TN's: Complete Viader vertical 1989-2000

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Michael Malinoski
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TN's: Complete Viader vertical 1989-2000

Post by Michael Malinoski »

One of our most recent poker tournaments was at Zach’s house, and as usual all of the wines we drank during the game were served blind. The bottles were all bagged and numbered and put into flights. Some were Bordeaux-shaped bottles, some were Burgundy-shaped bottles, some were screwcapped, and so forth. But at the end of the day when the wines were revealed, it turned out we had been treated to a complete vertical of Viader from 1989 through 2000, just disguised NOT to look like a vertical of Viader. Tricky, tricky, tricky! And very generous of Zach, to be sure, as I’m certain the usual budget was pretty well busted for this.

Starter wines (served blind):

2011 Jacques Puffeney Chardonnay Arbois. There’s a metallic gold sheen to our first offering of the day. It shows a strong copper mineral streak throughout the bouquet, but also features aromas of praline, nuts and brothy sea brine. In the mouth, it echoes the praline, bisque and copper minerality notes of the nose, but adds in nice complementary flavors of lemon and pineapple. It’s interesting and layered, with good rounded texture and a pleasingly cohesive finish. It’s a little oxidative, but I like the cool flavor profile and the taut mouthfeel. To me, it is a classic Jura/Arbois type of profile, but it sure is a divisive style of wine with this group.

2010 Booker Vineyard White Paso Robles. This is a blend of 75% Roussanne and 25% Viognier. It looks cloudy and unfiltered, and it delivers a fun and effusively floral bouquet of peach juice, blood orange, poached pear, acacia flower, orange blossom, crushed gravel stones and wet wood with exotic little puffs of spice and perfume. In the mouth, it’s juicy, round and expansive but still intensely floral in tone, with brown spice, oak, peach and yellow tropical fruit flavors supported by subtle rounded acidity. The oakiness becomes a bit too strong on the finish, but should integrate with a bit more time, I’d guess. Otherwise, I find it fun, a little different, and pretty pleasing to drink.

Main tasting:

1989 Viader Proprietary Red Napa Valley. 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Cabernet Franc. This smells treacled and over-ripe to me on the nose, with loads of warm baked plum, blueberry, asphalt, browned tobacco leaf and cedar wood aromas rising up out of the glass. In the mouth, it’s a similar story, though maybe a bit more reserved in tone. It features sappy-textured flavors of blue and purple fruits, tar, caramel and nuts that are supported by mild tannins. I think it is pretty well-liked around the table, but it falls short of the quality standards of the majority of wines today, in my opinion. My personal rank order: #12

1990 Viader Proprietary Red Napa Valley. 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Cabernet Franc. This is darker in color and also in aromatic tone, showing strong scents of chocolate paste, cherry, shaved oak, tobacco leaf, menthol and white pepper that are big, bold and engaging. In the mouth, it’s rich, smooth and creamy, with a beautifully-knit texture to the blackberry, black currant, dark chocolate and earth flavors. It’s quite giving, very nicely-fruited, juicy and long, but also gentlemanly, classy and toned. This is really good. My personal rank order: #3

1991 Viader Proprietary Red Napa Valley. 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Cabernet Franc. Of the first few wines, this is the one that really stands out as having the most obvious Old World charm about it, starting with the very appealing bouquet of black currant, carob nut, tree bark, anise, menthol, limestone and white pepper aromas combining in a delightfully refined package. It’s really delicious in the mouth, with flavors of blackberry, black currant, black raspberry, charred wood, iron ore and pen ink sliding right across the palate with ease. It’s very giving, with fairly big volume and significant staying power, but also a ton of class and interesting complexity. It’s just outstanding. My personal rank order: #1

1992 Viader Proprietary Red Napa Valley. 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Cabernet Franc. This wine features a slinky, glossy nose of blackberry jam, black patent leather, tar, melted chocolate and forest greenery aromas that are surprisingly sexy in personality. In the mouth, it’s buffed and polished, slinky and lithe—with no hard edges and plenty of easy-flowing blue and purple fruit flavors. It slips right across the palate and leaves a lasting impression. It’s one of the less earthy-toned wines in the line-up but it’s hard to deny the pure pleasure it brings to the table. My personal rank order: #5

1993 Viader Proprietary Red Napa Valley. 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Cabernet Franc. This seems to be the ripest wine by far on the nose, really pushing the envelope with its dramatic aromas of cassis, roasted cherry, raspberry paste, leather and funk. It’s chewy, bold and comparatively extravagant in the mouth, delivering voluminous flavors of raspberry, boysenberry and blueberry fruit that feel powerful and pushy. Thankfully, there’s a good acidic uplift here, too, to keep it fresh. I heard several people really taking shots at this wine, but I find that it grows on me over time and I eventually would have to say that I enjoy it pretty well when all is said and done. My personal rank order: #8

1994 Viader Proprietary Red Napa Valley. 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Cabernet Franc. This is very classy, refined and airy on the nose, with crinkly aromas of red currants, cranberries, light spices and limestone, with fine floral overtones. In the mouth, it’s engagingly red-fruited, with persistent flavors of strawberry licorice rope, raspberry and light leafy qualities. There are still some sneaky tannins hanging around and there’s plenty of life remaining here. This is very good indeed. My personal rank order: #4

1995 Viader Proprietary Red Napa Valley. 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 47% Cabernet Franc. I’m not as fond of this wine’s aromatic profile as I am with most, as it’s showing a lot of wood-tinged black fruit to go with acrid charred earth, mincemeat and leaf aromas. In the mouth, it’s medium-weighted, cool and earthy—with a stern structure, abundant tannins and a strident texture. Still, there’s some hidden beauty down deep here, with a fetching core of sweet fruit sleeping down under. Give this another 4-5 years or so. My personal rank order: #10

1996 Viader Proprietary Red Napa Valley. 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Cabernet Franc. This wine is fun and large-scaled on the nose, with fleshy aromas of cherries, black raspberries, mixed currants, coffee beans, dark chocolate, cigar wrapper and menthol. It’s similar on the palate, with a fruit-forward and gently exotic profile of wild berries, melted chocolate, red candy and mild funk. It’s pure, luscious and beautifully-textured, but interestingly, it actually seems younger than it did from magnum just a year earlier. It’s quite good but it’s going to be better down the road, I’m certain. My personal rank order: #7

1997 Viader Proprietary Red Napa Valley. 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Cabernet Franc. This wine smells of baked cherries, blueberry pie, toasted herbs and sweet creosote. On the palate, it’s very sweet with its pure flavors of chocolate, blueberry and black currant fruit in a super-polished, forward package. There are refined tannins, and I do enjoy the purity of flavor it delivers, but it’s lacking any earthy counterpoint to make it seem more complex. My personal rank order: #11

1998 Viader Proprietary Red Napa Valley. 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Cabernet Franc. This was served in a flight alongside the 1997, and the two wines could not be more different on the nose. This one is dark, cool, smoldering and old-fashioned—with restrained but delightful aromas of black currant, fine leather, tobacco leaf and campfire smoke. In the mouth, it’s excellent—exhibiting fine structure, cool balancing acidity, excellent poise and deliciously complex flavors of blackberries, black currants, charred herbs, menthol and clean earth. It flows beautifully in a steady stream of controlled flavor from start to finish. I’m pretty sure I liked this better than most folks, but it suits my tastes very well. My personal rank order: #2

1999 Viader Proprietary Red Napa Valley. 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Cabernet Franc. This feels like one of the younger wines of the tasting on the nose, with aromas of black cherry, chocolate, menthol and oak spices coming on clear and strong. It feels silky and lithe on the palate, though, with a classy, agile-footed feel to the black currant, toasted herb and charred earth flavors and cool, contained acidity. There’s a lot to like here and it ought to be even better over the next few years. My personal rank order: #6

2000 Viader Proprietary Red Napa Valley. 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Cabernet Franc. Here one encounters aromas of coffee beans, chicory, Bakers chocolate, blackberries, black leather and tomato vine on the nose. That’s followed up by a palate that’s luxuriant and plush, rich and concentrated with smoothly-polished flavors of black and purple fruit. It’s creamy and outgoing, but there’s a recurring hint of cough medicine or something that pops in from time to time, which I find distracting. Even though I like the wine in a lot of ways, I eventually have to mark it down for that intrusive element. My personal rank order: #9

All in all, this was a tremendously informative and fun blind tasting experience. My favorite wines tended to show more Old World and cool vintage character--which Viader does exceedingly well--but there was plenty to like here for those who appreciate pure and polished fruit done in a refined package. Again, my thanks to our host for a special day of poker and wine!


-Michael
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dstgolf
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Re: TN's: Complete Viader vertical 1989-2000

Post by dstgolf »

Mike,

Great tasting notes and what an experience. Years back Delia Viader was in Ottawa and did a similar vertical tasting with the 91/94 and 98 being the hilights. Surprised the 97 showed so poorly with all the hype the vintage received after release but I must agree with your review.
Danny
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DavidG
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Re: TN's: Complete Viader vertical 1989-2000

Post by DavidG »

Well done! Ive had several of these but not recently. The 1991 and 1994 have been my favorites.

Did anyone catch on that they were more similar than suggested by the bottles?
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Nicklasss
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Re: TN's: Complete Viader vertical 1989-2000

Post by Nicklasss »

I had only the 2000 twice, and liked it very much each time, for it reserved cool character.

Nic
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