TNs: More 19th hole drinking

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Michael Malinoski
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TNs: More 19th hole drinking

Post by Michael Malinoski »

After a morning round of golf, three of us headed over to a friend’s house with some take-out lunch to share a few bottles of wines.

1990 Deutz Champagne Cuvée William Deutz. We knew there could be some doubt about this bottle, as one of the guys picked it up for $2 on close-out at a clueless retailer recently. Indeed, there’s virtually no pop or hiss as the cork is removed, and the wine pours a rather dark gold in color with minimal bubbles. It smells advanced but actually pretty decent, with aromas of marzipan, roasted nuts, toffee and copper, along with sherried overtones here and there. In the mouth, it’s not very frothy at all, but there is a surprisingly lifted acidic cut to it that’s pretty refreshing and manages to redeem what is otherwise a fairly oxidized wine tasting of malty yeast, baked apples, nuts and lemon rind. The texture is pretty creamy and classy, too, which lends a little bit of depth. We all recognized the wine’s flaws, but I’m pretty sure we each found some decent drinking pleasure in it, especially for the price.

2002 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard Willamette Valley. I can’t say enough good things about this wine. It features an absolutely lovely Burgundian-styled nose of sweet funky dark berries, licorice rope, persimmon fruit, soft mossy undergrowth, leather and mushroom aromas that are beautifully refined yet popping and immediately gratifying. It’s just a gorgeous mix of earthy funk and ripe fruit in perfect proportions. In the mouth, it’s drinking at peak right now, where it comes across as wonderfully spicy and fine-toned, with succulent flavors of raspberry and cranberry fruit, black pepper and an inner mouth perfume of flowers and sandalwood. There’s plenty of freshening acidity, too, bringing it all together and delivering a very fine performance all around. It’s probably one of the very best St. Innocents I can recall drinking.

2005 Kutch Pinot Noir Russian River Valley. The Kutch is a whole different experience. It’s much richer and more obviously extracted and concentrated on the nose, featuring dark aromas of chocolate-covered cherries, black raspberries, dark fudge, rose petals, charred earth, stripped pine branch and lots of mulling spices. It’s a pretty big style in the mouth, too, with a big pop of alcohol to go along with rich and warm flavors of sweet cherry and raspberry paste, vanilla and oak spices. It’s a bit over the top for the other guys, but I actually enjoy the robust style as a change of pace even though it can’t hold a candle to the wine served before it.

2006 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape. For how young this is, we all thought this wine was drinking really nicely right now. It has a very pleasing bouquet to it, showing fine aromas of iron ore, smoke, black cherry, blackberry, mocha, leather, charred earth and hung meat. It’s ample and meaty on the palate, but lithe, approachable and a good deal of fun. There’s a nice tanginess to the warm but fresh and bright red fruit flavors, which are well-accented by pretty spices and a solid structural backbone. It’s well-balanced and easy to drink, a real crowd-pleaser to drink on the young side.

1992 Guenoc Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Beckstoffer Vineyard Napa Valley. This was another selection from the $2 bin, and again it proved to be an excellent value for the money. It’s a bit warm on the nose, with scents of baked plums, coffee cake, caramel and earthenware pottery showing some advanced aging in some ways, but with plenty of warm and inviting notes, too. It’s maybe a bit limp in the mouth, and I think we all agree it has seen better days. Still, it has some pleasing flavors of coffee, caramel, baked cherry, plum, baking spice and soy sauce to it that are mid-weight and resolved in a gentle and open-knit package.

2001 Forman Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. I love this style of California Cabernet, as it delivers a tremendously characterful bouquet with scents of leather, menthol, tobacco, red currant, black cherry, licorice rope, cracked peppercorn and dusty clean earth that waft right up out of the glass to assail the pleasure centers of the brain. It’s the same story on the palate—delivering lovely aged notes of leather, tobacco and dusty earth to go with an excellent nick of sweet red cherry and currant fruit stuffing. It’s old-fashioned, but there are no hard edges or difficult tannins anywhere to be found, and the acidity shows no hints at all of austerity. It’s just beautiful, mature fruit and great earthy balance delivered with no fuss and loads of character.


-Michael
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Claret
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Re: TNs: More 19th hole drinking

Post by Claret »

I have a few St. Innocent Shea's in the queue. Great PN.
Glenn
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stefan
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Re: TNs: More 19th hole drinking

Post by stefan »

Yes, the '02 SI Shea is a great one.
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