Dinner Xara Lodge on the 25th of January 2024
The January 2024 event was focused entirely on Californian wines. And the wines chosen by Nick all represented the region well and in my opinion were ably matched by the menu Xara’s chef prepared for us. Unfortunately, the voting sheets were lost so we do not have the usual voting results.
The event was attended by 30 diners so a bit on the low side but it seems we all made up for it with the consumption which was on the high side with 1.3 bottles a head. Looking at my voting card, which if I recall correctly, was not distant from those given by my table companions, I note that I gave all the wines 18 aggregate points, including the white, except for wine B which was the Maestro, actually the most expensive one, to which I gave 17 points.
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I really liked the white as an aperitif and being a 2014 shows how a well-made white can keep for a decade or more and still give that citrusy freshness as well as being balanced by the now mature oak and fruit notes one would expect from a new world Chard. No wonder it is one of the 10 most awarded wines of the region.
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My favourite red, by a hairsbreadth, was the Walter Hasle South Slope. This was a 100% pinot noir wine. Walter Hasle had started with 257 Chardonnay vines planted in the Russian River Valley in the 1970s, releasing his first vintage in 1996. Today the estate's vineyards cover 80 hectares of planted with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay divided into 6 blocks – he also has an additional vineyard planted to Sauvignon Blanc but in Lake County.
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All the grapes are hand-harvested and sorted, and the blocks are fermented separately. The Pinot Noir grapes are destemmed and gravity-fed into open-top stainless steel fermenting vats. Most critics score this wine highly every vintage averaging 92/93 points.
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I found it quite exuberant for a pinot noir with loads of cherry, plum and dark berry flavours with acidity to match yet it still felt medium bodied and had a pretty decent finish. Added to my list of favourites!
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Iro
