While Andrea was out of town I was trying to chip away at the maybe-over-the-hill list, starting with a Broc Cellars 2014 Santa Barbara County Cabernet Franc, Whole Cluster. As I recall, this was never an especially dense wine (which was fine with me), but at age 10, it's indeed fading, as I expected. The initially pallid color darkens in the glass with air, and there are some pleasant loamy, forest-floor notes and the occasional hit of bright red fruit, but this is mostly uninteresting if inoffensive.
I really wanted something with a little more oomph, so I set it aside and moved to the probably-too-young list, selecting a Château Poujeaux 2015 Moulis en Médoc. Bright cherry and cassis, a bit of mint and other herbs, all framed by a dense wall of fine tannin. I thought this would probably be great on night two, or three, or in five-plus years, but at the moment it was mostly potential. Since no one was around to see me, I decided to pour a half ounce of the Poujeaux into my abandoned glass of Broc to see what happened. Perked it right up, but it felt so wrong and dirty that I couldn't bring myself to drink the doctored glass, and did tannic penance with the straight Poujeaux instead (which was indeed better on the second night, but had begun to become flat by the third).
Done with the spirit of self-sacrifice, I opened a Carl Loewen 2020 Mosel Riesling Kabinett, Longuicher Herrenberg. Big and broad, candied citrus and stone fruit with darker red fruit and some spice on the bottom end. Mildly sweet with moderate acidity, long but initially a bit disjointed and lumbering; by an hour in, however, the elements started to come together into a more coherent wine, though still one I’d never have guessed was a Kabinett, thanks to the sheer weight. I think this is one to hold for a while.
Idlewild 2022 Yorkville Highlands Arneis, Lost Hills Ranch. Nicely balanced between oily richness and lean and lemony herbaceousness, this is a great, food-flexible wine that will easily straddle heavier and lighter spring vegetable dishes. I’ve had mixed experiences with Idlewild’s reds, and dropped out of the club earlier this year for that reason, but I've found the whites I’ve tried really satisfying
Celebrated Andrea's return home with a Perkins Harter 2022 Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir, Bracken Vineyard. Terrific bottle. Starts out restrained, with strawberry fruit and flowers, but after an hour, becomes full-throated: concentrated cherry and pomegranate fruit, supple texture, and as the bottle proceeds, an increasing sense of a wine with more flavor than it can quite contain in its middle-weight frame. Heady aromas all the way through. This is delicious to drink now but there’s no rush.
Jean-Claude Bessin 2014 Chablis, 1er Cru, La Forêt. First of four, and at a decade in, this is just at the leading edge of maturity. Citrus fruit, copious crushed seashells and minerality, and remarkable density and persistence, all in a well-integrated package with no hard edges but still a lot of freshness. A great bottle of an excellent wine, which I’ll guess can go at least another decade with ease.
Fattoria Galardi 2010 IGT Roccamonfina, Terra di Lavoro. Decanted an hour before dinner. Initially tight with the ashy character many CT reviews noted framing recalcitrant fruit, but blossoms within 30 minutes and continues to improve over two hours. The palette here is unrelentingly red to red-black, but with so many layers that you don’t miss the absence of a cooling blue. Increasingly velvety and rich with air, but never loses its focus. Delicious, and probably eternal; if you open it now, give it time.
Closerie du Pelan 1999 Francs Côtes de Bordeaux. Purchased recently in Ithaca. The deal (according to the Rosenthal website) is that this is a little estate near the border between Francs Côtes de Bordeaux and Côtes de Castillon, which had been owned by a friend of Jean-Pierre Amoreau of Château Le Puy; it fell on hard times and was purchased by the Amoreaus in 2022, who found hundreds of bottles of stock from older vintages under the floorboards of the winery and have now brought it to market. My friend at the shop told me he thought I'd like the 99, despite (or because) of the generally poor reputation of the vintage, so I gave it a shot. Ruby with some bricking, showing lots of leather and herbs on opening. Seems predictably thin for a while, but it eventually takes on some weight and shows riper and fresher red fruit along with the same herbs. Tasty, though not complex or profound. I’d be interested to try the 2000, though maybe not $60 interested.