TNs: Bordeaux, quasi-Bdx, Italian, Burgs, and blues licks

Chris arranged for and put together a pre-Thanksgiving wine-tasting dinner, and 5 of us decided to get together at Tribeca Grill for the occasion. Since the event was pretty much arranged on-the-fly, the theme remained simply as any wines that we’d feel like drinking.

The White Burgundies

2006 Louis Michel Chablis Butteaux
Citrus, vibrant, slightly rich but drinking refreshingly well. B

2006 Anglada-Deleger Chassagne-Montrachet "Blanchot Dessus"
Expressive and perfumed nose; well balanced and lean, with slightly candied notes; a very good wine. Ian brought this bottle and, to borrow from his notes, he stated that it “is metaphorically knocking on the grand cru door as it is wedged between Criots and Montrachet”. A-


The Quasi-Bordeaux

So, at this stage, Paul who’s a wine director at a very posh NYC restaurant pulled out this bottle that I’ve heard quite a bit about but have never seen nor tasted. It was the Chateau Palmer “Historique”. The bottle looked definitely like a Palmer, but had no vintage indication, nor anything on it that may indicate the content. I learned that it was a 2004 and, in addition to the regular Palmer Bordeaux blend, 15% syrah was added in. The nose and palate had confection spice notes in them, very dark wine, big, oak, white pepper specks, creamy, and modern in style. It’s quite good, but not one that I would seek out. B+


The Bordeaux

1995 Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Pauillac
Subdued nose at the start, but with time in the glass showed layers of ripe red and black fruit with nose of gravel, fruit and pencil shavings. Silky and elegant, this is a well-structured wine. This bottle was brought by John, one of the 2 attendees who fronts a couple of NYC blues bands, and at this point, he kindly played a few bars for some kids that came over to our table with requests for him to play something on his harmonica. Applause all around for that little treat for the Tribeca Grill diners. A- for the Pauillac; A+ for John’s bluesy harmonica licks.

1983 Chateau Pichon Lalande, Pauillac
Tertiary nose of leather, cigar and earth. Still possessing some tannin, quite delicate, the wine showed the elegance and smoothness that I always remember this wine to be. This is the 4th of a 6-pack that I purchased from way back and I will plan on drinking my remaining bottles in the next 2-3 years. A-

1988 Chateau Pape Clement, Pessac-Leognan
Leafy nose, very dark wine. Dense and rich with evolved sweet tannin, with some green notes. I’d like to have the opportunity to taste this after 5 years. B+

2002 Chateau Smith-Haut-Lafitte, Pessac-Leognan
Not a hyped vintage, but Left Bank 2002s continue to remain near-and-dear to me. Leafy with slight vanilla notes; but, austere and backward with lively acidity. A classic Bordeaux and a well made wine. Chris brought this bottle and I secretly hoped that he brought his guitar with him as well, as a few kick-ass licks with John’s harmonica might have gotten us free dinners at Tribeca Grill. A-


The Italian

2004 Fontodi Flaccianello
My first Flaccianello, courtesy of Paul. 100% Sangiovese. Big, young and brutally tannic; eucalyptus nose; slightly all over the place at this point. B


It was a very enjoyable evening with a small fun group, and with, overall, a very good selection of wines.

Ramon

in addition to the regular Palmer Bordeaux blend, 15% syrah was added in...

Where does the syrah come from? Is that something they grow every year? What do they do with the syrah in most years?

in addition to the regular Palmer Bordeaux blend, 15% syrah was added in...

Where does the syrah come from? Is that something they grow every year? What do they do with the syrah in most years?

I posed the same exact question during the dinner and, iirc, the answer was that it came from Northern Rhone.

A little googling got me to a retailer’s website with the ff:

“In the olden days, Bordeaux estates would routinely add Syrah (Hermitage) to their red wine for additional depth, color and alcohol. Palmer has brought back the old style, in an extremely limited fashion, of course, for a lucky few that will get to sample this fascinating and very tasty wine. 15% Syrah (Hermitage), 42.5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 42.5% Merlot (Palmer property).”

So they bought it just for this vintage? Funny stuff.

in addition to the regular Palmer Bordeaux blend, 15% syrah was added in...

Where does the syrah come from? Is that something they grow every year? What do they do with the syrah in most years?

I posed the same exact question during the dinner and, iirc, the answer was that it came from Northern Rhone.

A little googling got me to a retailer’s website with the ff:

“In the olden days, Bordeaux estates would routinely add Syrah (Hermitage) to their red wine for additional depth, color and alcohol. Palmer has brought back the old style, in an extremely limited fashion, of course, for a lucky few that will get to sample this fascinating and very tasty wine. 15% Syrah (Hermitage), 42.5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 42.5% Merlot (Palmer property).”

Fascinating. I doubt, though, whether this tastes very like the "Hermitagé" claret of the 19th century. First, I think that ripeness levels were less pushed in Bordeaux then, second new oak flavours are a recent innovation and lastly not many people then would have drunk a 5 year old claret.

I believe that "Hermitagé" Bordeaux was made mainly for the British market where there was (and still is) a taste for more body and "sweetness" than Bordeaux could then supply easily and naturally. More recently, i.e. up to the 1950s, reputable Belgian bottlers of claret and Burgundy, like Vandermeulen and Grafé-Lecocq, were rumoured to have recipes for improving (note no inverted commas) clarets and Burgundies; a dash of port here, a drop of cassis there, etc. Some of their bottlings of Grands Crus from that period still fetch high prices in auction rooms.

On a different tack I am pleased to read about the good showing of GPL 95. I have quite a few other clarets from this vintage and have been getting worried by the obstinacy of their dry tannins.

So they bought it just for this vintage? Funny stuff.

Yes, funny and quite interesting, to say the least.

I don’t know if they purchased fruit or actually own a parcel or 2 at Hermitage. Regardless, given the normally high pricing that wines from this house command in the market, and add to that the novelty and mystery surrounding this wine, I presume that the pricing will more than cover any expense associated with the syrah.