland Estate Olmo's Reward (Aussie)--Cough syrup, black cherry nose. Very Boreaux-like (possibly due to a lot of Cab Franc in the blend, but this seems unusual for Australia). Sweet, smooth. Iron, mineral, tar, slight acidity in mid-palate. Slight puckery finish. Good value for an all-purpose Bordeaux blend.

These last four wines were poured into glasses at the beginning of the tasting so I could allow them to breathe. I sampled the bouquets right out of the bottle.

95 Peter Michael Les Pavot--Sweet cherry nose. Smooth, medium  extract. Merlot shows through (I think it was about 13%% with 11%% cab franc). Not a particularly interesting wine. Fruit tasted young and simple with no mid-palate complexity. Overpriced.

94 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon--Woody nose with a bit of funk that blows off after 1 hour. Brooding. Very closed. Solid, very fine tannins. Excellent cab flavor and blueberries, but not very complex right now. Clearly needs time. Could be fine in 8 years.

95 Leonetti Cab (WA)--Vanilla, American oak, candy apple nose. Sweet attack. Some bell pepper. Smooth, not very complex. Dried roses. Seems rather overpriced at $56.

94 Arrowood Reserve Cab $50--Spicy black fruit nose. Darkest wine of the tasting. Most serious of the cabs. Very concentrated, tannic, structured. Dense, black plum, bay leaf. Alcoholic finish. Some similarity in weight to the 94 Dunn Howell Mountain, but without such concentrated fruit. Quite possibly worth the money, but the wine needs a lot of time.

From the soap box: This was a very interesting selection of wines. It defies explanation how Beaux Freres can charge so much for their second wine. It doesn't even approach the quality and interest of Napa Ridge at 1/4 the price.

I was very disappointed in the Aussie showing. The Elderton is truly awful. Liquid crap. Sludge. Bilge water. Effluent. Rot. I can only hope my Clarendon Shiraz (bought a few months earlier) will show  better in a few years than this bottle did now.

The Neyers syrah was quite a surprise. I've enjoyed their Zin and  merlot in the past. The syrah must be new in their line. It's very similar in quality to the better vintages of Qupe Bien Nacido syrah, so I think it should age nicely and improve over 6-10 years.

Among the Bordeaux varietal wines, the PM LP was quite disappointing. Everyone agreed that it showed very little. The Montelena has a lot of potential, but did not show much for current drinking. I'm relying on track record, but I think it will be excellent in 10-12 years.

The 95 Leonetti is a step down from their great 94. While quite enjoyable, it just doesn't rock $56 worth.

Finally, the Arrowood Reserve has a lot going on. It's not as tightly wound as, e.g., the 94 Araujo, but it isn't as forward as the Whitehall Lane Morisoli or Groth Reserve.

Thanks to Bob Wesley of Lazy Acres for putting on the tasting.