TNs: 88 Gruaud, 86 Montelena, 93 Insignia, 96 Dominus
Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:30 pm
Gerry had me and Andy over to his place for dinner about a month back and cooked up some huge steaks and a bunch of tasty sides for us. In addition, he also dug into his cellar to put together a really interesting and delicious flight of blind wines for us to drink. It was a relaxing and fun evening that featured some great wines along the way.
Starter whites: I brought a small mixed plate of cheeses and a duck confit rillette that we tore through pretty well while working up our appetites for the main course. We enjoyed two whites to go along with these.
2003 Peter Michael Chardonnay La Carriere Knights Valley. This wine features a nose redolent of seashells, wet chalk, river rocks, minerals, lemon rind, chopped herbs, white pepper and a little overlay of soft oak. It is not really much about fruit, rather focusing on the chiseled minerality aspects of its personality. In the mouth, the wood is more noticeable up front, with bits of toasted barrel spices and cool smoke. Deeper down, though, and what really comes out in the expansive mid-palate, is a luscious ball of yellow fruit and baked spiced apples that are at the core of the wine. Although not quite as rich as some Peter Michael Chardonnays I’ve had recently, this is beautifully layered and creamy smooth with a lot of complexity and a fine lasting finish of minerals and spices.
2006 Francois Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Les Tuffeaux. There is a vibrant gold color to the wine I brought to the show and it gives off classic Chenin aromas of lanolin, wax, copper and wool, along with light caramel, steel and granite. In the mouth, it comes across as more rich-toned and fuller-bodied than the nose would suggest. Everything is in its place and feels effortlessly holistic, including the lovely twist of sweetness. The soft acidity and limpid glycerol levels work real well within the context of the flavor profile of sweet lemon ball, white peach pit, citrus peel, sweet cream and brown spices. Those looking for a lot of acidity will not find it here, but the wine totally works. I will look for more.
Blind reds: These were drunk with the steaks and all of the sides and we were able to spend a good long while with each bottle.
1988 Château Gruaud-Larose St. Julien. This wine sports a beautifully-aged bouquet of worn leather, menthol, funky dirt and lots of other earthy notes that are mellow and nicely-layered but full of life and aromatic presence. It is also outstanding in the mouth, featuring soft cherry fruit and a bit of tart cranberry around the edges. It is really well-balanced, with no hard edges and good freshness of acidity—ending on an even keel with the menthol notes coming on strong. Overall, it is medium-weighted, resolved of tannin, showing fine resolution and really complex and funky in an engaging and tasty package with good staying power and freshness. It is a delight on its own or with the steak. WOTN for me.
1986 Château Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate Napa Valley. There is a cooler and darker bouquet to this wine—with a denser and more powerful feel overall. It sports a good deal of leather, tobacco, scrabble dirt and peppercorn aromas to go along with abundant amounts of black cherry and currant and a more subtle hint of menthol. It is rich and dense on the palate and really fills all the corners of the mouth. It has a ton of rich mixed red and black fruit and seemingly has no holes to it whatsoever. It is full-bodied and creamy, with some fuzzy tannins still hanging around that give it a youthfully-knit feel from time to time. It is complex and expansive, but slowly starts to firm up over time, showing more of its structure and allowing the tannins to come forward a bit. It is an impressive wine with plenty of life left. Indeed, I thought it was significantly younger than wine #1. In a very odd twist, though, we all came back for a second glass later in the evening to find the wine taking on a stewed fruit and VA-ridden set of aromas. I can’t ever remember liking a wine so much only to find a second glass so distorted from the original. That was rather perplexing and detracted a bit from the memory of what would likely have been my WOTN.
1993 Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa Valley. The bouquet of this wine is tighter-knit than either of the previous two, with a fudgier sort of profile featuring aromas of dark cherry, leather, baked clay, baking spices and red fruit paste riding above dark forest floor and green pepper skin notes. In the mouth, this is more obviously tannic than any other wine this evening and shows some wood influence in the way of toasted barrel spices. Otherwise, though, this is full of delicious dark cherry fruit, dark chocolate and fudge flavor that gets creamier and creamier the longer one stays with it despite a nice spine of acidity running through its entirety. Also, the tannins start to melt away after a while and one is left with a nicely rich and full-bodied wine that pumps out very nice flavor and shows no let up at all over the course of the entire evening. This is an impressive wine and my runner-up WOTN.
1996 Dominus Estate Napa Valley. Stylistically, the last wine seems the most removed from the other three on the table. The nose features candied aromas of red fruit, red licorice, cherry cream, cinnamon stick and leather strop. It is similarly more candied in the mouth, with a more obviously modern or California feel to it—which is kind of funny given the Dominus reputation. The wine comes across as rather youthful at first in its tart acidity and full-blown mixed berry fruit flavors riding above sprinklings of cocoa powder, spices and classy wood. Still, the tannins can hardly be said to be much of a factor, so perhaps this isn’t as young as I first thought. Still, the wine shows a lot of drive, good grip and a dry finish that shows a bit more layering and complexity than the wine otherwise affords the taster through the middle. My suggestion is to hold this one a bit.
While still blind, my guess was that the wines were served in order from oldest to youngest. That 1986 Montelena felt much younger than the 1988 Gruaud-Larose, but otherwise that pretty much held to form. I also felt certain that the Gruaud was a Bordeaux from the late 70’s or early 80’s, but would not have pegged it as a 1988—it just had no hard edges. I also guessed the Montelena and Insignia to be Bordeaux, but clearly had the Dominus pegged as a California blend. I thought both the Montelena and Insignia to be much younger than they were and was duly impressed by each wine’s ability to age with ease and evolve beautifully.
With dessert:
2000 Orosz Gabor Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos. Andy supplied the delicious dessert and this very nice sweet wine that smells of apricots, honey, baked apples, orange marmalade, mace and crème brulee topping. It is not overly viscous or heavy on the palate—as I was sort of anticipating—but it is plenty rich and full-bodied with a ton of creamy orange marmalade and nectarine flavors kept well balanced by an airier acidity. What a great evening--my thanks again to Gerry for his hospitality and generosity!
-Michael
Starter whites: I brought a small mixed plate of cheeses and a duck confit rillette that we tore through pretty well while working up our appetites for the main course. We enjoyed two whites to go along with these.
2003 Peter Michael Chardonnay La Carriere Knights Valley. This wine features a nose redolent of seashells, wet chalk, river rocks, minerals, lemon rind, chopped herbs, white pepper and a little overlay of soft oak. It is not really much about fruit, rather focusing on the chiseled minerality aspects of its personality. In the mouth, the wood is more noticeable up front, with bits of toasted barrel spices and cool smoke. Deeper down, though, and what really comes out in the expansive mid-palate, is a luscious ball of yellow fruit and baked spiced apples that are at the core of the wine. Although not quite as rich as some Peter Michael Chardonnays I’ve had recently, this is beautifully layered and creamy smooth with a lot of complexity and a fine lasting finish of minerals and spices.
2006 Francois Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Les Tuffeaux. There is a vibrant gold color to the wine I brought to the show and it gives off classic Chenin aromas of lanolin, wax, copper and wool, along with light caramel, steel and granite. In the mouth, it comes across as more rich-toned and fuller-bodied than the nose would suggest. Everything is in its place and feels effortlessly holistic, including the lovely twist of sweetness. The soft acidity and limpid glycerol levels work real well within the context of the flavor profile of sweet lemon ball, white peach pit, citrus peel, sweet cream and brown spices. Those looking for a lot of acidity will not find it here, but the wine totally works. I will look for more.
Blind reds: These were drunk with the steaks and all of the sides and we were able to spend a good long while with each bottle.
1988 Château Gruaud-Larose St. Julien. This wine sports a beautifully-aged bouquet of worn leather, menthol, funky dirt and lots of other earthy notes that are mellow and nicely-layered but full of life and aromatic presence. It is also outstanding in the mouth, featuring soft cherry fruit and a bit of tart cranberry around the edges. It is really well-balanced, with no hard edges and good freshness of acidity—ending on an even keel with the menthol notes coming on strong. Overall, it is medium-weighted, resolved of tannin, showing fine resolution and really complex and funky in an engaging and tasty package with good staying power and freshness. It is a delight on its own or with the steak. WOTN for me.
1986 Château Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate Napa Valley. There is a cooler and darker bouquet to this wine—with a denser and more powerful feel overall. It sports a good deal of leather, tobacco, scrabble dirt and peppercorn aromas to go along with abundant amounts of black cherry and currant and a more subtle hint of menthol. It is rich and dense on the palate and really fills all the corners of the mouth. It has a ton of rich mixed red and black fruit and seemingly has no holes to it whatsoever. It is full-bodied and creamy, with some fuzzy tannins still hanging around that give it a youthfully-knit feel from time to time. It is complex and expansive, but slowly starts to firm up over time, showing more of its structure and allowing the tannins to come forward a bit. It is an impressive wine with plenty of life left. Indeed, I thought it was significantly younger than wine #1. In a very odd twist, though, we all came back for a second glass later in the evening to find the wine taking on a stewed fruit and VA-ridden set of aromas. I can’t ever remember liking a wine so much only to find a second glass so distorted from the original. That was rather perplexing and detracted a bit from the memory of what would likely have been my WOTN.
1993 Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa Valley. The bouquet of this wine is tighter-knit than either of the previous two, with a fudgier sort of profile featuring aromas of dark cherry, leather, baked clay, baking spices and red fruit paste riding above dark forest floor and green pepper skin notes. In the mouth, this is more obviously tannic than any other wine this evening and shows some wood influence in the way of toasted barrel spices. Otherwise, though, this is full of delicious dark cherry fruit, dark chocolate and fudge flavor that gets creamier and creamier the longer one stays with it despite a nice spine of acidity running through its entirety. Also, the tannins start to melt away after a while and one is left with a nicely rich and full-bodied wine that pumps out very nice flavor and shows no let up at all over the course of the entire evening. This is an impressive wine and my runner-up WOTN.
1996 Dominus Estate Napa Valley. Stylistically, the last wine seems the most removed from the other three on the table. The nose features candied aromas of red fruit, red licorice, cherry cream, cinnamon stick and leather strop. It is similarly more candied in the mouth, with a more obviously modern or California feel to it—which is kind of funny given the Dominus reputation. The wine comes across as rather youthful at first in its tart acidity and full-blown mixed berry fruit flavors riding above sprinklings of cocoa powder, spices and classy wood. Still, the tannins can hardly be said to be much of a factor, so perhaps this isn’t as young as I first thought. Still, the wine shows a lot of drive, good grip and a dry finish that shows a bit more layering and complexity than the wine otherwise affords the taster through the middle. My suggestion is to hold this one a bit.
While still blind, my guess was that the wines were served in order from oldest to youngest. That 1986 Montelena felt much younger than the 1988 Gruaud-Larose, but otherwise that pretty much held to form. I also felt certain that the Gruaud was a Bordeaux from the late 70’s or early 80’s, but would not have pegged it as a 1988—it just had no hard edges. I also guessed the Montelena and Insignia to be Bordeaux, but clearly had the Dominus pegged as a California blend. I thought both the Montelena and Insignia to be much younger than they were and was duly impressed by each wine’s ability to age with ease and evolve beautifully.
With dessert:
2000 Orosz Gabor Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos. Andy supplied the delicious dessert and this very nice sweet wine that smells of apricots, honey, baked apples, orange marmalade, mace and crème brulee topping. It is not overly viscous or heavy on the palate—as I was sort of anticipating—but it is plenty rich and full-bodied with a ton of creamy orange marmalade and nectarine flavors kept well balanced by an airier acidity. What a great evening--my thanks again to Gerry for his hospitality and generosity!
-Michael
!