Party at Leo's for the Gelbs. Saxum, Pegau, Jaboulet "La Chapelle," Usseglio, Marcassin and more.
Leo's.
Tasted Friday, August 21, 2009 by BradKNYC with 1,040 views
Introduction
Marshall and Diana Gelb graced our city recently and Leo and Connie Frokic offered up their comfy Westchester hideaway as a venue. Having met the Gelbs at a wonderful dinner at Lou and BettyLu Kessler's two years ago, I wasn't going to miss an opportunity to catch up, so with the promise of pulled pork and grilled goodies on arrival and playing chauffeur to Abood and Veronica, I braved traffic on the Hutchinson River Parkway and headed north.
I can't complain about the traffic. Made it there in 25 minutes. However, Mother Nature didn't quite cooperate. It was quite a rainy day and though it had stopped by the time of Leo's party, a bunch of us were left wondering if the low barometric pressure was tamping down the wines as for the most part, they showed poorly. While there certainly were style issues with regard to the wine, even wines I normally like showed poorly. Yet despite a rather dismal showing for the wines, one cannot help but have fun with Leo around and many thanks go to him and Connie for being such terrific hosts.
Wines are in the order I tasted them. There were a bunch of wines I didn't get to taste. In attendance were Leo & Connie Frokic, Brent Clayton, Michel Abood and Veronica Moreno, Jay Hack and Rebecca Shenk, Kenny Shusterman and Suzzanne Camhi, Chris Kravitz, Paul & Sandy Jaouen, Gary & Cindy Alweiss and I think I'm forgetting one or two winos.
2006 Saxum James Berry Vineyard
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
A blend of 45% Syrah, 38% Grenache, 17% Mourvedre.
Until my recent encounter with a Sine Qua Non Rosé, this was the front running candidate for my worst wine of the year. I mean, I guess I was a little forewarned when I saw the label listing the alcohol at 16.6%. Yet, I really was unprepared for the full assault of the alcohol shockwave that hit me when my nose approached the glass. I literally sneezed. Then, clever and snarky guy that I am, I had a bunch of my friends just put their mouths over the glass and breathe in. Almost to a person they felt like they were inhaling the fumes from a glass of bourbon, as to go along with the alcohol there's a wicked blast of spicy oak. Is this stuff made from grapes? Jay Hack, who brought this unique, um, beverage, says there's lots of berry fruit, but it needs time. I'm not convinced. "More rocket fuel for me," Jay says. Rocket fuel, indeed. It seems to me that if your fruit is giving you alcohol levels like this, it's time to plant walnuts, or start exploring the use of old, neutral barrels so the fruit has a chance. DNPIM (Do Not Put In Mouth.)
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2004 Neiman Cellars
USA, California, Napa Valley
220 cases produced and a blend of equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. I've never heard of this producer before. The nose shows some black currant fruit, dusty earth, some dried sage and a bit of heat. A bit non-descript and lackluster on the palate. Perhaps served a little too warm at room temperature, which was accentuating the alcohol, but the wine seems under fruited. Lots of dried herb with some wood showing, but really not too bad. The wine just really needs some fruit to help balance out some of the structure. B/B-.
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2006 Carlisle Syrah Pelkan Ranch
USA, California, Sonoma County, Knights Valley
Sports rich aromatics of black fruit, slight funk, smoke and mocha. On the palate the wine is richly textured with plenty of red and black fruit, light spice and a strong, slightly bitter coffee note. Integrated, with good length though maybe a bit too plump. A little more acidity and a bit less oak would make it better, but this is pleasant. B.
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2000 Marcassin Pinot Noir Blue-Slide Ridge Vineyard
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Most folks were poo-pooing this wine, but I found it strangely compelling and liked it more and more as the evening went on. It has an intriguing blend of cola flavors and aromas with an oddly attractive celery/green note, red cherries and slight pepperiness. It shows fairly lean and high acid with a strong green streak, yet surreptitiously maintains length across the palate and on the finish. I don't love the wine and I had to laugh when I heard what this goes for these days, but I like it and find it nicely intriguing. I'm not a fan at all of their Chardonnays, fwiw. Solid B+.
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2002 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Champans
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
Showing a bit of a stern personality. There's nice autumnal aromas of decomposing leaves, earth and cherry. The structure is a bit imposing at this stage and is dominating the fruit a bit. Nice cherry, bark and underbrush flavors. Give it some time. B+/B.
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1989 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
I always mention that when it comes to La Chapelle, I always find these wines promise more on the nose than they deliver on the palate and this wine fits that bill. On the nose it shows just what I like about Syrah from the Northern Rhone, red cherries and raspberries, olives, pepper with just a hint of game/funkiness in a perfumed and elegant manner. Yet on the palate, while pleasant, I find these wines invariably fall a little short. With a few notable exceptions, they always seem to need a bit more fruit, but more importantly, they seem to lack a spark. I guess I find them technically well made, but maybe a bit soulless and that I see that here, even though this is showing pretty nicely. It's feminine and perky with plenty of acidity and bright red fruit, but I wish it had the depth and personality it showed aromatically. A-/B+.
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1996 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
Pretty muted aromatically, though it does show darker fruit than the '89. Higher acid with less fruit on the palate than the '89. Elegant and juicy, but it really needs some stuffing. B+/B. From magnum.
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2001 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de mon Aïeul
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
My favorite wine of the night. The nose is powerful and fragrant and exhibits rich black fruit, licorice, game and hot rocks. Dense and extracted with great length, the fruit is sweet, but not jammy, but some fruit-a-phobes I know might beg to differ with that assessment. While the wine only sees old foudres and tank, there's a dusty cocoa note that seems to manifest itself a little like new wood. Pretty tannic at this stage, so while there's enough fruit to make it enjoyable now, I'd like to see further development and softening. I should note that a touch of heat was showing, though again, most of the wines were a little to warm. Solid A-, though I've had a little better showing in the past and it should get better with age.
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1995 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
My last bottle of this wine. I have not been pleased at all with its development as it's really been drying up and falling apart the past five or so years from 750. I had hopes that it would show better from magnum, but it was not to be. It shows a peculiar and not pleasant rotting onion and spoiled meat aroma on the nose. On the palate, much of the fruit is gone, though there are traces of cherry and raspberry to be found. Very small traces. There's leather, earth and some rot notes. The wine is just gone. Fwiw, I purchased this magnum on release and it's been stored well since. A big fan of the winery and these wines were great on release, but this vintage has really taken a nosedive. C-.
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1999 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
What's going on here? This wine has always shown well. It's always been lighter than its brethren from '98, '00, '01, '03, '04, '05 and '06, but I've never had a problem with this wine. While it shows a touch more fruit than the '95, this too is dried out, but more importantly, is completely overwhelmed by Brett. Now, I enjoy a healthy amount of Brett, but this is like a bully version of Farmer Brown grabbing you by the scruff of your neck and plunging your head fully into the collected dung heap of all the animals on his farm. Really. It was that bad and made the wine undrinkable. Having never had a bad bottle of this before, I can only assume that something bacterial happened with this bottle. NR.
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1990 Elio Altare Barolo
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
I'm not a fan of spoofed Barolo and this is spoofed Barolo. It's ripe and sweet with plenty of cherry and licorice, but then all the chocolate and oak hits. A shame as there's nice content underneath all that wood, but the oak is drying the wine out. Drink up now while there's still some fruit showing. B-.
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2004 Bodegas Roda Rioja Roda Reserva
Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja
81% Tempranillo, 14% Graciano, 5% Garnacha.
I've never been a big fan of these wines. Again, the issue is wood and spoofiness. The wine has that telltale rich and polished texture with no hard edges and plenty of sweet wood. Lots of plump and sweet red fruit with almost a cocoa butter hand cream note to it. It's not that bad, truthfully, but it's just a little too oaky and played with for my tastes. B. From magnum.
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1997 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Trailside Vineyard
USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford
Aromatically it's rather nice with its black cherry, cedar, herb, mint and cocoa notes. However, it doesn't really follow through on the palate. Initially it shows pleasant enough, with similar flavors as aromas, but is rather lifeless. It's sort of a red, inoffensive liquid. With air, however, the fruit receded and the wine thinned out and got a bit bitter. B/B-. From magnum.
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