2000 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico Riserva Rancia - Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG (5/13/2016)
2000 was a very warm year in Tuscany and produced riper wines than appeal to hardcore Tuscan connoisseurs. However I have a soft spot for them and this was a fine example. Colour showing some bricking and open expressive nose with red fruit, secondary and balsamic hints. Medium/full bodied and beautifully integrated with sweeter fruit, less leather and earth and less tangy acidity than typical, but more than enough of the last for balance; velvety texture and long finish with resolved tannins but enough firmness. Blind, I think I could have taken this for a maturely rich left-bank claret from a warm vintage. Excellent.
1996 Domaine des Grands Devers Côtes du Rhône - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône (5/14/2016)
René Sinard was a magician. Who else could have produced such a fragrant and elegant result 20 years after the vintage from a simple Syrah based CDR from near Valréas in a weak S.Rhône year like 1996? To be sure there were faults which Germaine immediately highlighted but there were qualities rare from such a modest origin and thus the wine is difficult to score. Quite light colour, limpid with hints of bricking. Lovely nose of fine sweet cherry, grilled meat with a hint of quinine. Medium/light palate and very elegant with more cherry and meat but there was a marked and rather disconcerting bitterness (more quinine) towards the finish which was reduced by the food to a desirable firmness. Fading now but still IMO on balance very good and a perfect pairing for rabbit served with prunes and cherries in a Lambic (raspberries) beer sauce. Reliable IMO word has it that Sinard's successors since the turn of the century are not achieving comparable results but the potential is obviously there.
NV Bollinger Champagne Special Cuvée - France, Champagne (5/15/2016)
As always classy and elegant with enough firmness and backbone to be a good food wine. Very good and likely to gain complexity over the next few years.
1990 Mas de Daumas Gassac Vin de Pays de l'Hérault - France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Vin de Pays de l'Hérault (5/15/2016)
Much less good than the previous bottle about 18 months ago. Colour was still quite deep but with tawny tints. The nose was slightly tainted by a metallic note which receded on swirl as round fruit came up. I commented that the last bottle was diminished by being excessively up-front but I did not at all feel that here. On the contrary the entry seemed a bit weak and pasty and the early mid-palate hollow filling out towards the finish. At that point there is still some attractively round Cabernet dark fruit with secondary development. This bottle gives the impression of a fading wine but distinction is still perceptible. Level at bottom neck/top shoulder may account for some of this fading.
1990 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley (5/15/2016)
I know that this vintage is not a favourite of hardcore Musar-holics but this bottle was lovely and, if my TN is to be believed, more enjoyable than a bottle of the better regarded 1991 a few years ago. Colour was quite light but very limpid with faint bricking at the rim. The nose was expressive and the palate was medium/light bodied at most and very elegant showing bright mature and slightly sweet red fruit, varnish, leather, fine acidity and oriental spice all perfectly integrated. I think that there was less backbone here than in 1999, my best in recent years, but the overall effect was ethereal and lovely. Very good.
1996 Marc Parcé Rivesaltes Élevé 18 ans en barriques - France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Rivesaltes (5/15/2016)
Just like the previous bottle, lovely pink and amber colour and light/medium bodied with cherry and nut infused gentle sweetness and good acidity. I'm wondering if this style is not the most balanced and elegant expression of 100% Grenache. Very good.
PS: 24 and 48 hours later the wine progressively became more complex and seemed firmer and longer. On same quality level IMO as a 20 year old Colheita from a fine port house and at c.€16 much less expensive.
2004 Domaine de l'Oratoire St Martin Côtes du Rhône Villages Cairanne Haut-Coustias - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages Cairanne (5/16/2016)
At a similar age to this bottle, the 1998 had achieved an ethereal elegance and fruit somewhat similar to, say, a mature Rioja Imperial Reserva/GR minus the vanilla. 2001 had something of the same but from 2003 the wines seem to have lost it at same time as becoming more alcoholic (13% in 1998, 14% this 2004 and 14.5% 2005). That said, the bottle was a good example of S.Rhône in a more robust style with deep colour, nice savoury dark fruit with a slight sweet rose touch, herbs, a little liquorice, decent acidity and more tannic backbone than usual in the region (Mourvèdre 60% of the blend). Very good but I miss the more elegant style. I don't know if more recent vintages have reconnected with it; I somehow doubt it.
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