WTN: A few wines from last week

[Jenise]

Listed in reverse order of presentation:

2004 Errazuriz Founder's Reserve Don Maximiano Aconcagua Valley Red Bordeaux Blend
Sweet, new world fruit with lavish oak treatment. Nicely mature, not many tannins left. Drink up.

A cab franc-intensive Vegelegen red that I liked a lot made the rounds just now, but we had a devil of a time getting the bottles passed down to our end of the table and I missed the exact year and bottling of this.

1995 Michel & Stéphane Ogier Côte-Rôtie Cuvée la Belle Hélène Syrah
Instantly hits the nose as No Rhone Syrah with white pepper, black tire, herbs and roasted meat. Beautifully aged and balanced. A dream on the palate. Outstanding.

2013 Kelley Fox Wines Pinot Noir Mirabai McMinnville
My bottle, 2nd I've had, last one six months ago. It was brought to a dinner by Oregon winemaker Barnaby Tuttle; very tight the first night though stunning, and even more compelling three or four days later when the fruit had opened up more. I instantly ordered three more bottles. (Kelley Fox is getting a lot of press up here among ITBers for her elegantly subtle pinots which is why I decided to show it to the guys in Canada. I have other single vineyards in the queue I've not yet opened.) So it was with great surprise that the "mauve-taupey light red wine" I noted last October is now so light a coral pink that some at the table understandably thought it a rose. The incredible spice of six months ago is now a barrel of strawberries. Hugely refreshing and well-liked, but I'm confused. And before you ask: screw cap.

1996 Albert Morot Beaune 1er Cru Les Toussaints Pinot Noir
My bottle. I was a late arrival or would have insisted this follow Bill's 96 Burg (note below). Decanted about an hour before it's turn came, and it needed that time to get the balance between acid, which it has plenty of, and fruit, which was also pretty good. Good body and overall presentation. I'm delighted to have two more bottles.

2000 Aurelio Settimo Barolo Rocche
Musty floral nose of an old Burg, but fresher on the palate. Mature flavors of roasted fruits and caramel, and more complex than any of the previous wines. Fantastic.[/b]

2000 La Spinona (Pietro Berutti) Barbaresco Bricco Fasêt Nebbiolo
A pretty blueberry note on the nose notwithstanding, this sure came across as pinot at first. Has the light body and tone of much older wine, but incongruently overt tannins. Good, but I would not remaining bottles hold much longer.

2001 Fattoria dei Barbi (Colombini) Brunello di Montalcino Sangiovese
Cherry, plum, cedar, star anise and leather. Long finish. Delightful: in peak drinking window.

1998 Château Haut-Bergey Pessac-Léognan Red Bordeaux Blend
Plum, cedar, mineral and mushrooms. Shows very well for the vintage and drinking perfectly now. Tasty!

1996 Domaine A Chopin et Fils Nuits St. Georges Pinot Noir
Pale, caramel colored, first impressions are sweet and acid. Very pleasant on the palate, though it lacks 'pinosity". Good showing for a village wine.

[Jenise]

Footnote to the Kelley Fox entry above: Just got contacted by someone who saw my note on CellarTracker. He, too, had the same experience, to boot: "My second bottle also showed very forward and strawberry-like. Even strawberry jam. So different from my first, high acid bottle. My third bottle was a charm though--between the two."

So what would you blame? Is the screwcap too obvious a culprit?

2013 Kelley Fox Wines Pinot Noir Mirabai McMinnville
My bottle, 2nd I've had, last one six months ago. It was brought to a dinner by Oregon winemaker Barnaby Tuttle; very tight the first night though stunning, and even more compelling three or four days later when the fruit had opened up more. I instantly ordered three more bottles. (Kelley Fox is getting a lot of press up here among ITBers for her elegantly subtle pinots which is why I decided to show it to the guys in Canada. I have other single vineyards in the queue I've not yet opened.).

Yes, always more new names. Was just reading on Disorder about an event she did at Racines, charming the Chambers Street crowd: http://winedisorder.com/comment/56/8646/

[Jenise]

2013 Kelley Fox Wines Pinot Noir Mirabai McMinnville
My bottle, 2nd I've had, last one six months ago. It was brought to a dinner by Oregon winemaker Barnaby Tuttle; very tight the first night though stunning, and even more compelling three or four days later when the fruit had opened up more. I instantly ordered three more bottles. (Kelley Fox is getting a lot of press up here among ITBers for her elegantly subtle pinots which is why I decided to show it to the guys in Canada. I have other single vineyards in the queue I've not yet opened.).

Yes, always more new names. Was just reading on Disorder about an event she did at Racines, charming the Chambers Street crowd: http://winedisorder.com/comment/56/8646/

I'll go read that--but I'm betting up front her blonde, beauty pageant looks didn't hurt.

[Jenise]

Interesting to compare that TN on the '13 to mine and the CellarTracker guy's. Although roast beef never entered our minds, it's obviously comparable to our first bottles and not our seconds.

Btw, here's Kelley (opening page, bottom left):

http://www.kelleyfoxwines.com/

Interesting to compare that TN on the '13 to mine and the CellarTracker guy's. Although roast beef never entered our minds, it's obviously comparable to our first bottles and not our seconds.

Btw, here's Kelley (opening page, bottom left):

http://www.kelleyfoxwines.com/

Aha. You did note that it was Jeff Grossman doing the write-up, so you can ask him!

I had never heard of her until recently, but will put it on the (long) list of things to check out one day.

I visited her at her facility two summers ago.

I think the wines are extraordinary but they are thoroughbreds and I'd expect them to change many times over the years. Which might be irritating, of course. But I have faith in the terroir.

Kelley is biodynamic, or nearly so -- of course, it's really up to the vineyard owner, since she buys fruit -- but I think it's pretty good other than one spray for rot. I think of her as a 'vine whisperer', spending a lot of time among the vines, paying attention to them and the rest of the nearby life. Mind you, she knows all the chemistry cold, but she has lots of extra capacity to think more abstractly about what she's doing... while keeping all the blocks separate, tasting and blending only when she and they are good and ready.

[Jenise]

I visited her at her facility two summers ago.

That sounds like a place with rubber walls.

I think the wines are extraordinary but they are thoroughbreds and I'd expect them to change many times over the years. Which might be irritating, of course. But I have faith in the terroir.

I drink a lot of wine. I understand, as a result, the way wine changes over time. This difference in just six months was something way beyond the normal evolution of wine. It's bottle variation. And that's backed up by the guy on CellarTracker who had an identical experience and then opened a third bottle almost immediately and found it different yet again, and more like the first.

So that's why I'm asking: screw cap?

Mind you, she knows all the chemistry cold, but she has lots of extra capacity to think more abstractly about what she's doing...

That seems to come across to everyone who meets her, and it certainly shows in the glass. I have a Momtazi--but cork, not screw cap--so maybe more reliable a barometer than these two Mirabai's. Ha!--cork more reliable. That's kind of funny.