WTN: Three From The Cellar..(short/boring)

Our SantaFe wine group held a tasting last night (10/11/11) of one of our cellars. Three of the wines were:
1. RogerSabon Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc 2003: Light gold color; rather earthy/nutty/hazelnutty/waxy slight herbal fresh quite perfumed/complex nose; soft earthy/nutty/toasted hazelnuts/waxy some stony complex flavor; very long earthy/nutty/hazelnuts/waxy soft complex finish; not a lot of fruit but quite fresh and no signs of oxidation; really CdPBlanc that should go another 10 yrs I'd think. $44.50
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2. Jaffurs Syrah ThompsonVnyd/SantaBarbaraCnty (14.8%) 2000: Very dark color; intense blueberry/blackberry/Syrah rather peppery/licorice light toasty/oak very spicy/rosemary/thyme complex nose; soft slight iodine/medicinal very strong blueberry/blackberry/Syrah licorice/herbal/peppery some toasty/oak bit tannic flavor; very long/lingering very strong blueberry/blackberry/Syrah/peppery some toasty/oak/smokey quite spicy rather complex finish w/ some tannins; big fruit but developing some secondary character and still plenty of tannin for another 6-10 yrs; beautiful complex classic Thompson Syrah. $33.00
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3. BricoRocche Brunate Barolo (14.5%) 1999: Med.color; rather tarry/earthy/pungent light floral/Nebb/lilacs slightly fragrant complex nose; tart/tannic/hard rather tarry/earthy/licorice very light floral/lilacs somewhat complex flavor; med.long light floral/lilacs rather hard/tannic somewhat tart earthy/tarry/pungent finish; softening slowly but still on the hard/tannic side and not developing much in the way of aromatics or perfume that I'd expect. $50.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Many of the tasters in the group were surprised how young & fresh the Sabon CdPBlanc was. I was not. I find that CdPBlanc are one of the most ageable wines around; sometimes better than the Rouge CdP.
Tom

Hi Tom -

Thank you for the notes as usual. I'm guessing that the Bricco Rocche was from Ceretto? (Not one that I have had before.)

Interesting about the Sabon CDP Blanc.Not that I've had a lot of white CDPs, but I would have expected just about anything besides the Beaucastel Roussanne VV or the Grand Veneur La Fontaine to be oxidized and/or dead by now. Since I love to look through the closeout/bin end sections of my favorite retailers, I'll have to keep an eye out for an older CDP Blanc to try out, and see if my preconceptions are wrong.

Hi Tom -

Thank you for the notes as usual. I'm guessing that the Bricco Rocche was from Ceretto? (Not one that I have had before.)

Yup, Andrew....the Ceretto. Sorry about that.

Interesting about the Sabon CDP Blanc.Not that I've had a lot of white CDPs, but I would have expected just about anything besides the Beaucastel Roussanne VV or the Grand Veneur La Fontaine to be oxidized and/or dead by now. Since I love to look through the closeout/bin end sections of my favorite retailers, I'll have to keep an eye out for an older CDP Blanc to try out, and see if my preconceptions are wrong.

Most decent CdPBlancs run you $30-$60. In that price range, I find most of them are pretty ageable. They take on this
toasted hazelnuts/waxy/honeyed/slightly oxidized character that is very interesting. Not to everyone's taste, though, for old CdPBlanc.
I was surprised how fresh this Sabon seemed.
Tom