WTN: Recent tastes (incl another 01 LdH)

[Jenise]

2012 Haden Fig Chardonnay Willamette Valley
Unoaked style, good flavor and balance for $16 but not distinctive.

1995 Pavillon Rouge du Château Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend
This bottle was a bit tired and past peak. Needed half an hour of decanting--and food--to show something of interest, and even then it didn't show well at all compared to most 95's I've had.

2012 Cristom Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley, Oregon
One of the two best domestic PG's I've ever had; nicely concentrated fruit with an intense delivery on the palate, but not heavy or cloying. Bright pear and white flower aromatics.

2006 Buty Columbia Rediviva Phinny Hill Vineyard Horse Heaven Hills Red Blend
Distinctly new world, bright but mono-dimensional without any nuance or development from 8 years of bottle age. Effortlessly drinkable, but I expected more. Drink up--from here, it will just fade away.

2009 Tercero/Cabot Les Deux Comtés California Red Rhone Blend
Shared by Kriss. A joyful California syrah (72%) blend of Santa Barbara and Humboldt Country grapes, crisp and loaded with minerality and future potential. Would seek this out for my own cellar.

2001 R. López de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Tondonia Tempranillo Blend, Tempranillo
A very good bottle. Bright and tense with no sign of oxidation--but I said that last time and two days later the unfinished half had turned into prune juice. Dang, I don't know what to make of these.

2012 Tranche Cellars Slice of Pape Columbia Valley Red Rhone Blend
Shared with Kriss and Daisy. Overoaking and excessive malo disappointingly coat fruit with malty tones that stunt all possible references to the old world Chateneuf style syrah blend it attempts to emulate. Sorry, no slice at all.

2001 R. López de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Tondonia Tempranillo Blend, Tempranillo
A very good bottle. Bright and tense with no sign of oxidation--but I said that last time and two days later the unfinished half had turned into prune juice. Dang, I don't know what to make of these.

2009 Reynvaan Family Vineyards Syrah The Contender Walla Walla Valley
Shared with Kriss and Daisy. My first 09 Contender--have only had the Unnamed and In The Rocks so far, and this is the best of the three. Among it's brothers in the Reynvaan stable it has bigger fruit than the Unnamed but it's more tame than the Rocks; raspberry fruit in perfect balance with silky tannins and that incredible 'animale' thing that happens in the best northern Rhones (for me). Outstanding. Could not love this wine more.

2007 J. Rochioli Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
Started out plummy and fungal--blind, would have guessed Oregon--but over the period of two hours or so it took us to finish the bottle the cherry and spice of its origins came to the fore. Perfectly middle-aged, drinks well now but should cellar well for 3-5 more.

2011 Frankland Estate Shiraz Rocky Gully Frankland River
A dog. Fruit fading, no structure or substance. AVOID.

2010 De luliis Shiraz LDR Vineyard Hunter Valley
Another dog. Tired, parched, swampy vs. fruity. AVOID.

2010 Jim Barry Shiraz The McRae Wood Clare Valley
Excellent concentration and structure. Delightful eucalyptus flavor reveals in time--a 1-3 hour decant recommended. Definitely a long-haul style, would guess it's a 15-20 year wine. For wines like this I'd start buying Aussie again--although they've virtually disappeared from the local marketplace. I had to order these in from California.

2010 Henry's Drive Shiraz Dead Letter Office Padthaway
Delightful shiraz. Concentrated inky black currant tones with depth and a sweet finish. Far and away first place at a blind tasting of 35 tasters. Especially good value at around $20.

2010 Torbreck Shiraz The Struie Barossa Valley
No decanting required. Drinks beautifully on first pour and softens nicely from there. Very good for now and the next couple years, but I didn't find the tannins needed for 2021+ as initially assessed by critics.

2012 Tranche Cellars Slice of Pape Columbia Valley Red Rhone Blend
Shared with Kriss and Daisy. Overoaking and excessive malo disappointingly coat fruit with malty tones that stunt all possible references to the old world Chateneuf style syrah blend it attempts to emulate. Sorry, no slice at all.

I don't think I understand "excessive malo". Most reds go through malo-lactic fermentation (MLF), where the stronger acid, malic, is converted into the softer lactic, but it's either all or none, never partial. So, did the wine have a tart finish, indicating the presence of malic acid (excessive acid) or was it lacking in acid, indicating that after the MLF was complete, the acid was too low (excessive acid level shift)?

[David M. Bueker]

I am going to assume that you only had the 2001 LdH in this set of wines.

i am not sure that assessing a 14 year old wine after 2 days open really tells us much. I would expect a wine mid way into its second decade would not be as robust in terms of holding its own against oxygen.

[Jenise]

2012 Tranche Cellars Slice of Pape Columbia Valley Red Rhone Blend
Shared with Kriss and Daisy. Overoaking and excessive malo disappointingly coat fruit with malty tones that stunt all possible references to the old world Chateneuf style syrah blend it attempts to emulate. Sorry, no slice at all.

I don't think I understand "excessive malo". Most reds go through malo-lactic fermentation (MLF), where the stronger acid, malic, is converted into the softer lactic, but it's either all or none, never partial. So, did the wine have a tart finish, indicating the presence of malic acid (excessive acid) or was it lacking in acid, indicating that after the MLF was complete, the acid was too low (excessive acid level shift)?

Howie, I was only addressing the taste sensation, not the winemaking.

David, the last 01 we opened seemed good but quite tight and young, so we corked the bottle and set it aside for what turned out to be two days--at which point is was too pruney to drink. A previous bottle a friend opened was pruney off the bat. I would expect a wine with this kind of acidty and tannin that supposedly was a "drink through 2030" kind of wine to not only hold up but relax and improve over 48 hours. We didn't chance it on this bottle--though, of course, I had Kriss and Daisy there to help with this one!

I agree with David. In that connection, personally, I don't think any wine is really meant to be enjoyed after being set aside for 2 days. In my house, whatever is not finished that same day is either damaged or not to my taste, and, perforce, dumped/abandoned, or, the maids finish it off (funny, once I overheard them in the kitchen arguing over who already got their fair share of the unfinished bottles).

Best,

N

i am not sure that assessing a 14 year old wine after 2 days open really tells us much. I would expect a wine mid way into its second decade would not be as robust in terms of holding its own against oxygen.

I concur. In fact, I'd go further: I can imagine enjoying this wine immensely--in fact, I did, recently--and fully expecting any leftovers to be fully deceased the next morning. In my case, there was no risk of leftovers.

[Jenise]

whatever is not finished that same day is either damaged or not to my taste

Very different here, Noel, is all I can say. We often open a wine to check it's progress and determine that it's too young/tight so set it aside for a day or so to monitor it's progress. I didn't say it so plainly here but that's why that that earlier bottle was not finished--it was so tight it was unpleasant to drink. The bottle we opened with Kriss and Daisy was much more open.