Cosponsored a party last night and went to dinner at friends tonight (the weekly Millenium watching party. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_%28TV_series%29). Highlights of the weekend included:
2005 Phillip Colin Chassagne-Montrachet White Burgundy. Pure and beautiful. Oak on the nose, but completely integrated into the palate. Light, with beautiful apple and peach and citrus fruit. Expensive, but WOTN, and I am a reds guy! Pricey Pricey Pricey, (50s) but I might buy again.
2005 Joseph Drouhin Chorey-Les-Beaune Red Burgundy. Decanted for almost two hours. Fruit lovers beware. Not a fruit bomb at all. But, I love this wine. My second wine for the evening. Smooth, but good tannic struucture. Earthy, lovely, and delicious. Not sure about the "Pinosity" but I just found this a pleasure to drink. Light texture and already very smooth. Good mushroom notes, and just a hint of cherry and cranberry fruit. Unlike the reports on cellartracker, this wine did not appear to be closed down or overly acidic-if anything, a touch more acid would have made it even more enjoyable. Relatively affordable, too ($30)
2004 Jacques Puffeny Arbois (Poulsard) Light raspberry color and delicious black pepper and raspberry fruit. Very approachable. I honestly think I like the Tissot version of this variety a little better-because of the beautiful aromatics. Still, this was slurpable.
Two very nice Cru Beaujolais, decanted briefly: 2005 Christophe Pacalet Chiroubles and Domaine de Robert Morgon. Both were very nice, showing more tannins and eathiness tonight than previous tastings. At under $20 for the Robert, how can one go wrong?
Dutch Henry Mount Veeder Pinot Noir. Monster form Cab Country. Very heavy. Not sweet, though.
Navarro 2005 Pinot Noir-brought by a friend. Medicinal and sweet. Weird. Didn't like.
Argyle Oregon Pinot Noir. Better, but at 14.5% abv, this still tastes like the kind of California Pinot Noir that inspired my rant last week. Nice, but not at all what I like!
SUNDAY NIGHT
2005 Elizabeth Spencer Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. Delicious and rich for a steel-aged wine. Surprisingly, after months in the bottle, this is beginning to show some aged characteristics. Just a hint of butterscotch-despite the lack of oak. Delicious and slurpable, this remains one of my favorite California Chards.
1998 Heitz Trailside Vineyard. This was just singing tonight. A cool, difficult vintage, which is reflected in a lovely refreshing character. Not green, and certainly no raw bell pepper here-just "fresh" and balanced. Leather, tobacco, delightful black current fruit, and the mythical Rutherford dust. Not cheap (let's just say over $50) but worth every penny. One of the best Napa cabs of the past 12 months, we all enjoyed this greatly.