Grenache with Dan P

Many thanks to Dan Posner for hosting us at Estadio. Many thanks to Mark Kuller for being so hospitable and adding a new and vibrant cullinary spot to the DC scene. My oldworld bias sings through the notes, but to those that still like big wines, avoid the Greenock like the plague!!

• 1999 Deutz Champagne Amour de Deutz Brut 91 Points

  France, Champagne

  Opens with nice zest and some noticeable toast. Good minerality and zest but not a lot of depth. There is some percision at first but the wine is still young. A bit more brioche and yeast after some basic swirling. A good palate opener.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1990 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia 91 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  This wine opens with some really round butterscotch and oil. Expansive in the nose but refined. It is round and quiet soft, something akin to an aged Puligny Montrachet. Some lemon and gravel as well on the nose but not a lot of precision. The wine holds up aromatically but never really explodes or gains more depth. A very pleasing experience and a relatively wonderful value at good retail. A wine I'll look to buy more of.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2000 Cuvée du Vatican Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve Sixtine 89 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  A touch blunt on the palate which opened up with some time in the glass. A nose of dark red fruit and leather with well integrated spice and cedary notes. Well crafted but not distinct or deep. Not my favorite style of CDP but a well made wine.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2004 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  Another strong showing for this wine. I served it a bit cooler as I like my Pegau to open up in the glass with temperature to allow the perfume to emenate. This bottle was expressive, but perhaps not as expressive as 2 years ago. It opens with signature Pegau characteristics of blood, leather, grange and garrigue. With more time throughout the night, this wine gained in depth and pitch but it is still infantile. This wine clearly has the poise and structure to age brilliantly for an extended period of time, and really hone in its pitch and gain depth and wonderful complexity. This will be a favorite given time.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2005 Clos Figueras Priorat Clos Figueres 92 Points

  Spain, Catalunya, Priorat

  Opened after the Pegau, this wine was a sharp contrast in style and approach to gernache. Markedly bolder and more overt. The wine doesn't coax one in but rather persents itself rather boldly. A strong nose of blueberries and some hidden iron. The wine is forceful but doesn't border into overbearing. With more time in the decanter, the wine smooths out more and shows some lovely richness, almost candied but still thick. The wine will likely evolve nicely for a few more years but it isn't quite my cup of tea. Imrpessive for those with a more new-world inclined disposition.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2006 Greenock Creek Grenache Cornerstone 81 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  This wine is a failed approach at winemaking. While it has admirable qualities - very thick and viscous blueberry fruit, some rhum and rhubarb as well as port like flavors - it is inexcusable unbalanced and alcoholic. 18.5% abv? My god, who would eat food with this? The wine was basically scalding my mouth, even after having drank several other wines. It settled a bit and showed more and more oak with some time but went through a phase that was simply dumb and even less balanced. I cannot understand wines like this and I eschew buying them altogether. Approach with caution.

  Read 1 Comment / Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1990 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 96 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  The virtues of patience with Beaucastel become quite pronounced when you have the distinct pleasure of drinking varying vintages of this seminal producer. The wine always adheres to its familial roots of a beautiful pitched nose of cherry tapenade, garrigue, grange and sweet pitched cassis with a delicately balance between refined lush tannin driven mouthfeel and lithe acidity that dances with varying cuisine. The mourverdre sings with its two decades of age. Drank alongside an 04 Pegau, a wine of considerable substance but of infantile youth, it shows the pleasures of aging ageworthy wines. These wines develop a pitch and idiosyncratic expression of terroir that is irreplaceable. To me, wines like Beaucastel, in such an age, reinforce the sadomasochistic ritual of buying wines on release only to leave them to mature for decades. In these wonderful instances, it is indeed worth the wait. A perfect expression of wine. Simply superb.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 1998 Clos du Mont-Olivet Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Cuvée du Papet 94 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  Just a lovely CDP. Popped and poured, the wine gained steam and depth with more air. Classic in composition, it develops an expansive nose of smoke, iron, blood and sous bois. Still quite loaded with lovely red fruits, the secondary characteristic marry with the fruit elements splendidly. While it is not overtly complex or explosive, the wine is about balance and classicism.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue