WTN: Rochioli, Turley, Tempier, Chablis

Monthly lunch notes.

Predictably, we had a larger proportion of whites given the warm weather.

2006 Rochioli Sauvignon Blanc Russian River Valley – green nose, tons of acidity, then the nose picked up some nice fruit with a little time in the glass. Very pleasant.

2004 Pommier Chablis 1er cru Cote de Lechet – an initial whiff of coconut and lime changed fairly quickly to a straight citrus and gravel nose. Quite full flavoured, with a nice clean finish. Good.

2004 Daniel Dampt Chablis 1er cru Cote de Lechet – a slight whiff of papaya or other tropical fruit, and lots of mineral, quite dry. Not a producer I am familiar with.

2009 Dom. Tempier Rose – I haven’t had this for quite awhile, yet it stands out as one of the really nice roses available. Blended from Mourvedre, Grenache and cinsault (had to look it up to be sure there was no syrah) it is a light salmon pink with a berry nose (not a hint of any Mourvedre ponginess) with a little spice, and a clean finish. Very good!

2003 Spring Vale Pinot Noir (Tasmania) – herbal with green and nutmeg hints, the nose was pretty good, but the green followed through on palate. Lots of acidity in this and a bit of heat in the too short finish.

2003 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Russian River Valley – well made wine with a slightly odd peppermint and oak nose, as well as more conventional dark cherry and hints of anise. A lively medium bodied wine with a smooth medium long finish. I liked this.

1999 Perrin Crozes Hermitage – I hadn’t known that the Perrins did a Crozes! Interesting nose with almost but not quite blood, with smoke and fruit as well as burnt rubber. Medium weight, soft tannin.

1996 Turley Zinfandel Aida Vd. – dark wine with a warm nose of currant and cocoa, raisiny in the mouth and a bit hot, with a very long sweet finish. Good cheese wine. I like ageing these wines – some of them are a bit overpowering when young but become interesting with age. I brought this after two days of hunting for the wine I really wanted to bring!

2003 Alabastro Reserva (Alantejano) – dark wine with a hot ripe nose of sweet berries, and sweetness on palate. Pleasant, and more or less in the same style as the previous wine. Both good with cheese.

[David M. Bueker]

Aging Turley has always been a crap shoot as far as I am concerned. A few of the wines (especially the Petite Sirahs) seem to take the age quite well, but most of the zins I've had with age on them have proved quite volatile and dominated by their high alcohol.

[Jenise]

2006 Rochioli Sauvignon Blanc Russian River Valley – Nose of grass, white grapefruit and fresh fennel, clean and bright on the palate. Loved it that Sonoma, California, was the last place the group thought this wine could be from. Outstanding, at least within the context of California Sauvignon Blancs. Perhaps merely excellent when considered globally.

2004 Pommier Chablis 1er cru Cote de Lechet – I never lost the coconut and lime on this one, it just integrated when other things came to the fore. My notes mention "oily" and "extracted". Very atypical and rather fat for a Chablis, I'd have never guessed that, but good.

2004 Daniel Dampt Chablis 1er cru Cote de Lechet – Chalky, stoney, with a little smoke. Very cut on the palate and, this time, unmistakably Chablis. Excellent. Good pairing by Nadine and David.

2009 Dom. Tempier Rose – Coop vocalized it before I did but I was certain that this was the '09 Tempier right off the bat. Pale warm pink, very precise with pink grapefruit and sweet herbs. Delightful, and fully deserving of it's status as I heard it referred to the other day, "the first cult rose". Outstanding.

2003 Spring Vale Pinot Noir (Tasmania) – I brought the Williams Selyem that comes next, so when I picked up my glass and smelled pinot I thought it was my wine and went "Oh NO!" Stemmy and on the green side with insufficient fruit on the palate and a parchy finish. Drinkable, but not really thoroughly enjoyable. Probably better 2-3 years ago.

2003 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Russian River Valley – Mint--faint but first--black cherry, licorice, earthy and a kiss of iodine on the nose. Generous on the palate and balanced. Very good at being what it is, and showing very well now. Should hold here for a few years. Very good.

1999 Perrin Crozes Hermitage – Highly aromatic big burnt rubber on the nose with sweet dark cherry and violets. Immediately detectable as Northern Rhone syrah, but what a surprise that it turned out to be a Crozes instead of a Rotie (the first CR I ever had, the 85 Guigal, was full of burnt rubber and that's been my benchmark for that appellation ever since, whereas most Crozies have been full of green olives. None here, just deep, concentrated, intense syrah and rhone flavors. Outstanding.

1996 Turley Zinfandel Aida Vineyard – caramel sweet, raisins and dates--all dried fruit, warm climate seeming, brite acids. It was a good cheese wine but I recall this wine as a baby, and it's the youthful porty heaviness of wines like Turley's Aida and Haynes that makes me so not a fan of this winery. I'd have never had the nerve to buy it and hold it all this time. So, an upside surprise to be sure, and interesting, though I don't think I'd want a cellar full.

2003 Alabastro Reserva (Alantejano), Portugal – Big juicy sweet fruit. It's half and half cabernet sauvignon and something that sounded like P---atino. A little on the hot side but very lively, a nice choice in a young port kind of way for the cheeseplate.