Castello di Ama Chianti Classico 1997
Looks as if I have not retasted the 1997 in almost seven years. It is doing very well in bottle. Still needs a good airing in the decanter. Almost opaque, lightly pruney ruby-black, minor watery-red rim. Tough cherry, minerals, belt leather, green/grey pepper. Soft metal note to medium acidity, still austere tannin. Similar in structure and balance to a 1990, if without the roasted quality to the fruit; more the precise, although not too fresh or refreshing kind. Gained in complexity with airing, adding some dried herbs. Less finesseful but more powerful than Fontodi’s Riserva Vigna del Sorbo last week. Rating: 89+/~90
Fontodi Chianti Classico Riserva Vigna del Sorbo 1997
Needs to be decanted as it holds some powdery sediment. Deep, almost opaque ruby-black, fairly large ruby-red rim. Black truffle, soft leather, black cherry with a whiff of blackcurrant (the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend, it seemed), a sweet and dry 1997 with quite strong minerality and rather finesseful tannin for the vintage, as well as soft but pretty acidity. Good medium-plus body. Quite long on the well-balanced finish. Lovely little red-fruitiness on the aftertaste. Rating: 91-/90?
Foucault Clos Rougeard Saumur-Champigny Le Bourg 1995
A cellar trove – I thought I had depleted my stocks of the 1995. Medium-deep ruby-black. Lovely tobacco, smoke and mineral aromas. Fairly complex raspberry-tinged, lightly leafy violet, plum peel and sour cherry. Very minerally. The slight underlying camphor- if not rhubarb-like greenishness/bitterness (oxalic acid?) remains the same, but of course the fruit subsides. Just not an ideally ripe vintage for the reds in the Loire, a far cry from the 1996. Even so, there is undeniable nobility to the terroir expression of this wine, a bit à la Château Margaux, if more minerally-smoky graphite-like. Rating: 88
Daniel & Martha Gantenbein Fläscher Blauburgunder 1997
Still very deep ruby-black almost to the rim. This is no longer gaining in opulence in bottle, but giving emphasis to its intense smoky-petrolly minerality. Red beet, sound acids, a bit metallic at first, but sweeter and more glyceric again with airing. Very good body and length. Complete integration of whatever percentage of new oak there may have been. “An ideal Herrschäftler” (the name of the region) my parents say, and indeed, later vintages not only contain a lower percentage of Wädenswiler Pinot Noir clones, but taste more Burgundian, without necessarily showing greater typicity. Rating: 92-/91(-?)
Sérafin Père & Fils Morey-Saint-Denis Millandes 1996
Full black ruby colour. Raspberry and blackberry, plum peel, animal fur, iron and steel, black pepper, some aged raw beef, a little grey-peppery oak. Remains tannic and shows strong but unoffensive acidity (in this vintage usually a direct function of how concentrated or undernourished a Pinot Noir is). Deserves more time in bottle. My parents, for whom I opened it, simply loved it. Rating: 89+
Fattoria Valtellina Chianti Classico 1999
Thanks to my parents. We continue to deplore the fact that this may have been our favourite Chianti producer of all. Virtually identical to the last bottle half a year ago, continually opening up, quite youthfully fresh, firm and racy still, but no longer infanticide to pull corks. Rating: 89+?
Guy Wach Domaine des Marronniers Riesling Moenchberg 2005
Thanks to my parents. Pretty if clearly less attractive or interesting terroir expression than the unique Kastelberg terroir chez Wach, but the 2005 vintage may have yielded better wines here (we are planning to taste the Kastelberg from the same vintage next), as this shows greater intensity, concentration, body and cut, livelier acidity and herb finesse notes to the fruit, and more persistence on the finish, than the 2004 Kastelberg. Fine QPR buy, too, but at just one Euro less, it may be a worthy alternative only to those who do not want an intensely minerally Riesling à la Kastelberg. Rating: 89
Guy Wach Domaine des Marronniers Riesling Kastelberg 2005
Thanks to my parents. Shows that (to me all-important) notion of greater, more expressive, more intense as well as finesseful terroir, along with a fraction more body, complexity and viscosity than the gentler, tamer Moenchberg. Fine QPR buy, a step beyond an everyday accompaniment to a variety of dishes. Rating: ~90
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti