2001 Dutch Henry Chalen Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Textbook lesson in "let the wine breathe" 'cause this was discombobulated and had notable notes of dill from the 20% American Oak used (per Winery Website.) By the time my hostess insisted we eat three hours later (after a decant and sitting on the counter open), status of The Game or not, the wine had settled down quite a bit. Good notes of plum, cassis, leather. Good acidity. Very balanced. Still some green notes and just a whisper of dill, but these merley complemented the wine's primary flavors of fruit and leather. Quite nice. Major concern for buying more-I liked the first two drinks better, as the green notes came out more towards the end of the evening. Still-solid 14.5/20 for the wine overall.
2003 Chateau Fourcas Hostens Listrac Medoc Cab, Merlot, Cab Franc. The guy at K&L the other week mentioned this was open in a big way, and it was. Darker in color than the Cali Cab. Absolutely no green notes at all in the nose or the palate. All French Oak, which was quite noticeable underneath the fruit (but not disgustingly so like some California Winemakers who think "Caramel Machiatto" is the goal for a wine). The FRUIT? Big, big roasted black currant and blackberry. This wine, while open, is still amazingly "primary." No real tannins noticeable. In a blind tasting, I really doubt I would have guessed "Bordeaux"-and certainly not a chillier part of the region. Textbook spoofulated? Not sure how to rate this. In and of itself, this was an enjoyable wine, with the fruit to the black side without being "sweet." Still, I look for a certain profile when buying Bordeaux, and I'm not sure this has it. Maybe it's because it's drunk too young? A producer characteristic? So...maybe 12/20. Good, but I prefer the dry, pungeant, earthiness of more traditiuonal Bordeaux. I can see this as being a very popular wine, and it's only $16, so....