Invited a friend , Harvey, to The Capital Grille for dinner last night. Our neighbor Laura joined us too.
Jim H and Jon N have meet Harvey at my recent PLL dinner in Chicago
One can always count on Harvey to bring nice wines.He recently brought a veritcal of 1980s GL to my house
I openned a 05 Numanthia at 4p we started drinking at 6p or so.
Harvey showed up at 6:15 with a 1990 Montrose and a 1990 Guigal Hermitage. These three wines may have been the best three wines I have ever had together during a unplanned dinner. These wines did not conflict with one another and were all great in their own way
We had grilled veg w/portobello mushrooms and lollypop lambchops to start..........what great match with the wines
Harvey had a grllled sliced filet dry aged steak and I had the labmchops......we shared
Jim/Jon - Ted and Karen, who you guys have meet, came in with a manager at one of the Binnys stores(now I know how he gets all this good wine). We sent them a glass of each of the wines above. They responded with a big glass of Shaffer Hillside 1997. and a 99 Amarone(Sp? I do not like it anyhow).
What a night......all the wines got better and better except the Hillside - very noce wine but no match for the 3 we had
1990 Château Montrose - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (12/13/2009)
the initial nose was terrible.........three of us thought the bottle was bad or the glasses were soapy but thankfully the stink blew off after 10 minutes - the nose probably kept me from thinking more highly of this wine but once I could drink it it was amazing, dark color. Just got beter and better and the nose evolved into a wonderful bordeaux , big structured and lots of layers. One would have thought this was a 6 year old bordeaux. (96 pts.)
Any one had this happen before with Montrose ??
1990 E. Guigal Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage (12/13/2009)
very nice, good color, nose of herbs and pepper, well integrated tannins , spice and undelying mouth coating cherries - went with mushrooms so well.
This wine is ready ready to drink and is not likely to get better - drink up (93 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
2005 Bodega Numanthia Termes Toro Numanthia - Spain, Castilla y León, Toro (12/13/2009)
it just gets better and better as the evening goes on. Openned two hours before dinner and drank over two hours.....this wine hung in there with a 1990 Montrose....ate with lamb chops a very nice match up 95 ptsPosted from CellarTracker
I was very happy with the way this wine is developing
I picked up 9 botles of the little brother 06 Termes yesterday for a blow out price of 19.99
Rick
What a dinner
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JimHow
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Re: What a dinner
Wow! I hope those Chicago friends of your will attend Chicago '10, Rick, they are good people.
Re: What a dinner
Rick, I think it's the '90 Montrose that has stirred controversy over its brettiness.
Re: What a dinner
Rick,
You mean the smell of the north end of a horse going south??!! Yep that's Montrose and the 90 is typically bretty which has blown off but not completely the two times that I've had it.
Sounds like another great night at the Capitol Grille.Again the Numanthia plays a staring role. We had the 90 Guigal last year in Florida and it had faded badly. We thought that it was well past it's prime.
Merry Chritmas to you and Kathy and hopefully we'll see you in Chicago in the Spring.
Danny
You mean the smell of the north end of a horse going south??!! Yep that's Montrose and the 90 is typically bretty which has blown off but not completely the two times that I've had it.
Sounds like another great night at the Capitol Grille.Again the Numanthia plays a staring role. We had the 90 Guigal last year in Florida and it had faded badly. We thought that it was well past it's prime.
Merry Chritmas to you and Kathy and hopefully we'll see you in Chicago in the Spring.
Danny
Danny
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Michael Malinoski
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Re: What a dinner
Rick, thanks for the great notes. I've always wanted to try 1990 Montrose and hope to some day.
On the 1990 Guigal Hermitage, I have actually had pretty darned good bottles of it over the past few years, and while I agree it isn't likely to improve, I wouldn't call it well past prime, based on my experiences.
October 2009: 1990 E. Guigal Hermitage. The bouquet of this wine is not quite as immediate as some of the previous wines, but it does definitely blossom with time and aeration. It then puts forth holistic and healthy aromas of sweet pure cherry, fireplace ashes, asphalt, bridle leather, cool earth and sweet mocha-chocolate. It feels rich, yet also cool and refined. In the mouth, it is like so many other wines this night delightfully creamy and smooth in texture, though I would say it has more obvious weight and density through the mid-palate than any of the other wines on the table. Black currant and black cherry flavors are carried along by an airy acidity that leaves the finish fresh and well-defined.
March 2008: 1990 E. Guigal Hermitage. In a lot of ways, the 1990 is somewhat similar to its older sibling (1986), but everything is just done in a more complete and impressive fashion. It has a darker, more opaque color. It offers up a big, moderately open old-world bouquet of horsehide, strong tobacco leaf, loamy turned earth and gentle menthol notes. As it gains some air, it brings in mature aromas of black cherry and blueberry, but also some meat and tomato leaf notes. It is full-bodied in the mouth, yet never feels heavy, carrying along a solid spine of acidity and a finely-tuned sense of structure. There is just the faintest hint of sweetness to the black currant and dark cherry fruit and there are some chalky tannins that seem to still be able to coat the enamel of the front teeth. It picks up some spiciness on the long, chalky finish. I think this bottle was drinking better than either of the two Adam and I tried together several months earlier.
November 2007: 1990 E. Guigal Hermitage. The first bottle was musty and not quite right. The second bottle was much cleaner and more expressive by far. It opens with aromas of iron filings, horsehair, rubbed saddle leather, black raspberries, bark and a hint of dark woodsy funk. In the mouth, it is round and mouthfilling without excessive weight. It features good plump body but also very good acid balance. It has very good length to its dried cherry and earth flavors. The tannins seem totally in check, and there is some velvety layering through the mid-palate. It does dry out a bit toward the back, but is otherwise pure and long.
Now, 1990 Guigal Hermitage Blanc, there is a dead wine for ya!
September 2006: 1990 E. Guigal Hermitage Blanc. Served from a 375 ml bottle. This was a bit of a magical mystery tour for me. It opens with aromas of burnt matchstick and diesel, countering a good dose of musk and some roasted nuts. But there is also something that I considered to be an oxidized note, but it was hard to pin down exactly. It is very oily in the mouth with tangy lime dregs (yes, this is what my notes say), beeswax and dark wood, but it seems to lack a certain amount of acidity. Steely minerality comes on strong at the finish, but the overall impression is of a wine that is a bit jumbled up and doesn’t seem to have a central thesis. It is a wine that is interesting to analyze, but in the end my analysis was that I did not care a lot for it. And whatever you do, do not try to drink it after a bite of Elmo cake…
-Michael
On the 1990 Guigal Hermitage, I have actually had pretty darned good bottles of it over the past few years, and while I agree it isn't likely to improve, I wouldn't call it well past prime, based on my experiences.
October 2009: 1990 E. Guigal Hermitage. The bouquet of this wine is not quite as immediate as some of the previous wines, but it does definitely blossom with time and aeration. It then puts forth holistic and healthy aromas of sweet pure cherry, fireplace ashes, asphalt, bridle leather, cool earth and sweet mocha-chocolate. It feels rich, yet also cool and refined. In the mouth, it is like so many other wines this night delightfully creamy and smooth in texture, though I would say it has more obvious weight and density through the mid-palate than any of the other wines on the table. Black currant and black cherry flavors are carried along by an airy acidity that leaves the finish fresh and well-defined.
March 2008: 1990 E. Guigal Hermitage. In a lot of ways, the 1990 is somewhat similar to its older sibling (1986), but everything is just done in a more complete and impressive fashion. It has a darker, more opaque color. It offers up a big, moderately open old-world bouquet of horsehide, strong tobacco leaf, loamy turned earth and gentle menthol notes. As it gains some air, it brings in mature aromas of black cherry and blueberry, but also some meat and tomato leaf notes. It is full-bodied in the mouth, yet never feels heavy, carrying along a solid spine of acidity and a finely-tuned sense of structure. There is just the faintest hint of sweetness to the black currant and dark cherry fruit and there are some chalky tannins that seem to still be able to coat the enamel of the front teeth. It picks up some spiciness on the long, chalky finish. I think this bottle was drinking better than either of the two Adam and I tried together several months earlier.
November 2007: 1990 E. Guigal Hermitage. The first bottle was musty and not quite right. The second bottle was much cleaner and more expressive by far. It opens with aromas of iron filings, horsehair, rubbed saddle leather, black raspberries, bark and a hint of dark woodsy funk. In the mouth, it is round and mouthfilling without excessive weight. It features good plump body but also very good acid balance. It has very good length to its dried cherry and earth flavors. The tannins seem totally in check, and there is some velvety layering through the mid-palate. It does dry out a bit toward the back, but is otherwise pure and long.
Now, 1990 Guigal Hermitage Blanc, there is a dead wine for ya!
September 2006: 1990 E. Guigal Hermitage Blanc. Served from a 375 ml bottle. This was a bit of a magical mystery tour for me. It opens with aromas of burnt matchstick and diesel, countering a good dose of musk and some roasted nuts. But there is also something that I considered to be an oxidized note, but it was hard to pin down exactly. It is very oily in the mouth with tangy lime dregs (yes, this is what my notes say), beeswax and dark wood, but it seems to lack a certain amount of acidity. Steely minerality comes on strong at the finish, but the overall impression is of a wine that is a bit jumbled up and doesn’t seem to have a central thesis. It is a wine that is interesting to analyze, but in the end my analysis was that I did not care a lot for it. And whatever you do, do not try to drink it after a bite of Elmo cake…
-Michael
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