Notes from several events, including Open Red night with the Dorks.
2007 Ashbourne Walker Bay Pinotage
Lacks substance, tired. From other notes on CT, it should have been better.
2002 Domaine du Mas Blanc (Docteur Parcé) Collioure Les Junquets Syrah Blend
Tasted blind. Bretty, salty, green olive, sulphur, somewhat like a St. Joseph or Crozes. No doubt French, but who drinks enough Collioure to guess that? Time to drink up.
2010 Gali Cab-Merlot blend, Gallipoli, Turkey
My bottle. Guesses went Brunello, Super Tuscan, Bordeaux, in that order, before exhausting the rest of Europe. Roasted notes of beef and sun dried tomato with red apple skin and big tannins. Interesting, especially in that most of us don't usually find typical vinifera showing this well in third world places; but needs time.
2004 Columbia Winery Barbera Signature Series Alder Ridge Vineyard Horse Heaven Hills
Loved this. Tim's bottle. Spicy, buttery, funky with barnyard and good underlying fruit. Almost Bordeaux-like. Classic David Lake.
2009 Azienda Agricola Vignalta Colli Euganei Rosso Riserva Cab-Mer blend
Tasted blind, Chelsea's bottle. Cabernetish, black olive, tasty, ripe but clearly not North American or Bordeaux. On the verge of picking up tertiary, leather notes. Would hold for 2017 or beyond.
2009 Domaine Raymond Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Super funk on first pour needs about 20 minutes to blow off, revealing more youthful fruit and bigger body than expected. Joke's on me: I had put these in my inventory as '08s! Was relieved not to find excessive alcohol or ripeness, and in fact an elegant Chateneuf that will reward further cellaring.
2013 Maison Roche de Bellene Coteaux Bourguignons Gamay-Pinot
Light bodied and very clear/filtered, polished flavors, pomegranate and strawberry, the gamay shows more than the pinot noir. A delightful introduction to the blend.
2011 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Nebbiolo
Light bodied, very clear, looks a lot like the last one but here the nose shows roses with complex red fruit on the plate. Nebbiolo is guessed immediately and barbaresco follows quickly. Drinks very well for a young nebb--wish I had some of this.
2011 Wieninger Blaufränkisch
Earthy, funky, animal, spicy, rustic, med-plus body, tasty.
2011 H. Brunier & Fils Ventoux Megaphone Grenache Blend
Somewhat exotic fruit like guava on cherry, with a prickly green note like cactus. Lighter bodied, not serious but nice.
2000 Duval-Leroy Champagne Femme de Champagne
OOH. Gorgeous, seriously classy. Never had this particular Duval before but there's one bottle left in town and it already has my name on it.
2012 Giuseppe Quintarelli Bianco Secco Venezie Trebbiano Blend
So soft and easy to drink it would be easy to take this wine for granted, but it rewards closer inspection. The floral nose is fab and there are layers of complexity to stave off boredom. Well worth the exorbitant sum of $50 I paid for it, and a fun wine to stump the chumps with.
2004 Domaine Latour-Giraud Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières
A good bottle. Flint and citrus, plushly integrated oak, elegant.
2007 Dauvissat-Camus Chablis 1er Cru La Forest
Strangely sour at first and lacked mid-palate depth throughout. Not evidently premox but not quite right either.
2000 Albert Mann Gewurztraminer Furstentum Vieilles Vignes Alsace Grand Cru Gewürztraminer
Thick and lush with canned pear fruit, some pineapple, and intense/gingery spiciness. In great shape--makes me wish I appreciated off-dry Alsatians more than I do.
1995 Château Cabannieux Blanc Graves Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc
Acquired--no joke--from a friend who inherited it from a suicidal woman with a passive cellar. Opened it expecting nothing good: but wow. Deep yellow color. Not youthful but astonishingly well-preserved with lively Semillon-intense flavor and structure. Interesting that on CellarTracker there has only been one other note ever posted on this wine, and that was 18 years ago.
2009 Marqués de Riscal Rioja Reserva
Earth, cherry and vanilla--too much oak and not enough acid. Pretty boring, actually.
NV Bernard Remy Champagne Grand Cru
Golden color, fruitier and less dry in style with baked apple and brioche. As such, particularly fine with a smoked goat cheese from Oregon, but otherwise a bit chubby. Not flat, but lacks persistence.
1996 Château Beau-Séjour Bécot St. Émilion Grand Cru
Definitely downhill from the bottle we opened 17 months ago. No surprise looking at other Tracker notes. Drink up, if you have them.