These are overdue notes from a birthday celebration with my wife and family.
N.V. Nicolas Feuillate Champagne Brut. This bottle was among the best I’ve had of this cuvee. Aromas of baked apples, birch beer, nutmeg nuts, copper kettle and old-fashioned ginger ale are nice and discretely varied. It has a good lively character in the mouth and the flavors of spiced apple, pear and chalk are direct and driving, though not particularly complex or layered. It is simple, but this bottle in particular was enjoyable.
2007 Chateau du Cleray Muscadet de Sevre-et-Maine Sur Lie Reserve. This Muscadet displays a crisp nose of wet stones, botanical herbs, chalk dust, parsley leaf, and oyster shells. It is very bracing in the mouth, with a briny character allied to flavors of fresh-squeezed lemon, smoke and quinine. It is light and crisp, without much presence on the attack, but some rounder nuances through the mid-palate. It finishes painfully dry, briny and bitter-edged. I have to say that this doesn’t really scratch my Muscadet itch.
2006 Ramey Chardonnay Russian River Valley. Served from 375ml. This wine presents all of the classic Ramey Chardonnay characteristics, including a nose of creamy oak, pistachio nuts, hazelnuts and leesy tropical fruit aromas. There is less in the way of river stones or chalk that I normally get, but otherwise right down the middle for Ramey. On the palate, it is a bit less exuberant and perhaps somewhat more narrow than earlier vintages of the RRV cuvee I’ve had recently like 2003 and 2004, but it is still overt, exotic and fleshy. Flavors of pear, pistachio nut and oaky dusting are carried along by more linear acidity than I am used to, but the overall impression is still full-flavored and engaging.
2001 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate Napa Valley. Served from 375 ml. The Montelena displays a youthful nose of sweet cassis, red cherry and black currant fruit underpinned by earthier notes of dirt and leather. In the mouth, it is tightly-coiled, but still able to show plenty of flavor in both the fruit and earth spectrums. It is not closed or tough, just wiry. It has fantastic balance, as demonstrated by its ability to pair nearly equally well with my venison and my wife’s lobster dishes. It takes a wide, solid stance, giving it a great sense of centered assurance. While rather enjoyable now in this format, it is still best to obviously sit on these for a while.
2005 Château Duhart-Milon Pauillac. This was served with dinner after a 4-hour decant. It offers up a deep, fragrant bouquet of cool earth, leather, gravel, tree bark and cedar aromas riding atop a core of black raspberry fruit. A second glass an hour or so later reveals some notes of creosote and gardenia but also a sweeter concentration of warm cherry liqueur and cassis fruit. On the palate, it is on the full-bodied side and dry, with a lot of presence and power to it, but also a clear sense of pedigree. Dark-tinged flavors of black currant, blackberry, plum skins, gravel, leathery smoke and burnt embers are corpulent but offset by a wonderfully fresh streak of acidity. A second glass comes across as more creamy and lush, but also decidedly more tannic, especially toward the back of the palate, where it shows some signs of starting to clamp down a bit. Still, this is an exciting Pauillac and will clearly be outstanding for some time to come.
2001 Hugel et Fils Gewurztraminer Vendange Tardives. Aromas of orange blossom, rose water, burnished apricot, and tons of brown spices are classic, but refined and easy-going. In the mouth, it shows some flashes of sweetness, but is generally pretty restrained in the classic Hugel fashion. One really notices the fine lift and freshness that accompanies the gentle sweetness of the wine. Flavors of toasted orange rind, apricot and flowery spices are strong but in proper focus. The finish is fresh and not overly-sweet, leaving one with an impression of a refined wine but one that could use some time to flesh out a bit more and gain some additional depth or character. A very good cheese wine, by the way, for those who like to eat cheeses with sweet VT styled wines (as I do).
-Michael