WTN: Chinook Cab Franc, 05 Zilliken, 05 Chanrion Brouilly, 99 Allegrini PdT

2004 Chinook Wines Cabernet Franc Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley, WA
Fresh cut lumber, graham cracker and other oak flavors. There is some Cab franc fruit under it all, but the wood really dominated everything else tonight. When I opened this I was really shocked at the oak flavors. A previous bottle last year showed restrained fruit, some cab franc herbal leafiness, and a balance between the fruit and structure, and wasn't at all dominated by the barrel. This wine wasn't anything like the prior bottle, and it was tough to finish a glass. What happened?


2005 Zilliken (Forstmeister Geltz) Saarburger Rausch Riesling Spätlese #13
Oh this is lovely stuff. The nose alternates between apple - pear and some more tropical fruits. There is a slightly smoky note as well. This is full flavored with the sensation of weightlessness that the best MSR rieslings have. It is full of primary fruit and showing pretty sweet with all the baby fat of youth at the moment, but there is plenty of acid and structure underneath. Very long persistant finish. A great cellar candidate?

2004 Dönnhoff Riesling Estate QbA
This wasn't bad, unfortunately we tasted it with the 2005 Zilliken Spatlese to which this paled in comparison. Even though this was an '04, it seemed a little flat next to the '05 Zilliken. Some spiced apple flavors, a little bit muted at first, on day two it seemed more open and lively, some minerality showed up also as it opened.

1999 Allegrini Palazzo della Torre Veronese IGT
Dark opaque purple, slightly candied nose of black fruits, maybe a sage note. In the mouth it is kind of blocky, thick, without much freshness. Some tannins still there that show up as it opens. Finishes with a licorice chocolate note. I thought the wine was hard to identify as an Italian, it could have been from anywhere. Not my favorite style (lacking acidity), but other than being anonymous, no real faults. The wine is still very primary without much evolution at this point.

2005 Chanrion Côte de Brouilly Domaine de la Voute des Crozes
A pretty nose of sweet red berries, a bit sharp and angular in the mouth. Some mild mannered tannins. It wasn't nearly as pleasant on day two, very tart in the mouth and it lost some of the pleasing aromas. I think this will be better in a year or so when the sharp acidity settles down a bit. It is a little lighter than the Brun Cote de Brouilly, and less tannic.

Thanks for the notes. I've enjoyed some Zilliken wines in the past. Do they make one numbered "33"?

Graham Cracker? Ewwwwww. My major wine flavor profile buggaboo right now. Caramelly sweetness in anything but Zins (where it somehow can work if restrained).

2004 Chinook Wines Cabernet Franc Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley, WA
Fresh cut lumber, graham cracker and other oak flavors. There is some Cab franc fruit under it all, but the wood really dominated everything else tonight. When I opened this I was really shocked at the oak flavors. A previous bottle last year showed restrained fruit, some cab franc herbal leafiness, and a balance between the fruit and structure, and wasn't at all dominated by the barrel. This wine wasn't anything like the prior bottle, and it was tough to finish a glass. What happened?

Marc,

Of course, it could be bottle variation, but I've had a very similar experience with Walla Walla Vintners' Cab Francs -- really enjoying them young (yet having them taste to my untrained palate as ageworthy) and then finding them turning into undrinkable oak soup at roughly 3-6 years of age. After age 7 or so, they turn back into drinkable and even interesting wines again, though still with more oak than I prefer. I've stopped buying their wines -- there are other producers from the area that use oak in moderation and whose wines don't go through several years of pure hell in the aging process.

I've never had any other wines do this -- I'm guessing it might be due to some combination of the fruit properties of Wash State-grown CF and the winemakers' oak regimen, so that during the period when the wine might normally be closed, the oak becomes the only thing one can taste. Anyway, your description made me wonder if Chinook does something similar. For your sake, though (if you have other bottles in your cellar), I hope it was just an off-bottle.

-- Bruce

Brian,
I don't know if Zilliken makes a '33'. Maybe some of the Riesling gurus can help answer.

Bruce,
I think you must be right about the wine being closed and only the oak showing. I do have one bottle left in the cellar that I'll leave alone until 2011 or so as an experiment. I had a similar experience with a 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon from Donedei Cellars this past year. At age six the wine was closed and the wood flavors seemed really prominent.

Thanks for the replies.
Marc

[Jenise]

Sounds like the Chinook's in a dumb state, though it's eerily early for that. I'm on the fence about these wines, have yet to buy a bottle. I've run into Kay at a number of tastings and when she pours I enjoy the wine (talk about easily influenced!), but among a group of Loires they taste heavy, extracted and sweet. More like a cocktail than a food wine.

Hard to compare to Loire, I agree. In a tasting with a group of WA and CA wines the Chinook stood out as least extracted and was easily my favorite.

I would almost always prefer to open a Breton or the wonderful 05 Filliatreau Grande Vignole that is now available here, especially for the table, like you mention.

I had high hopes for this Cab Franc based on the first bottle. Closed or bottle variation, or showing its true colors, I'm not certain, but it wasn't what I what I was looking for.

You guys snowed in up there in Birch Bay?

[Jenise]

That's probably why I like the Chinook at tastings, that comparatively speaking among other Washington wines it shows well.

Not snowed in. Last time around we got a lot more snow than you did, but this time the storm came out of the southeast and it's the other way around. Must be interesting getting up your hill. Love the snow, and the clear crisp days like yesterday and today that come after. Of course, I'm apopleptic about the three wine shipments that should have been delivered Wednesday but are sitting in Burlington instead....

2005 Chanrion Côte de Brouilly Domaine de la Voute des Crozes
A pretty nose of sweet red berries, a bit sharp and angular in the mouth. Some mild mannered tannins. It wasn't nearly as pleasant on day two, very tart in the mouth and it lost some of the pleasing aromas. I think this will be better in a year or so when the sharp acidity settles down a bit. It is a little lighter than the Brun Cote de Brouilly, and less tannic.

Geez, I guess it's been years ago now that I had the great privilege of tasting at M. Brun's cellars. IMO, unless things have changed since then, you'd be hard put to find better Beaujolais Grand Crus--the Cote de Brouilly among them. Among those rare Beaujolais Crus built to last and improve.

Sounds like the Chanrion isn't quite in the same league, but nevertheless worth keeping for a short while--a contrast to most Beaujolais, which ought to be consumed as soon as it's released, and which will only punish those who attempt to age it.

-Paul W.

Sounds like the Chinook's in a dumb state, though it's eerily early for that. I'm on the fence about these wines, have yet to buy a bottle. I've run into Kay at a number of tastings and when she pours I enjoy the wine (talk about easily influenced!), but among a group of Loires they taste heavy, extracted and sweet. More like a cocktail than a food wine.

I loved the 2003 Chinook wines, and I bought a bunch of them. I was significantly less impressed with their 2004 wines and didn't buy any. Well, not totally true; I bought a couple bottles of their 2004 Cab Franc Rose' prior to tasting it. It seemed to have some residual sweetness, but the winemaker told me all the sugar was fully converted. I suspect it was a combination of the general fruitiness of this wine combined with the glycerol produced during fermentation.

I don't know what caused the quality difference between the 2003-2004 vintages. I can't recall if their vineyards got whacked by the killer freeze of January 2004. It is possible they had to source 2004 grapes from different vineyards. It's also possible they changed barrels, etc.

I suspect we'll visit the Prosser area later this year. I will ask them what accounted for the taste difference in 2004. Perhaps they will even have some 2005 wines to taste, depending when we get out there.

-- Clark

I just opened another bottle of the 2003 Chinook Cabernet Franc this week, and it was every bit as lovely as I remembered. As I mentioned in a previous posting, I should be out there soon, and I hope to be able to visit Chinook. [That reminds me ... I better send them an email for an appointment.] I hope their 2005 vintage turns out as good (or better) than the 2003 wines I fell in love with.

-- Clark

2004 Chinook Wines Cabernet Franc Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley, WA
Fresh cut lumber, graham cracker and other oak flavors. There is some Cab franc fruit under it all, but the wood really dominated everything else tonight. When I opened this I was really shocked at the oak flavors. A previous bottle last year showed restrained fruit, some cab franc herbal leafiness, and a balance between the fruit and structure, and wasn't at all dominated by the barrel. This wine wasn't anything like the prior bottle, and it was tough to finish a glass. What happened?

dunno. Last time I had a Chinook was from the early-mid 1990's vintage (1993 perhaps?). It was merlot and damn tasty, not noticeable oak at all, so maybe somethign went terribly wrong here. Kinda difficult to judge from where I sit (on the right coast).

I might still have some Zilliken Auslese from 2002. Will have to try to obtain the 2005 which sounds great from the description. I'm also holding onto a few Maximin Grunhauser that I'm eager to try but don't want to dis by drinking them in their infancy.

Brian,
I can't see that Ziliken makes any nr. 33 but Karthäuserhofberg, located along the Mosel's other significant tributary, the Ruwer, does. Can this be the one you seem to remember?
BTW, here's a nice link to some info on Chris Kissack's "Wine Doctor" site about the Ruwer vineyards. Also the other parts of these pages are great sources of information.
Cheers, Anders

OK. No more laziness. I actually went downstairs, grabbed the bottle, and brought it upstairs: I was way, way off

Weingut Spreitzer 2004 "303" Oestricher Lenchen Riesling Spatlese Rheingau, Terry Theise Selection imported by Michael Skurnik Wines.

Sorry.

ClarkD,
When you visit Prosser, be sure to taste at Willow Crest and talk to Victor, the young assistant winemaker working with Dave Minnick (He's only about 22 and was making wine before he was legally of age to drink it). We were really impressed with the wines at an offline in 2005. We liked all the wines but one that stood out as something of a surprise was a Mourvedre. Also a Grenache with a touch of Gewurztraminer added.
http://www.willowcrestwinery.com/

Thanks for the tip, JC. I'll add a stop at Willow Crest to the itinerary.

I believe a read an article some time ago about that assistant winemaker. I recall the statement about him making wines before he was legally of age to purchase them.

-- Clark

When you visit Prosser, be sure to taste at Willow Crest and talk to Victor, the young assistant winemaker working with Dave Minnick (He's only about 22 and was making wine before he was legally of age to drink it). We were really impressed with the wines at an offline in 2005. We liked all the wines but one that stood out as something of a surprise was a Mourvedre. Also a Grenache with a touch of Gewurztraminer added.
http://www.willowcrestwinery.com/

JC,

We just returned from our brief wine tasting jaunt to the Prosser and Tri-Cities areas. We made Willow Crest our second stop, and I did get the opportunity to talk with their young winemaker, Victor Palencia. Although I really liked their 2003 Collina Bella Red Table Wine (a Super-Tuscan blend of Sangiovese & Cabernet Sauvignon), I walked away feeling a bit disappointed overall.

I will post extensive notes (almost 60 wines) in a week or so. -- Clark

2004 Chinook Wines Cabernet Franc Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley, WA
Fresh cut lumber, graham cracker and other oak flavors. There is some Cab franc fruit under it all, but the wood really dominated everything else tonight. When I opened this I was really shocked at the oak flavors. A previous bottle last year showed restrained fruit, some cab franc herbal leafiness, and a balance between the fruit and structure, and wasn't at all dominated by the barrel. This wine wasn't anything like the prior bottle, and it was tough to finish a glass. What happened?

Marc,

My wife and I met with Kay Simon at their winery last Thursday, and the four new releases we tasted (including their 2005 Cabernet Franc) are tasting as good as ever. We also spoke about the 2004 Cab Franc, and she confirmed my original theory. Their estate vineyard Cabernet Franc vines got toasted that winter, and they had to source 100% of their grapes that year. By comparison, the 2005 vintage is close to half estate grown grapes.

I will post my notes in a week or so.

-- Clark

I tasted at Willow Crest within the last 10 days as well. I liked and bought the XIII (a southern rhone blend), but was otherwise underwhelmed. The 2004 Grenache was interesting, but not a buy. Thurston Wolfe wines were better done overall and the 2005 Petite Sirah was a buy. Also bought a very nice 2005 Cab Sauv from Bernard Griffin (always well balanced wines) and very good Malbecs (yes Malbecs) from Bernard Griffin and Fidelitas. Looking froward to trying Chinook's 2005 Cab Franc.

My wife and I met with Kay Simon at their winery last Thursday, and the four new releases we tasted (including their 2005 Cabernet Franc) are tasting as good as ever. We also spoke about the 2004 Cab Franc, and she confirmed my original theory. Their estate vineyard Cabernet Franc vines got toasted that winter, and they had to source 100% of their grapes that year. By comparison, the 2005 vintage is close to half estate grown grapes.

I will post my notes in a week or so.

-- Clark

Hey thanks Clark. What percentage, if any, of new oak do they use with the Cab Franc?

When I first tried their Cab Franc, I thought it was great. A bottle I could open as an example of a Washington State Cab Franc without over extraction or excessive new wood, and also one that doesn't cost a fortune. I will look for the 2005 to try.

Thanks again,
Marc

Hey thanks Clark. What percentage, if any, of new oak do they use with the Cab Franc?

When I first tried their Cab Franc, I thought it was great. A bottle I could open as an example of a Washington State Cab Franc without over extraction or excessive new wood, and also one that doesn't cost a fortune. I will look for the 2005 to try.

Thanks again,
Marc

Sorry, but I neglected to ask about their oak aging process.

-- Clark