Wine Musings: Vol#106

Wine of Merit: ****++Diamond Creek, Gravelly Meadow, Diamond Mountain, cabernet sauvignon, 1981: They just don't make them like this anymore and it really is a shame. Simply a magnificent wine. A definitive cabernet by any standard (well, ok, at least by mine. No one will confuse this with a Schrader). Tobacco, graphite, red currant, green peppercorn. With time grilled meats, leather. Great structure, front to back. Wonderful, deep minerals mid palate. Amazing balance and integration. Fine, endless, puckering finish. Another ten years left on this bottle. Crazy Good.

****+Gruaud Larose, St. Julien, Bordeaux, 1990: Another wonderful, sophisticated, beautiful wine. A meal in a glass. Blackberry, violets, iodine, blood, nicoise olives, oolong tea, oven roasted Brussels sprouts. So much going on here...and yet perfectly integrated. This wine just unfolds, wave after wave, with time in the glass. Palate coating, long, excellent grip. In no hurry at all. Great wine.

****Kongsgaard, The Judge, Napa Valley, chardonnay, 2006: Perhaps not its finest showing, though still among the best chardonnays available, regardless of provenance. The nose shows that wonderfully typical lemon oil, meringue, anjou pear, cinnamon stick. Hazelnut and a touch of butterscotch. The palate is a little less forthcoming than usual. A bit tighter too. Still, lots of white fruit and citrus. Medium length finish. I think it might be time to drink these up.

****Chateau D'Yquem, Sauternes, Bordeaux, 1989: Always a lovely way to finish a meal. A touch of initial astringency on the nose fades to reveal honeyed peach, apricot, maple and blood orange. Beautiful attack on entry with a coating mouth feel and a note of baked apple and cinnamon. Lingering, spicy finish. Yummy.

****Cedric Bouchard, Roses de Jeanne, Le Creux D'Enfer, Champagne, NV: Perhaps one the best pinot noir saignee champagnes I have ever had. Intense, lively, ebullient in every sense. Bright strawberry, blood orange, queen Anne cherries and rhubarb fruit. Grilled peaches. Superb minerals and a touch of sage. Racy acids, tangy mid palate. A very intense champagne experience. Love it.

***++ Robert Ampeau, Savigny Les Beaune, Burgundy, pinot noir, 1990: Wonderful, mature savigny. Lovely notes of game, red fruit, citrus, green tea, some barnyard. Lithe and medium weight on the palate, red fruit driven, with no drop off, front to back. Finish is medium length and resolving. A great transition wine from the white to the reds.

***+GTS Vineyards, Estate, Diamond Mountain, cabernet sauvignon, 2005: A lovely wine. GTS stands for George Thomas Seaver and yes, this is his vineyard and wine. The wine is made by Thomas Rivers Brown on Tom Seaver's behalf and it shows TRB's house style. Ripe, voluminous, blackberry jam, mulling spices, Christmas pudding notes jump from the glass. The palate is velvety, generous and coating with lots more black fruit, fig and crushed rock. The finish is long and firm, the only real element that tells me this might be from Diamond Mountain, a terroir that generally produces monster wines that are unapproachable at this stage. Just a delicious wine, though I would quibble with the heavy hand.

**Chateau Troplong Mondot, St. Emillon, 1964: Past its prime but not completely without merit. Unraveling, slightly sherried notes of tangy BBQ sauce, caramel, chocolate and plum. More lively on the thinning palate, with better plum notes and hints of mineral and herb. Finish surprisingly pronounced. Older wines like this are always about storage conditions and other variables outside the bottle as well as in, so your mileage may vary significantly. Still, a fun experiment.

Wine Musings Vol#70

Wine of Merit: ****++Diamond Creek Winery, Gravelly Meadow, Diamond Mountain, cabernet sauvignon, 1983 : The Grand Daddy. I have a very soft spot in my heart for this vintner, this winery and this vineyard. To drink this wine now, 25 years after harvest, is to realize that ultimately Al Brounstein was a genius, perhaps even a prophet, was right about everything and knew more about how to make great wine than all of his critics will ever know in their combined lifetimes. Fresh as a daisy, more complex than a Stella, as true as the word of G-d, this wine moves me. Wonderful, nuanced elements of freshly butchered fillet of beef, iodine, smoky grilled red pepper, ripe red fruit, warm black lava beach pebbles, chewy licorice root, how this is a new world wine is beyond me. Pressed I would have guessed 90 Montrose! With time in the glass, out rolls the fresh broad leaf cigar tobacco, the note that consistently makes cognoscenti call this wine the Haut Brion of Napa. Full, beautiful, perfectly balanced palate shows more red/black fruit and minerals.
Not worthy – but grateful indeed.

****+Château Ducru Beaucalliou, estate, St. Julien, bordeaux, 1995 : True to form is this Ducru, the “super-est” of all super seconds in my opinion. I always find myself using the term “stately” when describing wine from this estate; this wine has excellent posture, dresses in the best fabrics and has excellent table manners! Brooding dark fruit, cassis, cedar, chalk, wonderful black pepper, violets and stony minerals…give this wine time to unfold itself in the glass and marvel at its layers. The palate is full on, bottomless, still primal but wonderfully balanced and staged. Same goes for the finish. A great wine to drink or hold. Lovely.

****Domaine de Chevalier, estate, Pessac Leognan, bordeaux blanc, 2002: It is true that if I had to be a white wine I would be a grand cru Chablis. That said if somehow Chablis were not available to me, I would be white Bordeaux from Graves with nary a whimper. I just love this wine's complexity, its style, its panache. Bright, aromatic lime blossom, fresh ginger, ripe star fruit (yes, that’s right…star fruit. I also thought it tasted like nothing until I had it in Mexico a few years back. Find it and try it!), honeyed tobacco and an undeniable fresh, ripe Crenshaw melon note all come together just perfectly. A nuance of celery root. Beautiful integration front to back, firm but never biting palate. So fresh! Long finish, with a touch of white pepper and Thai basil. Hard to believe this was $30 at retail. What a steal. Righteous.

****Château Montrose, estate, St. Estephe, bordeaux, 1999 : You know, Montrose is one of those wines. Always alluring, sometimes mind boggling, just the mention heightens the senses and stirs a certain anticipation. Ohhhh…the possibilities; often somewhat wild and savage (when it is at its best), this wine is not quite there yet, though very promising. Still very primal and perhaps even still working off its baby fat, it is magically delicious, beckoning with come hither qualities of ripe plum, fragrant violet and thick, zesty black pepper. The palate flatters…but one senses the muscle hiding beneath. The finish points even more to better days, firm and integrated. Somewhat still one dimensional, I get the sense that this wine will offer even more pleasure and nuance as it continues to age. Yummy now, I believe this holds delights yet to be sampled if one can just avail oneself of the virtue of patience.

Wine Musings Vol#35

Wine of Merit: ****Clos des Papes, Chateauneuf du Pape, 1995: The bomb. This wine is so multi-layered and delicious…Paul Avril is a master. The wine is amazingly still a smidge tight, though a bit of swirling shows big notes of menthol, sage, jammy blackberry preserves, licorice root, black pepper and a touch of green olive. More blackberry, grilled meats, a touch of heat on the palate – great depth and concentration. A long, firm, peppery finish. Wow. A meal in a glass. So good. This wine is wonderful now and will be great later. Impressive.

****Diamond Creek, Gravelly Meadow, Diamond Mountain cabernet sauvignon, 1981: A continuing tribute to Al Brounstein. Amazingly youthful and full of energy. The nose is almost flamboyant, with deep red and black fruit, minerals, cassis, some autumnal notes. Really super. The palate is coating and velvety, mouth filling and deep. Perfect integration through to the lively, furry finish. Drink or hold…this wine is going nowhere in a hurry. Great wine. Thanks again, Al.

****Foxen Santa Maria Valley, pinot noir, 2005: Makes me feel like sayin’ Foxy! This is nothing short of a wonderful wine. Laser-like purity and focus of black and Queen Anne cherry fruit, cinnamon, cola and licorice root…it is a right hand upper cut to the jaw (thanks JC!)…it is so forceful and intense. Nothing really nuanced yet about this wine, it is tightly wound but clearly built to be a stately wine with great varietal characteristics, wonderful integration and amazing length. And to think it doesn’t even crack 14% alcohol! I swear I could drink this stuff every night. So exciting! At $30 a pop, it should be illegal.

****Rochioli, Russian River Valley, pinot noir, 2005: This wine is all elegance…which is no surprise as Rochioli is all about elegance in every wine it makes. Creamy, nuanced red fruits, cardamom, rose petal and a touch of earth, this is a stately wine. Deftly balanced and seamlessly integrated, with no drop off at all across the palette, this wine will reward bottle aging with even greater nuance and sophistication. A wine I would be proud to serve on any occasion. Bravo!

***++Chateau Haut Brion, Pessac Leognan, Bordeaux 1998: This is a wonderful wine. The nose is ethereal: Expansive. Deep elements of black raspberry, graphite, cedar, minerals, cassis all integrate together to offer a tour de force of what great Bordeaux could offer. The palate is not quite as forthcoming, showing a more mature, resolved signature with more berry fruit, minerals and a slight drop off mid palate. The finish is firm and decisive. Superlative.

***+Medlock Ames Bell Mountain vineyard, Alexander Valley, chardonnay, 2005: I loved this wine. Lithe and lively, this is much more Mersault than new world chard. Laden with minerals, hibiscus and Anjou pear, this wine has no flab. The palette offers more of that delicious, laser focused minerals with bright Meyer lemon zest. Whatever oak is present is restrained and completely integrated. Delicious.

***+Domaine de Chevalier, Pessac Leognan, Bordeaux Blanc, 2002: I love white Graves. This is a super interesting, complex white Bordeaux. Honey dew, petrol, verbena and key lime all converge to offer a sophisticated signature on the nose. The palate shows more white flowers, clover and cut grass and a caramel / vanilla note that matchers the floral characteristics. Lively if somewhat round, this wine is delicious and worthy of attention all by itself.

***+Shea Vineyard Wine Cellars, Estate vineyard, Willamette Valley pinot noir, 2003: Hard to make bad wine from the Shea vineyard. It has great bones! I have enjoyed this wine in the past and it still presents very youthfully and full of promise. Deep, Willamette red and blackberry compote fruit, with forest floor notes and some nice, wafty church incense. The palette is expansive and almost lush, with big velvety red fruit, chocolate and a touch of rosemary. The finish is long and fine. A winner.

***Col Solare, Columbia Valley, red wine 2001: That crazy Antinori family. They are like truffle pigs when it comes to finding winemaking opportunities. Here they partner with Chateau St. Michelle to make a lovely, smooth talkin’ meritage from Washington state. Mostly cab, merlot and with syrah and malbec thrown in for good measure. As such, the wine is jammy, blackberry and plum flavors, thinning slightly in the mid palate. Lavish oak notes add mocha and vanilla, as well as fine, Asian spice on the finish. A very nice wine to have with some grilled red meat on a warm summer evening.

***Deutz, Blanc de Blanc, champagne, 1998: Yummy and fresh. Fresh, Macintosh apples fill the glass. Yeasty and warm, this wine is delicious, with focused apple and nutmeg notes and baking spice. Delicious and welcoming….this is a warm, welcoming wine that will be a crowd pleaser whenever it is served. Good stuff.

**++Diatom, Clos Pepe, Santa Rita Hills Chardonnay, 2005: I think this is made by Greg Brewer, of Brewer Clifton and Melville fame. While I know these folks do not make shy wines, I was shocked to see that this wine purports to have 15.7% alcohol. Once opened, however, the wine was lively if not crisp, with a sweetness on the nose and palate that suggested residual sugar. Aromas of honeydew, gardenia, and sweet clover honey waft from the glass. The palate is indeed expansive and fleshy, with beechnut and citrus zest but not fat. The finish is long and spicy, showing off some lavish oak notes. Very nice if somewhat of an obvious style.

**+Bjornstad Cellars, Porter Bass vineyard, chardonnay, 2005: Greg Bjornstad has had a hand in some of the better chards and pinots in California, notably DuMol, Kistler, Flowers and Kosta Browne, amongst others. This wine is not really like those. Lean and crisp, this has a young Chablis like lime, green apple and sweet pea nose. The palate instead is zippy and a bit bracing, almost a touch under ripe. The accompanying lemon curd and marzipan notes do not really hold up against the acid, creating a bit of a hole in the middle. The finish has bite and is a touch astringent. All in all, not bad.

Wine Musings LTD: Paris Tasting Redux

Ok - not really. But the wines, if not the vintages, were similar. More or less. As in more Mouton and Montebello and less everything else. And we included an 89 Haut Brion that the folks in 1976 could only have dreamed about. To the wines:

**1983 Leoville Las Cases: Already passed its prime and devolving. Brickish rim. Nose has elements of tomato skin and stewed fruit, along with the signature St. Julien earth and cigar box.

***1983 Mouton Rothschild: Better than I have had before. Good solid color. Expressive nose of black fruit, tobacco, cedar and graphite. Lovely grip and surprisingly integrated finish. The mint should have told me mouton, but it just seemed too good to be the 83. Would I pay $180 a pop for this wine right now? Probably not – but it is a very good wine nonetheless.

**++1985 Ridge Montebello: I mistook this wine for the Mouton, as the Mouton was a better wine and I have a high opinion of the 85 Montebello. This was a good, not great bottle. Good fruit structure, some floral notes, good minerals with more evident wood and a big finish. Nice.

***++1984 Diamond Creek RRT: A truly lovely wine. Soft though by no means flabby – more elegant – this wine has great berry and stone fruit, violets and a mountain quality that includes bramble and lavender. I could drink a ton of this wine. The biggest favor RP ever did me was bad mouthing Diamond Creek. Wonderful.

*****1989 Haut Brion: As described above, quite the experience. Many, many layers of aromas and flavors, surprising sweetness which Dave says means that it is aging a bit (I should age this well), amazing depth and perfectly seamless integration. A quintessential wine. I think I saw John Caldarella tear up after the first sip. I don’t blame him.

***1989 Ridge Montebello: Very nice, though dwarfed in every way by the Haut Brion. It did not remind me of the great Montebellos I have had. Fairly well evolved, deep black fruit, some vegetal qualities, round mouth feel, searingly tannic.

***1989 Mouton Rothschild: I had big hopes for this wine as it is my anniversary year. A solid effort though I think not as good as other 89 Paulliac wines. Tobacco, cassis, red candied fruits. Full palate though the finish falls apart a bit. Worth drinking but not a longer term wine I don’t think.

1990 Dominus: Not a good showing for this wine. A bit funky, falling apart, red fruit, not worth writing home (or to you) about much. I have had great bottles of this wine and think it was simply an off bottle.

***++1993 Mouton Rothschild: Back on the road to Wellville. This is an outstanding wine – which exceeds my expectation. All of the Mouton elements are there, mint, black fruit, cassis, tobacco, lead pencil. Excellent concentration right through to the finish. Lovely and worth the current asking.

****1991 +Ridge Montebello: Another truly great wine. This is why I love Montebello. Great concentration, mountain fruit, minerals and violets – a deep, youthful, complex wine. Worth seeking out.

****1991 Stags Leap Cask 23: I think this was a controversial wine. I thought it was breathtaking of a fine wine. Velvety texture, satiny red fruit, pink peppercorn, rose petal, black truffle – it had Cheval Blanc like characteristics. It is definitely mature, but I thought it a very special wine – in the top 4 of the tastng.

***+1996 Ridge Montebello: I have previously posted on this wine. A great Montebello drinking great now. I thought the last bottle slightly better.

***(?)1995 Leoville Las Cases: A frustrating wine. The nose is coy and showing next to nothing. The palate is full, strong, offering great minerals and very nice balance and integration. Patience is a virtue – but right now I would bury this wine in the cellar and drink something else – hoping for some kind of awakening.

***+1997 Phelps Insignia: I thought this wine got a bit lost in the fray. Deep fruit, mocha, signature mint, slate, surprisingly firm, almost painful finish. It was delicious but seemed almost one dimensional. I have always been a huge fan of this wine from 1985 – 1991…I think it has become almost simple as it has attempted to cater to the international palate.

***1998 La Tour: Not a great LaTour, though clearly a noble wine. I do not have a strong recollection of this wine other than that I was surprised how one dimensional it was, offering deep, chalky black fruit and nice grip – but overall lacking the quality that makes me “1st growth”. I have had truly great LaTour, including the 59 / 61 / 70 / 90. This was not one of those. Nice.

****++2000 Mouton Rothschild: Another mind bending wine. Wow. What depth. Tobacco, cassis liquor, violets, mint and deeeeeeep stone fruit. Wonderful palate with minerals, red and black fruit, clove, briar. A statuesque wine. At $350 this is almost a steal.

That’s it. The 89 HB, 00 MR, 91 MB and 91 Stags are my wines of the evening, in that order. So in our 1976 Paris Tasting the French reclaim the title! All are 95 to 100 point wines, IMHO. No losers here.

Wine Musings LTD: The Diamond Creek Vertical

From notes taken July, 2006, served throughout dinner at Fascino in Montclair. All of these wines are breathtaking and merit special attention. Al, you were a genius and far before your time!

****1975 Diamond Creek Red Rock Terrace: An elegant, pretty wine, though not at all fragile. Sweet red fruit (Necco wayfers – as John C recalled), grilled meats, mocha, a hint of white pepper on the palate. Full and lush with a long drying finish. To me a very Margaux like wine (that from a Palmer junky), from the best vintage and vineyard. 50% of the group scored this their favorite wine of the evening. Outstanding.

*****1976 Diamond Creek Gravelly Meadow: Wow! Liquid minerals, black licorice, deep, deep concentration. Great balance, finesse. Perfect, lingering finish. I am not sure I can adequately describe this wine other than to say that it possesses all of the qualities I admire in a cabernet, without subtraction. My favorite of the evening and a wine to search for like the grail. Reminiscent of Haut Brion in truly great vintages.

****1979 Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill: I would have guessed 1988 Lafite if pressed. Very Paulliac. Strength, deep black fruit, menthol, lead pencil, chalky minerals. Giant, palate staining palate and puckery finish. Muscular.

****1983 Diamond Creek Gravelly Meadow: Another mind blowing wine. Deep red fruit, even more pronounced minerality, Malabar pepper, an “autumnal” wine (Gary Rosen). Wonderfully sophisticated. My second favorite wine of the evening.

***+1983 Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill: Complex elements of iodine, mocha blueberry, minerals long, fresh and very youthful - the backbone of this wine is still very prominent. More of a fruit driven style, as I find Volcanic Hill to be. Integrated finish.

***(*)1992 Diamond Creek Red Rock Terrace: Wow. I cannot believe how young this wine seems to me. 1992? It boggles my mind. Young, lush crushed red fruit, chocolate, earth, floral elements, long and firmly tannic on the finish. Hold for 10 years and enjoy this wine as it takes on added complexities.

****(*)1992 Diamond Creek Gravelly Meadow: Big, brawny, palate signature of minerals, red fruit, hints of tobacco. A true vin de garde, this wine also needs to sit for a while and soften a bit. It is wonderful but still not that approachable. My 3rd favorite (sensing a trend here?).

***(*)1992 Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill: Here again – Paulliac like, brooding, black, chalky fruit, black truffles, graphite…like looking into a deep, black well. Another 10 years before it can be truly appreciated and then drink over 2X that term.