WTN - Yet more recent wines

I'm trying not to wait so long between notes...

I haven't opened a CDP for quite a while. Is there any other wine region that went from wine blog darling to a reviled region? Parker had a lot to do with this. The 2003 vintage in particular is a mine field at best, but this 2003 was a revelation, and the reason I started buying CDP. But it's still a crap shoot, and I haven't bought a bottle from this region for many years.

The Emrich-Schönleber riesling was the best wine I have had in a long, long time: what an incredible wine! I had a wonderful walk-in tasting at this producer with its young winemaker on my first visit to the Nahe. He didn't include this wine at the tasting, but I asked for a 375 ml bottle option and he suggested this. Not a bad suggestion!

The Pesquera reserva also out performed, and aging really helped this wine.

• 2003 Domaine de la Charbonnière Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Mourre des Perdrix - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (10/24/2015)
  Started out very light in colour, but it picked up colour quickly to become medium ruby with nice bricking at the edges. Lovely nose of earthy cherry with slight garrigue, pine, leather and balsamic vinegar notes. The medium bodied palate had leather, plums, cherries and black licorice. There is no heat or over-ripeness at all, in fact it is a 'burgundian' style CDP: very elegant and well balanced, with nice acidity and complexity. A long finish too. Much better than I expected, and sorry that it is my only bottle. What a great surprise! This is excellent now, but will last - but probably not improve too much - over the next several years. (A-/A)
• 2004 Bodegas Alejandro Fernández Ribera del Duero Tinto Pesquera Reserva - Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero (10/24/2015)
  Didn't take notes last night at the dinner party, but this was a more impressive bottle than the last one I had, as it was much more integrated. I decanted a hour which probably helped too. American oak notes were there, but they merged nicely with the plum, cherry and other mainly red fruit flavours on the smooth, medium bodied palate. Went very well with a steak dinner. Nice complexity and integration now, but will last many years too. (A-)
• 2006 Domaine Lorenzon Mercurey 1er Cru Champs Martins - France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Mercurey 1er Cru (10/24/2015)
  brought this at a dinner party last night, decanted it for 1-2 hours before tasting. This showed differently than the last bottle, as it was more open and richer tasting. Strawberries, cherries, not much complexity, a solid if rather simple and modern style burgundy. It did improve as the night went on; I'll try my last bottle in 2-3 years. (B+)
• NV Michel & Damien Pinon Vouvray Brut - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray (10/18/2015)
  Same impressions as the last note. This is an excellent QPR sparkler, one of the best I've had at its price point. Great richness, clear but well integrated chenin blanc notes, and a nice clean finish. This is my fifth or so bottle of this, so I am definitely a fan (A-)!
• 2006 Emrich-Schönleber Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Auslese ** - Germany, Nahe (10/18/2015)
  Brought this 375 ml bottle back after a tasting in this Nahe winery in 2008.Didn't take notes last night, but this really was an incredible wine, with an outstanding, complex nose and an amazing, full bodied, well integrated, creamy palate to match. Mainly tropical fruit flavours on show, with a hint of botrytis and minerality. The complexity on show here was stunning, and it was an absolute joy to drink. Ready now but will last too. (A/A+)
• 2005 Bischöfliche Weingüter Trier Ayler Kupp Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (10/10/2015)
  This is aging well and in no danger of going over the hill anytime soon. The citrus and tropical fruit flavours are starting to integrate, as are the acids and sugars, and this medium bodied wine ends up off dry on a lengthy finish. Better than I was expecting from this producer. (A-)

[David M. Bueker]

Nice set of wines.

2006 is at its best in Germany with the late harvest wines which punch well above their weight. Pretty much all the auslese from top producers is BA or even TBA level.

Thank you John for a nice set of notes.

[Jenise]

Reviled? I haven't had a sense of that at all. But yeah, 03 and 07 and probably 09 should be generally avoided by classicists, and one needs to look to vintages like 04 and 06 for some restraint. Btw, another great 03? Vieux Telegraf.

Jenise, you're right, reviled was too strong a term. Out of fashion maybe comes closer to the truth. I get the sense from reading wine boards that many people went the same route I did with CDPs. Parker's passion for the region and accompanying high scores really pushed people to buy these wines, and the tasting notes they published online pushed even more people to buy these wines. The region definitely became in vogue among the wine 'nerds' (I include myself in this group). But over the last 5 years or so, perhaps as Parker's influenced waned, as many people became less enamored with high alcohol and extremely ripe wines, and other regions gained attention (e.g., the rise of the IPOB and AFWE acroyms), it's become more rare to see people on the boards mentioning CDP purchases or providing as many tasting notes as in the past. Almost the exact same thing happened with Australian shiraz in the same time frame. These two regions went from hot to not relatively quickly.

It's amazing to see how wine trends change and shift much more quickly now due to the advent of the Internet and wine boards like this one. It's not comfortable to admit how easily swayed we are by others' opinions and ideas, but that is in fact part of what makes us human: our psychological makeup is attuned to others' attitudes and values, and we rely on these to a great deal to create our own attitudes and values.

My main exposure to CdP lately has been a wine bar in Davis (Vini) that regularly stocks the blend. My favorites have been the Neil Rosenthal/Madrose Selection wines, but then I like a bit of funkiness in my Rhone wines, so....

[Jenise]

Almost the exact same thing happened with Australian shiraz in the same time frame. These two regions went from hot to not relatively quickly.

...It's amazing to see how wine trends change and shift much more quickly now due to the advent of the Internet and wine boards like this one.

True, that. But honestly, and maybe because I mostly confine my chatter to this board which leans euro-centric and is fairly immune to trendiness, and perhaps because in the same time frame I physically moved from Southern California into the shadows of Vancouver where people like Bill have large holdings of Rhone wines and into a state which has a serious wine industry of its own, I had not realized that other wine lovers were less into CdP. I'm personally into it more than ever.