Order out of Chaos

Ardeo, Washington DC
Tasted Wednesday, December 22, 2010 by Faryan with 909 views

Introduction

Great annual tasting held at Ardeo restaurant. A fine array of wines that somewhat was structured into an intelligble dinner. Tops were the Ployez, the Groffier and the Palmer. Fantastic wines with fantastic company.

Flight 1 - Ployez takes the cake (3 Notes)

  • NV Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Cuvée Rubis 89 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

    Very interesting nose of strawberries and cream, almost like Wimbeldeon. Some noted strawberry shortcake. As the wine drew to temperature, it showed a bit more tart fruit and stone. I was far more keen on this several months prior, so I'm not sure if it is an earlier disgorgement which didn't quite show as well, but it lacked the depth seen at the prior tasting. An excellent palate opener but a bit outmatched by company.

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  • 2000 Argyle Extended Tirage Brut 91 Points

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

    Surprisingly good as I have had little to no experience with Williamette Valley sparkling wines. I got a lot of brioche, biscuit and buttery toast aromas. The fruit was very lemon driven. While it was very smooth and balanced with bright acidity, it was overshadowed by the depth and focus of the Ployez.

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  • 1996 Ployez-Jacquemart Champagne Liesse d'Harbonville 94 Points

    France, Champagne

    This was a stunning bottle of champagne that draws you in with the first smell like any superlative wine will. Such a rolling depth of mouse, brioche and yeast. Unadvanced but civilized, you get waves of nut oil and bread yeasts. The palate is extremely refined with superb depth and acidity married with grace and supple texture. Just a fantastic bottle of bubbly with some definite upside, but such a pleasure to drink immediately.

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Flight 2 - Peter Michael's Trophy Wife? (3 Notes)

  • 2007 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    Opened and poured at ~48˚F (slightly below cellar temp). It has classic notes of Marsanne with oily hazelnut and peach with supple feel to the nose. The wine is tight as a drum, with a backbone of acidity but with also what some characterized as an offputting hairspray finish of astringency. I find this a common characteristic of young N Rhone blancs to my palate; it is almost like an unwound blend of minerality and hazy smoke that needs time to decouple. This wine needs so much more time to really extract the pleasure which warrants the price tag. Always a gamble with these.

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  • 1999 Mayacamas Vineyards Chardonnay 89 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Mt. Veeder

    Very Chablis in character. Light, flinty minerality behind a intermingled nose of pineapple and orchard pear. It lacks the depth and precision one would hope from an aged example, but drinks light in character and quite pleasantly. Not a superlative bottle but one which marries well with a variety of cuisine and is stylistically ammenable to many.

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  • 2005 Peter Michael Chardonnay Ma Belle-Fille 88 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Knights Valley

    Popped and poured. Perhaps it could have used an extensive decant. This wine wasn't enjoyed by many at the tasting (esp given its price bracket). It was just a bit overdone, almost blowsy. The malo and oak treatment is so apparent on the nose (and in the cloudiness to the eye). Vanilla, oak spice, buttery/caramelized popcorn is balanced and very supple but it doesn't have enough precision to make it truly appealing. While I profess to drinking treated Cali Chards in my household (a departure from our traditional Franco-vinous roots), I always look for more precision, a lighter hand on the treatment and more aromatic complexity/layering.

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Flight 3 - Groffier you magnificent bastard (3 Notes)

  • 2008 Brick House Pinot Noir Evelyn's 89 Points

    USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge

    Cranberry and raspberry rhubarb on the nose with a very hightened potpurri aspect to the pinot fruit. Very light and pleasing.

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  • 2001 Domaine Robert Groffier Bonnes Mares 94 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

    What makes grown men giddy? Sex, Drugs and Burgundy was the consensus (patent pending). Upon first smell, there is that visceral emotional response of laughter and elation. It is remarkable. This wine simply has a gorgeous nose that makes me sigh just thinking about that initial inhalation. Such a beautiful depth and pitch to the nose; making a doubter a pinot noir believer. Cherry Noir married with saddle, vosnee-esque spice and a beautiful grange element which just works perfectly. The depth to the nose is remarkable and makes one hope that with more time it will only get better. This wine is classic Bonnes Marres with a regal and restrained nose but a masculinity and permanance to its finish. Simply spectacular.

    Note of revelation: I was very keen on this wine during this tasting, but harkening back to the last time I drank this bottle, we had it just prior to a 2003 Etienne Guigal La Mouline. The Bonnes Marres, although almost as lovely as this bottle, was simply discarded as the Mouline was otherworldly and became the fixation of our attention. With wine, our sensory perception is a very fragile and relative thing. what may not have stood out in a row tasting or amongst a legend can indeed provide a superlative experience given the proper environment. This reality furthers my doubt that professional reviews done in row settings with dozens, if not hundreds, of wines can offer any insight into the aesthetic pleasures I search for in wine. It is a disservice to the grape.

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  • 2001 DuMOL Pinot Noir Russian River Valley 92 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

    This was a lovely Pinot, but was an unfortunate casualty next to the Groffier. Seductive earthy nose mixes Tobacco (nice call Tooch) and red cherry with notes of boysenberry. Lovely finish but was still tight, even having decanted prior. I'd let it rest for more time or decant prior to service.

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Flight 4 - Palmer's Pitch (3 Notes)

  • 2001 Château Palmer 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux

    Another superb experience with 2001 Palmer. While a lot of the other wines were really quite nice, the Palmer and the PBaron reaffirm the depth and beautiful pitch of aged Cabernet that Bordeaux excels at. A lovely nose of lilac, lavender and an alluring bell pepper spice that evoked thoughts of cab franc. This wasn't astringent underprie pepper, it was quite beautiful and well integrated. The wine is still on an upward trek towards maturity, but it rests on a mini plateu of wonderful accessibility. Great mouthfeel and respect to its Margaux typicity. A superb wine year-in year-out and one of the best value Palmers in my opinion.

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  • 2001 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Quite an interesting experience with the wine. I double-decanted the bottle at 6. The wine was served around 9pm alongside the Palmer and Grand Murailles. Not a typical Pauillac nose; lots of saddle and leather, porterhouse meat and montreal steak seasoning. Nonetheless, it had hints of beautiful depth and pitch to the nose as well as some nice cedar notes that came up with more evolution and swirling. Not near maturity, the wine is still a bit of clenched fist. Still quite powerful and still integrating its infant oak treatment. I think I prefer the 01 Lalande to the Baron, but it may simply be a stylistic preference. 92-93pts.

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  • 2001 Château Les Grandes Murailles 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Showed quite nice and a change of pace, adding more merlot into the conversation. In a more advanced drinking window than the Palmer and the Baron, this shows nice loam and truffled note to complement cherry and framboise on the palate. This lacks the depth of pitch of the Baron and Palmer (it never will compete in that realm) but makes up for it in its purity and simplicity.

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Flight 5 - The mad scientist who made the Bionic Frog! (3 Notes)

  • 2003 Domaine Charvin Châteauneuf-du-Pape 78 Points

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

    Some thought this bottle to be flawed, but other tasters who have had it recently confirmed that it was a representative showing of the 03 Charvin. Another example of why I stay away from 2003 CDP and where I have a divergence with Mssr Parker. The degree hours are practically encoded in the wine - it speaks volumes to the heatwave which crushed Chateauneuf du Pape in the summer of 2003. The fruit spectrum is towards the tail-end with notes of pruned plums that border or varnished and damaged. Beneath this wall of heat, there is a lovely cherry element which seems to dance on the periphery and is more emblematic of Charvin's house style. Nevertheless, the wine is almost unpleasant on the palate (at least relative to what we've been drinking) and it finishes hot and astringent.

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  • 2003 Les Cailloux (Lucien et André Brunel) Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Centenaire 83 Points

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

    Another poor showing for an 03 CDP. In its youth it may have been "stacked and packed" with vibrant and juicy fruit, but at this point of its evolution, it is a shell of a wine, with plummed fruit that is unbalanced and hot, disjointed character and an offputting hot-port quality to the mouthfeel. I haven't enjoyed the 2003, Charvin, Pegau Reserve or Janasse. Not my palate style.

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  • 2002 Cayuse Syrah Bionic Frog

    USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley

    Very hard to rate this wine numerically so I will abstain. A very unique nose that I summarize as follows: take a slab of Rib Eye steak, cover it with roasted pepercorns (minus the heat), slather in worcestershire sauce and then dip it into vats of white and milk chocolate. You are begining to entertain the nose of this Bionic Frog. Absolutely crazy nose of conflicting elements offers a really "science experiment" look at wine. While it is supple, salivating and quite intriguing, there is a polished and round feel to the wine which makes a danger alarm go off in my head. While this isn't a bad thing, it just feels unnatural! Bionic may be the right word indeed. A wonderful experience in terms of trying such a non-traditional wine, but not something to pop at Christmas Eve Dinner?

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Flight 6 - Poor Beau (3 Notes)

  • 1989 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Flawed

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

    Not an optimal showing. The last 89 I had over the summer was better but again not the epic wine that it has showed in the past. Endemic to its bottle variation, this wine was pruned with fine-grained tannins but lacked the hallmark depth and pitch of Mourvedre nose nor the candied aspect of the beautiful 89s. The 90 at its best may be a notch below the best showing 89s, but it has been far more consistent within my experiences. A shame.

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  • 1994 Château La Mission Haut-Brion 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Hello Graves! Has that classic Graves earthiness to it. Not a hallmark Mission by any means, but a real nice classic Bordeaux. Damp tobacco and some very nice secondary/tertiary aromas (truffles, loam) along with hints of cedar, saddle, "mission spice" and kirsch. Has delicate but firm grip to its mouthfeel. A bit diffuse on the palate given the vintage, but quite enjoyable. Classic claret. Drink up.

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  • 1987 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 90 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    A proud example of aged Napa Valley Cab. very refined but still quintessentially Napa. Menthol, sweet cherry tobacco and cassis. Finishes smooth with some suppleness. Great stuff.

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Flight 7 - Helmut hits a homerun (3 Notes)

Closing

Special thanks to Tim for doing a lot of the legwork in turning into a circus event into a structured meal. No easy feat.

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