Haven't posted many notes lately, here's some bottles from my cellar that I've had over the last few weeks.
•2002 Bischöfliche Weingüter Trier Ayler Kupp Riesling Spätlese
Hazy notes after having it last night. Light gold in colour, with a lovely, classic nose of mainly stonefruits and minerals. This is aging nicely, with great balance, just off dry, with again mostly stonefruits and minerals on the medium-bodied palate. Drinking nicely now, but no rush (A-).
•2002 Quinta do Crasto Douro Reserva Old Vines - Portugal, Douro (7/9/2011)
It's always interesting to read other peoples' take on your wines on Cellartracker. I really enjoyed this, despite (or because of?) the poor 2002 vintage. It was less ripe and rich than normal for this wine, which I liked. Deep ruby in colour, with some purple tinge as well, there was cedar, red fruits (plums and cherries) and violets on the nice nose. Medium bodied on the very silky palate, with nice integration of the plums, pomegranate, earth, mocha and some oak (vanilla) notes. Some secondary notes are emerging on this balanced, relatively elegant but intense wine. Ready now, but will last as well (A-).
•2007 Domain Road Pinot Noir - New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Bannockburn (7/7/2011)
What a fantastic QPR. A lovely NZ pinot, with earth, mushrooms, and cherries on a silky, medium bodied palate. Nice acidity cleanses the palate at the end. Ready now but will hold (A-).
•2001 Luigi Cecchi & Figli Spargolo Toscana IGT - Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT (6/22/2011)
Brought to an offline lasy night. Didn't take notes, but I thought this was drinking well now but will last a good number of years as well. Concentrated cherries and a hint of earth were the main notes on the medium-full bodied palate (A-).
•2006 Dönnhoff Riesling - Germany, Nahe (6/17/2011)
Starts off a little off dry on the front palate, but ends on the dry side. Nice weight and intensity for a QbA wine. Pineapple, mango and lime on the medium bodied palateand slightly viscous palate. Nice wine (B+).
•2001 Castelgiocondo (Marchesi de' Frescobaldi) Lamaione Toscana IGT - Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT (6/13/2011)
Brought to an offline, and this wine was still really tight. I asked them to decant the wine as soon as I entered, but I suspect they didn't. At any rate, this was tight and tannic right now, far less ready than I thought it would be after 10 years. I'll hold and hope for my last bottle (B+/A-).
•2003 Perrin & Fils Vacqueyras Les Christins - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Vacqueyras (6/8/2011)
Notes from second night. Deeply coloured red, with a basic southern rhone nose, including cherry, earth and a hint of mint and licorice. Slightly pruney on the palate, but there's plums as well. A big wine with slight alcohol sticking out. This is going downhill, I think, a victim of the vintage (B).
•2009 Domaine Manoir du Carra Moulin-à-Vent - France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Moulin-à-Vent (6/6/2011)
Didn't take notes on this, but I brought it to a party over the weekend and enjoyed this wine. Nothing too serious fancy, but there was nice fruit here, and the fruit was definitely front and center. Very slight tannins as well. Another nice 2009 beaujolais that could use more time (B+).
•2010 Vergelegen Sauvignon Blanc Reserve - South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch (5/31/2011)
I agree with Tanzer's note on this wine, but he doesn't give a full sense of the intensity and power of this outstanding SB. This is the best white and possibly the best wine that I tasted while I was in South Africa. Really a world class SB, definitely in a New World style, but there's no denying the quality, complexity and general tastiness of this wine. Wish I could have bought many more! An increadible QPR too, at least at the winery price of around 150 Rand (about $23) (A).
•2008 Tokara Director's Reserve - South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch (5/31/2011)
Tasted at the winery and then with a bottle we bought. Really a very tasty wine, a classic white Bordeaux blend (72% SB/18% Sem). Great intensity and balance of fruit and acid, one of the top 5 whites we tasted in South Africa (A-).
•2006 Lillian Winery Syrah - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County (4/9/2011)
I was not impressed with this wine last night. Drank after about 3 hours in the decanter. A big, rich wine with almost no varietal character at all, and it drank like a very modern style wine that could be from anywhere (in the New World). Some tannins. Nothing wrong with the wine, but nothing really right with it either: an amorphous 'wine cocktail' style without much soul. This bottle obviously didnt really impress me, and my fellow taster (it was his bottle) had the same disappointed impressions (B/B+).
•2007 Januik Cabernet Sauvignon Champoux Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Horse Heaven Hills (4/9/2011)
Drank too soon, but with a 3-4 hour decant, this was still an excellent wine. Great balance, and real palate presence, with lots of blackfruit, nice ripe tannins, decent acidity and a fair whack of oak right now. Doesn't cheat you on flavour or power - elegance is another matter! This should be much better in a few years, it's bit of a brute right now, but still tasty (A-).
•2004 Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards Right Bank - USA, California, Napa Valley (3/30/2011)
Fairly light and acidic - I would have pegged it for an italian wine. Nice nose from the cab franc, and it did start to pen up a bit about about 4 hours open. Would have been better with food. A solid but unspectacular blend (B+). An elegant style for Napa, but it didn't have much intensity or personality either.
•2000 Terrabianca Campaccio Toscana IGT - Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT (3/16/2011)
Decanted this for about 2 hours, but it was still pretty tight and boring for the first few hours of trying this wine. Slowly improved as the night went on, though, eventually reaching an A- for me at the end. A very bright, pure, medium-bodied wine, no oak notes at all, lovely red fruit flavours, but still young tasting - there were few secondary flavours in evidence, even after 11 years (B+/A-). Give this lots of air, and it would shine even brighter with food.
•2000 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (3/12/2011)
Deep ruby with slight bricking. Fairly light nose of red fruits and tomato leaf. Medium bodies on the palate, with some tartness, cranberries more than blackberries, but an elegant wine with slight green notes (but not enough to detract). This really hasn't changed very much from the last time I tried it. Pleasant, good QPR wine (B+). NOTE: On the second day, this had filled out a bit, with a richer texture and riper fruit; seems like it needs lots of air (A- on day 2).
•2003 Château Fortia Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée du Baron - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (3/5/2011)
Just like the other bottle, this was very cloudy in appearance and seemed to have some sort of nasty bacterial thing going on. Bah! NR (flawed)
•2005 Dr. Pauly-Bergweiler Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (2/28/2011)
Had this at a dinner party last weekend, Didn;t take notes, but this had a gorgeous nose that i could have sniffed all night, and a thick, balanced palate full of tropical and stonefruit. Lots of botrytis, too. A touch more acidity would have been nice, but it was a lovely wine nontheless (A-).
•2005 Domaine Christian Moreau Père et Fils Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru (2/28/2011)
Like all the other people who wrote tasting notes, I'm kicking myself for opening this way too soon. I wanted a chablis, this one called out to me, and I gave it 3 hours in a decanter before the first taste. I guess it wasn't a crime to drink it now - it was a classic chablis with good minerality, fruit and concentration - but it's still just a ghost of what it should become (A-).
•2004 Pierre Sparr Pinot Gris Mambourg - France, Alsace, Sigolsheim, Alsace Grand Cru AOC (2/17/2011)
Very light gold in colour, with a classic nose of tropical fruits and a hint of ash. A nicely rich and thick palate, very slightly off dry, with that ashy note again that I always associate with Alsacian PG; there's lovely fruit too, mango, very ripe pears and even a hit of coconut. Reasonable acid levels balance the richness of the wine. Better than the last bottle, and drinking very well now, but it should last a few (3-5) years longer as well (A-).
•1999 Fassati Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Salarco - Italy, Tuscany, Montepulciano, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (2/14/2011)
Deep red with some browning, and VA on the nose, which is a bit offputting. Some earthy cherries and red licorice on the nose as well. Much better on the palate, though, very smooth now, with few tannins left, and still good acidity; mainly cherries and cranberries on the light-medium-bodied palate. Best with food, in this case a mushroom risotto, but sippable on its own too. Mainly secondary/tertiary flavours now - drink up (B+). Bought on sale in BC, just like tyee and Coop - reasonable QPR at the sale price of $28 CAD.
•2004 Domaine Laroche Chablis 1er Cru Les Vaucoupins - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru (2/5/2011)
A solid chablis. There was a bit too much oak than I would usually like, but it was an interesting wine nonetheless. Lots of butterscotch on the nose and medium-full bodied palate, and nice richness overall, with some minerality: this wine really coated the back of the palate. This should get better with more time, but drinking well after several hours decanting (A-).
•2002 Olivier Leflaive Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru (2/5/2011)
No notes from last night, but this was a rather boring burgundy. Light-medium bodied, touch too much acidity (or is that not enough fruit?). Innocuous wine (B).
