Andy was once again our host for poker several weeks back and he served up some delicious homemade pizzas and a series of interesting wines flights served double blind. We did not know at first, but each flight was made up of three wines made from the same grape but from different parts of the world. My guesses were not too great, I will admit.
Flight One:
2008 Dr. Konstantin Frank Riesling Semi-Dry Finger Lakes. This first wine has a soft and at times slightly shy nose featuring aromas of honeysuckle, apple blossom, lemon peel, peach juice, tropical hints and a bit of wax. It does develop a more giving personality with time and air and folds in a strong fruit cup set of aromas while still maintaining a sense of airiness. On the palate, it is gentle and round, with a soft touch to the acidity. There is a small hint of residual sweetness and a waxy texture that at times seems to coat the teeth. The flavors of Delicious apple, yellow fruits, and a bit of tropical fruit mélange combine in an open-knit, giving and fruit-forward package that is pleasant, soft and gently sweet.
2007 Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Kabinett Mosel. The bouquet here is classically Mosel Riesling to me, with aromas of apple flesh, peach fuzz, cool graphite minerality, lime pith, faint diesel and a wisp of flinty smoke. In the mouth, it tastes of peach, apple, blue slate and a tiny bit of petrol, with a fair bit of Spatlese-level sweetness. Overall, it presents a very nice package in the mouth—smooth and slippery and not overly voluminous, but delivering a solid blast of flavor that leaves a lasting impression. It feels young and promising, but nice for current consumption, too. This was my favorite of the flight.
2007 Trimbach Riesling Alsace. The nose of this wine is tight, compact and a bit hard--with aromas of herbs, minerals, lemon sour ball, chalk and cool smoke. There is no charm or distinction, really. In the mouth, it is on the sour, mouth-puckering side. It is oily-textured and fairly rounded, with a heavy-bottomed feel, but also that green apple, grapefruit and lemon slice sourness and pinch to it. It ends quite dry and tightly unyielding—not giving much pleasure at all.
Flight Two:
2006 Siduri Pinot Noir Keefer Ranch Vineyard Russian River Valley. This wine smells immediately of whole cluster, stemmy Pinot Noir to me. Notes of toasted stems, tea leaves, brown spices, sassafras, pomegranate, sweetened rhubarb, oak staves and birch bear are full and enveloping but not especially to my style of preference. In the mouth, it is again totally stemmy and massively spicy, with a huge thwack of oak toasting and piles of birch, sassafras, cola, rhubarb and pomegranate flavors in tow. It thankfully turns a bit creamier on the finish, but overall this is a large-framed and full-flavored pinot made in a flavor profile I just don’t care for.
2006 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru. The middle wine in this flight smells of black cherry, dark earth, raspberry candies, a touch of toasted herbs and a bit of black leather. In the mouth, this is quite simply a tannic monster, with a punishing feel to it. One can sense the mound of black cherry fruit this is sitting on, but the tannins and wood and spiky acids are just far too aggressive to enjoy this even a little bit. It finishes with black tea leaves, spices and a cooler blue fruit profile, but it is not nearly enough to save this harsh youngster that needs a lot of cellar time.
2006 Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir Willamette Valley. The nose on this wine is an interesting combination of sweet raspberries, high-toned kirsch and cherry cola riding above earthier elements of mushroom stalks and fireplace ashes. In the mouth, it has some pomegranate sourness to go with creamed cherry sweetness and a bass note of earth tones. It is a strong, fairly rich and lush Pinot with a mildly oaky finish. It gets a bit jumbled up at times but seems to pull it all together on the finish most of the time. I can’t say I was really enthused about any of the wines in this flight.
Flight Three:
2006 Concha y Toro Cabernet Sauvignon Don Melchor Maipo Valley. The nose seems rather meaty, dense and thick after the Pinot flight, with notes of black cherry paste, black rocks, tomato leaf and a dusting of peppermint feeling warm and giving. In the mouth, it is creamy and pasty—with chocolate and chewy fruit galore. There are some fudgy tannins in the mix, but they work well within the confines of the wine’s overall personality. The finish is fairly sweet and persistent, with a bit of a chalky feel. There are no hard edges and the wine just feels like a relief after the austerity of the previous flight.
2006 Château Duhart-Milon Pauillac. This is a much cooler and classier profile on the nose—offering up aromas of creosote, black currants, blackberries, lava rocks, coffee beans and unsweetened chocolate. It is holding plenty in reserve, but is quite solid right now in a youthful yet pedigreed way. In the mouth, it is creamy-textured—with flavors of black currant, earth and a bit of smoky bacon fat that threw me off the trail a bit. It is cool and slippery and glyceral, with very good flow. It is young and should reward some mid-term cellaring.
2005 Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. I like the aromatic profile here, with its exotic aromas of briery berries, cool earth, creosote, white pepper and sweet cherry compote. In the mouth, though, I find it to be candied and perhaps a bit too over-extracted. There are no hard edges anywhere and there is a whole lot of fine cocoa powder and chewy cherry fruit to like, but also that intense vein of sweet red fruit at the core. It is a big mouthful of wine and delivers a big punch of low-acid fruit in an open-structured framework. It pumps out the flavor, but can be a bit too much for my taste. I’d be curious to taste this again in two to three years.
Overall, I was really hard-pressed to target this as a Cabernet flight, as I had Syrah more in mind than Cabernet. However, when it became apparent to me that the next flight was more clearly Syrah, I doubled back and guessed correctly on the second try.
Flight Four:
2007 Mitolo Shiraz Savitar McLaren Vale. This wine bursts forth with a bouquet of plums, brownie batter and scorched earth, turning ever more sweet and pulling in some fun peppermint dust and cedar shingle notes over time. On the palate, it is one big mouthful of wine. It is super-rich and packed with unctuous blue fruit, but it is fun and a bit sexy and I have to admit I like it a good deal. There are some youthful tannins but they are plush and yielding for the most part. The acidity is on the soft side and allows the fruit to really take center stage. The structure is there, though, and the wine is a lot of fun to drink and is just really tasty. MY WOTN.
2005 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Petite Chapelle. What a paradigm shift this is from the previous wine. It smells serious and savory, with an earthy core of black lava, cool bacon fat, cool forest, black currant and a hint of tar oil. In the mouth, it comes across as rather linear with a lot of obvious acidity and tannin sticking out in different places. It does have crunchy structure and a classy earth-bound feel, but it feels dour and reserved and ungiving sandwiched here as it is between two much more overt and fruity Syrahs. It does not give a whole lot of pleasure right now, so try it again in 3 or 4 years.
2005 Shafer Relentless Napa Valley. This represents a return to a much larger-framed nose but one that is cooler and more silken than the first wine in the flight—featuring aromas of black cherries, mixed currants, and black and brown Necco wafers in an appealing package. In the mouth, it opens up with a big blast of cherry fruit and semi-sweet chocolate chip flavors carried along by an extremely smooth and velvety texture that nonetheless can’t hide the youthful fine-grained wood the wine possesses. There is a boatload of stuffing here and a lot of juicy red fruit flavors that can be a bit syrupy but never over the top. It has soft acidity and enough structure to keep it from going too far, but it is difficult to drink a whole lot of this weighty wine, despite its fine flavors and nice mouthfeel.
After hours random wines:
2006 Joseph Drouhin Côte de Nuits Villages. The nose here is tight and shy, with just a bit of berries and rhubarb showing. In the mouth, it is similarly red berry driven, with some abundant and drying tannins sapping away any fun the berry fruit might be trying to display. It finishes rather dry, with a twangy acidity taking over. It doesn’t feel all that ready to drink, IMHO.
2005 Château Beaulieu Comtes de Tastes Bordeaux Superieur. This seems a bit blocky and chunky on the nose, with some cherry and dark earth accents in a compacted profile. In the mouth, it is similarly compact and tightly-coiled, with the smoky black fruit, charcoal, mineral and dark chocolate flavors feeling a bit bitter-edged and primary. It needs time.
2007 Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County. This wine gives off aromas of high-toned blackberries, charcoal and bacon fat, which are at least interesting. However, in the mouth, all I detect is flavors of black licorice and sickly-sweet Robitussen cough medicine. I do not recommend it.
2007 Carlisle Petite Sirah Yorkville Highlands. The nose is dark-profiled, with scents of blue and black fruits that are perhaps a bit sinewy right now, but which have very good potential with further aging. In the mouth, it is massive in size and packs a punch of blue and purple fruit that are decidedly Petite Sirah. It is right in your face and rather true to its varietal character. Still, it could use a bit of layering and perhaps a bit of mellowing, so I might suggest holding off a while yet on it.
1983 Château Suduiraut Sauternes. Ah, sweet serenity! I needed this at the end of the day. The nose is more bright and tangy than sumptuous and rich—with fine notes of clementines, liquid caramel, baked apricot and creme brulee topping. In the mouth, it finds more richness, but is never overtly unctuous. It is generously-flavored, yielding a whole lot of apricot and other pit fruit flavors with some creme brulee topping and toasted orange peel accents around the edges. It has a nice aged feel to it, but still retains a fine squirt of lively acidity all the way through to the airy finish. I don’t see it getting any better from here, so I suggest enjoying its pleasures now.
-Michael