Had these wines over the last week, took no notes but thought I'd share my impressions:
2006 Solena Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
My first experience with this wine: bought it two-ish years ago, stuck it in the cellar and forgot about it. Glad I remembered it now, it's one of the best 06 OR pinots I've had. Brilliant fruit and balance teased with the perfect complexity that can develop in the bottle after the hullaballoo of just getting that far dies down. Everything about it's just right--drinking perfectly right now but there's no rush. And what a way to welcome the first wild king salmon of the year to our table, napped with a tangy lemon-tarragon bearnaise. Excellent.
1996 Laurel Glen Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma
Sometimes you get in this mood where you've just gotta have beef and cabernet, and the mood hit last Thursday night when I needed something to cheer up my darling husband who was miserable and angry because he'd had to fire a tech writer that day who was a lot more talented than the one they were keeping. He's in a boom-bust line of work, and the bust looming right now threatens to be the worst he's ever seen. Work is not fun anymore. So I poached some meaty short ribs in a tomato-onion broth and pulled this reminder of better times from the cellar, and it did not disappoint. In fact, this is maybe the 3rd bottle from the original six pack of 96's I've opened, and it was by far the best bottle so far, no tightness now, nothing awkward or in need of more time. It's California Cabernet at it's best with that piquant boysenberry fruit that Sonoma seems to impart and some red iron-like minerality. Should hold here for years. Outstanding.
2006 Palliser Pinot Gris, New Zealand
I've had some brilliant New Zealand pinot gris/grigios over the years that are so faceted and full of life that it makes you completely rethink the grape. This wasn't one of them. Seemingly aiming at the Alsatian style but lacking the acid to pull it off, the residual sugar turns this wine morose and renders it unsuitable for anything but the sewer. Which is exactly where it went.
2001 Rol Valentin, 375 ml bottle, St. Emilion
Sweetish nose that's a bit floral and confected suggests a right banker, but the oaky weight on the palate seems more Pomerol than St. Emilion. Stiff and wooden, it was Al Gore in a bottle. Drinkable (with food) but joyless. Eh.
2006 Puffeney 'Trousseau' Arbois
Oh god, where has this been all my life? Smelly--rotting vegetable smelly---nose was both offputting and oddly exciting at first in a suspense-filled, drum roll kind of way. Without knowing what was coming, you had this sense that THIS was going to be interesting. That blew off after 20 minutes or so to reveal an immensely complicated wine. Barely medium bodied and unburdened by weight, it leapt like Nureyev from great moment to great moment around a core of exotic peppery-ness: tellicherry, szechuan, white--they were all there wrapped in raspberry fruit with celery, fennel and herbs. I loved this.
Two more that didn't fit in the subject title:
2007 de Tarczal Cabernet Franc, Italy
A Small Vineyards import. My first comment to Bob about this one was, "I could drink this every day." This has one of the best cab franc noses I've ever smelled, which means it would send someone who wasn't crazy about the grape running from the room. It's spicy with a big green riff that suggests underripeness, but your first sip tells you that's a lie, there's nothing but lovely ripe fruit here. A wine to drink right now that's more satisfying than 99% of the wines you'd say that about, it has just enough acidity to make it bright in that Italian way but none of the tannins needed for cellaring. Crazy good for $15.
2007 TRUST Syrah, Walla Walla
On Friday we smoked a rack of pork ribs, and that called for a nice syrah. In honor of the Spring Barrel Tasting weekend that is going on right now without us, we opened this wine we bought at last year's event. It was disappointing: smooth dark fruit (note that in my vocab, 'smooth' is not a flattering word to use about wine) underpinned by same telltale plastic-and-vinegar volatility that slides into the finish. Not reccomended.