Tried these wines ystrday:
1. Forlorn-Hope Verdelho rhv RorickHeritageVnyd/CalaverasCnty/SierraFoothills (13.60%) 2017: Med.yellow color; rather stony/chalky/mineral light floral/dandelion bit saline quite terroir-driven nose; quite tart/tangy/rather lean stony/chalky/mineral light floral/dandelions savory flavor; med. tart/lean/wirey fairly strong stony/mineral/chalky finish; not a lot of fruit but an interesting/saline white that needs age; I have no idea what the varietal character of Verdelho should be, so this is my one data point.
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2. Henriques&Henriques Verdelho Madeira (18%) 1902: Deep golden/burnished bronze/light PX color; very intense smokey/coffee/espresso/classic Madeira/slight oxidized incredibly perfumed bit alcoholic/fumey very complex nose; rather tart/tangy slightly off-dry intense Madeira/coffee/espresso/smokey/nutty/somewhat oxidized very perfumed very complex beautiful incredible flavor; verry long/lingering off-dry incredibly complex intense nutty/coffee/espresso/smokey finish that goes on & on; a beautiful classic example of an old Madeira; presume it was old in barrel but the label didn't show (or was scuffed off) when it was bttld.
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3. Chatelain-DesJacques AC: Vouvray (11.5%) 1983: Med.light gold/bronze color w/ no sediment to speak of; very perfumed old CB/earthy slight herbal rather chalky/stony/mineral slight nutty/oxidized bit forest floor/woodsy/Kansas hay loft/smokey surprisingly youthful very aromatic very complex nose; fairly tart/tangy/metallic/steely totally dry rather rich/youthful strong mineral/chalky/bracing light bodied some herbal/CB/Kansas hay mow slight nutty/toasted hazelnuts not at all oxidized very complex flavor; very long/lingering light bodied quite tangy/bit metallic/steely quite chalky/mineral totally dry very complex finish; whatta surprise; not a lot of CB fruit but still very much alive & vibrant/youthful; amazing white.
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4. Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese (EA; A.P.Nr.3 561 024 18 84) Trier/Mosel 1983: Med.gold color; beautiful some Mosel valve oil/petrol bit cedary/smokey slight damp forest floor very complex old R nose w/o not a lot of botrytis character; lightly tart/tangy rather petrol/Mosel valve oil rather dry but rich/lush very complex old R flavor; very long/lingering bit tart/tangy/flinty/steely rather petrol/Mosel valve oil lovely old Mosel R very complex finish; a beautiful example of an old Mosel R but not a lot of botrytis character.
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5. Dom. Ph.et Sonia Charlopin-Parizot AC: Gevrey-Chambertin (12%; MeBalP) Gevrey-Chambertin 1985: Med.light color w/ considerable browning; quite earthy/mushroomy/truffly/loamy bit merde/Kansas outhouse bit woody/oak/cedary slight floral/violets/wet leaves complex nose; quite tart/tangy/metallic rather loamy/earthy/mushroomy/truffly some merde/Kansas outhouse slight floral/PN/violets rather complex flavor w/ light metallic/drying tannins; very long/lingering bit smokey/cedary/oak rather earthy/mushroomy/truffly/pungent/bit loamy light merde/Kansas outhouse/funky rather acid/metallic complex finish; not showing a lot of oxidative character; a rather interesting expression of an old RedBurg but not offering up a lot of hedonistic pleasure.
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6. Gasparini Dd'OC: Schiacchetra Cinque Terre VQPRD (14%; #63 of 260 btls; Selezionato da Francesca Giusti/Monterosso al Mare) Prodotto: Gasparini/Serra di Riomaggiore; Imbottigliato: N.Sassarini/Monterosso al Mare 1990: Deep brown/light PX color; some earthy/dusty intense grapey/passito/bit raisened slight pruney/PX-like slight pencilly/oak rather complex nose; quite sweet rather raisened/grapey/passito light PX-like slight earthy/dusty bit cedary/pencilly some complex flavor; very long/lingering rather passito/grapey/raisened bit earthy/dusty some complex finish; reminds a lot of a lighter PX but w/o the oxidation; shows a nice complexity for an aged passito wine.
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7. St.Nicholas Commandaria Dessert Wine CAofO: Commandaria/Cyprus (15%; AmerikasImporters) M&B by Etko/Limassal/Cyprus NV: Fairly dark/murky brown color; strong raisened/pruney/grapey slight alcoholic very PX-like bit cedary/oak some complex nose; quite sweet bit alcoholic strong grapey/raisened/pruney slight earthy/rustic bit soft flavor; very long/lingering quite sweet bit soft/alcoholic strong grapey/pruney/raisened bit earthy some complex finish; reminds more of a lighter PX than anything.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Ystrday was SueNoel's BD so Susan, Laura (Pig+Fig), & myself took lunch up to her to celebrate. With that effort, I am given free reign to venture down to her cellar & bring up something to drink w/ lunch. There are a lot of old treasures down there. Laura & I went down to see if we could cause some serious damage to the cellar. The above wines are what we found.
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2. Vouvray: This wine was a huge surprise. I saw it on the rack, assumed it would be dead & gone, so brought it out as a throw-away wine. How wrong I was on that. The wine was an absolute joy to drink and no signs of bad oxidation going on. Don't know what it was like in its youth or if it had some r.s., but amazingly youthful.
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3. Gevrey-Chambertin: When first opened, this showed a lot of musty/fusty/old Red character & I thought it was pretty much dead & gone. As it sat in the glass & btl, it cleared up quite a bit & showed some of the character you get in an old RedBurg. A bit on the tired/aged side but not totally shot yet.
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4. Sciacchetra: My first experience w/ this fairly rare wine. Made from the Vermentino, Bosco, and Albarola varieties, this is a passito dessert wine. This wine was showing some complexity you don't often find in aged passito wines. Mostly they just remain simple/grapey wines thru their lifetime, which is pretty much forever.
Tom