WTN: Palmer, Tignanello, Quilceda, Pichon Baron

A large group at lunch for our December meeting, with special wines and Dapper Dave (Coop) demonstrating that he has at least one skill I lack, tying a bow tie, and very well too!

We started, fairly predictably, with a celebratory bubble.

Billiot Brut Reserve (nv) – nice yeasty nose, fairly sweet, and a couple of us thought there was a hint of cocoa in the nose as well. Clean, tasty, good mousse, great way to start.

2008 Foxtrot Chardonnay – this was from a fairly new and upwardly mobile BC winery (their pricing is also upwardly mobile). A most interesting wine. It started out showing mostly fruit, green melon, and very soon after pouring, a vanilla element showed up – and then took over the show, finally dominating the fruit, which I rather resented, being a fruit fan, and not so much an oak fan. Well made. I was told that if one waited long enough, a second transformation would take place and the fruit would come out again. It didn’t for me, but perhaps I failed to wait long enough.

2002 Annick Parent Pommard 1er Les Rugiers – reasonably light in colour and a very slightly funky fruit driven nose with a little pencil lead left us in no doubt that we were dealing with a Burgundy. It showed some nice fruit on entry, medium levels of tannin, a tad on the tight side, and with good structure. Perhaps this just needs more time to snap into focus?

1996 Leymarie Clos Vougeot Grand Cru – a producer I have not seen before, and a somewhat non-Burgundian Burgundy! Quite dark in colour, and I was getting some of the scents I associate with the white library paste we used to use as children, blueberries, and a little leather. Medium body, lots of acidity, more pencil lead, this one left us guessing all over the place as it was simply not typical Burgundy.

1981 Ch. Palmer –Lightening colour, and obviously in the 80s, it didn’t have the sweetness of the 85s, the structure of the 82s, and I ended up correctly guessing that it was an 81, a vintage we rarely have the opportunity to taste these days. Clear rim, light colour, classic cedar claret nose, elegant smooth and ready, lacking only the midpalate concentration needed for a better showing, but a very pleasant and nostalgic look into that vintage.

2005 Sandhill Barbera – normally I don’t even bother with BC made Italian varietals, but I must admit that this one impressed me. Dark, with ripe, sweet caramel fruit in the nose, it had a sweet entry and a quite dry finish . Very decent.

1990 Tignanello – my bottle and showing quite different than recent bottles had. Dark colour and with a dark ripe smoky nose, the wine was smooth and long in the mouth – lots of stuffing here. This nose lacked the sangiovese notes seen in other bottles and I seem to recall more acidity in other bottles as well. Interesting.

1996 Remirez de Ganuza Rioja – fairly dark with a claret nose of cedar and currant with an added leather component, a ton of both acid and tannin, and absolutely no rush as this should continue developing for years. Not really what I would call a traditional style, but impressive.

1996 Baron de Ley Rioja Grand Riserva – one of those happy coincidences where two people bring a pair of wines that make interesting counterpoint to each other. This one showed more development with a sweet currant and custard nose, more American oak, and good fruit in the middle. I think this one may be at peak now.

1999 Primo Estate Joseph Cabernet Merlot – I really liked this one, much more than I had when tasted first a few years ago. An oddball from Coonawarra, made from mostly cabernet with some added merlot, but done in a recioto manner as an Amarone. You get the concentration without the sweetness. Big ripe nose, sweet ripe entry, mellow fruit in the mouth, with good acidity and then finishes dry. Lovely cheese wine!

1993 Quilceda Creek Cabernet – for me, always the very best cab from Washington state, sadly priced into the stratosphere these days. Black fruit and cedar/spice plus hints of cinnamon in the delightful nose. On palate a whack of sweet concentrated fruit (at that point I admit I was guessing California). It has picked up elegance over the years – although I don’t recall tasting this before, I have tasted quite a few of these when young and elegance is NOT a word that comes to mind until many years have passed.

1990 Pichon Baron – I was delighted to taste this wine as I have a few bottles and was wondering if the time had come to open one. It was quite dark with a spirity nose with a hint of rubber and dark fruit, big in the mouth yet supple, and with a lot of remaining tannin and excellent length. Very good now but I intend to leave mine for another few years as it is clearly still on the way up.

1977 Sandemans Port – OK, I admit to not thinking (much) about Sandemans, nor do I cellar any. I looked at this and the light colour immediately had me headed to the 1975 or earlier, 1977 being about the last vintage that came to mind. I was wondering it it might have been a Colheita. The nose was pleasant and not too hot with red currant jam notes. It was fairly sweet going in and seemed to become less so by the end and had a medium long finish. Good showing all in all, but lighter and more elegant than I would have expected. Now at peak, I should think, though it will probably have a slow slide from here.

[Jenise]

Bill, up against deadline and it's either today or Tuesday for me to add comments, so without even going downstairs to fetch my notebook:

Billiot Brut Reserve (nv) – Very good NV with some musty notes from a bit of bottle aging. I didn't get the cocoa.

2008 Foxtrot Chardonnay – Very elegant chardonnay, very light yellow with a cool climate fruit profile of apples and pears. And yes, there's new oak here but it's untoasted (I'm so grateful) and blends well with the malo, all of which will integrate with time and just feel elegant. Liked this a lot. Would have trouble paying $60 (someone said this is the asking price) for it, though. I can buy white burgs for less.

2002 Annick Parent Pommard 1er Les Rugiers – I found this a bit hard and green. The qualities of the 02 vintage, anyway, were not apparent. Should note that most of us wondered if we were getting a hint of TCA on the first whiff that we talked ourselves out of, yet it's owner did offer that it was unyielding and angular where another bottle recently had been anything but. A flawed bottle, to be sure. I felt so bad for Peter--his first time with this group, and his wine bombs. Hope he realized that we've all been there.

1996 Leymarie Clos Vougeot Grand Cru – I laughed at the guesses: Spain, syrah, syrah blend, Bordeaux, Loire...finally Burgundy. I honestly didn't think this showed like any of those. And I didn't get your library paste. I remember noting a bit of iron minerality but that was the only thing about it to me that wasn't aged pinor noirish. I had a recent experience in taking a Groffier Bonnes Mares to another group that might be germaine here: did it really not seem like Burgundy, or are we so unused to the concentration of a Grand Cru that a GC seems to lack typicity? Anyway, this is the only bottle of this I have and I had no preconceived notions about or attachments to the wine in particular, and I'll happily call my wines ugly when I think they are, but this one was close to outstanding for me and one of my favorite wines of the day.

1981 Ch. Palmer – What you said, and a great Margaux nose.

2005 Sandhill Barbera – Not a fan of this wine. Found it had a lot of warm milk, custardy notes that are unwelcome to me in red wine. Tasted best after a bite of the roasted beet on my plate.

1990 Tignanello – Your "ripe smoky nose" is my soy sauce and coffee grinds. And not in a good way: I've had this same quality in old zins and Oregon pinots that don't age gracefully--they don't fade so much as they just turn black and take on those two flavors. Your Tig was there. Odd, since other 90's have been exceptional.

1996 Remirez de Ganuza Rioja – All of what you said with some orange rind. Gorgeous Rioja. Loved it. This wine has a future.

1996 Baron de Ley Rioja Grand Riserva – The American oak was prominent here and that was not to the wine's benefit. Still, a nice wines but I would suggest it's past peak.

1999 Primo Estate Joseph Cabernet Merlot – Liked this a lot, delicious. Obvious Australia-ness and quality, that part was easy to figure out but not the grapes.

1993 Quilceda Creek Cabernet – This wine should have preceded the Aussie, as it was less sweet. Interesting that the sommelier ordered it this way, though: I'm sure based on QC's modern reputation and not how the wines were in the '90's before they Parkerized.
Enjoyed your description.

1990 Pichon Baron – Flawless. Outstanding. Little more need be siad.

1977 Sandemans Port – Yes, lighter, that somehow added to it's good qualities, giving it an exquisite delicateness that I enjoyed. Nothing was actually missing.

Great lunch!

1990 Tignanello – Your "ripe smoky nose" is my soy sauce and coffee grinds. And not in a good way: I've had this same quality in old zins and Oregon pinots that don't age gracefully--they don't fade so much as they just turn black and take on those two flavors. Your Tig was there. Odd, since other 90's have been exceptional.

I'm not sure I completely agree....but I don't disagree enough to get up on my hind legs and go into battle over it. I guess I didn't find it as sure a sign of debilitation as you did and looking back on previous notes, the wine showed very differently, so....could be, but I'll reserve judgement until the next bottle.

This one has impeccable history, BTW. Bought on release and stored in my cellar ever since (and my cellar conditions are better than most). That doesn't prevent the odd....odd bottle, of course.

[Jenise]

A story: years ago I bought a case of identical Oregon pinots. Drank one or two up to three years of age, didn't touch another until they turned eight--pretty much my SOP quality domestic pinots in those days. Around then I was discussing this producer with another "well known wine personality" who said he didn't like the way the wines aged. So I had that in mind as I drank the rest of those pinots. At eight or so they were great, a year later an element of soy sauce crept in, at ten there was soy sauce and coffee grinds, and by age 11 or 12 it was nothing BUT coffee grinds. Every single bottle was worse, and it broke my heart. Over the years I bought a few of this producer's other older bottles at auction (cheap) just to check them out for aging, and with the exception of some heavily acidic wines from the lean '97 vintage that aged wonderfully, all his wines have done what my original case did. It's a flavor I had never run into before and shall never forget. Btw, I should mention that over time the color progressed with the flavor, the pretty red wines getting darker until the wine in the final bottle(s) was black and somewhat opaque. The word 'decay' applies to more than just the taste--and I note that your Tig was darker than the previous '90 we had.

Btw, I've run into that taste many times since those pinots. I recall an instance that involved a zinfandel that either you or Bruce brought to lunch. You guys were coming up with all these descriptors that would not apply to a young zin or one that aged in a claret-like way, where all I could taste was that 12 year old pinot. Muerto.

What causes that to happen where other wine fade and turn tart and fruitless, beats me. I certainly know it's not your cellaring, which is impeccable. (Well, at least for those wines not stored in the laundry room. ). But as I said, the problem bottles have nearly always been a domestic wine some years out. What I've never run into, though, is a bottle like this where somewhere else good, no great, bottles are running around as evidence of something entirely different. That throws a whole different wrench in the works, as up to now I've found that only in wines that had been kept well past the point most people would hold them to and the fallout of a certain winemaking style. Not a one-off flaw, that is, like TCA.

When you need help sampling the rest of your Tigs, just holler.

I have been reading quite a lot about Ganuza of late, here is their website.

http://www.remirezdeganuza.com/

[David M. Bueker]

Might have to go on a cellar excavation to find my lone bottle of 1998 Remirez de Ganuza.

I certainly know it's not your cellaring, which is impeccable. (Well, at least for those wines not stored in the laundry room. ). But as I said, the problem bottles have nearly always been a domestic wine some years out. What I've never run into, though, is a bottle like this where somewhere else good, no great, bottles are running around as evidence of something entirely different. That throws a whole different wrench in the works, as up to now I've found that only in wines that had been kept well past the point most people would hold them to and the fallout of a certain winemaking style. Not a one-off flaw, that is, like TCA.

When you need help sampling the rest of your Tigs, just holler.

Yup, that is the only way to tell. I might just schedule another one for next year. In the interests of science, of course. And BTW, only the BC wine gets stored in the laundry room.