TNs: Poker wines, including '96 Lagrange and '00 Barde-Haut

[Michael Malinoski]

Ten of us were able to attend our monthly poker game recently at Zach’s house. The wines were arranged for by Kyle, and as always were served blind throughout the course of the game. There were also some wines served after the game, which were not poured blind.

2005 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons. This wine presents a clean and clear, light and airy perfume of yellow citrus, chalk, white flower, melon and mineral aromas that lead to a palate that has a gently waxy feel to the yellow citrus, chalk and mineral flavors. It’s dry, gripping and a maybe even a bit tough-shelled on the finish, so I might risk aging this a bit longer.

1975 Penfolds Grange. What a fantastic showing for this wine! It’s a very healthy dark color and greets the taster with a dark and sexy bouquet loaded with aromas of peppermint dust, eucalyptus, black plum, baked fig, mixed currants and fudgy chocolate that are very much alive and overt, but also layered and full of interesting tertiary bits. In the mouth, it feels giving and generous, with a backbone of subtle tannin all the way through but a very creamy, classy texture and nice round body around that core. Fun flavors of blue and purple fruit, chocolate and spice seem rather youthful to me and my blind notes actually say it has a “long way to go still”. The finish is maybe not quite so harmonious, but otherwise this is a lot of fun and delightful to drink right now.

2005 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune 1er Cru Marconnets. This wine shows somewhat pale in color and has a nose that’s initially quite skunky and sooty but slowly unfolds to reveal moderately more pleasant scents of rawhide leather, black tea and dried cherries. In the mouth, it’s fairly light and certainly quite acidic, with an earthy core around tangy dried cherry and strawberry fruit. It mellows and deepens just a bit with time in the glass, but the finish stays somewhat attenuated. I like some elements of the wine, but it actually seems more past peak than approaching it when tasted blind like this.

2005 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune 1er Cru Teurons. This was a far better showing for my tastes, starting with the pleasant nose of fine earth, cherry, raspberry, smoke, black tea and little whiffs of soft sweet oak aromas. On the palate, it’s rather pleasing—with plenty of sticky, sappy red fruit, a fine spine of controlled tannin, medium weight and solid balancing acidity. It has an easy flow and a mellow finish, coming across as younger but more fully-realized than its flight-mate. I thought this was pretty nice.

2007 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains. The nose here is young and dense, with smoky and smoldering aromas of dark berries and earth. It’s bold and sweetly fruit-driven in the mouth, with cranberry and purple berry flavors that are large-framed and forward. It wasn’t one of my favorites on this day, but I suspect it will gain more complexity with time.

2007 Windy Oaks Estate Pinot Noir Estate Cuvée Schultze Family Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains. This is lighter-colored than the Rhys, with a different sort of bouquet to it—focusing more on birch, fennel, cranberry, raspberry and licorice aromas riding atop earthen clay notes. The birch and sarsaparilla notes follow on to the palate, supporting full-blown wild berry fruit and leafy flavors. It’s a big mouthful of pinot berry flavor with a fair amount going on.

2007 Vietti Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco. I find that the nose of this wine seems to grow on me over time, slowly revealing fine layers of cassis, mocha dust, milled wood and grilled herb aromas that are plenty lively atop a mellower core. It’s medium-bodied in the mouth, with an easy texture and nice spice notes accenting the sour cherry and sweeter raspberry fruit flavors. It has good cut and a clean and characterful finish.

2007 Sottimano Langhe Nebbiolo. This wine is more modern in style, with aromas of wild berries, chocolate chips, coffee bean, black leather, campfire smoke and shaved wood. It shows off a lot of bright berry and baking spice flavors on the palate, along with a liberal dose of oak. It’s rather more concentrated and polished than the previous wine, but it’s loaded with flavor and shows a lot of youthful exuberance. There’s also a bit of tannin yet to resolve on the finish, so I think a few years in the cellar will be good for both this and the previous wine.

1996 Château Lagrange St. Julien. Right off the bat, this smells like a classic claret to me—showing off a lovely bouquet of red and black currants, green pepper slices, cedar shingles, lead pencil and fine soil scents that are full and expressive, yet mellow and earthy. In the mouth, it has a nice taut feel to it, but is still loaded with glossy black Cabernet fruit flavors carried along by a fine slice of acidity. The tannic structure is definitely in play but never distracts from the quiet but persistent energy and flow of the wine. It feels to me like a pretty complete and effortless wine that must be at or nearing its peak drinking period. This is simply very good stuff for my tastes.

2000 Château Barde-Haut St. Émilion. This is a tougher wine to get a read on, starting with the rather dark and tarry nose of black smoke, blackberry, lava rock, grilled herb and dark-roasted oak aromas that are fairly big and overt right now and seem lacking a bit in nuance or grace. It is extremely glossy and slinky-smooth on the highly-polished palate that features flavors of blackberry, black currant and smoky earth tones. It’s easy to start falling a bit for that smooth texture and lithe dark fruit, but in the end this just isn’t as interesting or as enjoyable a style for me as the 1996 Lagrange drunk alongside it.

2003 Michel & Stéphane Ogier Côte-Rôtie. This wine really smells like the product of a hot vintage—showing a little bit of volatile lift to the rather ripe, warm and heady aromas of cherry pie, crushed red berries, liquid caramel and cigar ash. It’s much the same on the palate—showing a lot of warm and sweet red berry fruit that has a baked or cooked down sort of concentration and personality. Still, it’s well-woven texturally and features a lot of bright acidic lift. It’s just a rather uneven performance, and I think we were all disappointed in this showing.

2005 Domaine Paul Autard Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée La Cote Ronde. This wine is very young indeed, with a rather rich and pasty fruit bomb nose of sweet cherry, kirsch and wild berry aromas to go along with a somewhat annoying little streak of rubber band in the background. It’s huge and aggressively expansive in the mouth, with a rich, sweet, pruney, big-boned and bruising blast of candied cherry and powdered blueberry fruit. It’s sticky, gooey and just far too obvious right now, so give this a good long rest in the cellar.

After hours wines (not blind):

1985 Laurel Glen Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Mountain. After the last 2-3 wines in the formal line-up, it was like a restorative night’s sleep taking my first sniff of this wine. Wow, what an absolutely beautiful nose—loaded with classic and fine-honed aromas of suede leather, jalapeno pepper, dry dusty dirt road, red currants, cassis, lavender and mellow funk tones. It’s just a true pleasure all around. In the mouth, it’s again outstanding--with excellent life, density, class and complexity all packaged up neatly together in the flavors of mixed currants, black cherry, leather and wild herbs that take on a nice sappy feel all the way through the palate journey. It leaves a long and lasting impression and draws the taster back time and again.

1986 Chappellet Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Signature Reserve. This wine is much darker and more smoldering on the nose, but gets better and better the longer you stay with it—eventually yielding aromas of blackberry and black currant fruit, tomato leaf, limestone and black leather. On the palate, it is serious stuff—showing off loads of dark mountain fruit to go with leather and smoked mineral notes on a yielding frame. There’s a lot to like in this wine, actually. It’s the first Chappellet Signature Reserve I’ve had with any age and I certainly like it a lot at this stage of its evolution. I wouldn’t wait too much longer on it, though.

2001 Bodegas AAlto Ribera del Duero Aalto. This is obviously internationally-styled but oh so luscious that it just doesn’t matter, as the plush, pure and sexy aromas of cherry liqueur, cedar shingles and powdered mint just wash right over you. In the mouth, it is caressing and plush, with deliciously sweet and pure red fruit taking center stage and delivering a satisfying mouthful of wine that puts a great cap on a fun day of wine and poker.


-Michael

[Nicklasss]

Thanks for those comments on those wines.

Lately, I bought some 2009 Vietti Perbacco and hope it will be as good as your 2007. I like these low to medium pricerange nebbiolo from Piedmont, but my wife don't like them as much, and it is probably the only wine problem between us.

I had a few Sottimano, and I would agree I found them very dark, concentrated and modern style.

Never had a Grange yet, but like all comments I read on different vintage of Vega Sicilia Unico, différent vintage of Grange seem to never deceive, for a non-French wine. And that deserve respect.

For the Paul Autard Côté Ronde, I had the 2007 and it Seems really similar to the 2005, being a big lush creamy Chateauneuf.

Finally, I still have some 1996 Lagrange and was thinking to open one soon (next six month), from your comments seem like a good idéal.

Nic

[AlohaArtakaHoundsong]

I brought one of my '96 Lagrange with me to Hawaii. I was very impressed with my first bottle a few years ago. Pretty big and grapey at age 8 or so, if I recall correctly.

[johnz]

I had the 1996 Lagrange (St. Julien) in 2006 and again this year. In 2006 it was tough and quite tannic, with a tooth-drying finish. Last month I gave it 2.5 hrs in a decanter, and while the bouquet kept building, on the palette in was still angular. I think the '96 Lagrange is not yet at it's best -- at least I hope not as I have 4 bottles and will stay away for some years yet. Even if it gets a bit better with a few years, I don't think it will ever be as good as the 1990 Lagrange.

--Gary Rust

[Michael Malinoski]

Thanks for the comments, Gary!

Interestingly, I also last drank the '96 Lagrange back in 2006 and completely agree with your assessment of it back then. Here in 2013, I didn't find it to be angular at all and I think we gave it just about as much air time as you did in your recent tasting. I am not saying to rush out and drink up, but I did feel that it's in a really good spot. And drinking it blind, it sure seemed like a wine hitting its stride in terms of maturity. Obviously, YMMV, so just my 2 cents.

-Michael

[johnz]

Michael -- could be my preference to more resolved wines, or perhaps my chilly cellar -- I have an active cooling unit in the unheated Minnesota basement, but in winter the weather takes over and drives it down to 45F or less Nov-March. I find the '96 Pape Clement more to my liking right now . . .

--Gary Rust

[Michael Malinoski]

Good point, this bottle was not from original release--was purchased from a reseller about 5 or 6 months ago, so that could perhaps contribute to it being further along toward maturity than your experience from the cold cellar...

-Michael

[Claret]

96 La grange was pretty shut down 3 years ago. Another bottle opened last year was more friendly.

[Claret]

Tonight's bottle of 1996 Lagrange showed a touch of green herbs and some tannin structure but overall was very good.