Gerry, Blair, Matt and I had a great tailgate at the Patriots game against the Jets recently. Gerry cooked up some fantastic chili and a ton of ribs. I supplied a little cheese plate and grilled up an authentic Blue Seal kielbasa. All kinds of other goodies made it to the table, as well. With all of that bounty, we needed a bunch of wines to help bridge the time until the 4:15 start. It was a bit cool out in the parking lot, so some of these wines had to be brought into the minivan from time to time to warm up. As such, the notes are a bit abbreviated and ought to be taken in the context of the setting.
N.V. Philipponnat Champagne Royale Reserve. This was a great way to start. It features a pretty yet crisp nose of white flowers, light ginger, mineral and lemon rind. It is nice and vibrant in the mouth, with a very refreshing personality. It is tightly cohesive and pumps out a solid wall of flavor. It is more precise and defined than layered or complex, going more for a primary blast of bright yellow fruit and fine minerals. It turns just a bit tart on the finish, but otherwise this is quite tasty.
2003 Emrich-Schönleber Riesling Monzinger Frühlingsplätzchen Kabinett Nahe. The nose here is richly-toned and redolent of diesel fuel, blue slate, nectarine and peach pit. It has more heft and weight in the mouth than one might expect, but it is hardly flabby. It features rich, moderately-sweet nectarine and dark peach flavors over an interestingly mealy-textured frame. It is a bit one-toned at times and perhaps sweeter than one would want from a Kabinett, but it has its expressive moments and overall is enjoyable to drink.
2007 Louis Jadot Vosne-Romanee. This wine features a nose full of soft berry fruit that is pretty and on the restrained side, but expressively pure. It is fresh and direct, but gentle and welcoming—with notes of cherry, red berries, rhubarb, soft chalk and pine needles. In the mouth, it is again full of fine berry fruit, but is on the dry side, for sure. It is very, very tangy with raw acidity and has a certain lightness of being. One member of our group has little or no wine experience and this was his favorite of the day.
2007 Ridge Vineyards Zinfandel Ponzo Vineyard. This is a very youthfully deep purple color. The nose is dense and rich with blue and purple fruit, brownie batter and dark oak spices. It is a bit blunt, frankly, at this very early stage of its life. In the mouth, it is very big and chewy, with a sweet overtone to the mixed briery berry fruit bowl flavors. It features lots of smoke, as well, and a twangy bit of acidity to keep the sucrose elements from turning too porty. It is showing a lot of tannins right now, and a bit of a chewy matted texture. The sweetness of the fruit grows over time, but thankfully falls short of over the top, but barely so for my taste. For all that, the finish is extremely fresh and clean and so while I would discourage early drinking, I think this ought to be fine for the cellar and really needs several years to settle down.
2004 Etude Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. This wine features a serious bouquet of rich cassis, dark plum, smoke, dark earth and cocoa powder. In the mouth, it pumps out wall to wall flavors of rich plum, blueberry cobbler, chunky cassis and smoke. It has a good deal of stuffing and plenty of ripe fruit, but needs some more time in the cellar to integrate the alcohol, the tannins and the chewy texture this shows toward the back of the palate. My recommendation is to hold, but I think this has the components to be quite good down the road.
After the game, we opted to fire up the grill again and treat ourselves to some burgers and dogs and re-heated ribs. We had a few hours to kill waiting for the traffic to clear, so two more bottles were opened.
2004 Rhys Pinot Noir Family Farm Vineyard San Mateo County. This wine shows a whole bunch or dark cherry and whole cluster stemmy notes on the nose to go along with aromas of forest floor and soft balsa wood. Although I don’t always like that stemmy thing, it really works well here. In the mouth, it is decidedly dark cherry-fruited, with a very nice feeling of depth and character. Some furry tannins give this an interesting mouthfeel and definition, but should become more polished with time. Though I would hold this a few more years, it certainly delivers plenty of nice flavor and character right now.
2001 Domaine Paul Autard Châteauneuf du Pape Cuvée La Cote Ronde. This is a bit cloudy and hazy in appearance. The first few sniffs show a lot of animal notes and some beautifully-resolved sweet red fruit. It then folds in some dark earth, leather and ash notes, as well, and a real interesting bit of spicecake and mince pie that come in over time. In the mouth, it is nicely fruity but also earth-bound—with a smooth resolved entry that yields to a bit more matted texture through the middle. It is not quite full-bodied and despite plenty of sweet-tinged fruit never veers from being dry. It seems to walk a line between modern and traditional, with a clean smoky finish turning increasingly leathered over time. The wine seems mature at times, but seems to have some good life left for some mid-term cellaring.
-Michael
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