2009 Clos Pegase Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
Patience has rewarded! Very open, with medium-plus body with nicely maturing blackberry, licorice and graphite and earth notes. Surprisingly bordeauxish in tone with good acidity and integrated tannins. Delightful. I'll push the Drink by date to 2020.
NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Champagne Blend
Corked. DAMNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN. But this brings up a question: someone at the table opined that champagne has more corked bottles than other white wines. Is this true? I've encountered very few, personally.
2006 Arcadian Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands
More acid than fruit, tight and ungenerous. Possibly asleep, but more likely the difficult vintage--at age 9, I expect better development from Arcadian pinots.
2000 Éric Texier Côte-Rôtie Vieilles Vignes Syrah
Better than the tight/ungiving bottle opened a year ago, but still lacked fruit and my guess is that even though the trend line is going in the right direction, the show's pretty much over.
2012 Luc Massy Chasselas Epesses La Crosse Dézaley, Switzerland
Heavy flavors, almost oxidative with an unpleasant blast of alcoholic heat on the finish. Poured it down the drain.
2014 Ashan Cellars Chardonnay Columbia Valley
Personal love for chardonnay and loyalty to home state caused me to fall for the entreaties of a local retailer and buy this new, to me, producer. But 14.5% alc per label tastes even hotter than that, and we couldn't finish a glass.
2014 Savage Grace Wines Sauvignon Blanc Red Willow Vineyard Yakima Valley
Here's proof that a vintage '14 white in WA doesn't have to be like the Ashan above. Last of three bottles purchased earlier this summer, and the best by a mile. The lemony-gooseberry top notes have integrated and it's now showing some interesting stemmy qualities and an almost oily viscosity that reminds of Bordeaux's Secrete de Grand Bateau. Luscious. Wish I had more.
2011 H. Brunier & Fils Ventoux Megaphone Grenache Blend
This bottle (from a Vieux Telegraf-owned property) showed a bit more forward raspberry fruit than the last bottle and a more open finish. And a discovery: served lightly chilled from the wine fridge the fruit is sweeter and more delineated than at room temperature, much like a good Beaujolais.
2000 Del Dotto Sangiovese Napa Valley
Pete's bottle. Superb wine at peak. En pointe middle aged flavors of tart cherry, berry, sandalwood and spice. Still has tannins and bright acidity. Wine evolved well in the glass and got more interesting with every sip. Elegantly bridges the span between new world technique and old world grape. This is the kind of wine I forget they can make in Napa Valley.
2006 Elegie Côte-Rôtie Syrah
Delightful maturing C-R in middle age. Tart cherry and mellower dark fruits with garrique, leather and pleasing tannins and acidity. Great now, will only get better.
2010 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde Syrah
PnP'd at Bart's. Tart cherry and other red fruits, cocoa, roadside fennel and leather. Classic C-R and on the bare edges of showing some burnt rubber and other secondary developments to come. Drinks well now despite the need for further cellaring.
2013 Analemma Wines Gewürztraminer Columbia Gorge
Pale, almost transparent; delicate and spicy. Almost off-dry on the mid-palate but finishes clean. Understated and refreshing. Another great wine from the Columbia Gorge appellation.
