Wine Musings Vol#78

Wine of Merit: ****Leoville Poyferre, estate, St. Julien, Bordeaux, 1996: Signing in full voice. Just great, room-filling aromatics. Garrigue, blackberry, nicoise olives, licorice, cassis. Clear-eyed, focused and very much on point. The palate glides. More berries, chocolate, integrated, a touch of clove. Finish is fine and long. A wine to enjoy now or cellar for another 10 years. A pleasure - and probably still a value from that vintage as it was not a huge scoring wine upon release (88 WS, 93 RP).

***+Newton Cellars, Napa Valley, Unfiltered cabernet sauvignon, 1991: Just right. Evolved. Mature red plum fruit, funghi trifolati, grilled fennel, tar. The palate is velvet, more plum and chocolate, coating. Finish is succulent and of middle length. A wine that is giving it all it has right now.

*** Chateau La Nerthe, Chateauneuf du Pape, Blanc, 2004: Love it! Great, zesty white from the sunny part of France. I am crazy for white chateauneuf, especially in ripe vintages. This wine just has wonderful joie de vivre, great concentration and boyancy! Floral, expansive, happy notes of grilled pineapple, clover honey, cardamom, fennel, a touch of lilac or lavender. The palate is full yet firmly structured and the finish long and spicy. Van Gogh is a glass. Bottled sunshine.

***Jocelyn Lonen, Bohn Vineyard, Russian River Valley, sonoma, Reserve chardonnay, 2006: Very nice indeed. I think this represents a good benchamrk for RRV chardonnay; lovely, bright citrus zest, lime blossom, nuances of sweet tropical fruit. A note of bees wax and mild tobacco. The palate is rich, viscous and oily, adding some mineral and marzipan sugar. The finish is spicy and long, a touch of nutmeg. No one would confuse this with a white burg and no one should. A smile.

***Bedell Cellars, Cupola, North Fork Long Island, 1998: I do not profess a great deal of knowledge about Long Island wines. This is a meritage of sorts, representing a typical Bordeaux blend with cabernert, merlot, cab franc, petite verdot and malbec. I have to say...it is delicious! Age has added nice complexity to the nose, with ripe black berry fruit components, a touch of bell pepper and truffle, violets and licorice root. The low alcohol and still bright acids makes this wine a joy to have with food. Perhaps the mid palate could use some stuffing. But for a 10 year old wine you take the mid town tunnel to get to, I was impressed. Well done!

**++Duhart Millon, estate, Paulliac, Bordeaux, 1996: Buoyed by the Poyferre, I struck out for gold again. No such luck. A very decent, perfumed wine, this iteration seems a bit tired. Lovely red and black fruits on the nose, cedar and cassis. A hint of minerals. The palate thins a bit in the middle and the finish is on the short side. Probably a wine to drink up, wistfully thinking about what could have been.

Wine Musings Vol#27

From notes taken August, 2006:

Wine of Merit: ***++Robert Ampeau, Volnay Santenot, 1er cru, 1993: To know Robert Ampeau is to dig his whole approach to wine. He holds his wine until he decides it is ready. Maybe 5 years, maybe 10, maybe more. Nice, if you can pull it off. This is the current vintage of this wine! And, as usual, he is right on the money. Delicious, sophisticated, multi layered. Shows a bit of barnyard and tobacco, but plenty of cherry red fruit, cardamom, cola and a nuance of Marco Polo tea (do you know it? It is made by Mariage Freres and worth seeking out) . Oak is nicely integrated, adding some chai spice and vanilla to the palate and the sweet, fine tannins on the finish. Showing beautifully and will drink for at least another 3 to 5 years for sure.

**Campbell Rutherglen Muscat, NV: Hot! Hot! Hot! 17.5% alch. This is a syrupy, port styled wine made from Muscat in the land down under. Amber hue. More of a Vin Santo experience, it offers a hot, alcohol-driven nose, with nutty, white raisin and vanilla stewed peaches on the palate. Astringent finish with some spice. This is clearly why Mad Max was so mad. Dip your biscotti and say, “Gidday!”

***++Constant Diamond Mountain Vineyard cabernet, 2001: Stately. I enjoy this old style, mountain cab. This varietal driven wine offers deep, mountain red fruit, cassis, minerals and hints of tobacco. Firm and structured, everything is there, including some well integrated NFO, but in reserve. In fact, it has a vin de garde quality that will reward cellaring. It reminds me of a Californian Leoville Las Cases – or possibly a slightly more modern Diamond Creek VH. A wine of conviction. I dig it.

***MJ Dry Creek Sangiovese, 2002: Made by the Unti family, of zinfandel fame. I admit to a soft place in my heart for Dry Creek fruit. Wonderful purity and elegance. The Volnay of Sonoma. This does not disappoint. Initially very red, cherry fruit and spice, the wine settles into a more sophisticated saddle leather, clove and mocha signature. Palate is spicy, with more red fruit and zippy acids. Long, spicy, sweet finish. Yummy.

***+Rodney Strong, Alexander Valley Cabernet Reserve, 1992: Very well crafted. Delicious, varietal, still very fresh, good depth, balance and concentration, good length on the finish. A very good wine overall that has benefited from aging. I honestly believe that the Alexander valley is underappreciated for its ability to deliver excellent cabernet sauvignon. I have always liked the Silver Oak bottling (yes, it’s true!) and think the Verite wines benefit from this appellation as well.

**Bedell Cellars, Reserve Merlot, 2001: From the North Fork of Long Island. I wanted to like this wine. Not a personal favorite though over all not bad. A wine by numbers kinda wine. What they meant in Sideways when they were dissing Merlot. Mocha, plum fruit, some minerals, pretty blousy. I can just see a bunch of folks tasting this wine and saying, “Smooth!” Moving on.

*+Nero di Vite, Caniette, 2000: There is a story to this wine. First it is from the Marche, as is yours truly. Secondly, one of the owners sent me a bottle when it was released back in the day and I found it delicious. Not super sophisticated but yummy – a poor man’s Caprai 25 anni - exactly what you would hope for in a Rosso Piceno. As it turns out it is imported to the US so I bought a case. The wine I bought here is a disaster. Unbalanced, searingly tannic – it is a shame. The ripe, plump red fruit is there but the palate is a mess. Maybe the imported wine is different? Maybe a bad batch? Who knows. Che tragedia!