From notes taken May, 2006:
Wine of Merit: ****Newton Unfiltered Chardonnay, 2003: Wonderful. Great structure, minerality and depth. Reminds me of a young, Coche Dury Mersault. Wet flint or slate, then Anjou pear, asian spice and white flowers. Great depth, with verbena and nutmeg on the palate. Deep. Long finish. Nice.
***Myuge Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, 2003: Purchased at the urging of Sharon Severens over at Amanti Vino – (congrats on the new baby boy, Sharon!) – and with good cause. This wine is made by the same folks who make Favia pinots (see previous review) – and candidly, they are of that same, Favia / Kosta Browne, type of mold. Reminds me of the older Williams Selyem style…not light of hand, pretty well extracted but laser focused and nicely integrated. Striking notes of cinnamon, green tea, black cherry and pink peppercorn jump from the glass. With air the New French Oak also shows through, adding vanilla and brightening the cinnamon elements. The palate is creamy and coating and the finish, aided by the oak is long and lush. There is no mistaking this wine for anything else other than excellent, RRV pinot – which you may either dig or not so much. I do.
***Haut Bages Liberal, 2000: I opened this bottle to get a sense of the wine as it applies to 2005 futures. If this wine is any indication, I say buy! Wonderful though still hard as nails – it is all about Paulliac – deep black fruit, cassis, lead pencil, cigar box. Hard to judge concentration as the wine is so bruising and young, but all of the elements seem in place. Tannins are very firm but furry, not painful. Needs another 4 to 6 years and then will continue to evolve for 10+. Given that I bought this at $275 a case in futures, this is clearly a great alternative to some of the overpriced big boys. It reminds me of the bargain Pontet Canet used to be.
*++Suasal Century Vines, zinfandel, 2003: This got big press some time ago, so I thought I would try a bottle. It is not my style of zin. 14.8% alcohol, over extracted, almost port like stewed black fruit, bramble, church incense. Intense chocolate. Fat. If you love Turley and the like this is a great buy. Let me know who you are as I have another bottle in the cellar.
*+Ridge Bertuzzi zinfandel, 1994, ATP: I stopped getting ATP wines when I realized it was Ridge’s version of the island of misfit toys. This is proof positive. Admittedly, this wine should have been consumed 4 to 5 years ago. I am not sure it was spectacular then either. The wine is a bit disjointed, with a tired nose of tomato skin with some red fruit and bramble. Probably the Alicante which has fallen apart. The palate is much nicer, with plum and chocolate, violets and white pepper notes. The finish is pleasant if fading.
*++Ridge Allegria vineyard zinfandel, 1994, ATP: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing a second time and expecting a different outcome. Here again, tired fruit upfront (though it has not fallen apart the way the Bertolozzi did), followed by a good core of bramble, pepper and plum. I think the lack of Alicante allowed this wine more focus. The air dried American Oak tinges the wine with a green wood quality. Next.
**++Biale, Aldo’s vineyard, 1994: The old zin experiment continues. An elegant, if fragile wine, this offers much better integrity and balance. A lovely wine showing it’s sense of place quite nicely. The knock on Biale is the wines are subtle and maybe more claret like. I am sure that is what has allowed this wine to age as well as it has, even though its best days are behind it. Drink now.
***Haut Bages Liberal, 2000: I opened this bottle to get a sense of the wine as it applies to 2005 futures. If this wine is any indication, I say buy! Wonderful though still hard as nails – it is all about Paulliac – deep black fruit, cassis, lead pencil, cigar box. Hard to judge concentration as the wine is so bruising and young, but all of the elements seem in place. Tannins are very firm but furry, not painful. Needs another 4 to 6 years and then will continue to evolve for 10+. Given that I bought this at $275 a case in futures, this is clearly a great alternative to some of the overpriced big boys. It reminds me of the bargain Pontet Canet used to be.
*++Suasal Century Vines, zinfandel, 2003: This got big press some time ago, so I thought I would try a bottle. It is not my style of zin. 14.8% alcohol, over extracted, almost port like stewed black fruit, bramble, church incense. Intense chocolate. Fat. If you love Turley and the like this is a great buy. Let me know who you are as I have another bottle in the cellar.
*+Ridge Bertuzzi zinfandel, 1994, ATP: I stopped getting ATP wines when I realized it was Ridge’s version of the island of misfit toys. This is proof positive. Admittedly, this wine should have been consumed 4 to 5 years ago. I am not sure it was spectacular then either. The wine is a bit disjointed, with a tired nose of tomato skin with some red fruit and bramble. Probably the Alicante which has fallen apart. The palate is much nicer, with plum and chocolate, violets and white pepper notes. The finish is pleasant if fading.
*++Ridge Allegria vineyard zinfandel, 1994, ATP: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing a second time and expecting a different outcome. Here again, tired fruit upfront (though it has not fallen apart the way the Bertolozzi did), followed by a good core of bramble, pepper and plum. I think the lack of Alicante allowed this wine more focus. The air dried American Oak tinges the wine with a green wood quality. Next.
**++Biale, Aldo’s vineyard, 1994: The old zin experiment continues. An elegant, if fragile wine, this offers much better integrity and balance. A lovely wine showing it’s sense of place quite nicely. The knock on Biale is the wines are subtle and maybe more claret like. I am sure that is what has allowed this wine to age as well as it has, even though its best days are behind it. Drink now.
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