White:
2010 Carballo, Bujariego La Palma:
12% alcohol from the Canary Islands; the smell of fresh caught fish – musky salinity, something alive and ocean air, with bright white fruit; clean, crisp and nervy, flavors are light but precise and follow the nose, integrated but there is a tension here that lends complexity. With chicken Caesar salad, divine. About $20.
Next time, with seafood.
2009 Maule, Pico:
Skin-fermented garganega; deep golden; nose of resin, honey, herb and macerated white fruits; rich and smooth in the mouth with a texture that clings but does not cloy, flavors echo the nose, good intensity and length. The more skin-fermented whites I taste, the more I like them. BTW, no oxidation noticeable.
Pink:
2010 Ameztoi, Rubentis:
10.5% alcohol; a touch of spritz, some strawberry Jello® scents and flavors, good acidity, not sweet but not bone dry and crisp intensity. Better cold than cool. I prefer rosé from Provence and Bandol. $19.
Red:
2005 Chateau Pradeaux, Bandol:
Decanted for several hours; flowers, dark fruit and animal fur, more open than expected and very nicely balanced.
Terrific with pot roast.
2005 Bernard Gripa, St. Joseph:
Stuffed but hard and impenetrable. Needs time.
2009 Ceritas, Pinot Noir Escarpa Vnyd.:
13.1% alcohol; I had tried this several months ago and found it closed and structured, this time it was open and quite generous with mostly dark fruit, some spice and a broad profile. I think this needs a little bottle time. About $55.
2009 Bjørnstad, Pinot Noir Hellenthal Vnyd.:
14.3% alcohol; lighter in delivery than the above wine and nicely nuanced; some spice, red fruit and a fruit sweetness; not a dense wine but still concentrated – a style I like a good bit. About $50.
1999 Juge, Cornas Cuvée SC:
13% alcohol; animale, sauvage and all those other exotic descriptors that indicate a rustic, outside the box, group of aromas and flavors . . . and also a little musty. I don’t think it was even mildly corked but I have been wrong before. With polenta with Rancho Gordo Beans®, really, really good.
2009 Jemrose, Syrah Cardiac Hill:
I did not record the abv; black olives, meat, lavender, black fruit and spice; much the same in the mouth where there is both a smooth delivery and good grip (but not drying); overall, a big wine but one that is very expressive and, IMO, a top shelf syrah, regardless of origin. $38.
And consecutively, blind, with dinner:
1996 DRC, Romanée Saint Vivant:
Recognizable as Vosne for its earthy/olive/spice notes; uncoiled slowly such that the last glass was the best; textbook Vosne but not the spice I expect from this vineyard; precise, satin textured, complex and deep.
1996 DRC, La Tâche:
Recognizable as related to the foregoing; each sip poured, it was more intense and spice driven but calms in the glass with air; more focused, built of sterner stuff though I get the impression it is still finding itself; more silk than satin and not the length of the RSV.
Both exceptional wines but the nod to the RSV tonight.
Thanks Mark.
Best, Jim