I was the host for our most recent poker event in July—our thirtieth as a formal group. My idea was to serve bottles made entirely or at least primarily from a single grape variety and see how well people could pick out the grape that made each wine. I did announce the 11 different varieties right from the start and asked folks to not only play poker but also guess the grape. Needless to say, it was tough on people and I think maybe the highest number of correct guesses was four out of 11. But it was fun!
Starters served blind:
1998 Beaumont des Crayères Champagne Fleur de Rosé. This starts out with a good dose of sulfur, turning more to aromas of skunky smoke, slate, strawberries and white chocolate with time and air. In the mouth, it has a nice citrusy tang to it to go along with simple flavors of strawberry and some minerality. It is lighter-bodied but does exhibit good volume throughout the mouth. Overall, it is a tad unusual in style, but it is tasty enough.
2008 Littauer Chardonnay Beckstoffer Vineyards Carneros. The nose of this young wine is already rather open and giving, though a bit blunt with its aromas of chalk dust, wet stone, lemon cream, toasted stems and soft oak. It is fairly open-knit on the palate, with lots of glycerin and a bodacious feel—driving out lots of pear, peach pit and citrus fruit flavors to go with a thwack of toasty barrel spices. It could use more freshening cut and overall definition, but there is no denying the luscious California Chadonnay character.
The reds:
1996 C.V.N.E. Rioja Imperial Gran Reserva. The first wine of the formal tasting really gets us off on a high note. This wine provides a lovely bouquet that starts out with strong scents of cedar, eucalyptus and pencil shavings before one is quickly pulled into its deep core of rich spiced plums, warm baked cherry and clove aromas. In the mouth, it is finely-spiced and again shows off that plum, cherry and clove core to beautiful effect. It is smooth and holistic, with a fine vein of acidity running consistently all the way through it. It is medium-weighted, but delivers a ton of flavor and leaves a very lasting impression. There are some woody bits still to be resolved on the finish and some moderately fudgy tannins hanging around—though both tend to provide supportive structure rather than anything resembling drying or harsh distractions. This should have a good aging curve to it, but provides great drinking today, as well.
1996 Château La Conseillante Pomerol. This is an unusual wine—one that on the surface is rather murky and weedy, yet occasionnally provides glimpses of pure beauty lurking below. You keep thinking the beautiful bits are going to break through, but they stay largely buried and mysterious—the result being rather frustrating, actually. To begin, the wine smells of weedy undergrowth, stewy red fruit, caramel, sweaty horse, saddle leather and tobacco juice. But, again, below the surface one discerns some sweet and mysterious bits of pure cassis and mace often masked by the funkier elements on top. In the mouth, it is full, rounded and creamy-textured, but again the weedy, stewed fruit flavors are too prominent to really enjoy the wine to its fullest potential.
2000 Dominique Laurent Bonnes Mares Grand Cru. The bouquet here is a pure delight—offering up full-blown aromas of red cherries, red flowers, sweet chalk dust, leather, dried salumi, gorgeous spices and a hint of hickory smoke. Yes, there is some wood, but it seems gentle and really well-integrated into the sexy, luxuriant character of the nose. On the palate, the wine is big and outgoing, yet lively and lifted. The flavors of cherry, cassis, earthy funk and wintergreen are luxuriant and tongue-coating, but again with sneaky cut and definition. It just washes over you, with everything feeling balanced and giving in nature. This is just beautiful—another 2000 Burgundy that is drinking great right now. My #2 WOTN.
1987 Domaine Jasmin Côte-Rôtie. This wine is certainly looking a bit pale brown as it is poured into the glass, though it does darken up a bit over time. It smells of ashes, smoke, leather, old cigar wrapper, smoked kielbasa and sweet dessicated cherries. In the mouth, it comes across as over the hill, though gentle and easy for the most part. Flavors of caramel, cooked fruit, leather and brandied cherries provide a little juicy pleasure in the mid-palate, but otherwise the wine is rather dry and attenuated, especially on the finish. It has those fleeting pleasures from time to time, but it is clearly a bottle past its prime. Fresher bottles ought to be really nice, but this one was tired, for sure.
1993 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Pauillac. This is really nice. It features an engaging nose of tobacco, green pepper, earth, dark cherries, black currants and coffee grounds. It comes across as slinky, layered and nuanced, with a real sense of class. It feels complete, yet taut and maybe even a bit coiled still. In the mouth, it really expands out to fill the mouth with its volume and overall breadth of presence. It feels structured by chalky tannins and a hard spike of acidity, but still delivers plenty of sinewy black fruit and some slightly warmer red fruit in a nicely-textured package. While clearly not a pure Cabernet Sauvignon, I thought it was a more Cab-dominant Pichon Lalande than many I’ve had. Also, I can’t really think of any other 1993 Bordeaux that I’ve drunk, and this one is a delightful surprise. My and the group's WOTN.
2005 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Grézeaux. This is a dark, dense color and exhibits aromas of earth, leather, smoke, ash and leafy bits to complement a core of sweet baked cherries. It is more black-fruited in the mouth, with blackberry and black currant fruit flowing beautifully over a creamy texture. It feels really well put-together—managing to control the abundant yet pliant tannins and preventing the fruit and abundant body from losing focus. The overall impression is that this is very young, but extremely tasty and promising.
2001 Podere Salicutti Brunello di Montalcino Piaggione. The nose here exudes aromas of cherries, raspberries, soft spices, smoke and toasty stems. In the mouth is where it absolutely shines for me. There, the wine has an effortless drive and presence to it as it totally fans out across the palate to all corners of the mouth with its delicious flavors of sweet cherry, mocha and pretty spices. It feels intense and lively, yet seamless and luscious—all accented by fine spices and pinpoint tannins. This is extremely well-done and should age easily.
2004 Domaine des Relagnes Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Petits Pieds d'Armand. What a sexy, unctuous bouquet this wine offers up--redolent of chocolate-covered cherries, raspberry tart, red licorice rope and mocha. In the mouth, the wine is like pure liquid velvet on the tongue. It is gorgeously textured and richly-flavored--delivering mounds of kirsch and sweet red fruit flavors accented by bits of mocha. It is simply packed with goodness and seems to deliver a massive amount of sexy flavor without ever seeming overdone or anything other than balanced and pure. And although it is delicious now, my sense is that it can go a while, too. This was somewhat surprisingly among my favorites of the day.
2003 Domaine Sarda-Malet Côtes du Roussillon Terroir Mailloles. This was our Mourvedre representative for the day, though I am aware it is a blend of other varieties, as well. I am impressed with the boquet that feels lanky and sort of sexy with its notes of sweet creosote, lava rocks, dark chocolate, finely-ground coffee and tobacco leaf. In the mouth, it is generous on the entry and mid-palate, with a good blast of blackberry, black currant and chocolate flavor, but perhaps also a faint bit of alcoholic heat. It turns a bit coarser and more animalistic toward the back and feels more rustic and tannic the longer one stays with it. Still, it shows good layering and has a lot to offer, though I suspect it could be better in 2-4 years’ time.
2005 Viña Cobos Malbec Bramare Marchiori Vineyard Mendoza. The nose here displays aromas of cedar wood, camphor, blackberry jam, black currant and perhaps some eucalyptus, as well. In the mouth, it is impressively polished to a high buff. There is a good deal of classy oak and cedar notes to be found, but also super-smooth and satiny black and purple fruit to go with vanilla bean essence. This is a smooth-sipping, modern wine in a designer jeans sort of packaging, but it surely tastes good and goes down easy. Still, I think the wine could use some time to integrate the wood and I’ll be curious to see what emerges 5 years down the road.
2006 Turley Zinfandel Mead Ranch Atlas Peak Napa Valley. This wine smells candied and rather briery—with zippy and boisterous mixed berries, white pepper, rubber band and sweet cherry compote aromas leading the way on the nose. In the mouth, it is much the same—with flavors of warm and briery blue and purple berries, tons of spices, and a hint of bay leaf to go with lots of creaminess and spices. It is pretty youthful and shows some mild signs of alcoholic warmth, but for some reason it all seems to fit together and I find myself at least liking the wine for its consistency of character and unabashed enthusiasm.
Before the wines were revealed, people voted for their first, second and third-place favorites of the day. The results:
93 Pichon Lalande Pauillac 16 points
01 Salicutti Brunello 13 pts
04 Relagnes Chateauneuf 8 pts
00 Laurent Bonnes Mares 6 pts
96 CVNE Rioja 4 pts
96 La Conseillante Pomerol 3 pts
05 Baudry Chinon 1 pt
03 Sarda-Mallet Roussillon 1 pt
06 Turley Zin 1 pt
After hours:
1975 Château Lascombes Margaux. This was pretty much pop and pour. Right off the bat, it smells absolutely freaking beautiful in that classic aged claret style. Notes of sweet funk, animal fur, cigar box, macerated cherries, spiced ground meat, persimmon, mace and mint leaf all vie for attention and take their turns strutting on the stage. In the mouth, it has a smooth, resolved texture and exhibits medium weight. It is fairly giving through the middle with its flavors of black currant, dried cherries, earth, leaves and caramel, but a bit astingent on the finish where a fair dose of drying tannins still reside. Overall, though, it is a lovely old Bordeaux that I could happily sit and drink all day. My thanks to Gerry for opening it up!
-Michael
