TNs: 2000 Bellisle Mondotte, 2004 Pontet-Canet

[Michael Malinoski]

A couple of us got together on a Saturday night over at Andy’s place to play some cards, eat his delicious cooking and open a few random bottles.

NV Delamotte Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. This is bright and airy on the nose, showing a lot of flint and smoke notes atop a core of apple, lemon pith, chalk and mineral aromas. It has nice energy in the mouth, with a fine tangy freshness and an easy cut to it. The apple, chalk, herb and mineral flavors are light, airy and pleasantly uplifting. It’s a very nice way to start out an evening.

2007 Copain Pinot Noir Kiser "En Haut" Anderson Valley. This wine presents nice aromas of tree bark, sassafras, birch, red beets, beefy dark red fruits and some baking spice notes. On the palate, the texture is nice and smooth, with lots of juicy plum and mixed berry fruit flavors supported by subtle acidity underneath. It’s well-balanced and easy-flowing, finishing with a push of plusher fruit. It’s in good shape for current drinking.

2007 Domaine Bois de Boursan Châteauneuf-du-Pape. This is tremendous on the nose, right in my personal wheelhouse—showing off beautiful aromas of red licorice rope, cassis, black cherry, dried lilacs, new saddle leather, iron ore, dusty dirt road, smoked herbs and funky weedy tobacco. In the mouth, it’s smooth-flowing and gentle atop a medium-weighted frame, with a bright twangy burst of dried cherry, raspberry and red licorice flavors underscored by a fine earthy sensibility. It’s still evolving and has a long life ahead of it, but it’s absolutely delicious right now.

1999 Domaine Louis Cheze St. Joseph Cuvée des Anges. This is rather dense and thick-boned on the nose, with brooding, inward-facing aromas of roasted coffee, charred wood, singed iron, smoked herbs and black raspberry. In the mouth, it’s not the most elegant of styles, with chewy purple fruit strongly accented by iodine, iron and raw meat notes. It’s a bit flat in tone and there’s still quite a reserve of tannins in play, so it just doesn’t come across as all that distinctive, at least not at this stage of the game.

1999 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde. This wine presents a smoky bouquet smelling of smoke, leather, dried mud, pan drippings, graphite and pencil shavings. In the mouth, it has a spicy edge to the core flavors of black cherry, dark earth and toasted spices. It’s still moderately tannic, but at times has a nice slippery flow to it nonetheless. Still, it feels like it’s not yet fully-formed and needs more time in the bottle to coax out more character.

2000 Château Bellisle Mondotte St. Émilion. This is quite outgoing aromatically, saturating the nose with aromas of blackberries, plums, dark smoke and incense. Later pours start to show some interesting mint leaf and stripped pine notes emerging to add complexity. It’s rather plummy in the mouth, with a rounded mouthfeel and plump weight. It’s still a bit sticky texturally, and there are some genial tannins hiding in the background at times. It drinks pretty easy, though, and goes down smoothly on the finish. It’s not what you would call profound, but we all enjoyed it.

2004 Château Pontet-Canet Pauillac. This didn’t see much in the way of a decanting, but it still feels nice and exuberant, filigreed and fine on the nose--with controlled but giving aromas of black currant, black cherry, oak, toasted bread and leaf pile. It’s tautly toned and strapping on the palate, with finely-polished but abundant tannins. Yet, there’s a whole lot of tasty plum, blueberry and black currant fruit flavors packed in here, along with some woodsy characteristics in the background. It needs more time to reach its peak, but it’s satisfyingly made and well worth checking in if you can give it a healthy decant.

2010 Ladera Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Howell Mountain. This is big and bold, and entirely inviting on the nose, showing off expressive and rich aromas of mocha paste, chocolate brownie batter, blackberry, oak, dark earth and animal fur. It’s bountiful on the palate, with full-bodied flavors pumping out blue and black berry mountain fruit goodness. It’s a bit sweet, but juicy, creamy and above all fun to drink for such a young and large-scaled California Cabernet. There are some late tannins and wood to remind you of its youth, but otherwise it’s loaded with delicious fruit in a rewardingly packaged framework.


-Michael

[robertgoulet]

2007 Domaine Bois de Boursan is note tells me this wine is right in my wheelhouse! Yum

[stefan]

Thanks for your usual great notes.

We missed the 2004 at Pontet-Canet because Albert wanted to show off better vintages from this millennium (2000, 2003, 2005, 2009). Another one we did not drink is the 2002, which is drinking surprisingly well now with, of course, a lot of air time.

[DavidG]

A 2007 CduP note without mention of too much over-ripe fruir is encouraging.

[Rieslingfan]

The 2004 PC has been a favorite from 375ml for the last couple of years. Still have 12 halves left.