WTN: A few wines of late

For dinner with friends at the Hollywood Bowl for the season finale, "A Night at the Moulin Rouge". We drank plenty more during the show but no noteable wines.

2005 Arcadian Chardonnay Sleepy Hollow
Wow is this good. Drinking like 1er Cru Puligny. Aromas are generous and intoxicating. The flavors are sharp and focused and pure. I love the spine of acidity that carries the flavor profile through. The mid palate is full and long with great length on the finish leaving lingering flavors. The wood is really unobtrusive here at least to my palate, with perhaps a touch of creaminess as it's influence. So happy to have a few more and thank you Joe D for a great wine and to Greg K for the amazing bargain.

2000 Château Yon-Figeac
My last bottle of this and may have showed a touch less pleasurable than a year ago. The aromas a bit muted and shy. The flavors seem more restrained, earthy and delicate. There is complexity, yet it's more along the lines of damp earth, tobacco, savory herbs and tea like. Another wine that requires food to turn up the pleasure factor. The finish is of medium length and a touch drying. I liiked it but did not love it.


The other night at Palate. The food was really good. Green salad with red onions, watermelon, cucumbers and riccota salata. Grilled octopus salad. Fish cakes. Gnocchi with corn, parmesano reggiano, chantrells and cepes.

2005 Domaine Daniel Dampt Chablis Côte de Léchet
This wine has definitely benefited from cellaring. This has a lot more complexity than a few years ago. Classic Chablis flavors and aromas, perhaps lacking a touch of acidity initially, yet after about 30 minutes, the acidity is more prominent and adds cut and texture to the seashells, stony and saline like fruit. This paired beautifully with a few Mediterranean influenced salads. This is a food wine, suited to pairing rather than drinking on it's own. The bottle drained quickly, but I have plenty more to follow. I don’t think this will make old bones as the intensity of fruit and acidity are not sufficient for the long term (15+ yrs additional). I do however plan to enjoy my remaining bottles over the next 3-5 yrs.

2001 Beaucastel Roussanne VV
Pop and pour. The color is richly golden with a slight orangish hue. Immediately the nose sticks out with very smokey quality. This dissipates over time. The aromas change over the course of night (about 2 hrs) initially showing oxidative with apricot, and the honeysuckle others have mentioned. Later aromas become more honeyed with the oxidative note diminished and presence of chopped fresh nuts and butterscotch. The texture is waxy, lanolin like yet at the same time somewhat silky. The midpalate is rich and lush and finish goes on and on. These Rousanne VV wines are odd creatures with a chameleon like evolution. They can recover with age, lose the oxidative quality and show impressive flavors and complexity. Another first bottle from an overseas case purchase.

1998 Beaucastel Rouge
This was a pop and pour that we followed for about 2 hrs. Easily the best bottle of '98 I have had. The wine is lush yet delicate; it transcends the region yet has its roots firmly planted in CdP, never losing its sense of place. The fruit is generous with typical garrigue, yet this may be the cleanest Beaucastel Rouge ever. The funk is just not really present, which I wouldn't mind if it poked its head, nevertheless, this is what takes this wine to the next level. The fruit is absolutely luxurious and refined. It coats the palate yet remains delicate. After some air, the aromas become more profound and complex with anise, white pepper and clove appearing. The finish is really superb and leaves you savoring every drop. This is the first bottle from a case purchased overseas. Clearly, this wine has an amazing future and should last for years and years. I don't think it has seen its greatest days yet.

Trip-G..good stuff that Arcadian... I gave it a 94, which is in my high range... Did Envoyer have this on sale????

I just tried the 2005 Arcadian Sleepy Hollow Chard for the first time earlier this month. Outstanding. I have no experience with Arcadian but I felt that this wine had a long life in front of it still and bought a few to bring back based on that belief. Greg or Jim can you fill me in on if you think this is going to improve more or if this is at peak?

I have had quite a few of the older Arcadian SH Chards, especially the 2000. We had an Arcadian gathering at the house a couple of years back, and Arcadian owner/wine-maker Joe Davis brought quite a few of his older wines to try, both reds and whites. I think the consensus was that the older Chards were, as a group, marginally better than the Pinots. The oldest we had was a 1996 Bien Nacido, with the 1997 Bien Nacido being the star.

So, to make a long story short, the Arcadian chards are made for aging, but the 2005 seems to be especially tasty right now, from Gregg's note. I have 4 more bottles, so I'm going to open one in the next week or so to compare to the last time I had it a couple of years back.

Did Envoyer have this on sale????

yep.

I agree with JD, the wines are meant to age. But you also need to ask yourself what you like in aged wines to determine how long to age. Do you prefer the fatness of youth or the subtleties of age? Mr Davis is a gifted winemaker and knows how to make age worthy wines. There is no worries to hold your SH Chards for a little while. If you have a few, perhaps try one yearly.