Catching up on some stuff from vacation week. I wasn’t interested in posting detailed notes when there were gorgeous sunsets and amazing foliage, as well as fun birds and animals to see. Did keep track of what we drank and scribbled a few cryptic notes. Here’s what I can make out of them! No rhyme or reason to the order of the wines below.
2006 Domaine La Milliere Chateauneuf du Pape Vielles Vignes: showing some age, but still relatively fruity – easygoing, and good with beef stew.
2009 Edmunds St. John Rocks & Gravel: Fruitier than the CNdP it was served with; this is prime time now with no worries about it falling off a cliff. DIAM5 closure by the way, but nothing to be concerned with 13 years from the vintage. Still plenty of dusty raspberry fruit and a good dose of herbs and meat.
Eric Bordelet Sidre Brut Tendre (forgot to note the vintage…maybe 2018): lightly sweet, and crazy gulpable. Had me craving Thanksgiving dinner.
Aubry Fils Champagne Premier Cru Brut (2020 disgorgement): initially steely but opened up to more lemon and crisp apple tones with yeasty overtones. Still a bit early on this one for my taste, but good potential.
2019 Kruger-Rumpf Scheurebe Spatlese: pink grapefruit and slightly unripe mango fruit had me more than a little in mind of the old Catoir Scheurebes. Firmly in the sweet camp, it worked well with our homemade and spicy Chicken Makhani.
2019 Bedrock California Syrah: So darned easy to drink. Still quite juicy, but good underlying structure. Should likely be delicious for as long as anyone is willing to hold it. Crazy value!
2017 Goodfellow Family Cellars Temperance Hill ‘Pumphouse Block’ Pinot Noir: Deep red fruit and firm underlying structure. Needed 24 hours to completely unfurl. When it did some real complexity started to emerge, so looks like a great candidate for the cellar.
2017 Once & Future Zinfandel Teldeschi Vineyard ‘Frank’s Block: Wait…what? It’s gone? How the hell did that happen? Zinberry and dusty earth – still has some back-end bite, but that’s fine with a pizza. Drink now and for a long time.
2018 EMH Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Black Cat’: Needed 90 minutes of air for it to retract the claws. Then it started to purr. Cassis and spice. Nothing overdone – just exactly enough of everything. I kept saying “balance” as I was drinking it.
2016 Littorai Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir: Still very youthful and juicy. Easy to drink but not particularly interesting. Time perhaps?
2018 Montenidoli Vernaccia Di San Gimignano ‘Carato’: First time with this producer and wine. Really interesting stuff that had me doing a lot of thinking. Reminded me somewhat of Cortese, but more depth. Maybe like Chardonnay, but more light shining through. Hay, spice, yellow fruit. Tasty stuff.
2019 Evesham Wood Chardonnay Le Puits Sec: Pear, lemon, a little spice. Moderate weight on the palate, and a refreshing finish. I only got a little of this, as the Chardonnay fan at the table had the bottle monopolized. Good enough that I would like to try more.