Poor Remo must have too much free time on his hands, being so well-informed about which trophy bottle figures on what wine list at what price... Was fun to see the guys, though.
Château Ausone St. Emilion 2001
Brilliant, medium-deep purple-black, ruby-red rim. Coconut and banana peel and leaf oak, a little vanilla, but not unusual for a young whose fruit phase is obviously coming to an end. Sweetly ripy, juicy, forest berry and cherry. Sound alcohol, if unproblematic with a little airing. Lightly astringent at first, although again, no longer after half an hour and beyond. In fact, this first became smoother, rounder and more harmonious for almost a couple of hours, before it started to close down in the glass again, and eventually seemed lightly dusty, luckily in part with minerality. Touch of banana to the tannin. Low acidity. Mild pebbly minerality. Medium-plus length. As Victor, our resident Ausone fan that night so to speak, said, the oak component became significantly more integrated (that took about an hour), and the wine earthier and more minerally by the end of the evening (after almost two hours). All in all, a very modern-styled but not overblown wine with promising terroir notes lurking underneath – it really reminded me of the 1999 Pavie, just less chalky. Victor finds it debatable if the 2001 surpasses e.g. the 1999, and added that both are a very far cry from the monumental 2000. In short, I was not too impressed: a very pretty, perhaps not unexceptional wine; easy-to-interpret, fruit-driven style compared to Ausone from the pre-Vauthier era; but then, a wine that clearly holds some potential and should be left alone in the cellar now. In hindsight, while I can see that in view of often light, acidic, musty Ausones of the past (the exceptionally great examples or vintages were/are never in doubt, seemingly regardless of style), something needed to be done, I wish the “improvement” had not been towards an overtly modernistic style that one can only hope the wines will wear off in bottle. Rating: 92+/93(+?)
Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Da Capo 2003
Deep, lightly purple ruby-black. Extremely ripe black fig with a lively, very sweet Kirsch liqueur top note. Fun sultana top note, rather as in a white wine or perhaps Côte-Rôtie from the Côte Blonde. Impressive mid-palate density (not easy to return to the 2001 Ausone, of which I kept a glass to observe over the course of the evening). Alluring fruit, liqueur-, but not at all Amarone-like. Clean and pure, but same as last time, I find the 2003 Da Capo a bit hot with alcohol (I will not go so far as to claim this is a modern-styled CdP, but it definitely seems as if only ancient-reserve-style examples à la Henri Bonneau can swallow so much alcohol – and I do mean integrate, that is, apart from blowing some off during their sojourn in cask!). That did not keep it from going perfectly well with my milk goat dish. Like the tannin quality here, virtually free from the bitterness of the vintage, and showing good grip and potential complexity. Also, the 2003 is not at all lower-acid than the 2000. Victor and I could not quite agree on whether we would place this on (possibly shared) second (IMHO) or third place among the three Da Capos thus far made. Guess poor Remo now needs to find a restaurant where he can get a taste of the 1998. Guess if he does, I will allow myself to get dragged along again... Having said that, what about unearthing some old-style beauties for a change, to do a favour to li’l ole David (who ultimately seems to always only crave those)? Rating: 95+/96(+?)
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