Few odds and ends

[Ken]

Listed below are some well priced wines I have tried in the past month or so. While we may not agree about all wine topics, I do think that, the overall quality of wines has improved dramatically over the past 30 years or so. Never cease to be amazed as to how one can find relatively inexpensive wines ($10-R=$20) wines of good quality (88-91).

2010 Château Caronne Ste. Gemme (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc) 2/3/2013 89
This is a very nice 2010 Bordeaux. Did not decant. To be served with grilled NY strip steak. Lovely nose of earth, casis, and berries with a full mouthfeel and moderate, but soft tanins in the finish, partly hidden by the fruit in the front end. This is the best Caronne Ste. Gheme I have had and a strong testament to the quality of this vintage. Good wine for a very good price and given the structure, should last for 5-8 years.

2009 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Bourgogne (France, Burgundy, Bourgogne) 2/2/2013 86
Nice bottle of generic burgundy from a good producer. Opened about an hour before serving but did not decant. Nose of strawberries and spices, medium mouthfeel with some tanins in the mid-range and finish, slight bitterness initially in the finish. While enjoyable and affordable, the main issue with this wine currently is the short finish. Served with beef roast.

2004 Château La Confession (France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru) 2/1/2013 91
Opened about 3 hours before serving but did not decant. Took the bottle to a local restaurant to have with friends from work for lunch. This bottle was excellent and even better that usual. Dark ruby color, nose of dark plums, casis and spices, with similar initial flavors and moderate, relatively soft tanins, in the mid-range and finish. Lovely wine to be drinking with lunch.

2001 Château Malescasse (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc) 1/28/2013 88
Similar to previous tasting. Double decanted about 2 hours before serving. Drunk with grilled porterhouse steak. Nice, slightly restrained nose of casis and spices with similar initial flavors, and moderate round flavors and tanins in the mid-range. Fruit is fairly straight forward without much complexity, but it is a nice wine.

2005 Bodegas Ondarre Rioja Ondarre Reserva (Spain, La Rioja, Rioja) 1/26/2013 89
Double decanted about an hour before serving with grilled minute steaks. Full nose of blackberries, leather, and a touch of wood, with medium mouthfeel and lingering spices (touch of cinnamon and nutmeg behind the initial flavors). Reasonable length. Like the 2004, a very good value and wine that will last 5-10 years.

2007 Castello di Bossi Chianti Classico (Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG) 1/16/2013 91
This wine gets better every time I taste it. Served with spicy spaghetti and sausage, an initial nose and flavors of gooseberries, leather, blackberries and strawberries, with relatively soft moderate tanins and good length. Quite a nice Chianti and I will have to try the 2008.

2004 Eugenio Bocchino Nebbiolo d'Alba La Perucca (Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Nebbiolo d'Alba) 1/16/2013 88
Did not decant. Opened about 8 hourse before serving, and used part of the bottle to cook beef stew. Wine is better than I remember it. Fairly typical Nebbiolo with tar and spices, noticeable, somewhat drying tanins, but not bitter and the reasonable length. Nice Nebbiolo purchased at a good price and holding its fruit and structure well so far.

2009 Château de Saint-Cosme Côtes du Rhône Les Deux Albion (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône) 1/12/2013 88
Did not decant. Lovely nose of cherries and blackberries. Initial flavors of berries and moderate, somewhat astringent tanins that carried through to the finish. moderate length on the finish. Not as impressed with it as Parker's review (91) would suggest, but is a good wine.

2009 Buehler Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (USA, California, Napa Valley) 1/4/2013 88
Served with grilled minute steaks, did not decant. Intense nose of casis and leather. Initial flavors of casis with moderate, somewhat astringent but not bittter, tanins. Moderate length. Good wine for the price, could use a couple of years.

2006 Château d'Armailhac (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac) 12/31/2012 91
Double decanted about 3 hours before serving and served with grilled lamb chops. Dark ruby/purple color, nice nose of casis, slight wood, plums, and spices. Mid range of casis, wood, moderate soft round tanins, good length. Good wine that will be much better in 2-3 years.

-Ken

[JonoB]

Thank you for the notes.
A nice collection of middle (?) to young aged wines.

It is nice to see the Eugenio Bocchino wine showing well.
Whilst the wines are modern, it was one of my most memorable visits when in Piemonte... they have a lovely house at the foot of the hill going up to La Morra, and the atmosphere there when we tasted was lovely. I much prefer their wine to many of the other modernists, and the La Serra is lovely. They are unheard of in the UK, and hopefully someone will discover them and bring them over...

Caronne Ste Gemme is a lovely easy drinking wine in a classic style isn't it?

[Ken]

Thanks JonoB. I was very impressed with the Caronne Ste Gemme; particularly for the price and quality. I have never been impressed before with their wines, but this one is worth buying, and I think it will keep for a few years.

We bought the Eugenio Bocchino Nebbiolo d'Alba 3-4 years ago when a local wine merchant was able to purchase some on a close out from the distributor. It was at a good price and I have been through almost a case of it. For awhile, I thought the fruit was going and the tanins have become a bit more prominent, but it is still an enjoyable wine, particularly with hardier foods.

-Ken

[Jay Winton]

I bought a case of the 09 Caronne-great QPR for mid teens pricing (think I posted a TN) and I will try the 2010. The case of the 07 Deaux Albions in magnums was a terrific value-really good in this format. Buehler is generally a buy value especially in good years-the 07 estate I bought is a nice mid week quaffer.

[DavidG]

Agree on the Deux Albion CduR. Been a fan since "discovering" it with the '07 vintage, like Jay.

I haven't been as happy with drinking young inexpensive Bdx, but I think it's a case of unfair/unreasonable expectations. Many are good QPR and good wines, but I keep comparing them to aged classed growths in my mind.

[Ken]

DavidG:

That is an interesting comment about expectations.

One of the things extensive wine tasting does is provide us with standards in our head that we carry around and that provide a standard of comparison outside of the immediate context (other wines, fit with food, etc) for whatever we are tasting. As a result, we can say without contradiction that we don't like a wine but it is a good wine of its type. Sometimes those standards are composites (color, nose, flavor, finish), and sometimes they are specific wines. For example, there are a number of participants in this board who have excellent sensory memories, and can recall specific wines and their immediate experience of the wines.

So what do we compare wines to, particularly in cases like inexpensive bordeaux, which sometimes seem like poor imitations for classified growths?

For some reason, I try to take cost into account; such that, I am trying to compare a good, generic, bordeaux to wines like it, rather than to more expensive, rare, or aged wines. I am sometimes tempted to universally prefer more expensive and more complex wines, but as I quoted before from Shel Silverstein (songwriter): "After you been having steak for a long time, beans, beans taste fine. And after you been having champagne and brandy, you come to dig that wine." There is someting to be said for contrast, such that we know the good from the bad, the simple from the complex. Moreover, what we look for are wines that are not poor imitations of their betters, but wines that represent a step up from what what we normally experience with a given class of wine. So that we appreciate the La Veille Cure 2005 because it is better than its humbler origins, and is also a very good enjoyable wine.

-Ken

[DavidG]

Ken I agree, and I also like your thoughts about contrast. I will often go on a Bdx "kick" or a Cali Cab or CduP "kick" for a few weeks, where that's what I crave and nothing else. Then those wines lose interest and I want something else. Human nature, I think.

[JimHow]

I agree with your 91 rating for 2006 d'Armailhac Ken, that's a very nice wine. I think I need to get more 2006 in my cellar.

[stefan]

Yeah, I have neglected my good friend d'Armailhac. It is time to get back together.