These are notes from an off-cycle poker game at Zach’s some time back, where each person brought at least one bottle to taste. Except where noted, the wines were tasted double blind.
2008 Ravines Wine Cellars Dry Riesling Finger Lakes. The first wine of the day is a light pale color and offers up gentle aromas of white flowers, lime, chalk and light minerals. It is tangy and nicely mouthwatering to taste, with lots of citrus and stone notes on a lacy, airy framework. Sour lemon ball flavors dominate the dry finish, and overall it is a tasty and uncomplicated wine to enjoy now at a solid price point.
2001 Mayacamas Chardonnay Napa Valley. This wine is a clear yellow color and presents deep aromas of honeycomb, green tea, lemon peel, wool and baking spices that don’t have me immediately thinking Chardonnay. In the mouth, it is fairly full, with solid density and heft of flavor behind the fine-flowing acidity. It unfolds pleasingly in layers and has an interesting waxiness to the texture that really holds one’s attention all the way through. I like this a good deal.
1985 Laurel Glen Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Mountain. Not blind. This bottle had been opened a day and a half before by Zach, but there appeared to be a good amount left in the bottle. And it performed very well, I thought, regardless of when it might have been opened. It starts out sort of smoky and peaty on the nose, with rich bits of black cherry, dark currants and prune running beneath tobacco leaf, leather and earth aromas in a distinctly old-fashioned and structured package. In the mouth, it sports menthol, ash, savory meats, and tobacco elements in support of the core fruit flavors of black cherry and plum. Tannins make a bit of a late entrance, and to my way of thinking this wine shows little sign of fading.
1975 Chateau Cheval Blanc St. Emilion. This one is a bit cloudy in appearance, and the nose also suggests some age—with its classy and resolved aromas of currants, green peppers, tobacco leaf, fireplace ash and crushed red flowers. It is even more obvious on the palate that this is a wine of some years’ age—as it has a soft character to it all the way through and presents resolved tannins and gently faded fruit in a balanced and characterful package. The red currant, dried cherry, menthol and tobacco flavors manage to linger pretty nicely without a lot of weight. It is not real deep, but neither is it tough or difficult, like some 1975’s can have a tendency to show—instead it shows balanced and classy but on the downslope in terms of intensity at this point.
2007 Rhys Pinot Noir Family Farm Vineyard San Mateo County. To me, this wine is immediately identifiable as a California Pinot Noir on the nose, which hits one right off the bat with strong aromas of sweet blueberries, candied cherries and toasted grape stems. In the mouth, it is mentholated and stemmy on the entry and then explodes with zingy brambly fruit through the sweet and fleshy mid-palate. There is some vanilla and oak poking out on the finish, but there isn’t a huge tannic component to also contend with, so while it feels young and a bit raw at this stage, it still drinks pretty easily. For me, though, I imagine I will like this considerably more a few years down the line.
1998 Dominique Laurent Chambertin Grand Cru. I really dig the bouquet of this wine, which comes across as sexy and complex—with lovely aromas of spicecake, dates, incense, old leather, cocoa and creamed cherries. In the mouth, it is big and full and richly-fruited, with meaty dark fruits and touches of earth, caramel and saline minerality combining with a fleshy texture to provide a sense of gravitas. The pliant tannins are also pretty serious here, but the wine has tons of good dark fruit and earth complexity going on right now to provide a great deal of enjoyment for those who cannot defer gratification.
2003 Fourrier Gevrey Chambertin Goulots Vieilles Vignes 1er Cru. This wine has an earthier and more grounded sensibility on the nose, smelling of dry dirt, pencil shavings, tar, tobacco and dark mixed berries. It is juicy, dark and structured on the palate, with a wiry, ropy feel to the texture and weight. The tannins here, though, are not quite as polished at this stage, feeling a bit gritty toward the finish. Still, this is delicious, if perhaps just a notch below the previous wine in terms of drinking excitement at this moment.
1985 Forman Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. I like this wine a lot, starting with the strong yet classy bouquet of mixed currant fruit, menthol leaf, jalapeno pepper and dry earth aromas. It feels Old World-fashioned in the mouth and has me thinking a rich vintage of Pichon Lalande—with a green menthol streak that really works well in conjunction with the black currant fruit, mineral salinity and earth flavors. There is plenty of life left here, but this wine is drinking very well right now.
1990 Prunotto Barolo Bussia. Sadly, this bottle was CORKED.
2001 Heitz Cabernet Sauvignon Trailside Vineyard Napa Valley. I get a little bit of inner tube aroma on the nose right off the top, and that is a bit of a turn-off for me. But there are also notes of plums and dark berries, pencil shavings and chalk to distract from that negative note. In the mouth, it is pretty giving and full of flavor—delivering plenty of boisterous and sweet purple fruit accented by fine mint dust. It is full-bodied and fairly showy, with a lot of fun fruit to enjoy. I think it needs time to find more nuance, though, and after reveal I would add that I prefer the 2001 Bella Oaks right now to this offering.
2002 Chateau Pichon Longueville Baron Pauillac. The nose here is kind of slinky and satiny black in tone—with lithe and sort of sexy notes of tar, blackberry, black currant and faint incense combining alluringly. In the mouth, it is matte-textured and gently tannic, with more satiny blackness in the fruit and stone profile. Abundant but fine-grained tannins are abundant at first and settle down with time. This black beauty is drinking well now but I think will be more fully-realized with another 5 years under its belt.
1999 Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape. Without knowing the identity of this wine, my notes specifically mention how clean the raspberry, cherry, warm brick, earth and caramel nose is. I don’t think anybody would have pegged this bottle as Beaucastel given that nose, nor the pure and easy-flowing nature of the wine. There is solid grip to the red fruit and red flower notes, and the wine feels juicy, fleshy and warm, with some late drying tannins. It is drinking nicely right now, but some may bemoan the lack of Beaucastel typicity in this particular bottle.
1986 Dunn Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. This was not tasted blind, as the reveal had come a few moments earlier. Regardless, this wine features a gorgeous nose of cassis, dark cherries, fine earth and baked clay aromas that combine with delightful secondary nuances of grilled peppers, savory spices and minced meat that are dark and a bit mysterious at times, but also classically old-fashioned Napa Cabernet in profile. In the mouth, it is all mixed red fruit that is drinking beautifully, accented at different times with spice and tobacco notes. It seems to be right in my sweet spot and is probably drinking at peak for my tastes.
There were also the usual after-hours bottles opened, as well.
2006 Agricola Falset-Marca Etim Seleccion Montsant. I believe this may actually have been part of the formal line-up, but I think Zach just threw it in for fun at the end. It offers rather high-toned and lifted aromatics in the red fruit zone that are kind of explosive but ultimately a bit monotoned in nature. In the mouth, it tastes of bright and sweet cherry and raspberry syrup, with a lot of tough acidity that gives it a somewhat astringent finish. The longer you stay with it, the more rough-hewn it begins to show around the edges of the bright lifted fruit.
2007 Osso Anna Merlot Napa Valley. This wine smells unusual in that it leads with some skunky, stemmy notes but otherwise is a rather confectionary mix of sweet-smelling blue and purple fruit and sugary jam compote aromas. In the mouth, it is a jammy, fruit-laden, sweet and creamy fruit bomb with lots of vanilla thrown in for good measure. Yet, it is so generous with its gobs of sweet fruit and its creamy texture that one can sometimes overlook the obvious and cloying oak and perhaps hope for something more nuanced down the road.
2009 Braida di Giacomo Bologna Brachetto d’Acqui. Served from 375 ml bottle. It has been some time since I’ve had this wine and it instantly brings back good memories. To me, it smells just like a gently red-fruited Moscato—with beautifully floral aromas of honeysuckle, orange blossoms, rose water and peach fuzz tickling the nose. In the mouth, it is much the same, with fruitcup, peach and maraschino cherry flavors in a light, fun, frizzante package that is a pure little slice of pleasure. A very good ending to the day!
-Michael
