2005 De Vilaine, Mercury Les Montots:
Completely closed and disjointed. Lots of promise, little pleasure now.
1999 Bizot, Echezeaux (375 ml):
Clearly Echezeaux, with sauvage notes, lavender, cooked red fruits, earth and underbrush tones; similar flavors and a medium bodied, linen-like texture, intense and long. Quite open and so much better than my last bottle. ‘Nothing like good Burgundy.
1999 Clos des Papes, CdP:
Au pointe, and as good a CdP as I have ever had; beautiful aromatics immediately separate this from the other wines on the table - fruit, earth, air, rain - as though one could smell the whole world at once; medium bodied, satin in the mouth, intense, focused and delicious. No fan of the southern Rhone am I but this was sensational.
2001 Leoville-Barton:
A pleasant although not particularly potent version of St. Julien; fruit, stone and mint on the nose; not much subtlety but solid flavors in a medium weight delivery and fair length.
This had been decanted an hour in advance so I think I got what it had to give - no reason to run right out and buy a bottle but nice enough to drink if someone offers.
1987 Lopez de Heredia, Rioja Vina Tondonia:
Slightly volatile at first but that blows off; a remarkably complex and alluring wine - plenty of bottle bouquet, considerable secondary development and slender, lovely palate of fruit flavors. But this wine is truly about nuance and finesse and its a joy to drink.
2007 Brewer-Clifton, Pinot Noir Mt. Carmel:
Too sweet for me but everyone else raved. I can see where this would be a hit with lots of fruit and just a little of those earthy aromas and flavors - but I am a dirt guy so I moved on.
2006 Fillaboa, Albarino Monte Alta:
Fuller bodied then most albarino but with precise flavors; slightly creamy, excellent minerality and lots of pineapple and ginger flavors; and its got length. A pretty intense wine and one I kept coming back to. From a single vineyard at elevation.
(anybody know if this sees oak?)
Best, Jim
