The return of Hestan…
I’m sure there are all manner of silly puns for the name of this winery and its relation to Charlton Heston’s last name (cold, dead hands, etc.). If you search eBay for “hestan” you get a search that is automatically modified to return results for “heston.” I guess lots of people are looking for Ten Commandments memorabilia and whatnot.
No, I’m here to tell you that the 2002 Hestan Cabernet Sauvignon was an incredibly delicious wine. I had a bottle in May 2005 at Morton’s in Chicago. Incidentally, I’m not as much of a traveller/gourmand as this post and others might make me sound. I spent $6.29 on my dinner tonight.
Anyway, the 2002 Hestan Cab Sauv was intense…and very young, but yet it was far better than other reds I’ve had that cost as much or more even when the Hestan was only 3 years on from the vintage. Impressive.
So, I received word today that the 2003 Hestan Cabernet Sauvignon is here! Although it’s very tempting to get a 1.5- or 3-liter bottle, I think I’ll skimp and spend the $240 on the 3-bottle pack. I may split the purchase with a friend to soften the blow, although 2002 Hestan Cab Sauv sells for $120+ these days, so perhaps I’ll just hang onto these for a few years and see what develops. That’s if I can find $240+shipping just sitting in my bank account. That trip to Vancouver BC cleaned me out! My wine budget was a self-imposed $100/month excluding shipping and gifts for friends. Whoops.
Then again, Hestan is one of only a tiny number of wineries whose releases are: a) worth buying at the time of release since they’ll sell out and cost more later, and b) tasty enough to warrant such devout patronage. I also want to support unfined, unfiltered wines since I love the way they taste from a decanter…much fuller in texture and darker in color, almost the way a Belgian beer with sediment tastes far better than, say, Coors Light.
Okay, I went ahead and bought three bottles…I’d regret it later if I didn’t, and I also got a new job that comes with a signing bonus, so what the hell, eh?
POSTSCRIPT: I forgot to list a couple other wineries that I want to support each year. Here they are, in no particular order:
- Domaine Drouhin (Dundee, Oregon)
- Paracombe (Adelaide Hills, Australia)
- Radio-Coteau (American Canyon, California)
- Jessie’s Grove (Lodi Valley, California)
- Odisea (Lodi Valley, California)
- Kestrel - really just their Syrah Co-Ferment release (Eastern Washington)