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 LTD: All Roads Lead to Rhone

From notes taken January, 2007:

All Roads Lead to Rhone:

Following is a brief summary of my tasting notes from our Syrah and Syrah-ish wine tasting held Saturday, January 14th. It was a wonderful event, probably the best wines we have served as a whole at one of these things, and I am appreciative of all those who could attend. Wines were served blind:

Pre-flight wines:

***++Didier Dageneau Silex, 1996: Lovely if unusual. Fully mature, deep yellow hue, lots going on. Dried pineapple, honeyed truffle oil and gooseberry were some of the descriptors being thrown out there. I buy it all. Not your father’s chardonnay. A serious white with great, full mouth feel and generous complexity.

**++Linda Domas Salience, 2005: Hard to believe it is the same grape. Lovely, surprisingly restrained, almost fragile. Great, tropical fruit notes and a light, lithe palate. Wonderful for a hot, summer day and some light food. Yum.

First Flight:

**++Henschke Keyneton, 1986: Mature and very much ready to drink. Bricking at the rim. Red fruit, grilled meats, pepper, some herbs. Firm finish, light mid palate. Very fine.

***Ch. Beaucastel, CNdP, 1988: Also very mature in color and nose, iodine, baked blueberry pie, a little racy on the palate, morer fruit, herbs and asian spices. Very firm on the finish. Yummy!

****Sean Thackery Orion, 1987: Special. Dark concentrated wine. Chocolate, mint, exotic spices, blackberry preserves. Velvety, delicious. Killer Diller.

DQ: Jaboulet, La Chapelle, 1989: Corked. Palate was mature and inviting, with red fruit and evolving complexities as it sat in the glass – but the nose was musty. I have had much better bottles.

Second Flight:

****++Sean Thackery, Orion 1995: Wow! One of the wines of the day, and there were some great wines. Licorice, blackberry, pine needles, anise seed. Great concentration and purity. No drop off at all, though sweet integration and balance. A serious wine.

****Ch Rayas, CNdP Reserve, 1990: A heralded wine. Delicious, animal, raisins, raspberry. Maturer and a bit demure. Nicely integrated. Lovely.

***++Penfolds Bin 920, 1990: Much better than the rep. Mautring, rose petal, red fruit, briar, tar. I liked this wine very much, even in its showier company. A stately wine.

****Jaboulet, La Chapelle, 1995: Served out of order by mistake. Wow. This is more like it. Really wonderful. Huge, black pepper, black fruit, mint and a wonderful lavender note. Big depth, a powerful wine. Firm but integrated all the way through. Great wine.

Third Flight:

****++Sine Qua Non. Against The Wall, 1996: Believe the hype, baby! Jeepers. Tar, violets, insane, huge concentration, blackberry preserves, pepper – amazing. Coating, intense, perfectly integrated. My number 2 wine of the day.

****++Clarendon Hills, Astralis, 1998: From strength to strength. While the SQN was a bit more out there, the Astralis was a bit more reserved…but had all of the same elements, perhaps adding a minerality and depth the SQN did not quite achieve. It will reward further patience, but is tantalizing right now. Hard to rank this below the SQN, perhaps only because of the later wine’s approachability right now. In my opinion, both are 96+ point wines.

***++Ch La Nerthe, CNdP, Cuvee Cadettes, 1994: A bit out of order and in strong company. Still, a lovely wine. CNdP notes of herbs, iodine, red fruit and smoke. Nice minerals, good solid concentration and a firm palate, though of course not the same kind of grip as the other wines of the flight. Super.

***++Chapoutier, La Sizeranne, 1994: Like the La Nerthe, a bit overwhelmed, though it acquitted itself surprisingly well. Delicious, showing great fruit purity, velvety black fruit, depth and minerals. Floral. I loved this wine and thought it very worthy.

Fourth Flight:

All of these wines were huge and really wonderful.

*****Guigal, Cote Rotie, La Landonne, 2001: Wow. Speechless. Great wine. Hard to detract anything at all from it. Animal elements, violets, black pepper. Great depth, great purity, great concentration. Out there for around $200 and a bargain at that price. My wine of the day.

***++Behrens and Hitchcock, Alder Springs Syrah, Hommage to Ed, 2001: Very yummy and approachable. Made in the B&H way. Big, open, velvety, maybe a bit blousy in comparison – still great. Very varietal, with black fruit, smoke, earth, flowers. No mistaking this wine.

****+Penfolds, Grange, 2001: I expected to not get much from this wine – but instead found it of course youthful but still approachable. Big and thick, some greenness from the American oak, spice, great, deep berry fruit. Brooding. Stately –maybe even majestic. A great Australian wine that will mature into a truly great wine experience.

****Ch Beaucastel, 2001: Very worthy. No mistaking this wine either – with its tell tale French herbs, iodine, animal, truffles and great red fruit concentration. I love this wine and cellar beaucastel hoping every vintage comes together like this one. Worth seeking out.

Mystery wine:

***++CUNE, Vine Real Reserva, 1950: Dave guessed Country, region and varietal –which in and of itself is impressive. No one was within 30 years of the vintage. Surprisingly youthful, it boasted mature red fruit, a burgundian earthy complexity, candied orange zest and fruited tea notes. Racy palate, good acids, not deep but consistent and integrated. A dynamite wine.