TNs from VT weekend (including a quartet of '75 Medocs)

[Michael Malinoski]

A little while back, 10 of the usual suspects convened up in Vermont at Zach’s Mt. Snow house for a rousing weekend of wine, poker and fun. We started early Friday evening and did our best to set a new record for bottles opened by the time we slumped home on Sunday. We managed to set the record, drinking some great bottles along the way and feasting on great food the whole while. As always, it was a weekend to remember!

I list the wines in a more or less logical order, even though some of the wines were drunk in a different order based on when they were opened or when I was ready to try them. In any event, here were the wines from Friday:

2000 Gaston Chiquet Champagne Blanc de Blancs d'Aÿ. From magnum. The nose here is wide open and giving—providing a fresh blast of lemon tea, graphite, granite, herbs, toasted bread and chalk aromas that are rather nice. On the palate, it feels fresh and driven, without too much frothiness—instead offering a nice stony intensity with lots of giving flavors of citrus, toasted orange peel and fresh herbs. A nice treat.

1999 Beaulieu Vineyard Chardonnay Carneros. I missed this one. I think 95% of it went into the cooking pot…

2005 Pax Venus Bennett Valley. This 100% Roussanne bottling was actually opened much later in the evening, but I’ll put my note here with the rest of the white wines. The bouquet of the wine is very unique and full of character—with interesting angles to the aromas of cut hay, canteloupe, honeydew melon, peach pit, lanolin, beeswax and an unusual late kick of gunpowder. There are enough funky qualities to it for me to acknowledge that this is probably not for everybody, even though I would have to say I like it and find it intriguing. It is oily-textured and fully-rounded in the mouth, with lots of flint and smoke notes to go along with flavors of lemon peel, hay and melon that are persistent through the middle but a bit tart at times on the finish. It certainly isn’t your run-of-the-mill sort of wine and it seems to challenge the senses in an interesting but ultimately tiring fashion. I don’t think it is something I could drink a lot of, but I like its individuality.

2006 Anthill Farms Pinot Noir Tina Marie Vineyard Green Valley. This is mildly CORKED--which is a shame, since the nose and palate are still able to show off some sappy red berry and sour cherry notes that I imagine would be pretty tasty from a proper bottle.

2007 Anthill Farms Pinot Noir Peters Vineyard Sonoma Coast. There is more of black and blue berry fruit profile to the nose of this one, and there are also some nice autumn leaf, black tea, birch and mushroom undertones to enjoy. In the mouth, it is much the same—with black and blue berry fruit and black tea flavors in a mid-weight but nicely concentrated package. It also features a good streak of lively acidity and sports a clean, zippy finish. This is the second chance I’ve had to taste this wine and the second straight outstanding experience I’ve had with it—very nicely done.

2004 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Southing Santa Rita Hills. The nose here is more overt and larger-scaled, with a brambly, candied edge to the dark berry, campfire ember, oaky vanilla and sarsparilla aromas. It is also larger-framed in the mouth--cutting a wide swath of oak, vanilla, sarsparilla and sweet purple berry fruit flavors across the lushly-textured mid-palate. The finish is more rough-hewn, though, with some toasted woodsiness and bitter smoke elements not quite in harmony with the rest of the profile. There are some enjoyable facets to it at times, but on the whole it is not a real favorite of mine.

2006 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Ten Santa Rita Hills. This wine is even more obviously brambly-fruited and oak-dominated on the nose than the preceding wine—though it is more red-fruited and features more brown baking spices right up front. In the mouth, it is even larger-scaled and candy-fruited than the Southing, but the elements seem more harmonious here despite an obvious oak and vanilla lathering. It needs time.

2008 Domaine Georges Mugneret/Mugneret-Gibourg Bourgogne. The nose of this young Bourgogne comes across as light, bright and crunchy in tone—with clean but somewhat simple notes of cherry, raspberry, taut minerality and a whisper of forest greenery in play. On the palate, it is showing pretty youthfully right now, with some raw wood yet to resolve but otherwise with a fresh mineral streak to the strawberry and cranberry flavors, supported by bracing and perhaps a bit jangly acidity. Not a favorite today, but maybe give this another 2-3 years.

2001 Domaine Chandon de Briailles Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Ile des Vergelesses. I missed this one.

2000 Hospices de Beaune Volnay 1er Cru Santenots Cuvée Jéhan de Massol Méo-Camuzet. Wow, this wine sports absolutely gorgeous aromatics that make a beeline for the pleasure receptors of the brain. Aromas of cherries, funky sweet earth, soft spices, red flower petals and fireplace ash penetrate the nostrils with their fuzzy, fleshy, enveloping character—coming at you in waves of enjoyment that get a bit darker-toned over time. In the mouth, it is juicy, fleshy and refined—with a delicious creamy berry center accented by gentle earth and tobacco notes that give it a nice grounding. It is a delicious wine that is a pleasure to drink in every way. We had this a year ago and I think it is showing even better now—probably close to peak, in my opinion. This was my second-favorite wine of the whole weekend, maybe even higher.

2000 Hubert Lignier Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Vieilles Vignes. This one is slightly cloudy in appearance and delivers an appealing bouquet of tea leaves, sassafras, and autumnal bits to go with sour cherry fruit and soft suede aromas. In the mouth, it marries cool acidity with sour red berry fruit in a medium-weighted frame. It comes across as tightly acidic at times, but there is an undeniable streak of sappier red fruit that I like a good deal. It is nicely done but I can’t help think it needs a few years to pull it all together and show us a bit more of its fleshy side.

1996 Livera Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru Les Tilleuls. This is even more cloudy in appearance and the nose unfortunately is just downright skanky—with lots of stewed and cooked fruit aromas riding atop green pepper and over-ripe vegetable notes. The palate at least has some nice flavors of black cherry and stony earth but also a good deal of youthfully grainy tannins in play. And after a while, I again start to pick up some funky stewed veggie notes—making me think that this just might be a poor bottle.

1985 Château Meyney St. Estèphe. This was a great bottle of Meyney. The nose is all Cordier funk, with notes of sweaty horse, worn saddle leather, tilled earth, menthol, iron ore and cool black fruit that are wonderfully old-fashioned and downright compelling at times. In the mouth, it is juicy, well-flavored and solidly put together, with some sexiness around the edges that I really dig. Layered flavors of toasted orange peel, black currants, earth, dried meats, pan drippings and jalapeno pepper through the mid-palate lead to an awesome finish that feels cool, clean and persistent. It is right in my wheelhouse right now and I loved it—probably my #3 favorite wine of the weekend.

We had a few trays of lasagna for dinner, so there was also a flight of Italian wines.

1997 Azienda Agricola Montevertine Le Pergole Torte Toscana IGT. The nose of sour cherries, cocoa powder, pine sap, white pepper, menthol, leather and lavendar soap is rather pretty but at the same time decidedly structured and solid. It has a cool, reserved, refined quality about it on the palate, with structured flavors of sweet kirsch, pure dark cherry and menthol that bely what I sense as being a bubbling core of more fully-blown flavors that ought to unfold over the coming few years. I like this for current drinking—really appreciating the menthol-tinged fruit flavors, refined texture and finely-polished tannins--but I am pretty sure it will be even better in 5 years. Still, a top 10 wine of the weekend for me and for several others I spoke with.

1997 Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino. There was a debate and some insistence from some quarters that this bottle was at least slightly CORKED, but I have to say that I never picked up on that. For me, it delivers soft and pliant aromas of creamy dark cherry paste, toasted wood, sweet creosote, menthol leaves and a sort of dried sweat/saline note, as well. In the mouth, it shows better than I was expecting—with sweet cherry and raspberry/cranberry fruit combining nicely with bits of tobacco leaf and leather edging, supported by a bright twang of acidity (that can be a bit aggressive at times, though). I don’t see a whole lot of benefit in holding this much longer, though.

1997 Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino Poggio alle Mura. The nose of this cuvee is darker and richer than the normale, but kind of thick and not quite as expressive right now—showing notes of black cherry, chocolate and smoke aromas. A little bit of higher-toned red fruit begins to assert itself a while later, but generally speaking this is a fairly tight and dense just now. In the mouth, it is similar to the normale but with everything a bit darker, more serious and kicked up a notch in richness. It is a bit introverted, but does show some solid notes of bitter dark chocolate and dark fruit to go with solid tannins. This needs several more years in the cellar, in my estimation.

1982 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Monprivato. I was really excited to try this wine, but I think I waited too long to pour a glass after it was opened, because I heard it was really nice initially. By the time I try it, it is showing some unfortunately weedy and funky notes of caramel, praline, nuts, fuzzy red fruits and an unusual acetone note that makes me think of a carpet store for some reason. Still, it does improve with time in the glass and slowly begins to show the fruit a bit more, though it is hard to get away from the more off-putting notes. In the mouth, it is fairly dense and structured, with cherry, caramel, funky earth and toasted nut flavors carried along by a brisk acidity supplying nice lift. I do like the core fruit flavors and the classic earth notes this puts forth, but again those slightly roasted notes around the edge and on the nose prevent me from enjoying it fully.

1982 Azienda Bricco Rocche (Ceretto) Barolo Bricco Roche Prapo. This wine features a lovely bouquet of soft suede, light strawberry, ash, mineral, clean earth and tobacco leaf aromas that incrementally become ever more enticing and inviting. It feels clean, fresh, taut and fine and I like it a good deal. In the mouth, it is sappier and a bit richer in weight and texture than the light and pretty nose would suggest. Black cherry fruit, earth notes and some fine-grained tannin combine with a racy acidic backbone to carry this along with a fresh and juicy feel. The acidity does get a bit aggressive on the drying finish, but otherwise this is performing very well and delivering fine drinking pleasure right now—which is great news since reports of the first few bottles of this opened from a case bought at auction were not so good. This and two additional bottles since have all shown much better.

2001 Cavallotto Barolo Bricco Boschis. This wine sports a beautiful nose—effusive and full of sweet cassis, burnt ember, rose petal, chocolate truffle and leather aromas. It is a delight to sniff. In the mouth, it opens up with a lot of boisterous cherry and raspberry fruit flavors supported by notes of white truffle, white pepper and toasty spices. But it turns rather dry, taut and structured fairly quickly from there—with the acidity seeming to cinch up tight on the back of the palate and on the finish. It leaves the tongue dried out and tired, and so while this has all of the components well in place, it needs at least another 4-6 years before I would try it again.

2001 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Asili. This 2001 Nebbiolo showed even more youthfully, I thought, even after several hours in the decanter. It offers up a nose of wilted rose petals and gardenia flowers, some foresty sous bois notes, lots of graphite and some pencil shavings. It is rather pretty and at times quite lovely, but also tightly-coiled a good deal of the time. In the mouth, it is quite narrow and linear at this stage of its evolution—with the flavors all focused in a narrow beam of classy cherry fruit, tangy acids and fine-grained but abundant tannins. The fruit recedes into the background the longer you stay with it—with really just the structure, acids, tannins and mineral components left in charge for now. I would say something like 7-10 years are needed for this one.

1990 Mount Veeder Winery Reserve Napa Valley. At the very end of the night/in the wee hours of the morning, this bottle started making the rounds. It is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot. And it is really delicious! To begin, the nose is very nice—sort of classic Bordelais in nature, with aromas of tobacco leaf, jalapeno pepper, granite, creosote and lush cassis and black cherry fruit. Then, on the palate, it is cool and juicy, with black cherry and black currant fruit supported by tobacco leaf, limestone, black pepper and jalapeno notes. It is plump and smoky, with solid structure, a long stylish finish and still plenty of life ahead.

That was it for Friday night/Saturday morning. Sleep came quickly, but it was a short turn-around—as on the stroke of noon, I was once again pouring wine into my glass…

N.V. Pierre Sparr Crémant d'Alsace Brut Réserve. This sparkler has a lot of brassy minerality to it, along with tangy pineapple and dark grapefruit notes. It is similar in the mouth, with a brassy character to go with toasted herbs, stones, dark citrus and tropical flavors. It is sort of cool and reserved and a tad aloof—showing taut and wiry. I just don’t find it to be particularly friendly.

N.V. Ulysse Collin Champagne Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs. There’s lots of flint and smoke on the nose of this Champagne, along with struck match, bright lemon juice, pear and toasted bread aromas that come across as fresh and effusive. In the mouth, it feels expansive and giving through the mid-palate but really cinches up with acidic structure toward the back. The finish is very dry and tautly-structured, but not dour or anything. Stones, chalk, citrus peel and peach pit flavors are nicely put together and ride atop a surprisingly creamy texture with no blowsiness at all. It is an interesting and thought-provoking style and even though I often struggle with extra brut, I find this to be an impressive offering.

1999 A. R. Lenoble Champagne Gentilhomme Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru. This was actually served later in the day with a bunch of oysters (which I took a pass on!), but I place the note here just to keep the sparkling wines together. First off, everything about this wine is fresh and lively and bright—with crisp aromas on the nose of smoke, graphite, lemon peel, chalk and fresh herbs. On the palate, it is absolutely alive with lift and zestiness--with fresh tangy flavors of lemon, pear, chalk and spice that remain controlled and classy within the context of the all the vibrancy. This is extremely nice.

With our fantastic lunch of roast chicken, we delved into some white wines.

2008 The Red Hook Winery The Electric North Fork Long Island. This and the next two wines were actually opened the night before, but I did not taste them until Saturday afternoon. In full disclosure, Darren brought these with him and he is the assistant winemaker at Red Hook. The nose of this wine is full of peach, apple, baking spice and botrytis-tinged meringue notes that are layered and intriguing. The light notes of botrytis and baking spices continue onto the palate, along with richer bits of apple, pear and white peach fruit flavors that show great vibrancy (electricity?) and character. The finish is a bit short, but otherwise this is a fun and interesting drink for current sipping.

2008 The Red Hook Winery The Electric Reserve North Fork Long Island. This is the same wine, but aged for 12 months in barrel. I find the nose to be a bit tamped down and compressed compared to the normal bottling—only hinting at the peach, lemon, baking spice and botrytis cream scents. In the mouth, it seems to have a finer, more filigreed texture and overall mouthfeel, with just a bit more volume and flesh all around. The finish is also much rounder and fanned out, so I think this will be real nice down the road but might benefit from another year or so of cellar time. A really interesting side by side comparison!

2009 The Red Hook Winery Chardonnay Robert Foley Protocol Clone 95 Jamesport Vineyard North Fork Long Island. This is a much more straight-ahead sort of nose, with aromas of baked apples, peaches, sweet cream and citrus working together nicely. It is creamy and fairly large-framed in the mouth, with pithy tree fruit and wood spice flavors dominating. It shows good balance and control--and plenty of lively flavor--but just isn’t as fun or eclectic as the Electric bottlings.

2009 Scholium Project The Prince In His Caves Farina Sonoma Mountain. The 2007 version of this wine set the bar quite high for exotic and unusual wines, so this 2009 version by comparison seems a bit tame, even though by any objective standard it is still a crazy wild bottle of wine. As I’ve come to expect, the appearance is golden in color with a very cloudy, hazy look about it. The nose is absolutely popping with aromas of grapefruit pith, plantain, skunky herb and white pepper. In the mouth, it is really intense, maybe even a bit overwhelming at first with the volume and drive on display. As you get used to it, the matte texture and the grapefruit, guava and plantain flavors begin to come into focus, but there is just a lot going on and it feels like it needs a year or so to kind of sort itself out. A wild ride, to be sure.

1999 Mayacamas Vineyards Chardonnay Napa Valley. Kind of similar to the 2001 version of this offering, the nose smells of honeycomb, wool, green tea, pear, lemon peel, green apple and an usual little steak of liquid caramel running underneath. It is fairly round and hefty on the palate, where it feels a bit tacky or sticky in texture—kind of like a slippery vinyl. But it delivers really nice flavors of lemon sourball, apple, pear and fresh herbs that have solid density and push to them that I like a lot. It is a tad off the beaten Chardonnay path, but rather enjoyable in its distinctiveness and fleshy flavor profile.

2003 Switchback Ridge Petite Sirah Peterson Family Vineyard Napa Valley. From magnum. Talk about jumping right into the reds, this wine totally stains the inside of the wine glass and blows the nose away with super-sweet aromas of blueberry jam, raspberry coulis, brownie batter, purple cotton candy and fresh road tar. There is no heat or anything, just those pure sweet candied notes. In the mouth, it is simply a huge wine, featuring a mega-dose of plum, blueberry and raspberry jam flavors that completely coat the teeth and gums. And then the tannins kick in, like 10 to the 10th power in strength, and they just seem to suck every molecule of moisture right out of your mouth. It takes no prisoners and I had to guzzle some water and move on.

It was then onto a flight consisting of a trio of 1973 classic California Cabernet producers.

1973 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve Napa Valley. This wine is kind of pale and somewhat tawnied in color. It offers aromas of decaying leaves, warm bricks, clay, ticklish spices and a litte undertone of stewed red fruit. In the mouth, it is certainly resolved, still feeling pretty creamy and polished in texture. It has some interesting butterscotch, caramel, tawny cherry and decaying earth flavors going on, with a funky, weedy sort of finish. While I like it here and there, it is certainly on the downslope.

1973 Sterling Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Napa Valley. In stark comparison, I’m not sure this wine is even ready to be drunk right now. First off, it is an incredibly healthy color and needs aggressive swirling to bring the tightly-coiled aromas out of their shell. But slowly, inexorably, one starts to sense the cool, masculine but still enticing aromas of red currant, licorice rope, dark cherry, tobacco, hard leather and dark soil that this still-young wine has to offer. In the mouth, it is still rigidly-structured and thick, and there are plenty of tannins in play. More than that, it sports great freshness and taut, serious flavors in a controlled package of smoky black and red currant fruit, ash and wood that give this a wonderful old-fashioned feel. And I have little doubt it can be held another decade without concern. Seriously impressive.

1973 Mayacamas Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. For all the Sterling Reserve has to offer, I feel like I “connected” with this wine more readily. It is a healthy garnet color, with just a bit of clearing at the rim. It defines old-fashioned California Cabernet on the nose for me, with its aromas of black currants and mountain berries, dark soil, old leather and hints of menthol. It is dense and almost fudgy, yet there is an undeniably regal and ethereal quality to it that is hard to describe--I just know I like it! In the mouth, it is certainly large-framed and chewy, but the fruit and secondary flavor profile feel well-resolved—providing the taster with a lovely combination of cool blackberry, black currant, smoke, tar, aged leather and wet coffee grounds flavors that really work well together. What a treat.

2007 Château Edmus St. Émilion. In disclosure, one member of our party is friends with one of the owners of this estate and he brought this bottle along for us to try. It is a purple-colored wine with a nose of plums, persimmon, black currant and dark spices accented by a little streak of vanilla and oak at times. In the mouth, it is softly plummy, with some polished purple and blue fruit on the entry but filling in with notes of vanilla and oak through the more brambly mid-palate. There is a slight astingency to the acidic underpinning and I don’t sense much of a second gear behind the initial push of flavor. The wine provides plenty of surface pleasure but lacks some depth and structure. I suspect this chateau will deliver more fully in the better vintages that came after this one.

1996 Domaine Tempier Bandol Cuvée Spéciale. I like the bouquet of this wine a great deal, with its aromas of campfire embers, dried currants, licorice rope, old leather, tobacco, dried blood and animal hide. For all that, though, it isn’t all wild or feral, but rather controlled and Old World in character—showing fine complexity. It is a tougher wine to love on the palate right now, though, as it seems like maybe it is in a bit of an in-between phase. It offers up woodsy flavors of mushrooms, toasted grape stems, tobacco, mossy earth, and smoky dark cherry and black fruit, but the texture feels kind of rough and bumpy and the tannins really seem to stick in the craw right now. Later on, it starts to find somewhat smoother sailing, but I might just prefer to hold it a while longer before trying again.

By this time, a quartet of 1975 Medocs had been opened and I was eager to try them.

1975 Château Léoville Las Cases St. Julien. The fruit on the nose of this wine is smoky and a tad stewed in nature—showing some butterscotch and caramel edging. Beyond that, though, there are some cleaner and more pleasant notes of pipe tobacco and damson that come out with more time in the glass. In the mouth, one can still detect the slightly cooked fruit edging this has, but there is also a fresh, lifted feel to the core flavors of dried cherries, black currant, persimmon and woodsy undergrowth. It has some nice aged characteristics to it and a little dusting of tannin left, but I suspect this is heading over the hill and needs to be drunk now.

1975 Château Léoville Poyferré St. Julien. In comparison, this wine seems to be drinking at its optimal plateau right now. The nose is very healthy and is immediately appealing to me—delivering loads of currant, old leather, cigar wrapper and soft green pepper aromas that are refined and gentlemanly in a classic claret style I really love. It is rather free-flowing and giving on the palate, with a sweet vein of blue and purple fruit that is so pretty and never wavers throughout the time I have it in my glass. Although it has great staying power and length, one could quibble that it is not especially structured nor particularly multi-dimensional, but it is just drinking so absolutely delightfully at this moment that I had it as my wine of the weekend.

1975 Château Montrose St. Estèphe. There is a rather mellow, quiet bouquet to this wine—with some gentle aromas of leather, tobacco leaf, menthol and smoked cherry that are not especially broad or expressive—more small-scaled than I would expect. Only after I finished my glass and completed my note did I hear some people insisting that the wine was CORKED, which could help explain the tamped-down nature of the nose here. In the mouth, it is a bit thin and rather acidically crunchy in character, but there are some tangy, juicy flavors of sour cherry I like that are able to shine through the otherwise somewhat austere qualities the wine exhibits. I never sensed any corkiness to the wine, but I have to believe that it was a factor in the wine’s up and down showing.

1975 Château Brane-Cantenac Margaux. This is a little lighter-colored than the previous two wines and it shows off a fresher and more lifted bouquet that is nicely appealing in its tangy red currant, tart cranberry and autumn leaf aroma profile. In the mouth, it has solid drive and features a bright and somewhat elegant vein of sweet cherry and cassis flavors that are nice and pure on the entry and mid-palate but a bit marred by aggressive astingency and taut tannins on the finish. I think it is probably a fairly typical 1975 showing in that regard.

It was then back to the California Cabernets, with Gerry’s delicious steak dinner being readied for us.

1976 Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa Valley. This blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Merlot from the Eisele Vineyard showed SO much promise, but was annoyingly CORKED. It is so sad, because it is quite easy to tell that undamaged bottles of this must be great, as the nose of beautiful cassis, mint leaf, charcoal and mineral still manage to shine through that nasty vein of chlorine. Similarly, while it is clear on the marred entry and the tamped down finish that this wine is corked, the mid-palate still shows full and fleshy with notes of sappy sweet red fruit that I am sure would be a pure delight. Man, this one was painful.

1994 Philip Togni Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. This, too, is CORKED--quite significantly so, in fact. That makes two out of three bottles of 1994 Togni that have been corked for me. The one undamaged bottle was so good that it makes me mourn the other two all the more.

1995 Laurel Glen Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Mountain. This and the next two wines were among my top 10 wines of the weekend, despite being quite different from one another. The Laurel Glen features a very good nose indeed—with dense, rich and expressive mountain fruit scents leading the charge of spiced blackberry, black currant, plum, dried blood, cold ember, iron ore and dark soil aromas. In the mouth, it delivers all that and more. Fleshy flavors of plums, blue and purple berries, tar and dark earth have a cool mountain complexion to them, but are finely-scaled and sculpted. Masculine but pliant tannins enter the equation after a while, so while this is fantastic now with grilled steak, I see no harm in cellaring it further, either. This is right in my wheelhouse.

1997 Larkmead Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. The Larkmead is more warmly-fruited on the nose, with a lot of pretty cassis and exotic spicecake and fruitcake sorts of aromas going on. It just seems to have a relaxed sweetness and classy ease to it. In the mouth, it is kind of plump and giving—with luscious red fruit and fine sexy spices warming the palate in their rounded and pliant way. It seems to be drinking at peak for my tastes and just welcomes the taster right in with its great fruit to acid balance, gentle red fruit flavors and classy tannin structure.

1996 Spring Mountain Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Napa Valley. Here one finds a rather brambly nose full of briefy black and blue berry aromas and accented by earth, toast and faint chocolate notes. It is meaty and sort of chewy in the mouth, but it delivers a solid wave of cool cherry and black currant fruit that feels pliant and giving. There is good lift and acidic twang and a late tannin burst but otherwise the wine is drinking really nicely right now, with no harm in holding, either.

At this point, I admit I was getting pretty tired and worn out, but there were some random wines open that I hadn’t yet sampled, so I went back to work.

1990 Château Haut-Bailly Pessac-Léognan. I like this a lot, but I believe it will benefit greatly from another 5 years or so in the cellar. First off, the nose comes across as finely-pedigreed and polished--maybe playing it a bit close to the vest at times, though. Keen notes of cherry fruit, smoke and tar oil mix with some savory earth aromas in a warm and smooth-textured and pretty bouquet that I’d just like to see fan out a bit more. It seems slightly cooler in tone on the palate, where blueberry fruit and some clean earth notes are carried along in a slightly narrow but finely-buffed beam of flavor. However, the tannins are just too broad and abundant at this stage and there may also be a sliver of alcoholic heat on the finish, so my take is that there is a lot to like here, but it needs time to tame the tannins and let the fruit flesh out.

2002 Sine Qua Non Syrah Just For the Love of It California. This was a really interesting wine. I kept it in one of my glasses for about 3 hours, coming back to it every so often to take a sniff or try a sip. I have to say I was surprised at how very meaty and savory it is on the nose—with strong notes of grilled steak, sliced roast beef, hung venison, beef jerky and bacon fat just never wavering as they combine with rich blackberry fruit aromas. As with all SQN’s I’ve had, it sports an impressively smooth and spherical mouthfeel that is plush and seamless and it features a finish that is extremely long and powerful. Unique to this wine is the flavor profile of blackberry and black currant fruit riding atop some surprising inner tube and meaty underpinnings that are unique to the 5 vintage iterations of SQN syrah bottlings I’ve been able to try. It offers some really interesting facets and I find it to be a rather thought-provoking wine.

2007 Herb Lamb Cabernet Sauvignon HL Herb Lamb Vineyard Napa Valley. Now, here is a 2007 California Cab that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend drinking early. It is real smooth, sweet and hedonistic—in a fun romping sort of way. It starts out with a nose of confectionary red fruit aromas that are bright, sweet and zesty. And it is utterly seamless on the palate, with nary a hard edge anywhere to be found. Creamy flavors of cherry, raspberry and vanilla paste are all pleasure-driven and flow along easily. At this stage of the evening, it is nice not to have to think too much, just to be swept along by this sexy thang. I’m sure it is not for everybody and I have no idea how this will age, but it is a hoot to drink today.

2007 Tenuta Sette Ponti Oreno Toscana IGT. This had been open at least 6 hours by the time I came around to try it. Wow, that is one dark, opaquely-colored wine. The nose on it is big, broad and bold—with strong aromas of black cherry, tar, charred wood, sweet chocolate and a tickle of cigar ash. In the mouth, it delivers a big roundhouse punch of smoothly-polished dark cherry flavor supported by youthfully grippy tannins. This wine has so much raw stuffing that it seemingly doesn’t know what to do with itself at times. It is a big mouthful of Italian flavor that can be drunk with a lot of air time under its belt, but one would be much better served stashing it away for a while and letting the tannins integrate.

2001 Duca di Salaparuta Duca Enrico Sicilia IGT. There’s lots of smoke and ash on the nose here, along with boisterous aromas of fig, black cherry, lava rock and other earth tones. In the mouth, it is surprisingly cool-fruited and controlled after that rousing aromatic profile. It tastes kind of stony, but also dark-fruited--with plenty of glycerin to give it a polished texture and smooth flow to a more ashy and earthen finish. It is an interesting wine, for sure, though a bit hard to find a real connection to it.

By this time, I thought I’d had more than enough after 49 wines, but Darren had to bring out a Weinbach VT. How could I refuse number 50?

1995 Domaine Weinbach Tokay Pinot Gris Vendanges Tardives. The Weinbach features a really gorgeous bouquet of crème brulee, apricots, liquid caramel, lime rind and baking spices in a slightly lifted and high-toned package that is completely inviting. In the mouth, it is brandished and brassy, with solid density to the flavors of sweet mango and apricot, caramel and peach. Despite a nice rich texture, it manages to still have an airy, ethereal finish to it that shows plenty of sweet character but never anything close to overdone. It was a perfect topper to a ridiculous weekend of wine, food and fun.


-Michael

[AlexR]

You mean those are the only wines you drank?

Alex R.

[Gerry M.]

Michael,

Thank you so much for allowing me to relive that mind numbing weekend! I remember now why we can only do this twice a year since it takes six months to dry out. If I remember correctly, the 75' Poyferre was my #1 wine followed by the duo of 73' Sterling Rsv and 73' Mayacamas. Those two were eye opening to what old school Cali cab could offer.

[JimHow]

As He Who shall Remain Nameless once said about the 1996 Leoville Las Cases: "Wow! Wow! Wow!"

[JEP_62]

Yes, thanks for the reminder of that great weekend. Just in time to think about doing it again

Andy