Our most recent regular group tasting was held at Andy and Lisa’s house with a theme of Hermitage. As usual, Andy cooked up a fantastic meal for us to pair with the wines, all of which were served non-blind.
Starter:
2009 Les Vins de Vienne Condrieu. The first wine of the night presents a light and airy bouquet full of floral notes like honeysuckle, orange blossom and peach fuzz. It is a little richer and creamier in the mouth than the nose would seem to suggest—with a solid burst of tropical fruit, canteloupe and honey flavors to go with more floral notes. It isn’t real complex or nuanced, but it is a nice wine with which to start the festivities.
Hermitage:
1989 E. Guigal Hermitage. This was a very good showing for this wine, which was a little inelegant the last time I had it about 8 or 9 years back. Tonight, it is showing lighter in color, with a bit of a cloudy hue to it. The nose is quite likeable, though, starting off with a sort of volcanic ash note that quickly yields to finely-aged and nuanced aromas of horsehide, suede, dried herbs, dark cherry and black raspberry. In the mouth, it is kind of lanky and ropy more than heavy, dense or broad-shouldered—with fine flavors of cherry, raspberry and leather that are surprisingly fresh and well-balanced by the wine’s acidity. It is a medium-bodied wine that doesn’t really fan out quite as much as one might like through the mid-palate, but there is a consistently tasty stream of fruit and earth flavors that are perfectly even-keeled and nicely resolved all the way through. I placed it just outside of my top 3 wines of the night, but it was the group’s runner-up for wine of the night.
1999 E. Guigal Hermitage. This wine sports a considerably darker-toned nose, with more richness of aroma to it. Scents of black cherry, dark chocolate, toasted herbs, tobacco, cedar and incense are at once meaty and fudgy but also a bit exotic—providing some interesting give and take that I enjoy. On the palate, it is a broader-feeling wine, with more flesh and more glycerine resulting in a mouthfilling effect for the black cherry and black raspberry fruit flavors. Noticeable tannins come in a bit late, but they are fairly rounded and not too invasive. It doesn’t stand out as much as perhaps it will in a few years, but it is still enjoyable.
1988 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage. Now, this is really enjoyable. I adore the exotic, yet bright and juicy aromas of leather, tobacco, menthol, sous bois earth, red flowers and dried cherry that are soft, pliant and just all-around lovely in their balance and enticing beauty. In the mouth, it is incredibly long and persistent. It pops with bright acidity that gives fine lift to the sour cherry, cranberry and mineral flavors and helps provide the mid-palate with both a sense of excitement and refinement. The purity and transparency of the red fruit is just beautiful here, and the wine is drinking just wonderfully. My and the group’s WOTN.
1988 Paul Jaboulet Aine Hermitage La Chapelle. This is much darker and smokier on the nose—with more of a sanguine, iron-laden profile that also pulls in notes of olive brine, seaweed, black fruit and savory spices. In the mouth, it is similarly dark and smoky, with a sense of lithe power to the sleek and fresh sensations of dark earth and black plum, black cherry and black raspberry fruit. It is quite different from the Chave of the same vintage, though both have excellent acidity and drive. I preferred the Chave, but still had this as my #2 wine of the night, which is encouraging since the last bottle of this I drank 15 months ago was muddled and taciturn. This was obviously a much better showing. The group’s #3 wine of the night.
1997 Paul Jaboulet Aine Hermitage La Chapelle. This wine opens up a bit high-toned and volatile, but improves with time in the glass--slowly pulling in aromas of iodine, dried blood, pressed flowers, menthol, cranberry, cherry powder and dusty old cedar chest. In the mouth, it is a bit candied, with sweetened flavors of cherry compote and cassis supported by underpinnings of leather, fur, smoke and ash. It sports a rather creamy texture that I like a lot, but the length and complexity aren’t quite up to the standards of some of the other wines around it. Still, it kind of grows on you the longer you stay with it.
1998 Paul Jaboulet Aine Hermitage La Chapelle. This is a more serious-smelling wine, featuring aromas of gravelly stones, graphite, rawhide leather, creosote, cooled bacon fat, toasted orange peel and white pepper. The fruit is way in the background on the nose, but right out front on the palate, though it is rather fudgy and tannin-laden. Black cherry and dark cassis flavors flow along nicely with a sinewy feel to them, but the tannins just grow and grow until they start to feel a bit too tough to enjoy the wine’s other pleasures. I really like the presence and flavor profile of the mid-palate, so I have high hopes that another 5-7 years to tame the tannins will do wonders for this wine.
1996 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage. The nose here is still tautly-coiled and unwilling to reveal all of its aromatic secrets, taking time to slowly unwind in order to partially reveal its black cherry, black olive, earth, shoe polish and pencil shaving aromas. In the mouth, though, it is already delicious, even though it’s clear there’s more to come down the road. Right now, I just love how balanced and poised it is—with outstanding integration of its elements and a fine-woven texture to go along with excellent twang and lift provided by fresh acidity. The stuffing is excellent, too—with fine and classy flavors of red cherry and raspberry fruit carried along by a wonderfully creamy-textured river of flavor. The wine has impressive presence, class and quality, and drinks darned nice right now. Still, it seems a bit of a shame not to wait a while for its full glories to truly emerge. My #3 wine of the night (and the group’s #4).
1996 Delas Freres Hermitage Les Bessards. The nose here is boisterous and full, though seemingly a bit unfocused to my way of thinking. Aromas of mulling spices, crushed flower petals, blue fruits, bridle leather and lactic creamy notes are generous and giving, but somewhat muddled at times. In the mouth, the acidity can feel a bit overly-strident as it competes with the full, dense and sweet-tinged berry fruit flavors. The wine shows a good deal of weight and concentration, but also some pasty tannins on the finish. Overall, it has a lot of the ingredients, but it isn’t nearly holistic enough for my tastes at this stage of the game.
2003 E. Guigal Hermitage. Boy, this is young and plush and richly-sweet-smelling—like nothing else on the table, really, and lacking that Old World sensibility so obvious in most of the others. The warm fruit is all up-front, with little slivers of tobacco and leather aromas only coming in later in the evening. In the mouth, it is rich and velvety-textured—with plush tannins heavy on the back of the palate. Sweet, sappy fruit is in utter abundance through the middle, but rich tannins clamp down hard on the end. The texture is quite fine and the fruit is beautiful, but it is ridiculously young and mostly lacking in true Hermitage character, at least at this point in its evolution.
2005 M. Chapoutier Hermitage La Sizeranne. The nose here is cool and more dynamic in nature—with very fine aromas of hardened bacon fat, pan drippings, bone marrow, foresty undergrowth, graphite, chalk, black currant and blackberry fruit. In the mouth, it is black-fruited and sports a bracing acidity, with a manly sort of feel to it overall. There are structured tannins in play, but they provide good support more than they distract from the mouthfeel. Overall, it has good liveliness, solid fruit stuffing and a cool demeanor that all seem to bode well for future development. My one concern is a bit of heat on the finish, but I think that is going to work itself out with some time in the cellar. On the whole, this was a fairly pleasant surprise, IMHO.
After hours:
2000 Graham Vintage Porto. This was a pop and pour, and I think that in part explains the very taut and tense aromatic profile of black cherry, graphite, menthol and oak that comes across as very young. In the mouth, it has a pleasant seamless texture to it that I enjoy, and the flavors are definitely well-concentrated. The cherry compote fruit is fresh and lifted in tone without any sense of raw spirits or alcohol, but the whole thing just seems primary at this point. There is solid promise with this, but it needs some time.
-Michael
