Had a very nice (and fun!) dinner out with the folks I met at the Riesling arrivage tasting. All the following wines were ordered from the restaurant wine list (or served for free).
Clos Saint Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape Deus Ex Machina 2007
From 60- to over 100-year-old vines, a blend of 60% Grenache aged in tank, and 40% Mourvèdre aged in small oak barrels (in part new, in part one-year-old). Believe it or not, yours truly ordered this (one of the most fairly priced wines on the list, if an excuse were needed, and: “curiosity killed the cat”), even though I found the standard 2007 CdP perplexing. Was happy to find I liked it much better than the 2004 and 2005. Virtually opaque purple-ruby-black. Roast lamb (or beef). Roasted herbs (for once hard to tell if Provençal or other). Oriental-spiced, big and superripe jammy blood pudding fruit. The old-vininess shows to some extent. Not the ultimate in tannin depth, with touches of coffee, marzipan and malt. Soft and a bit blood-orangey acidity. Quite long on the finish. Faint viscosity. Meat-juicier with airing. Balanced in the modern sense of the term, by which I mean, a quantitative – there is no telling if a wine like this can achieve anything like “harmony” with bottle age (Nick and I strongly doubt it, and would recommend drinking this while it gives so much up-front, mindless pleasure). Happen to find consultant Pilippe Cambie’s style weirdly reminiscent of a Stéphane Derenoncourt to Michel Rolland styled Bordeaux, in this particular case a bit like the CdP version of Canon La Gaffelière. Be that as it may, the wine has its undeniable qualities. Glad to have had a chance to taste it in this context (everyone liked it for what it is, no less, no more), leisurely and from fine stemware. Rating: ~94(-?)
Podere San Luigi Fidenzio 2004
A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Opaque purple-black, faint watery rim. Coconut oak, faint lead pencil, a bit medicinal with quinine and iodine and a faint salty volatility. Soft peppery fruit. In great part oak-induced, dusty but relatively ripe, relatively grainy tannin. Tobacco with airing, increasingly ashtray-like, as well as more volatile. Heard whispers to the effect that whoever ordered this (shared cost) should get muzzled next time. Rating: 88-/87(-?)
Boekenhoutskloof Stellenbosch Syrah 2004
Thanks to the restaurant owner. Served blind, mistook this for Minervois. Dark ruby. Virtually opaque, lightly purple ruby-black. Hay, bacon fat, soft roasted herbs, lightly macerated cherry, medium-plus body, good length. Medium freshness only, but nice complexity and meatiness. Integrated marzipan oak. Quite pretty tannin. Profited from a little airing, seemed more harmonious. Quite lovely. Rating: 92-/91
Hastae Barbera d’Asti Quorum 1999
Thanks to the restaurant owner. A wine I had not re-tasted in eight years. Served blind. Lightly evolved, still virtually opaque ruby-black. Quite pretty tobacco, vine and tree bark smoke. Even the minerality is smoky. Some nutty oak, somewhat reminiscent of charcoaled tree bark. Some black cherry, partly dried. Best on the nose by far, where this showed a little more subtlety and finesse. Light tannin, a bit dry. Quite short on the high-acid finish. Past its peak. Rating: 88-/87(-?)
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
