Wine Musings Vol#21

From notes taken June, 2006:

Wine of Merit: ***++ Camigliano, Brunello di Montalcino, 1997: Ladies and gentleman, we have a winner. Delicious. Elegant, refined, smooth (!) and well integrated. Black Cherries and apricot, wonderful minerals and grilled meats, saddle leather and some spice box. Right on. Great integration through to a firm but sweet finish. A real crowd pleaser. Mamma Mia!

**++Peter Michael, Belle Cote, 1997: Nice, burgundian – not as good as the 1996. Showing good linseed oil and popcorn, with butter and vanilla custard. Oily mouthfeel and a hint of madiera. Not as structured and the acids are not holding up as well as the 1996. Lovely if unraveling somewhat. Drink now.

***Monteallegro, Cabernet sauvignon, 1997: Only great bottles…This was nowhere near as good (read as complex) as the otherworldly bottle we had 6 months ago. Still lovely and very solid; red fruit, grilled meats, espresso grind notes. Slight thinness to the mid palate. Strong finish. Drink now. Given my prior notes, expect some bottle variation.

***+Argiano, Brunello di Monalcino, 1997: Lovely. Honestly, very similar to the Monteallegro, with a touch more depth and better structure. Red and black fruit, grilled meat, lavender, sous bois. Nice. Very Italian. Racy acids. I liked it very much.

***Ravenswood, Old Hill zinfandel, 1993: Not a typo. 1993! Bricking at the edge, but still holding on. Still very much holding its own. Lush, red plum, big white pepper and lovely floral notes. Soft on the palate with no drop outs and furry tannins. A good opener and easy to drink.

***+Rafanelli, Dry Creek zinfandel, 1995: Still plenty of fruit, with some interesting bell pepper and lavender nuances. Offers briar, white peach and racy acids. Solid and clean, to the firm finish. Yum. Worth drinking. Dry creek zin, when done right, is always a winner. I appreciate this old school style of zin making that allows for some bottle age without the prunes and heat. If you have it, drink it now and enjoy.

***+Biale Spenker Vineyard, Sonoma zinfandel, 1998: Just when I thought I was out, they drag me back in. Great wine. With age this wine has become lush, palate coating and deep. Aromas of earth, mature red fruit, cigar box and citrus. Palate coating entry and a resolved mid palate with more red fruit and briar. Long, chocolaty finish. Super.

Some re-tastes - I had a second 1997 Belle Cote that was superb and adds a star to my previous rating, ditto on a second 1999 Farrell Rochioli/Allen chard, perfect right now! -, a second 1995 White Cottage zin that showed beautifully, redolent with mountain zin fruit on the palate but was a touch musty on the nose and a second 1996 White Cottage Merlot that was yummy and very varietal (the Biale zin reminded me a touch of this wine). Also had a second 2003 Failla Keefer Ranch. Jordan should stick to red wine. Not bad, clearly in an old world Chablis style – good minerals and acids, bright and fresh - just not over the top wonderful like his pinot and syrah. At $33 a pop, it is overpriced.

**F&L Pillot Puligny Montrachet, “Noyers Bret”, 1997: A bit disappointing. Maybe it was the vintage as I have had this wine before with successful result. Varietal but rather flat. Typical citrus notes and some green wood elements. Touch of vanilla and white peaches. I think this wine was simply past its prime from an average vintage.

*+Chasseur Dutton Vineyard “Sylvia’s” pinot noir, 1999: This wine has been terrific in the past but has now become searingly acidic. The fruit is still there, mostly red fruit, cinnamon and rose hip tea, but it is so hot I have a hard time drinking it.

Wine Musings Vol#19

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.