Wine Musings Vol#46

Wine of Merit: ****Aubert, Lauren Vineyard, Sonoma coast, chardonnay, 2004: Very Special. Even more Burgundian than the Ritchie vineyard. Rich, perfumed, unctuous nose of clover honey, white flowers, marzipan and linseed. Over time, more tropical fruit is added. Fat, but not flabby, the palate shows more candied orange zest, lovely minerals and a hint of café latte. Finish is long, with Asian spice and more citrus. Like the Ritchie, I am impressed that a wine of this complexity can still be so seamlessly presented and so fresh. So worth it - though on the open market it is getting pricey.

***++Favia, Cerro Sur, Napa valley, cabernet franc, 2004: Wonderful, open knit signature of ripe plum, red fruit, espresso and black truffle. Very inviting – like a crackling fire on a winter day. The palate is seamlessly integrated and coating, and not shy on oak, adding licorice, sandalwood and baker’s chocolate. Firm, fine finish that still integrates beautifully with the rest of the palate tells me that this wine is age worthy – meaning it is great now and I am sure will develop added complexity and nuance if you can just keep you hands off of it in the short term. Good luck! I bought a few bottles at Amanti Vino but will buy more, even at $80+.

***++Andrew Will, Ciel du Cheval Red, Washington State, 2005: Fabulous. I have paid tribute to Chris Camarada in other postings…I dig his wines very much. They age effortlessly and always put balance and flavor integration at the head of the class – where they belong. This wine is simply delicious. Ripe and velvety, it offers warm, merlot-driven aromas and flavors of blackberry, violets, black cherry and mocha. Plenty of well integrated oak. The cab franc adds yummy black truffle, bay leaf and earth. Satiny, lush, but not flabby at all it still has great concentration, nice minerals and even though very approachable – a promise of a long life. The finish is long, succulent and sweet. Dynamite. At $50 a pop I would buy this before I would buy say Blackbird vineyard merlot from Napa – not that the latter is not delicious…it is just $30 more a bottle and I’m not sure why.

***++Beringer, Private Reserve, Napa valley, cabernet sauvignon, 1990: I have heard about inconsistent aging for this wine, so I wasn’t sure. Instead it was lovely. Juicy, almost chewy…delicious, right out of the bottle. Elements of ripe plums and chocolate covered blueberry, licorice root and fresh topsoil…wonderfully complex and intense but very much integrated. This wine has great stuffing…it approaches my “meal in a glass” definition. The palate is expansive and shows off that juicy-fruit goodness. The finish is long and silky. Nice balance throughout. A wine you can very much enjoy now, though it is not going anywhere soon. Hooray!

***+Paolo Scavino, Carobric, Barolo, 2000: Poetic. Lyrical. Surprisingly light in hue and intensity of color, the wine still delivers lovely, almost pinot like aromas of red currant, ripe plum and black cherry fruit, slate, green tea and spice box. With time more blue fruit and a beautiful candied violet. The palate is still very firm, adding more minerals and briar. Great, seamless structure. Long, fine finish – lots to spare here. Amazing how the fragile flavors complement the huge frame in almost a harmonic way. Wine as song! Surprisingly affordable at under $70.

***+JL Chave, Silene, Crozes Hermitage, 2005: What a buy this wine is. Available at under $20 a pop, this unassuming Crozes is well crafted, almost delicate and absolutely delicious. Bright red cherry and currant fruit, a nuance of garrigue, briar and cracked pepper, each element amazingly detailed, jump from the glass. The palate is also bright and lively, with a nice backbone from beginning to end, red fruit and iron, the finish medium-long, peppery and fine – a great food wine. Easy to drink, correct, could be a killer every day wine…as in I could drink it everyday! Super!

**++Eric Texier, Brezeme Pergault VV, Cotes du Rhone, 2005: Texier and I definitely see eye to eye. He has a clear and strong appreciation for balance, integration and natural flavors. This CdR was offered by Crush Wines in NYC as their best buy in 2007 (@$26). It is an old vines, 100% syrah based wine. In fact, it is much more Hermitage than it is Cotes du Rhone. Initially very racy red/blue berry, pine needle and chalk and camphor, time in the glass reveals bacon fat, grilled meat and groovy Mediterranean / North African spices. Wonderful integration of flavors and aromas. The palate perhaps is more CdR, bright acids, black pepper, more red fruit and olives – but still showing a strong backbone. Long, firm finish. This wine shows the balance and structure that will reward aging. Very nice.

**+Herman Story, White Hawk vineyard, syrah, Santa Barbara county, 2005: I was drawn to this wine because of its shared provenance with our own Trois Fils syrah, of the same vintage. Further, this wine has received accolades; including a 93 point score from Vinfolio and an assertion that winemaker Russell From was their “Winemaker of the Year”. Fair enough. To the wine: Trois Fils on steroids! It is the wine Pax would have made with my grapes. Everything about it is, in my opinion, exaggerated. 16.2% alcohol, it is a huge wine, with a fiercely tannic backbone and maximum extraction. The fruit characteristics are almost identical to Trois Fils; baked blueberry cobbler, mulling spices, vanilla bean, white flowers…all there with perhaps a more syrupy juiciness about them. The palate and finish are disjointed, at once fat and harsh. It has an added element of briar and green-ness…I am guessing because of an increased addition of stems or “whole cluster” as it is called (Trois Fils is whole berry, no stems). Honestly, very much a Pax-let’s-make-jet-fuel style of wine that I am sure Parker would love. Russell From says that as a winemaker he is more a carpenter than an architect…he sees himself as a cook, using the best ingredients – and I would agree. I think this wine lacks finesse…it is not like art that emerges from its medium but it is rather built from components - much more a recipe wine. Regardless of pride of authorship, I find it yummy but recognize that the White Hawk vineyard can make better wine. I think I should add a star to the Trois Fils rating!

Wine Musings Vol#30

The big 30! Now we're getting somewhere! Notes taken March, 2007:

Wine of Merit: ****++Kongsgaard, The Judge, Chardonnay, 2003: Guilty! Ok – so this is a wine that cannot get more hyped – 99 RP points, 100 cases, $400 a bottle in some misguided retail establishments. And I will admit that this was my first go with the Judge. Initially, I found this wine not very forthcoming and tightly wound. The palate was the give away that this is truly a monumental wine. Multi-layered, intense, suave and refined, it took some concentration to recognize everything that was going on – peaches, blood orange, herbs, slate – it was all there. Further, as the wine sat in the glass and aired – more of the intensity of the palate showed through. Buttered popcorn, lavender, yellow peaches, white flowers. Still, it was the palate that tantalized me with its length, depth, reserved power and sophistication. The finish only amplified the palate. I have only had Le Montrachet once, and it had this kind of depth and concentration. A wine to talk about.

***++Ducru Beaucalliou, St. Julien, 1998: I love Ducru. It is the statesman of 2nd growth Bordeaux. Wonderfully consistent, powerful but still somewhat reserved. Offering sense of place but still a firm house signature. This wine does not disappoint. Still brooding, it is showing red fruit, herbs, earth and minerals. Firm, well integrated palate. Firm, fine finish. Drink it now to enjoy what a very good, young Bordeaux has to offer or let it sit and mellow and add some depth and nuance. Either way you cannot lose. Great wine for the vintage.

***+Stags Leap, SLV Vineyard, cabernet, 1996: Really lovely. More mature and open knit, this wine also shows great SLD sense of place, with its red fruit, bramble, minerals and leather. The palate adds chocolate and pepper on the finish. Palate coating on entry and even all the way to the finish. Ready to drink now – a wine at its peak.

****Ornellaia, Bolgheri, DOC Rosso Superiore,1993: I have to admit to loving Ornellaia. I have loved it for many years (my first experience being the 1988). It did not receive the hype early on as it was a Bordeaux blend from Italy and not Sangiovese based – but I remember trying it for the first time in the early 90s and being blown away. This was not a heralded vintage, but for Ornellaia, probably should have been. The wine is now showing dark, black cherry fruit, chocolate, some raisin and kirsch liquor that is nothing short of sexy. Palate is still firm and ripe, with a sweet, fine tannic finish. This wine is simply wonderful vintage in and vintage out. Of course, now scores have caught up and the wine has become pricey…but it is still a worth it and a wonderful exhibition of what Bolgheri can do with French varietals.

**+Andrew Will, Klipsun vineyard, 2003: 60/40 Merlot/Cab blend. I tend to like AW wines very much. This particular wine is a bit angular and lean. Aromas of grilled meats and soy, along with black cherry fruit nuances and spice box. Palate is a bit zippy, not as full and coating as most AW wines I have enjoyed. Finish is puckery and a bit out of balance. Admittedly I let most of my AW wines age a bit and this is a young ‘un. Still, it doesn’t seem to have the stuffing or the balance to age for very long. Buy more? Probably not. As a side note, Andrew Will has let the vineyard contract expire with Klipsun and no longer makes this wine.

Wine Musings Vol#25

From notes taken July, 2006:

Wine of Merit: ***Siduri Van de Kamp Vineyard pinot noir, 1996: From 2X magnum. I had fallen into and out of love with Siduri pinot noir over the years. Adam and Diana Lee are about the nicest people in the world and care a great deal about they product the create. But the wines seemed to start out strong and then become awkward and angular and I stopped cellaring them a few years ago. Well, it is time to re-think the strategy, This wine is surprisingly fresh and fruity. Lovely black cherry, spice box, cola and green tea notes. The palate is full and bright, showing more black/bing cherry, red licorice, lavender and cream. Very good integration through to the firm but sweet finish. Lovely.

***+Domaine l Aiguelière, Cote Ruosse, 1995: What’s Up Languedoc? This wine has always been a meal in a glass, often too much of a good thing. A previous bottle had suggested some mellowing so I cracked one. This was still very youthful and expressive, but more integrated and fruit forward than in the past. Still showing camphor, petrol, humus soil, mushroom, roasted red and green bell pepper and a ton of mature red fruit, this wine is not for the meek. Still, it is unique and incredibly well crafted. Great palate with more red and black fruit and a firm but deftly integrated finish. I dig it.

***Andrew Will, Washington State, Merlot, 1992: Yummy. I dig the whole Andrew Will disdain for the “international palate” – we share an appreciation for balance and wine integrity. I also like the quirky vibe Chris Camarada exudes – reminds me a little of Nils Venge but with a Pac Rim sensibility. This wine is from the early-ish days and is well crafted, showing excellent varietal expression. Chocolate, blackberry, violets. Mineral palate with more berry fruit and mocha…a touch of pine needle. Finish is resolved but not soft. A lovely wine that is ready to be enjoyed with a nice meal. Andrew Will, Matanzas Creek and Beringer Bancroft Ranch merlot from the early 90s are worth seeking out right now.

***++Pignan Reserve, Chateauneuf du Pape, 1995: Made by Chateau Rayas, this is a CndP that is almost more pinot like than your typical southern Rhone. This wine is silky smooth on the palate, all red cherry fruit, black currant jam, herbs and white pepper. It has gained some subtlety with age. More berries and gaurrigue on the palate, some bramble and a firm-ish finish. This wine does not suck.

***Domaine l Aiguelière, Cote Doree, 1995: The other wine from this estate in Montpeyroux. 100% Syrah. Not quite as flamboyant as the Cote Rousse, this wine is still rustic and rough around the edges in a very artisanal way. Black fruit, lavender and minerals, and HUGE black pepper make this a mouthful of wine. The palate is downright chewy showing more slate minerality and plum and berry fruit, earth and truffle. The finish is firm with coating tannins and more of that signature black pepper. An interesting wine that has a long life ahead of it.

**++Pavillon des Connetables, 2000: Leoville Poyferre’s 3rd wine! That’s right, they have a third label. A bit of research shows that this is wines from young vines on the estate. Very St. Julien, excellent stock, though still reserved. Brooding red fruit, some slightly vegetal elements, nice cassis and earth. Palate shows very little right now, though it clearly has depth and structure. I would imagine that it will be fleshing out over the next two to 5 years. Worthy.