WTN: Monthly Lunch - Dunn, Dow, Ramonet,.....

The usual wide range of wines at my monthly blind tasting lunch.

2005 Ch. Guiot Costieres de Nimes Rosé – sweet strawberry nose, pretty decent body, a bit darker than many pink wines, dry with clean acidity. Where was this little Grenache bundle of joy in the hot summer when I needed it?

1997 Tyrells Vat 1 Huinter Valley Semillon – some colour, oak predominant in the nose, a sense of sour apples in the mouth. Lots of (too much?) acidity. Maybe not a good bottle.

2002 Golden Beaver Late Harvest Chardonnay – picked up by me last week on my annual wine buying tour of the BC interior, it wasn’t that bad – warm strange nose, full body and dry finish. Presented mostly for the rather odd marketing strategy that would choose a name like that. Several tasters said that if they produce T shirts that said “There’s Nothing Like a Taste of the Beaver” they’d buy them. Yes, but would they really wear them?

1972 Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1 cru Clos de la Boudriotte – a taste of "Ramonet-Conti”! Yes, they do make very good ageworthy wines in this predominantly white wine area, and yes this one was standing up beautifully, at peak but with no rush to drink it. I thought it was a Madeira based on the colour in the glass, but then I smelled it and it had that lovely mellow old Burgundian nose with a whiff of caramel at the end. Perfect balance and amazing fruit at this age.

1998 Groffier Bonnes Mares Grand Cru – a sweet cherry nose from a quite dark wine, with thick legs. Lovely fruit and quite smooth on palate. This one didn’t immediately cry out either Pinot or Burgundy and we had to work our way to both conclusions..

1997 Albert Morot Beaune Teurons 1 cru – 3 Burgs in a row – we seldom get that sort of coincidence. There was a bit of low tide about this nose, although the pinot fruit was there as well. With time the nose changed to cucumber (really). Lots of colour, soft tannin and only medium fruit.

1987 Dunn Napa Cab – dark wine with big fruity nose, still lots of tannins and great length. It seemed like a wine 10 years younger, as Dunns often do.

2001 Montes Alpha ‘M’ – their top end cabernet, this showed a warm cab fruit nose, with some cedar, and was smooth with good length. Could use a bit more time.

1998 Clos Pegase Cab – warm cocoa nose, sweet an mellow on palate with definite bitter chocolate. Showing well.

1999 Carpineto Vino Nobile Riserva – didn’t jump out at us as Sangiovese. More cocao and spice, and in the mouth, vanilla and caramel. Sweet but tannic. Needs time.

2002 Van Loveren Limited Release Shiraz – a small production wine from the Cape, with an unusual nose of leather, something metallic, and a hint of orange, with smoky oak. Hot at the end, this one has time left.

1993 Lindemans Limestone Ridge Shiraz Cabernet – 84% shiraz, 16% cab. Another smoky vanilla nose, smooth fruit and a nice acidic lift at the end. Now ready to start drinking.

1977 Dow Port – we thought there might have been a slight corkiness, but as it seemed to disappear, decided it was just a mustiness. Hot wine with excellent colour, the sweetness seeming to kick in only near the end. Drinking surprisingly well now.

Another very enjoyable lunch.

Just tried Dunn's new release today and was quite impressed. One for the cellar!

Just tried Dunn's new release today and was quite impressed. One for the cellar!

For the long haul. Like 20 years.....

OK. It was pretty drinkable right now, though. Not like some tannic monsters out there right now (Regusci!!!). I'll take your advice and see how it blossoms.

Brian, I haven't tried the recent vintages, so make your own call. Dunn has always been a big long cellaring wine. Maybe it has changed - I wouldn't have called any of the 80s vintages approachable when young.

[Jenise]

My notes:

2005 Ch. Guiot Costieres de Nimes Rosé – nose of strawberries and book dust, veryh dry but not austere. Great balance. Delish.

1997 Tyrells Vat 1 Hunter Valley Semillon – Presents at first like chardonnay, but some lanolin and pine resin develop and give the wine away. Odd wine. Seems brand new in color and acidity, not eight years old. Just okay for me, but then other than La Frenz, I've never had a 100% semillon that better than just okay.

2002 Golden Beaver Late Harvest Chardonnay – light yellow, and not sweet or over the top with the cheese notes that plague ripe Okanagan chardonnays. IOW, nothing about the appearance or taste suggests 'Late Harvest'. Actually, I kind of liked it. So did our resident White Burg man.

1972 Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1 cru Clos de la Boudriotte – Cognac color, tastes of dried strawberries and nectarines. Clearly older--I thought perhaps even 50's. An extra cool bottle, handed in cellar from Mr. Ramonet to our friend and then hand-carried to Virginia a year and a half ago and then to Vancouver this week. Fabulous provenance, fabulous bottle.

1998 Groffier Bonnes Mares Grand Cru – I couldn't have been more surprised, especially following another Burgundy, that you guys didn't go straight to Burgundy on this one (Rob did, but group-think asking about Spain and Italy and merlot talked him out of it.) When I opened that bottle early Friday morning, the aromas that came out of that bottle could have been nothing else. I have 8 or 9 more of these, and I'm glad about it.

1997 Albert Morot Beaune Teurons 1 cru – This wine smelled of pinot noir, but not Burgundy. And not of any place, either. When I mentally ran though the New World possibilities my best guess was Santa Barbara in a bad year. The wine was rough on the tongue and had an unladylike vegetality to it--none of the elegance that I expect of Burgundy. Didn't care for it.

1987 Dunn Napa Cab – Though Doug has never NOT brought a California wine, at least when I was present, my first inclination was to think Doug might be fooling us with a young modern styled Bordeaux--say a 98. That this was a California wine of that age was startling, and it was very good wine.

2001 Montes Alpha ‘M’ – a leaner style of cab with bright berry fruit, plums, and nice acidity. Very good.

1998 Clos Pegase Cab – Young but resolved, very sweet and California-ish. Kind of one-noted. Would have been the best wine for the cheese and fruit plate if there hadn't been a port.

1999 Carpineto Vino Nobile Riserva – very Italian, dense fruit over caramel and raisins and tin flavors. Seemed more like a cab blend than a straight sangiovese. Terrific.

2002 Van Loveren Limited Release Shiraz – Big, ripe, juicy, leathery, huggable. Was surprised that it was South African and as young as this, but it's owner keeps the wine in a closet of a small apartment, so they mature quickly. Very good.

1993 Lindemans Limestone Ridge Shiraz Cabernet – 84% shiraz, 16% cab. You described it perfectly, there's nothing to add.

1977 Dow Port – A lovely port. Very youthful. Dow's seem to age with a dusty plum character that I find very attractive, and this had that. Beautiful.