Notes from my monthly wine lunch.
2005 Louis Michel Montee de Tonnerre Chablis – quite a strong citrus peel element in the nose and some colour, but steps lightly oon palate with juicy acidity at end. Very decent.
1998 Zind Humbrecht Brand Riesling – light amber with a sweet nose of melon and gravel, not obvious Riesling at first, though with time in the glass the character of the grape manifested itself. Great concentration and length, seeming to finish slightly off dry. Excellent!
2007 Cristom Pinot Noir Sommers Reserve (Willamette) – good colour, nice spicy black fruit and clearly not Californian. Nice flash of juicy acidity at the end. Good.
2009 Cos Cerasuolo di Vittoria (Sicily) – raspberry and slight antiseptic band-aid nose, sweet red fruit in the mouth, good clean finish. Medium weight. 60% Nero d’Avola, 40% Frappato. Interesting wine.
1993 Leonetti Cabernet Sauvignon – dark wine with a dusty cassis and vanilla nose, lots of soft tannin and good fruit levels, medium long finish. Good showing. One taster thought it was drying out, but I think it is still in good shape, though it clearly should be drunk as it won’t get any better.
2004 Fortediga Cabernet Syrah – this Bolgheri producer doing a non-traditional blend. Dark, with a primarily cabernet nose, acidity not too high, mellow international style. Not what I look for in Italian wine but nonetheless there are things too like, though the oak seemed a tad over done.
1997 Cepparello Isole e Olena – damn! Corked! Still lots of fruit, but who knows how it would have shown without the taint? I’ve gad this and liked it.
2000 Almaviva – this Chilean partnership between Mouton and Concha y Toro regularly produces excellent wine and this was no exception. Big dark wine, the nose more dark plum than cassis, very concentrated flavours in midpalate and a lengthy finish. Not much complexity, but early days yet.
1977 Taylors Port – medium red colour without lightening at the edges but not as dark as some 77s, classic nose of marmalade and fruitcake with some heat, medium bodied with great length in the finish. Beautiful wine drinking very well now, though no rush.