Wine Musings Vol#29

From notes taken March, 2007:

Wine(s) of Merit: ****+Chateau La Fluer de Gay, Pomerol, 1989: Wow. This was our Valentine’s day choice…and if I only had one wine to drink for the rest of my life, this wine would have to be in serious consideration. Still young and somewhat brooding, this wine has great power and great finesse at the same time. Deep, dark to the rim, the wine shows great dark cherry, plum and anise notes, with valhrona chocolate, molasses, sage and perfumed violets. Coating and lush, the wine still has great backbone across the entire palate, showing more plum, chocolate, minerals and tobacco. Strong, fine tannin finish. Amy’s comment” “I don’t think this is what the guy in sideways was talking about when he said I am not drinking any fucking merlot!” Ditto.

****+Vietti, Barbaresco Masseria, 2001: OK. I feel like Steve Martin from the Jerk now. You know, when he says, “All I need is this paddle game. That’s all. And this ashtray. Ok I need the paddle ball game and the ashtray…”. I now admit to needing the La Fluer de Gay AND this Vietti barbaresco as the only wines to drink for the rest of my life…Yum. Perfumed, red fruit, truffles, pine needles, minerals and cigar tobacco. Wow. Lovely. Great depth and nuance. Palate offers more, with an emphasis on minerality and some saddle leather and mocha. Truly a dynamite wine. I think the thing I like about it is that it is so clearly Italian, really showing sense of place, but with great purity and focus as well. Bravo!

***Hitching Post, Cork Dancer, Santa Barbara, pinot noir, 2004: Lovely, warm climate pinot. I prefer the RRV pinots, but this had nice, slightly pruney black cherry fruit, bramble and white pepper. Palate was racy and bright, with nice red fruit and tar through the finish. Not over extracted, with nice integration. Very nice.

****Flowers, Andreen Gale Sonoma Coast, pinot noir, 2001: Wow. Very nice indeed. Great harmony, balance and integration from this cooler climate pinot. Elegant with just the right lushness. I did not dig this wine on release finding it angular – which was disappointing, given the success that Camp Meeting Ridge gas gad for other wine makers. Well, those corners have smoothed themselves out. Great fruit, weight and palate coating viscosity. Dynamite and hitting its stride.

**++Radio Couteau, Alberigi, pinot noir, 2004: Hmmm…while this wine has the provenance, I find it a bit awkward. Much like many of the newer styled pinots, it has IMHO too much extract and probably too much heat. Maybe too much of just about everything. Which, in the end, may make for an interesting and nuanced wine as it ages. For now, the wine is a big mouthful of wine with cab like firmness on the finish and red and black fruit, brown spice and vanilla that bowls you over. Nice…not my cup of tea.

***Matanzas Creek, Sonoma merlot, 1992: Nice, old school vino. Maturing color, this wine offers mature, overripe plum, red fruit and mocha, ,with a hint of violets. More red fruit, spice and chocolate on the palate, which is losing some of its vibrancy but is still lush and palate coating. Finish is fairly firm, perhaps a bit too given the advanced nature of the wine. Smoke ‘em now.