The newly-expanded Sweet Basil was the setting for a group tasting in early July. The initial impetus or theme was to be Hirsch vineyard designated pinot noirs, but that fizzled out and the end result was the usual interesting mish-mash of wines. The restaurant was a nice setting, and other than the foul tap water, did a nice job keeping up with us and delivering some tasty dishes.
The white wines:
1996 Latour-Giraud Meursault Genevrieres. Yet another in the long line of oxidized ’96 white Burgundies. Sad, sad, sad.
2005 Dr. Konstantin Frank Dry Riesling Finger Lakes. This was served blind. The color is pale straw with a greenish tint. The soft, gentle nose leads with peaches, citrus rind, grapefruit spritz and a bit of fruit cocktail. In the mouth, it is rounded with moderate heft and body. It seems rather low in acidity at first, but the longer you sip it, the more the structure seems to find its footing. The flavors are monolithic and primary at this point, with sweet pear my only descriptor. The moderate-length finish has a touch of bitter peach pit to it. My final guess was a young Pinot Gris from Alsace—I would not have guessed Riesling.
1999 Weinbach Gewurtztraminer Altenbourg Cuvee Laurence. This is extremely aromatic, with wild honey and musky apricot fruit up front, followed by softer accents of wilted rose petals. It is plush and expansive in the mouth with a nice creamy texture and soft, but balancing acidity. The sweetness level is very much in check, combining nicely with the lovely spiciness. It finishes with a touch of bitter fruit, but shows excellent length.
2002 Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Le Mont. This is good stuff. The nose opens with honeyed grapefruit at first, but there is a distinctive minerality there that grows and grows as it sits in the glass, becoming more dominant with time. There is also a fun baseball card bubblegum powder element that is there at first but integrates into the broader minerality with time. In the mouth, it is pure, with crystalline focus and great vivacity. There is faint residual sugar sweetness here, especially toward the finish, but the wine seems more dry than sweet. There are tightly wound flavors of tangerine, almond and mineral which linger on the well-delineated finish. On the whole, it is just a really pleasing wine, especially at the dinner table. It is young, but should drink well for some time.
The reds:
1993 Alain Hudelot-Noellat Vosne Romanee. This has an understated but rather promising nose to consider, with red cherry and pomegranate fruit lurking beneath nettles and ferns, faint leather and a hint of horse. Unfortunately, on the palate, it feels past its prime. It leaves a somewhat astringent impression on the tongue and feels a bit diluted, with hard, crunchy acids up front and the chalky red fruit fading toward the back. It shows medium body, but not a great deal of depth, and the finish is a bit tough and tinny. It is too bad, because the nose is quite nice.
1997 Williams-Selyem Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Hirsch Vineyard. This wine offers up an elegant but beguiling nose dominated by red fruits (strawberry, cranberry, dried raspberries, those red gummy fish) and soft powdered dust. It is airy and elegant in the mouth with solid drive and presence brought on by the precision of the vibrant red fruit. It is medium-bodied, nicely spicy and rather lasting. It does lack a bit of a bottom bass note, but the vivacity carries the day.
2004 Inman Family Pinot Noir Russian River Valley Olivet Grange Vineyard. This is my 4th tasting of this in the past year, and it is a wine that continues to show well each time. The pretty nose has plenty of sappy strawberry and gentle raspberry aromas to go along with the mineral notes I always seem to pick up from Kathleen’s wines from this vineyard. In the mouth, it has good balance, elegance and freshness. There is solid acidity and minerality but also pure gentle red fruits. It turns a touch darker toward cherry on the moderate length finish. Very clean, very nice.
2005 Flowers Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast. The nose here is a bit muted by youth, with some green leaves and stemminess, general red fruits and a faint whiff of clove. I guess I would say it is a bit muddled and fails to show much expression at this stage. In the mouth, it has dark cherry fruit and good spiciness, but also a touch of warmth from alcohol. The finish sees a decent amount of tannin kicking in, to go along with the big hit of spice and a shot of zingy alcohol. Overall, this just needs a good amount of time to come together.
1995 Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage. One really has to re-calibrate when coming off of all the pinots. The nose here offers a big hit of plum, powdered mint, black currant and a bit of smoked meat gaminess. In the mouth, it offers a seamless texture with pure dark fruits and some smoked meat, but not as much complexity as I would have expected. Also, significant acidity creeps in and eventually overtakes the wine, giving it a more pinched profile toward the back of the mouth, especially as the evening wore on.
1996 Poliziano Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. The nose here is fairly dark and a touch brooding, with sweet black cherry, plum, raspberry compote and dark caramel aromas. It is a bit chewy in the mouth at first, but with good intensity in a solid mid-weight package. There are cool cherry and dark chocolate flavors, as well as some earthiness. The tannins are surprisingly aggressive on the finish, which dries out a bit over time. Still, more youthful than expected, and also showing about the same after a night in the refrigerator.
The sweet wines:
1998 Chateau Rieussec Sauternes. 375 ml bottle. The nose on this wine really grows with air, offering scents of orange crème brulee initially and later turning more to lifted citrus oil and warm orange marmalade. In the mouth, this is already a seamless wine showing initial layerings of texture. Flavors of orange candy, dried apricot, spun sugar, dark peach and botrytis lead to a pleasing finish with very good length and clarity. This should have a solid future, but I am happy to drink it now.
1997 Château Soucherie Coteaux du Layon Beaulieu Cuvee de la Tour. I believe this was a 500 ml bottle. I must say I liked this quite a lot more than the 1997 Soucherie CdL Vieilles Vignes we had last month. There is a bit of muskiness to the nose, with dark honey, burnt orange peel and persimmon. It is lushly textured in the mouth with lots of personality, featuring flavors of honey and rich orange. The balance is right on and there is good drive right through the enjoyable finish.
-Michael