JohnR's "wake"

John Russick (Viking60) moved away from NC and this was his last tasting with our group- Bill (NCWino), Adam (Phredd), and myself.

• 2009 Mandrarossa Fiano Sicilia 95 Points

  Italy, Sicily, Sicilia

  Drank with Phredd at "JohnR's Wake" (aka Viking60). Concur w/ Phredd on the residual sugar, which keeps the acidity from burning your tongue away as well as the aging potential. Fiano is very susceptible to oxidation but at this price point it shouldn't stay in your cellar long at all. Staying with the Overall A rating.

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• 1996 Château Pontet-Canet 89 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Drank w/ Phredd at JohnR's Wake (see his notes below). Nice mention of the WK smiley-star rating. This bottle was good and as aged Bordeaux go it didn't quite make it into that upper tier for me. The palate was definitely more green than red, which leads me to believe the Cabernet (Sav & Franc) didn't ripen fully and therefore did not have the fruit intensity to last 15 years. Maybe a few years ago it was in the "A's", but right now its a solid B+.

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• 1998 Clos du Val Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 88 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Supplied the "dead" bottle evaluated by Phredd in his notes but the day after I opened my last bottle, either to find it salvageable or to clear another over the hill wine from my cellar. Pleasantly surprised it was the former, though seriously on its last legs. I stood it up for 2 hrs for the sediment to fall as I wasn't planning to decant or filter; after 13 years both the nose and palate were very light though not yet subdued, roughly a 3-4 intensity on a scale of 10 (10 being the concentration of flavors we all know from young CA Cabernet). The wine offers delicate notes of cherries, red currants, oak spice, toast, and cedar for the nose & palate. Interesting hints of bell pepper and red licorice before the finish; almost non-existent except for some faint hints of leather from the last bit of oak tannin. Decreased development, intensity and acidity are all attributed to age, as well as the light body and smoother palate feel from the reduced tannins. Remarkable that we still get a clear fruit / green / earth transition across the palate at 13 years and that the oak is still well integrated without dominating what remains of the nose or palate. Length is also good albeit if only for the front and mid-palate. Agree with oldgrowth45's note that the wine now has Burgundian-like qualities.
  
  Style & Quality- B+. As compared with other aged Cabs both from CA and Bordeaux, this is on its last legs and can go from at worst a completely dead bottle to at best an easy drinking shadow of its former self. Looks like your mileage may vary on this wine right now and I suggest you drink through your inventory sooner than later. The aforementioned complexity and depth- fruit-to-vegetal-to-earth across the palate; and well done oak integration, keeps this wine out of the gutters but the lack of intensity keeps it out of the top tier uber-age-worthy category.
  
  Value- B+. $35 / bottle before shipping is a good price for aged CA Cab in an "off-vintage" back before abv's went through the roof.
  
  Overall- B+

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• 2001 Château Cos d'Estournel 86 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  Drank w/ Phredd and while I do not have any additional tasting notes to add, my opinion is that this is a good, enjoyable wine but not a great example of high end Bordeaux meant for long term cellaring. Definitely did not have the depth found in better vintages but better than 02's and some left bank 03's (IMHO). Something to drink while your '00's and 05's age. Solid B rating as compared to other "great growths' but, as Phredd mentioned, the price tag doesn't seem to justify this level of quality from Bordeaux.

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• 2002 Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia 92 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Bolgheri, Bolgheri Sassicaia

  Drank with Phredd, NC Wino, and Viking60 (JohnR) at "JohnR's wake"; NC Wino supplied this bottle. As Phredd writes (see his notes below), right now this wine displays more earthy, vegetal, and spicy secondary notes than primary fruit or even high levels of aromatic oak. Very rustic indeed with hints of brett influence. Nicely structured and integrated; not sure how this wine might have tasted a few years back but I enjoyed this "off vintage" and we all proclaimed it "wine of the night". I hope to be bale to taste more vintages to find out how exactly this gets better. Overall rating- A-.

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• 2005 Prinsi Barbaresco Gaia Principe

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  Supplied the bottle tasted with Phredd and the rest of the gang at "JohnR's wake" (note that JohnR is not dead, just moving away and this was his last tasting with us in NC). Agree with Phredd's notes on the initial tasting but I had the benefit of letting the wine sit all night in the decanter and could revisit in the morning. The medicinal and cough drop aromas had dissipated to a cleaner cherry nose with just hints of menthol. Even when tasted after sitting out all night the wine was still super tannic but not as harsh or astringent as the night before. Its obvious the wine needs lots more time on its side before drinking. I would like to counter Phredd and say that the $35 price tag is worth it if it develops as well as the 2004 vintage has, which is drinking great right now. Only time will tell. (wine not rated at this time)

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• 2005 Château Sansonnet 82 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Drank w/ Phredd and the gang at "JohnR's wake" as part of a blind tasting experiment with the Sansonnet '05, the '06, and the '06 La Reserve. We knew that the 06 and the 06 La Reserve were in the lineup but this 05 Sansonnet was the "mystery wine" (see Phredd's notes below for more details). I chose this wine as the mystery wine, which was ultimately the '05, because it tasted so different from the two other wines (the '06's). This was the first wine I identified, based on its raisin and prune fruit, though not necessarily what I was expecting form the right bank considering the vintage. At least this wine showed some fruit, albeit dried fruit; the 06's showed little if any (see myself and Phredd's notes on the 06's). Gave a thought that the bottle was cooked but really displayed no Madeira-like qualities; it is what it is. While it was the better wine of the flight, overall it wasn't a very good example of what St Emillion produced in 2005. Overall rating- B-.

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• 2006 Château Sansonnet 79 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Drank with Phredd and the gang at "JohnR's wake". Interesting blind experiment, see Phredd's notes below for more details and his notes on the 06 Sansonnet. I guessed that this wine was the regular cuvee simply because it smelled and tasted like a worse version of what I guessed was the 06 La Reserve. Phredd is right that none of us enjoyed this wine and I found nothing positive about its funk and raw tannic astringency, even after it had been double decanted for hours. Overall rating- C.

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• 2006 Château Sansonnet La Réserve 79 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Drank with Phredd & the gang at "JohnR's wake" in a blind format (see Phredd's notes below for more detail). No quality really stood out with this wine in the blind tasting, and as one of the two blind tasters who correctly guessed that this was the La Reserve, my opinion was based solely on the fact that it had slightly more fruit and finish than what I guessed was the regular cuvee (based on the fact that the La Reserve had a higher % of Merlot in the blend). Acrid and astringent, this is a pretty bad example of what the right bank has to offer. I do not recommend, especially at any price over $20 / bottle. Overall rating- C

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• 2005 Château Haut-Bergeron Sauternes 83 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Drank with Phredd and the gang for "JohnR's Wake". Definitely more sugary than honeyed and not very deep- mostly pineapple and not very complex. Tasted on the second day, the wine didn't offer any more than day 1. Budget Sauternes yes but not sure it's value Sauternes if you get my drift. Overall rating- B-

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• 2002 Château Suduiraut 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Supplied the bottle evaluated by Phredd for "JohnR's wake". See his notes below and be sure to check out our notes on the '06 Suduiraut, which was tasted blind beside the 02. I found the 02 to have more richness of flavor than the 06 along with a lighter body, which is why I suggested that the sharpness on the finish is due to acidity and not alcohol (acidity lightens the body while alcohol increases it). It's more akin to the burn from lemon juice than it is from a shot of tequila. Obviously my favorite of the two and while it doesn't quite reach the heights of 01, for the same $39.99 price as the 06 it's definitely the best value. Overall rating- A.

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• 2006 Château Suduiraut 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Tasted with Phredd and the gang at "JohnR's wake". I echo Phredd's notes (see below) and like he mentions, guessed this was the 02 since it displays "older" green pea and dried fruit characteristics. My thoughts are the green pea comes from the Sauvignon Blanc used in the blend, and even though not a majority %, we all know how grassy and vegetal SB can be. By no means am I a "ratings guy" but I intentionally bought the 02 and 06 for this blind tasting, with WS scores of 90 and 96 respectively for the exact same price of $39.99, and we were left scratching our heads once the wines were revealed. While it did not have the depth and expressiveness of the '01, the '02 was much better than the '06 in quality and therefore value. Nonetheless the '06 is still a fine Sauternes and will be interesting to see how it develops with a few more years under it's belt. Overall rating- A-.

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