I thought it was kind of lousy, but they like jammy and it's current condition is such that it worked as an after-dinner wine, kind of like port but without the alcohol.2006 Black Hills Estate Nota Bene Okanagan Valley
Ten years old and nothing to show for the trip but dark, jammy fruit just this side of goopy. Disappointed in the lack of aged character, especially compared to recent Washington 06's. For the price, reputation and my patience, we deserved more. It's not going to get better.
Earlier in the evening, Bob and I had this one with our dinner of corned beef hash and seared shisito peppers:
2004 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhone Blend
Last of six and no two were alike. Disturbing bottle variation made it impossible to guess what would be in the next bottle. This one: rich black old vine fruit with chocolate-y nuances and a mildly pruney nose which did blow off but which should nonetheless be cause for alarm due to the lowish acidity. Lacks the spice and leathery old world stuff I hope for from aged CdP.
Earlier in the week I impulsively opened this Bordeaux. I have too many 98's I haven't been getting around to, and it's really time for me to earnestly give this part of the cellar some attention.
1998 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou St. Julien Red Bordeaux Blend
Not nearly as good as the excellent bottle of last year. Much shyer, and holding back. Probably would have come out some if we'd decanted, but it didn't change much in the glass.
Here was a great surprise. Spurred by Patchen's thread I decided to open an Oregon pinot the other night. We'd been out to dinner and felt like one more glass when we got home, and I wanted something light and inconsequential. I bought a sixpack of this wine a year ago in order to buoy a local merchant at a particular event--I didn't love it, I just liked it better than the wines available to pick from and thought it "would do" for those days when you need a Volkswagen instead of a Cadillac. Cost was low $20's.
2012 Stoller Pinot Noir Dundee Hills
A year ago, to the best of my memory our first bottle presented as light, tart red fruit with herbs. Not a barnburner but reasonable QPR. No prior experience with Stoller.
But this bottle was nothing like what I remembered. First of all, it had put on some impressive weight since last year. And the flavors took me back to a different place: this is Oregon pinot as I first encountered it all those years ago. Which was supported by impressions from the first IPNC I went to in 94, where bazillions of pinot makers from CA, OR and Burgundy converged and allowed one to walk away with overall impressions of the product from each place. Blacker fruit with black-skinned plums black raspberries and a lot of loamy mushroom and forest stuff going on. Good acidity, evident tannins. Structured without being muscular, nor a 'smooth' wine for beginners in spite of the entry-level price. Good alone but better with food. Calmer the next day but no loss in quality. A much more serious pinot than the everyday-drinker I thought I bought. Interesting!
And here's the wine we had earlier in the evening at dinner, a wine chosen for its ability to (probably) go with anything we would encounter during our meal, which we didn't know the contents of in advance (heavy vegetable and roast lamb it turned out--PERFECT):
2010 Novy Family Wines Syrah Garys' Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands
Improved with air, but tannins are tighter/grittier than they were a year ago and the opulent Northern Rhone characteristics I remember not quite on display. Basically, the wine's grumpy right now. Let it sleep!