| | On Sunday night I had the good fortune to attend the Seventh Annual 'Paulee de Woodinville' hosted at DeLille Cellars in Woodinville, WA. This is a tribute to the Paulee held annually after harvest in Burgundy. It was quite the drunken bash, errr, Harvest Celebration...
Chef Thierry Rautureau of Rover's Restaurant was cooking, and as always he did a simply splendid job. This was a non-spitting event for myself and the vast bulk of the 60 attendees, and you can clearly see the result of this by the brevity of my later tasting notes. (Yeah, those are some DTN's if I've ever seen them.) Apologies that the notes on the food aren't called out clearly. I misplaced my menu and am still waiting for a fax with the full details. At least I got the wine names correct. The wines with (**) before them were the official poured wines. The rest were all 'bonus' wines brought by the attendees. There were of course many more wines (probably 50). Since I didn't know a lot of folks I only got ahold of about half the wines. I'll do better next year, I promise... - N.V. Joseph Perrier Champagne Blanc de Blancs - France, Champagne
Gary brought this beauty which had been resting in his cellar for 3-4 years. Very yeasty with almond and some orange on the nose. On the palate this has razor focus and some crisp, green apple. Very nice acidity, but the bubbles on this bottle were pretty tired and faded quickly in the glass.
- N.V. Pol Roger Champagne Brut Réserve - France, Champagne
(**) We walked in the door and Jay Soloff greeted us with glasses of this lovely champagne. The yeastiness was much more subtle on this than the Joseph Perrier we enjoyed in the limo. Sharper citrus notes. This is very dry with a hint of bitter almond and some buttery sensations in the background.
- 1999 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Clos Häuserer - France, Alsace
(**) Served with the first course of smoked salmon. Very dominant plastic notes, edging towards petrol with some white pepper. On the palate this show some white peach and more pepper. Cleansing acidity with a peach-pit hint of bitterness. All in all, this was a pretty glorious nose with very penetrating acid, a great wine with the food and very fun to sip on its own. (91 pts.)
- 1999 Pride Mountain Vineyards Viognier - USA, California, Sonoma County
Raman & Tina brought this bottle. A very dominant nose of apricot. On the palate this has massive glycerin and is almost squishy between your teeth. An exotic, spicy, long finish, this really hangs with you. I like it but found it to be a bit clumsy and monolithic. (88 pts.)
- 2000 Kistler Chardonnay Dutton Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
(**) Very intense butterscotch on the nose with smoke, toast and a hint of ash. On the palate this has really gorgeous texture and surprising acidity. Where was the fruit on this one? Compared to the last bottle I had this one was very wood driven. That said, this was a great, great match with scallop and foie gras on chestnut paste in a seafood nage. Yummy! (87 pts.)
- 2000 Talbott Chardonnay Cuvée Audrey Diamond T Estate - USA, California, Central Coast, Monterey
Greg & Stacey brought this. Wow, this was exotic with lychee on the nose and tropical fruit on the palate. This was intensely fruit driven and following the Kistler this was a different beast. (90 pts.)
- 1999 Faiveley Mazis-Chambertin - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru
(**) This started out fairly earthy and dusty with a hint of cherry on the somewhat reserved nose. Initially dilute, this mostly showed mineral characteristics, but as my palate adjusted and the wine opened I started to appreciate this more. Very silky with a sweet, gentle raspberry element, this has a long, smooth finish. It was interesting, but I expected more from a Grand Cru. (87 pts.)
- 1998 DeLille Cellars D2 - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley
Poured for me by David Gelles. He and wife Patricia own Klipsun vineyard. If I remember his story correctly, in 1998 DeLille didn't use much (any?) Klipsun fruit in the Chaleur Estate flagship blend, instead opting to use the fruit in the D2 which is (sort of) a second wine. Anyway, David intentionally tries to get the DeLille folks to drink this one to remind them of their mistake... I have to agree with him, as this was lovely. A hint of violet with licorice and briar. OMG, this has huge structure, unmistakeable Klipsun. That said, there is a lot of fruit there to balance this guy out. Very nice! (91 pts.)
- 1994 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, Washington
Dhiren brought this one, bless his soul. This wine is unmistakeable. Pure, massive, soaring, chambord on the nise. On the palate this is a monster and has years ahead before it is even close to ready. Right now it is SOOO primary and HUGE! The finish is endless, the most memorable of the entire night. Wow! (96 pts.)
- 1982 Château Lynch-Bages - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Stinky, black, awesome nose. Gary shoved this at me blind, bless him and I knew it was aged Bordeaux (duh!) and called it as such. On the palate this is PURE silk wrapped around some tobacco leaves. Wow! (95 pts.)
- 1982 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
This was my bottle. I elected to open on site and decant about 60 minutes before drinking. This started very mushroomy and funky with lots of tobacco and some barnyard. One or two folks thought maybe it was an off-bottle, but over the course of an additional two hours this blew off and the wine became sweeter and sweeter with a long, complex finish. As always seems to be the case, the wine was at its best near the final sips. Certainly there was nothing wrong with this wine, and it was certainly distinctive and enjoyable. (93 pts.)
- 1982 Château Talbot - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
This was another glass that Gary brought by and made me guess. I knew it was Bordeaux, but I was off by more than a decade on this one as I guessed 1995. The nose was scorchy, almost medicinal in character, with a certain toasted, roasted, wood-driven character that I only seem to find in Bordeaux. On the palate this was remarkably youthful with a mineral driven edge and some roasted fruit.
- 1995 Château Léoville Barton - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
I managed a fleeting taste of this one (again, I think Gary shoved a glass under my nose). Remarkably sweet, pure, and gorgeous with a very distinct black, brooding character. Beautiful!
- 1997 Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino Riserva - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
This was Todd's bottle. A pine-needle, high pitched nose. On the palate this had a sweet, pure entry with a surprising amount of fruit. As to be expected from this varietal, this is finely etched with lots of acid. The finish is long, almost searing. This is a gorgeous bottle! (94 pts.)
- 1993 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Maestro Raro Vino da Tavola - Italy, Tuscany, Vino da Tavola
This was Gary's bottle. Very sappy with a soft, plush palate. Deep cassis that really soars on the palate. Lots of acidity for a Cabernet.
- 1988 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve - USA, California, Napa Valley
Medicinal, mint, somewhat dilute, fairly straightforward. Not a wine of huge interest for me after the various Bordeaux that had just floated by.
- 1988 Château Gruaud Larose - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
(**) This was one of the official wines poured with the Squab course. My notes were almost nonexistent at this point as all I had written was: tobacco, dilute?, ok.
- 1999 DeLille Cellars Chaleur Estate - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain
(**) Poured from Magnum along with the squab course. Savage tannins, very pure fruit, painfully young, lots of wood still to be integrated. This has all the pieces, it just needs to settle down and knit in the bottle. No hurry on this. I wouldn't go near this wine for 5 years minimum and probably closer to 10.
- 2000 Lewis Cellars Syrah - USA, California, Napa Valley
Notes were getting really thin now. Peppery, meaty, black in character. Nice.
- 1995 Araujo Estate Syrah Eisele Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley
Peppery, wild, and black. Simply awesome!
- 1999 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley - USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley
(**) This was served with the cheese course. My notes had basically faded away by this point as all I wrote was "mild tobacco" and then a series of question marks. What I was questioning was why I was drinking this with so many other wines around of greater interest. This one left almost no impression on me.
- 1999 Antinori Tignanello - Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
(**) Poured with the cheese course. Herbal, spicy, lots of structure. This one will be very nice with some age.
- N.V. Pride Mountain Vineyards Mistelle de Viognier - USA, California, Sonoma County
Raman & Tina brought this one. Orange, peach, piercing. Cloying, clumsy and altogether too spirity. Needed to be MUCH colder.
- 2002 Dunham Cellars Sémillon Ice Wine - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
David Gelles brought this. Was it because it was Klipsun-based? I surely can't recall. Anyway, honeyed and silky, wow this is nice stuff! Compared to the Pride tasted just before this was far more delicate and enjoyable.
Whew, that was a lot of fun. At the end of the evening I had a panic, as I couldn't find my notebook with all of my notes. Apparently I scoured the place before finally admitting defeat. Lo and behold, on the ride home my notebook magically appeared. One of my friends decided it to be fun to swipe the notebook to see my reaction. Very nice, I will get my revenge someday...
Cheers! |
