The usual BYO dinner out at the Carlton in Zürich in January 2011, only that this time, Mosel vintner Dani Vollenweider made a cameo appearance. All the wines were served double-blind.
Foucault Clos Rougeard Saumur-Champigny Le Bourg 1996
Ruby with a soft purple hue, black reflections. Usually as great a bottle of red wine as one can find, let alone Loire Cabernet Franc, but this not only exhibited great sweetness, but also what seemed the faintest touch of oxalic acid (a trait more common in the 1995, but never the 1996). The stemware was absolutely horrible, though, so one could not really tell, even so, this bottle seemed to show an unusual touch of green, and maybe a rubbery top note pointing to residual sulfur, as well as faint animality. Warm and ripe fruit. Nicely fat, thick and sweet. Good body, well-integrated alcohol. Great complexity and terroir notes. Great minerality. Graphite. Touch of olive and rosemary. Soft walnut. Quite long on finish, though not as usual. Beautiful wine even so, and my sister’s favourite of the night, but by far the lowest rating I have ever given to a bottle of this potentially legendary wine, not sure what was wrong with it. Rating: 93(+?)
Jean Grivot Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Boudots 2002
Thanks to Dani. Lighter ruby-red, soft black hue. Tiny sulfur note on the slightly closed nose? Cherry chewing gum. “Rosehip tea”, Rainer said. Some greener nuts. Burnt sugar. Brown spice. Lightly meaty. Faint saddle leather. Some subtlety. Medium ripeness of the acidity and tannin. A bit tight, faintly bitter. Lacks a little freshness. Burnt minerality, bit ashtray-like. Quite balanced. Good length. Rounder, a bit earthier with airing. Dani was a bit disappointed with the wine’s showing, but, I am repeating myself, the stemware was horrible, so… Rating: ~90(+?)
Château Ducru-Beaucaillou St. Julien 1989
Thanks to Christian. Full ruby-black. Cork taint, wet cardboard, or rather the typical Ducru-of-the-eighties varnish/wood preservative? Even so, just as good as a less stinky pre-auction sample bottle four months later. Mushroom, soft lead pencil, sweet and still quite thick fruit. Barely bitter at all, quite round. Leady acidity. Lacks the definition and subtlety I look for in Ducru-Beaucaillou. Rating: 88-/87(-?)
Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 2000
Thanks to Andi. Deep ruby-red, black hue. Came across as more modern than one would assume, oh well, the stemware confused us no end. Everyone guessed CdP, but even though this is a wine I have had many times, I nodded when people suggested it might be Beaucastel… Sweet and round. Grenachy baked plum, sour cherry and dried mace fruit of medium-plus warmth. Almond, faint soapy Kirsch. Good fruit density, lightly poached. Cocoa powder, complex, creamy herbs, faint lavender with a lightly rubbery quality. Faint crustacea and sweet sewage. Poplar. Good body. Quite long. Raisiny with airing, evolving (not necessarily oxidizing) somewhat quickly. Rating: 91
Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Pauillac 1994
Thanks to Heidi. Lively ruby-black. Violet, blackcurrant cough drop, pretty small berry nose, cedar. Good density. Medium-plus complexity at least, youthful (we mistook this for younger St. Julien). Lovely balance, acidity and tannin. Nice oak. Long finish. Beautiful wine. Rating: 92(+?)
René Rostaing Côte-Rôtie La Landonne 2007
Soft purple hue to the ruby-black. Bit modernistic but pure sour cherry fruit, rather up-front, simple, and saturating. Petrolly. Bit roasted, coffee-/espresso-like. “Overoaked”, Rainer felt. Touch bitter. Green olive. A bit short on the finish. Already a bit closed compared to earlier bottles. With the oxalic acid spike peeking through for the second or third time already, the identity of the wine was easy to guess. The stemware invariably seemed to bring out the worst in every single one of these wines. Even so, I may have overestimated this wine’s potential, doubt that the greenishness is going to subside entirely. Rating: 90+/91(-?)
Dunn Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Howell Mountain 1996
Thanks to Nick. Opaque purple, ruby-red at the rim. Intense iodine minerality and cassis liqueur with the intensity of cough syrup, fresh and lively, hugely concentrated, with full body, fruit-drenched black tea tannin, long. Already showing much of its depth and potential complexity, but deserves more bottle age. A pristine bottle of a wine that despite the stemware almost lived up to expectations, and that the Dunn lovers among us recognized immediately. Rating: 95(+?)
Dunn Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Howell Mountain 2001
Thanks to Rainer, who later explained he had bought this bottle for a wine merchant a week earlier (in other words, a few years after release), storage conditions unknown. Hardly representative. Seemingly more evolved/mature than the 1996, worst showing of the 2001 ever, was only able to guess the vintage via elimination. Opaque purple-black. More integrated iodine. Coffee and tobacco. Cucumber and dill. Little fruit freshness, fig-like, lacking in youthfulness. Really somewhat tough and dry. “Fruity” but also lightly bitter green-tea-powder-like tannin, if not blotting-paper-like. At least somewhat balanced, and obviously very concentrated and minerally. But a disappointing showing and/or bottle, probably misstored. Rating: ~90?
Hess Collection Napa Valley Mount Veeder 19 Block Cuvée 2005
Thanks to Pascal. Bordeaux varietal blend. Best on the nose. Sweet on the palate. Some raspberry. Vanillin oak. Tiny leathery bitter note. Good acidity. Medium length at best. Lacking in identity (overheard some wild guesses, such as Rioja Cirsion from Spain). Rating: 87(+/-?)
Daniel Vollenweider Riesling Kabinett #1 Wolfer Goldgrube 2001
Thanks to Dani. Palest green. Linden blossom, chamomile tea, lime leaf, balm mint perhaps. 70 g/l residual sugar, but off-dry rather than sweet. Touch of honey but less ripe than #2. Firm if not high acidity, not too harmonious, as Rainer remarked. Medium length. Rating: 88+/89?
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti