Three friends and I got together last Thursday night to enjoy some food and wine together, with a very loosely stated theme of Grenache. This yielded some interesting choices from our collective cellars.
2005 Consilience Grenache Blanc Santa Barbara County. At first, this has a sharp, tingly nose of bright lemon, wet pebbles, sparkling mineral water, iron, gritty greens and something like banana peels. However, as it comes up to temperature a bit, it begins to fold the more prominent bitter notes into a softer, chalkier and more pleasingly rounded profile. In the mouth, it is surprisingly full and rounded in texture with a big burst of bright grapefruit and other tropicals. There is a jangly acid note running all the way through to keep it lifted and refreshing. This is a fun, yet serious bottle of wine. It holds up well the whole night and into the next day--where it picks up some oaky undertones.
1981 Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape. This bottle was still sporting its $12.95 price tag. I don’t even want to say how much I recently paid for the 2004—it makes me queasy. The nose here is of old worn leather, dried horse manure, loamy earth, tobacco leaf and animal fur. The furry raspberry and dark cranberry fruit and the accents of persimmon and toasted orange peel only come out to play in subsequent glasses over the long course of the evening. Tannins are totally resolved in the mouth, as this presents a very fine and silky texture. Everything about the wine feels mature and finely balanced, with a sort of ethereal weight. There is a very nice core of sweet red fruits and some tangy acidity that kicks in toward the back and on the very long finish. While I was somehow expecting a bigger wine, this actually displays its virility via its amazing staying power--never budging even a bit or showing any signs of fading from its current state during the course of the whole evening. This was a real treat.
1994 Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape. This opens with a big hit of horse’s ass, but that thankfully blows off fairly quickly, replaced by rather savory notes of new leather, dark cranberry and freshly-picked tobacco leaf. It is very nice on the palate, with melted chocolate flavors, along with black cherry, raspberry and earth. It is showing some pleasant layering and soft tannins. It is not huge in body, but fills the mouth with flavor. It has a good acidic spine and a dry but long finish. I liked this better than the bottle I tried about 15 months earlier—still, I’d give this another 3-5 years.
1990 Paul Coulon et Fils Domaine de Beaurenard Chateauneuf du Pape. This was served ina 375 ml bottle that was poured off from a 750 ml bottle the night before. Ed hadn’t had a very good experience with it on night one and wasn’t even sure he wanted to try it again. In the end, he was glad he did, but I was not entirely convinced. This shows some roasted red fruit qualities on the nose, along with some dark mocha and cooked caramel. It is full and round in the mid-mouth, with a voluptuous texture leading to a much drier, more austerely acidic finish. There are lots of spices and smoky graphite notes and some fuzzy tannins hanging around. To me, it seems to get more disjointed as the night goes on.
1998 Le Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf du Pape. This should have been given a more aggressive decanting—my bad. Still, it shows great promise and could use another 10 years in the cellar. The nose is like a black hole of dark berries, black currants, smoke, black shoe leather and black earth, with just a hint of bell pepper and dried stems. This heart of darkness theme carries into the mouth, where it is dark and brooding and dense. The gorgeous texture is like a velvet-covered easy chair on the palate, especially when married to the pillowy tannins that come on strong as the evening moves along. It really fills the mouth with its black fruits, lava and spice flavors. The finish is very long and spicy and really leaves a promising impression.
2000 Domaine du Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee. CORKED.
2001 Clarendon Hills Grenache Old Vines Kangarilla Vineyard. This wine has an explosive nose of kirsch, raspberry coulis, cedar, powdered peppermint and steeped dill weed. It is really interesting, but there is also a slightly warm port note that I care less for in this environment. It has a very warming entry that leads to an even sweeter-fruited mid-palate. It is dense and extracted, and leaves no room for any holes as it totally fills the mouth with intense and teeth-staining red fruits like candied cherry and bright raspberry and accent notes of chocolate and white pepper. It is big, pure and palate-pounding (more with extraction than tannins). It finishes with a faint note of warmth, but nothing too distracting.
2002 Clarendon Hills Grenache Old Vines Clarendon Vineyard. This sports a darker and more serious nose than the ’01 Kangarilla—with aromas of black cherry, spiced blackberry, fruitcake, soft mint and forest greens. In the mouth, it has tangy raspberry fruit showing fine purity. It is full and round, with soft tannins. Again, it seems darker than its flight-mate and has a lasting finish with soft wood, spices and gentle warmth. It was my favorite of the two, but I must report that after 2 nights in the fridge, this turned much more candied and sticky sweet.
2003 Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey Sauternes. Served from 375 ml bottle. This beauty has a fresh, engaging nose of crème brulee, lemon rind, clover honey, botrytis cream, dill, caramel, sugar cube and burnt apricot. It is viscous and luxuriant in the mouth, with brown spices, caramel, vanilla and star fruit. It is very pure on the finish, with outstanding length and fine balance.
-Michael