Our group’s last poker tournament that I was able to attend was at Zach’s house, with most of the wines supplied by me. It was a relatively small group, so we really had a chance to hang out a good deal with the wines. My theme was “guess the range of vintages”. The first flight was a series of 4 different 1er Cru red Burgundies from successive vintages (explicitly served in order from oldest to youngest), with the task to guess what the string of vintages might be. The second flight was a series of 4 different Bordeaux from successive vintages, with the same task. Although lots of factors (producers, vineyard sites, bottle variation, etc.) could throw things off, I still figured it would be an interesting and fun little game—thinking that there might be a year or two in there that gave away a tell-tale vintage or something.
In the end, the guesses on the Burgs were about 4 to 10 years too young—which I think underscored just how well many of these wines were showing. The Bordeaux vintage guesses were even more off, I think, with nobody guessing the 80’s at all, really. Although probably flawed on many levels, I still thought my little game made for a fun diversion in addition to the poker game and the drinking!
Flight One:
1996 Chauvenet-Chopin Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Aux Argillas. There’s a lovely, wonderfully floral bouquet to this wine—displaying lots of depth and complexity of character in its aromas of fuzzy red fruit, red flower petals, darker earth tones, bits of classy chocolate, damson and toasted orange peel. It is just delightful. In the mouth, it has a creamy core of fruit and a fine shell of acidity wrapped around the edges. It is a bit more dark-fruited and maybe not quite so charming as on the nose—full of foresty sous bois and black cherry fruit stuffing. It has gentle angles and plenty of body, with some muscled elements carrying it along to a fine finish. In my opinion, it is a ’96 that is showing quite well at the moment. It was definitely my favorite wine of the flight.
1997 Domaine Pierre Amiot et Fils Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Les Millandes. This is a slightly lighter, more transparent color, but still plenty healthy-looking. The nose is nice and smoky, with a little peaty edge to it. Aromas of black tea leaves, rusty nail, black cherries and chocolate get better and better over time—ending up quite nice, indeed. In the mouth, it is not nearly as rounded or deep as the previous wine—showing more delicate and linear character. What the wine may lack for volume or density, it makes up for with lovely sappy cherry fruit flavors and fine-tuned acidity that together deliver tasting pleasure with no tannic interference at all. It should be drunk and appreciated now, in my opinion.
1998 Comte Armand Pommard 1er Cru Clos des Epeneaux. There are just soaring aromatics here—but in a much darker, smoldering and sexy blend highlighted by spiced fig, incense, potpourri, lavendar, spicecake, charcoal and pencil shaving aromas. It is comparatively cool on the palate, but again still rather dark-fruited. There are fudgy tannins that sort of stick to the teeth and plenty of black currant, blackberry and sexy spice flavors that combine in a juicy, broad-shouldered and densely-knit combination that is impressive but could still use a few years to settle down a bit.
1999 Domaine Billard-Gonnet Pommard 1er Cru Les Bertins. I think this is the least exciting or giving bouquet of the quartet. Aromas of dusty earth, dull cherry, suede, pencil shavings and a bit of tobacco leaf all slowly start to lift out of the glass with aggressive swirling—slowly coming around but never showing anything particularly expressive. In the mouth, it shows the greatest richness of all the wines—with a chewy density but considerably less nuance or grace at this stage than one might want. It displays a very firm backbone and some sneaky acidity, so my advice would be to hold another 4-5 years before trying again.
Flight Two: Transition wines from Zach and Jud, respectively
2002 Elkhorn Peak Pinot Noir Fagan Creek Vineyard Napa Valley. There’s a fragrant nose to this wine that is full of framboise, sweet cherry, soft chalk dust and gentle eucalyptus aromas. In the mouth, it is smooth and polished and easy-flowing. It features pretty flavors of sweet cherry and raspberry that fill the mouth and deliver plenty of juicy sweetness with no sense of over-doneness. The fruit may be a bit sweet for some folks, but all in all this is a surprisingly nice drink.
1993 Volker Eisele Family Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. This wine possesses a dark-toned nose of black currant, cool stone, tobacco leaf, leather and bits of flint around the edges. On the palate, it is softer in tone and texture than the nose might suggest, indeed showing fairly open-knit, generous and easy at this stage of its evolution. It is fairly full-flavored with its profile of blackberries, black currants, tobacco and menthol that lead to a juicy, giving finish. I wouldn’t hold this a whole lot longer but it offers good drinking today.
Flight Three:
1985 Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste Pauillac. Wow, this wine is ALL about tobacco leaf, menthol, green pepper, ash, earth and limestone aromas—with any notions of the dark currant fruit hiding well in the background. I don’t know that I’ve had a Bordeaux quite so dominated by the tobacco, menthol and green pepper spectrum as this one—really quite distinctive and unusual, but fascinating for me. In the mouth, the fruit comes forth much more readily, but there is still a stony granite-like core here to give a cool, coiled and structured feel to the black currant and dark earth flavors. The wine turns more toothsome and juicy toward the back of the palate and ushers back notes of menthol and tobacco on the fine, gentlemanly finish. This is an extremely interesting and rather enjoyable wine, in my opinion.
1986 Chateau Chasse-Spleen Moulis. I like the nose here quite a bit as well, though it is completely different—focusing on spices, dried currants, white pepper, toasted orange peel and dusty dirt aromas. It is not real expansive but is focused and just generally solid. In the mouth, it is fleshy and sappy in texture, with a rather red-fruited profile that features full-blown flavors of red currants and cherry paste supported by pliant tannins. It is not nearly as structured as the other wines in the flight, but it has a lovely flavor and texture profile that make it a pleasure to drink right now.
1987 Chateau Sociando-Mallet Haut-Medoc. This wine has a cool and controlled bouquet of black earth, menthol, black currant and tobacco that just seems so classically Sociando-Mallet to me. It is dark, sort of glossy, smooth and sinewy in the mouth, with a savory and dark-fruited flavor profile I like a lot. The finish is clean, balanced a leaves you wanting more. What a great 1987 Bordeaux for short dollars, and one that continued to show well out of the refrigerator for a few days afterwards.
1988 Chateau Rausan-Segla Margaux. This seems like the most pedigreed of the 4 wines in this flight in terms of the aromatics. It offers up fine scents of refined black cherry, blackberry and dusty earth that lead to a palate that is warmer-fruited than what I might expect from a 1988. It has a very nice flavor profile of warm cherry and red berry fruit with charming, soft spices all the way through and a nice freshness on the finish. The tannins can seem a tad grainy at times, but otherwise this is very well-made and drinking very nicely.
-Michael