Blind tasting at my house last night for a group of five of us, including a new addition to the group.
Flight 1: California Chardonnay
2012 Wind Gap Wines James Berry Vineyard Chardonnay (Paso Robles)
Very bright, clear and stony, with citrus (lemon) fruit. Where this fell down was in the mid-palate and finish where it became overly chalky and disjointed. Hopefully it just needs time to settle down and pull itself together. I have had much better vintages of this wine.
2012 Matthiasson Linda Vista vineyard Chardonnay (Napa Valley)
In contrast to the Wind Gap, this was completely put together. Citrus, tropical fruit and what seemed like just a kiss of oak, though sometimes it was there, and sometimes not. In any event there was a bit of spiciness to the wine that added to the fruit and created an invigorating package. Good depth on the mid-palate, and a long, mineral infused finish made an excellent conclusion.
Flight 2: Value Priced Rhones
2011 Domaine La Garrigue Cotes du Rhone Cuvee Romaine
This flight was intended to show off value. Both wines were under $12. The Domaine La Garrigue has a checkered past, with lots of really good bottles, and then lots of reports (many of them mine) of bottles that just fell apart. This 2011 was a very good blend of Rhone herbs and dusty red fruit. The alcohol stuck out a bit when I first opened it, but by the time we reached it in the tasting everything had come together. Excellent value for drinking over the next 6-12 months.
2010 L’Ameillaud Cotes du Rhone Villages Cairanne
This was a more serious wine than the La Garrigue, with darker, meatier tones, lots of blackberry fruit and a touch of oak. Less approachable than the prior wine, but with greater depth. Also an excellent value, with more upside and staying power than the Garrigue. I could see this doing well for 2-5 years.
Flight 3: Older Bottles
1990 Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses
When I first opened this prior to the tasting it was potentially drinkable if highly evolved. The cork was more than ugly – black and grungy about half way down. By the time we got to it in the tasting it was dying a death as ugly as the cork, with tertiary and oxidative elements and nothing to recommend it.
1993 Edmunds St. John Syrah (California)
Fully mature, with dusty berry fruit, leather and meat aromas and flavors. Drinking beautifully. The ESJ California Syrah, whether this bottling or the 2001, continues to over deliver. No need ot drink up the 1993 if you have it, but there is no reason to delay opening it.
2011 Edmunds St. John Fenuaghty Vineyard Syrah (El Dorado)
Opened and immediately served to replace the Raffault. Time continues to reward this wine. Now onto my third bottle in the last 14 months, it is getting less grapey and instead taking on meatier, more sauvage Syrah elements, with tons of depth and richness. Delicious with tons of room to grow. I had actually intended to open the 2012, but grabbed this instead. Glad I did, but I still need to do a first check on the ’12.
Flight 4: Sense of Place
2012 Willi Schaefer Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spatlese AP #8
These two bottles were opened to underscore how plots of land in sight of each other can make notably different wines. For all their similarities, they indeed showed as distinctly different wines. The Himmelreich was brighter, more linear, showed more stony character, and had aromas and flavors that were very much like a fresh clementine orange. Delicious stuff that drinks very well now, and certainly has decades of life.
2012 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spatlese AP #10
In contrast to the Himmelreich, the Domprobst was richer, a bit thicker and as such did not show its acidity in the same way. It still displayed a salty/slatey finish, but the mid-palate richness was nearly overwhelming. This was more of an elegant auslese in character, where the Himmelreich danced like a spatlese should. Lay this Domprobst down (I can likely say the same for the #5, though I have not opened a bottle of the 5 yet) and drink the Himmelreich or the ’12 Schaefer kabinetts if you need a Willi Schaefer fix. I loved both of these wines, just preferred the Himmelreich on this night, as it was showing better.
