The poker before last was held at Tom’s house—where he put together a very nice line-up on a rather shortened budget relative to our norm (as we had a rather small group playing and paying into the kitty the month before). All wines were served blind except the after-hours Sauternes, and many of the wines were drunk with the delicious pasta bar Tom put together for us.
2005 Weingut Fruhwirth Scheurebe Kloch. This Austrian brought along by Jud had everybody guessing, but I don’t think a single person got around to guessing Austrian Scheurebe! It opens with waxy citrus aromas, followed by sweet scents of white flowers, chalk dust, lemon candy, granite and puffs of honeysuckle in a pleasant and lighter-weighted styling. In the mouth, it is finely lacy on top, but with a dense bottom layering of mixed citrus flavors. There’s also a nice little twist of funky earth and litchi spice that I like, and a sliver of off-dry sweetness that makes it a bit flirtatious, too. Overall, it sure provides an interesting and enjoyable start to the afternoon.
2003 Georges DuBoeuf Julienas La Trinquee. This wine appears to be a little faded and cloudy. And the nose is kind of sweaty and funky—with aromas of baked cherries, smoked tea leaves, charcoal, toast and dark leather showing some age and roasted qualities. I like it a lot better on the palate, where it shows off a nicely resolved and creamy texture, with a fleshy and toothsome quality all the way through. It features dark berry flavors to go with cherry and decidedly earthy undertones. It has a certain out-sized muscularity on the back end, with resolved tannins but still firm structure in play. So, overall, it is a bit of an uneven showing, as I really like the resolved flavor profile, but the nose is not much to my liking and the wine seems a tad gangly at times.
2003 Georges DuBoeuf Julienas Prestige. This wine is showing considerably better to my way of thinking, starting off with a fine old-styled bouquet of tea leaves, sous bois undergrowth, leather, persimmon, pomegranate, cranberry, moss, caramel and baking spice aromas. In the mouth, it tastes smooth and refined with medium weight and resolved tannins. It has a lacy quality to it on the entry, filling in more with an easy fruit filling through the middle, accented by notes of leather and spice. It has a relaxed and free-flowing personality and is easy to drink and enjoy right now. I do have to say that a second glass later in the day showed more volume and overt fruit, but it was still drinking quite well.
2009 Domaine du Moulin Cheverny Les Ardilles. This wine is a tad cloudy but still a youthful candy apple red in color. It offers up a big, vibrant and expansive bouquet of boisterous raspberry and cranberry aromas accented by spiced cherry and rawhide leather scents that are quite nice. In the mouth, it features sour cherry and red berry flavors to go with bits of leather and dried red flower perfume notes. It has great energy and fine balance to go with an easy weight, smooth texture and pretty flavors. Overall, it certainly seems like a very well-made wine that will provide excellent short- to medium-term drinking.
2001 Artadi Rioja Vinas de Gain. CORKED.
2001 Bodegas Valsacro Rioja Dioro Seleccion J&D. This wine represents a big shift in focus. The first thing is the big whack of sandalwood and eucalyptus one gets on the nose, followed by aromas of sweet purple berries and spiced plum fruit. Toasted baking spices and a bit of dill give away the American oak and immediately have me thinking Rioja. It presents a very similar profile on the palate, where a solid coating of fine cedar dust, peppermint and sexy incense inform the core flavors of plums, dark berries and cocoa powder. It is just fun to drink and it is helped along by a very smooth and creamy texture, fine layerings of flavor and a gentle helping hand of rounded acidity. I do like the sexy profile and find myself enjoying it a good deal.
2000 Bodega Numanthia Termes Toro Numanthia. Aromatically, this wine is quite dark and dense, with thick scents of black plums, asphalt, incense, melted chocolate, black currant and cedar dust. In the mouth, it is certainly lushly-textured and weighty, with a huge blast of black fruit, chocolate, creosote and licorice flavors supported by chewy tannins leading to a youthfully chalky finish. I sort of like all those dark, luscious flavors in this, but I certainly think it needs another 4 or 5 years before showing its best.
2001 Bodega Numanthia Termes Toro Numanthia. Although it turns out to be the younger wine, I felt like this was a more complex and exciting offering than the 2000. First of all, the nose is just super-sexified on this, with boatloads of sweet black currant and blackberry fruit, fresh-baked brownie, fireplace ash and pencil shaving aromas showing a lot of richness and push. In the mouth, it is finely-polished but also immediately tannic right from the start. It is big, juicy and solidly tangy--featuring a rigid bolt of acidity carrying along the blackberry, toasted herb and graphite-mineral flavors. I do think it needs several years, but there are some exciting raw ingredients in play here and it is actually delicious to drink now for those who can overlook the tannic bite.
2000 Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou St. Julien. I felt on much more familiar ground with this and the next wine, guessing young Bordeaux right from the start. The nose here is quite smoky and savory in nature, with fine aromas of green pepper slices, menthol, leather saddle, tomato leaf and pencil shavings accenting the red currant fruit notes. In the mouth, it is warm-toned and giving, yet elegant and classy. At times, it feels a touch lifted from tendrils of alcohol, but otherwise it is all warm cherry, red currant, cassis, limestone, green pepper and clean earth in a finely-woven package that is showing a lot less tannic interference than I might have expected. The wine has very good length and generosity of flavor—drinking just fine right now, but surely even better down the road as all the elements come into greater harmony.
2000 Chateau Lagrange St. Julien. In general, this is a darker wine all around than the Ducru-Beaucaillou, beginning with the aroma profile that features prominent scents of black currant, plum, soy, meat, cigar box, jalapeno pepper, smoke, cedar wood and dark earth. Palate-wise, it is just a big mouthful of dark Cabernet Sauvignon fruit. Black currant is the major flavor factor in play, and it feels kind of slinky and wiry as it crosses the tongue—with fine levels of glycerin and rounded tannins giving it an easy, juicy flow. The structure is there, though, and it shows primarily on the drier, more acidic finish. But overall, this is really nice to drink today after a lengthy decant and probably will be even better in another 5 years.
2000 Clos des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape. I like the nose here a lot, as it delivers direct and strong aromas of kirsch, cherry paste, lavender, garrigue, worn leather, green tobacco, graphite and pencil shavings. In the mouth, it is rather mouth-filling and expansive, with bright cherry, kirsch and tangy citrus fruit flavors to go along with bits of garrigue and dry earth. The texture is kind of pasty and matted, showing some youth, but the flavor profile is layered, lifted and finely fruity. It is just excellent all around.
2000 E. Guigal Chateauneuf du Pape. In contrast, I don’t think this was a particularly good bottle—perhaps seeing heat damage somewhere along the line. The nose is rather cooked and stewy—with scents of caramel, weedy compost, peat moss and sour cherry that lead to a palate that is better, but just barely. There’s a lot of funky undergrowth and chewy leather and earth sorts of things going on and overall it just doesn’t seem like the cleanest example. Too bad.
2000 Domaine de Beaurenard Chateauneuf du Pape. This bouquet grows and grows on me the longer I stay with it. It starts out with an interesting sort of musk and incense note but quickly folds in supporting aromas of black cherry, cooled bacon fat and earth. It may seem a bit compact at times, but as I said it really seems to come into its own with some time and air. In the mouth, it is actually rather fresh, tangy and bright-fruited, with a solid backbone of acidity to counterbalance the smooth, languid cassis and cherry liqueur fruit and melted chocolate flavors. It has a lot of push and pull to it, and I find it both interesting and tasty.
2000 Le Clos du Caillou Chateauneuf du Pape Domaine du Caillou. This wine sports dark but classy aromas of black cherry, leather, cedar, menthol and forest greenery. On the palate, it is a big mouthful of wine—expanding out to all corners of the mouth. And there is really beautiful fruit here—with all kinds of cherry paste, raspberry and mixed currant fruit blending quite nicely with a smoky, earthy underbelly. It is full-bodied and moderately tannic at this stage, but there is a certain purity and class to the fruit that goes a long way to making with quite enjoyable today.
After hours:
2001 Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey Sauternes. Served from 375 ml bottle. I’ve had this wine 3 or 4 times now, and it is always delicious. On this particular afternoon, I think I wrote the word “sexy” at least three times and the word “slutty” at least twice in my notebook—that’s just the kind of wine it is. The nose is loaded with botrytis spices, apricot marmalade, nectarine and crème brulee aromas that are stunningly alive and soaring, yet wonderfully creamy and languid. In the mouth, it is pitch-perfect in its sweetness content—with viscous flavors of spun sugar, caramel, crème brulee, toasted orange peel, burnished nectarine, rich honey and dark peach barreling along effortlessly, supported by fresh acidity and lacy structure. The finish is juicy, tangy and fresh, yet coats the tongue in rich, sexy flavor goodness. This is simply a wonderful wine from start to finish.
-Michael