Half-blind as usual:
Chave Hermitage Blanc 2003 was surprising: it is refreshingly citrussy on the nose with some minerality also. The palate is plump and full-bodied and alcoholic yet oddly enough keeps itself intact! I like it. Rhone whites always seem to be too low in acidity but this has structure from tannins and some nice minerality to keep it refreshing. What a nice surprise - I wouldn't have expected such a nice wine.
Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage La Guiraude 2003 was a bit sugar-watery on the nose with some herbs. The palate was juicy and well structured, a bit hollow but still a positive experience.
Tardieu-Laurent Cornas Grandes Bastides 2003 was full of toffee and bacon - sweet and spicely oaky. The palate was sweet and oaky and simple and hollow. Not a catastrophe, but alas just in a style I don't really appreciate.
Clape Cornas 2003 was the surprise of the evening. Most Clapes I've had before have been well structured, pleasantly austere, mineral and the kind of wine that one of such masochistic tastes as mine would like. This was gobby and confected and liqueur-like with much too high alcohol and simple, sweet, gobby fruit on the palate. Quite unpleasant.
Jamet Côte-Rôtie 2003 was a very pleasant wine. It had bacon and peach and all scents Côte-Rôtie. The palate was rather juicy but was well structured. I understand that there have been accusations that Jamet acidified - if so, it has worked. I like this very much and wouldn't mind a couple in my cellar. Of course I'd like to taste it alongside other Jamets to be sure, but I do find this a very enjoyable wine in this company.
Ogier Côte-Rôtie La Belle Helene 2003 was oaky and a bit chemical-smelling. With air, it even became dilly - and I don't like dill in my wines. The palate was sweet and - rather surprisingly - was refreshing from the acidity. The fruit was sweet but a touch hollow.
Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline 2003 was quite disgustingly vanillary, sickly sweet and lacking any refreshing qualities. The palate was creamy, oaky, sweet and highly extracted. I am sure it is only my palate but I could not see any redeeming features in this. Smothered in oak.
Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque 2003 was quite a bit better. Sure this is much oakier than I would prefer, but at least there is some savoury notes and some delightful red-berry scents to balance the toffee flavours. The palate was rather big and extracted but had decent acidity. This, though not my style of wine at all, I can understand that some consider a great wine.
Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne 2003 was again a very good wine, but just not my style. The nose is rather smoky, more stern and darker toned than the previous wines, with some true Syrah-character despite the obvious oak. The palate is thick bodied, oaky, a bit gamey (always nice IMO) with nice structure. Nice stuff and I rather like what I see under the oak, but I not having tasted any older LaLas I just don't know if such a wine will ever develop into such that I would like it older.
Delas Hermitage Les Bessards 2003 was corked.
Tardieu-Laurent Hermitage Grandes Bastides 2003 smelled gamy and grouse-blood-like. It is a bit over-ripe and toffeed but is not as weird as some others tonight. The palate is sweet and not as nicely acidic as it should be, but is not a travesty at all. When revealed, I was very surprised. On most previous experiences (a couple 2002s excepted where they didn't seem to use oak so lavishly) I've thought T-L to be horribly modern and even offensive to my tastes. Once again the value of blind tasting is shown: I like this.
Chave Hermitage 2003 was confected, too sweet, with some very delectable red toned fruit - but despite these red tones the scent was rather unrefreshing. The palate was similar: big and sweet and despite some "elegant" red nuances, the whole was just not refreshing enough for my tastes. Very alcoholic aftertaste.
Chapoutier Hermitage Le Pavillion 2003 had a super-sweet nose, a bit lactic, porty, berried and alcoholic. The palate was also rather lactic and alcoholic. There was a huge concentration of fruit and enough structure to carry it, so if you like sweeter fruit than I do, I am sure this will be a great wine. More an intellectual than a hedonistic pleasure for me.
Chapoutier Côte-Rôtie La Mordorée 1998 was much better than the one we tasted last week, when we had quite a bit of debate if that chemical-smelling bottle was representative. This bottle was gamy, bacony and peachy and smelled like what a warm year Côte-Rôtie should smell like. Big fruit, adequeate structure. Pretty pleasant though I wouldn't mind a touch more acidity.
Quinta do Craso Vintage Port 2003 was its usual sugary, strawberry and cola-like self. Fun but a bit darker toned in its fruit than I remembered.
Fonseca Vintage Port 2003 was blue-toned and floral, rather more robust in its scents than I have usually found Fonseca to be, but still true to the house style. The palate was gloriously sweet and concentrated, with lovely structure balancing the floral-sweetness. Nice stuff!
-O-
