TN: Bubble Burgs Barolo Spaniard and S. Africa

Tasting notes from my Covid deferred tasting lunch that should have taken place last month. The theme for this one was no theme – anything goes.

We started really well with a couple of bubbly wines:

Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier Brut – light colour, nice mousse, bread and buttered apple nose, round on palate and ending with clean acidity.

2000 Pol Roger Champagne Brut Rosé – much more (golden) colour to this wine, but an excellent nose of bread and peaches, notably less fizz but smooth long finish.

2018 Domaine Roulot Bourgogne-Aligoté – yellow colour with green hints, primarily citrus based nose, mellow and round, a very pleasant wine with medium length.

1990 Domaine Jean Tardy et Fils Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Chaumes – light colour, a slightly funky nose showing some age, this was smooth but clearly a venerable wine that developed in the glass fairly quickly.

2010 R. López de Heredia Rioja Rosado Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia – this was a rare wine, very hard to find. It was an interesting yellow/pink colour, and the nose had salt water, and sweet orange peel. It was smooth in the mouth and very long with great acidity. One of the best white/pink Riojas I have tasted. 60% Grenache 30% tempranillo 10% viura

2004 Domaine Bachelet Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes – fairly dark burg with some dark cherry notes, and a hint of black pepper. It still had a reasonable amount of greenish tannin but the decent fruit levels gave it a very pleasant presentation.

1989 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva – my wine (that I had been trying to insert several places back but apparently I have a reputation for hefty wines or they felt some insecurity about the heartiness of their own offerings). My last bottle – I had drunk a half case each of this and of the 1990 slowly over the years and kept this vintage longest as I felt it was the best. Good, if slightly lightening colour, a pleasant tar and earth with some added leather and dark fruit, and in the mouth it retained sweet fruit and some interesting flavours. Long dry finish. I did the right thing to hold this one.

2013 Nino Negri Sfursat 5 Stelle – this was an interesting one as we don’t drink much Nebbiolo from this area. Big sweet nose on this purple wine with rubber and smoke in the nose. Ripish nose (this is done appassimento so has some Amarone hints to it) and a fairly high 15.5% alcohol. Ended with soft tannins. Would not have picked this as a Nebbiolo.

2009 Mulderbosch Sauvignon Blanc Noble Late Harvest – amber wine with a warm apricot nose, well balanced and with good length. I found myself wondering how this would make out in a blind tasting with French ines of the same ilk – Sauternes, Monbazzilac, Sausignac etc.

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[Jenise]

Tasting notes from my Covid deferred tasting lunch that should have taken place last month. The theme for this one was no theme – anything goes.

Funny, with the field wide open I thought all kinds of high quality off the radar things would show up, like Musar, but everyone went conventional! I had intended to bring a very impressive Swiss Petite Arvine but I couldn't find the two I know I have and Evinate's top listan negro (the Migan) from the Canary Islands. I opened the latter Wednesday night but on Thurs morning it had gone totally backwards so it stayed home. Hence the Aligote and LdH rose positioned as an early red rather than before the whites, as would be typical. The Mulderbosch was the only survivor of my original plans.

Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier Brut – What you said, though I thought the color more yellow/developed than you did. I would add that it was disgorged in June of 2011.

2000 Pol Roger Champagne Brut Rosé – burnished copper color, obviously aged, flavors of canned peaches and bourbon.

2018 Domaine Roulot Bourgogne-Aligoté – light yellow with apple and lemons. Substantive body, structure and tension, Coop called it "Rhone-like" (roussanne).

1990 Domaine Jean Tardy et Fils Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Chaumes – Brown sugar sweetness on first taste, several of us thought it was Californian. I didn't love it as much as most of you, it was cloudy and got more so in the glass, and the flavors changed along with the appearance.

2010 R. López de Heredia Rioja Rosado Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia – I appreciate your description. This is probably the fourth LdH rose I've ever had, and easily the best and the freshest even at 12 years out from vintage. In addition to the saline and orange peel you mention, it's notable for what it didn't have especially for this producer--any trace of oxidation. I couldn't have been prouder.

2004 Domaine Bachelet Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes – Agreed, liked this much more than the Tardy. Very fresh for the vintage.

1989 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva – This was WONDERFUL, thank you so much for opening it. And I thinkit ended up exactly where it needed to be. It was the richest of all the reds, and it was interesting to compare Bob A's totally different expression of nebbiolo.

2013 Nino Negri Sfursat 5 Stelle – Never in a million years would have guessed this was nebbiolo. Ripeness and sweetness resulted in a very new world in flavor (am I figuring this out right, that Bob A's wines often are?). Like a lighter ten-year-old Shiraz.

2009 Mulderbosch Sauvignon Blanc Noble Late Harvest – as you said, amber wine with a warm apricot nose, well balanced and with good length. Tangy and complex. Vs. the wines you mentioned, the closest thing in my memory banks are aged Chenins, like Cuvee Constance. Neither is as viscuous and concentrated as a typical Sauternes, for instance.

[David M. Bueker]

Impressive holding the Vilmart for 10 years past disgorgement. I thought I was the only one who did that.

The LdH Rosé is an amazing wine, but it has gotten almost impossible to source. It’s becoming like cult Borbon.

LdH Rosé ..coming soon but most swallowed up by Mr Kenny our Premier.

[Jenise]

The LdH Rosé is an amazing wine, but it has gotten almost impossible to source.

I picked this one up on Winebid four or five months ago. Wasn't cheap but at least I got one.