Great Older Wines at the Place to Drink Great Older Wines

Tampa FL
Tasted Friday, February 8, 2008 - Saturday, February 9, 2008 by Burgundy Al with 995 views

Introduction

Went to Tampa with some friends. Drank some great older wine over two nights. As always, great steak.

Flight 1 - Dinner One Starters (2 Notes)

  • 1982 E. Guigal Hermitage Blanc 87 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    (2/8/2008)

    Dark color, bordering on light brown territory. Fully mature flavors with roasted hazelnut and mature ripe fruit. Not a personal favorite.

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

  • 1982 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc 90 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    (2/8/2008)

    Dark color. Nicely perfumed with fruit that was on the right side of ripe vs. over-ripe, especially since old over-ripe fruit will often smell rotten. Ripe peach and apricot, good spice overall, but still a bit short.

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

Flight 2 - Dinner One - the Reason to Come to Tampa for Dinner (3 Notes)

  • 1947 Pierre Ponnelle Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts 95 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

    (2/8/2008)

    Great color still has plenty of red. After 60 years, still plenty of red fruit with great spice. spice kept unfolding more and more in glass. From a great, classic Burgundy vintage, this still has plenty of acidity that provides great energy and enthusiasm on the long finish. This is why we are in Tampa.

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

  • 1949 Gabriel Corcol Latricières-Chambertin 95 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Latricières-Chambertin Grand Cru

    (2/8/2008)

    Light reddish brown color. Good combination of earthy flavors and red cherry. Good floral burst on the nose as well. Big flavors in the middle with plenty of lively sweet fruit. Perhaps the most fun wine in this flight, but not as interesting to me as the Ponnelle 1947 Beaux Monts.

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

  • 1949 Gustave Naigeon Latricières-Chambertin 92 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Latricières-Chambertin Grand Cru

    (2/8/2008)

    Light reddish brown. Dark fruit on both nose and palate, but slightly behind the earthy sous bois. Very charming baking spice with good brown sugar component also coming through. Fruit also a bit sweet, with powerful fruit that is quite a bit short on the finish.

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

Flight 3 - Dinner One - Historically Fascinating (2 Notes)

  • 1943 Château Latour Grand Vin

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    (2/8/2008)

    Red fruit and earth on nose with cedar and dried herbs. Some red and black fruit were still also lingering around on the palate, with interesting pepper and herbs. Leaner than the 1942 in the next glass, but this tasted more "real" to me. It is obviously hard to evaluate this wine and the 1942 in the next glass. With war raging throughout France, Europe and the world, they are historical time capsules and also historical oddities. But I guess wine goes on, as life goes on, even without the materials to produce the best wine possible.

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

  • 1942 Château Latour Grand Vin

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    (2/8/2008)

    Slightly strange wine. it shows the classic aromas you expect on the nose - cedar and graphite. Same of the fruit profile, but it was both too black fruit and also too short, which made it seem less precise than I might expect. It is obviously hard to evaluate this wine and the 1943 in the next glass. With war raging throughout France, Europe and the world, they are historical time capsules and also historical oddities. But I guess wine goes on, as life goes on, even without the materials to produce the best wine possible.

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

Flight 4 - And Then Some More Wine (1 Note)

Flight 5 - Dinner Two - Welcome to More Great Old Wine (1 Note)

Flight 6 - Dinner Two - the Reason to Come to Tampa for Dinner (4 Notes)

  • 1961 Pierre Ponnelle Corton-Clos du Roi 96 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru

    (2/9/2008)

    Red with slight browning. Red and black cherry with massive spice box from start to finish. Great power and fruit density with secondary character emerging nicely as a background complement. Small chance this was a bit manipulated but this wine was sensational, even if there is a dollop of non Pinot Noir included.

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

  • 1964 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Les Fremiets 86 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru

    (2/9/2008)

    From a 375 ml bottle. Pale color. Floral nose with most mushroom aromas, just some trace of red fruit. For 10-15 minutes this showed some lithe Volnay charm, then faded into something uninteresting.

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

  • 1961 Gabriel Corcol Chambertin 91 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru

    (2/9/2008)

    Medium color. Nose has a nice combination of rich mushroom aromas and some good remaining red fruit and meaty spice. Same flavor profile continues on to the palate. Foursquare at end. Not quite as excited as the 1949 Corcol Latricieres from yesterday.

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

  • 1968 Pedroncelli Pinot Noir 83 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley

    (2/9/2008)

    This had enough interesting components for me to believe it was once a very good wine.

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

Flight 7 - Bordeaux...because WWII Wasn't Interesting Enough Yesterday (2 Notes)

  • 1918 Château Gruaud Larose 96 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    (2/9/2008)

    Fill almost into neck. Aromas of black fruit, braised meat and cedar. A wine almost impossible to believe. It didn't fall apart in glass, kept getting better through the night. What a thrill at every possible level. Harvested just months before Armistice, then produced during the exuberance of post-war Versailles. And we get to drink it tonight.

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

  • 1928 Château Lagrange (St. Julien) 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    (2/9/2008)

    Some strange moldy aspects to the nose took away from my overall impression, but this was an impressive 80-year old wine. Palate was more interesting combination of sweet red fruit and nicely mellowed mushrooms.

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

Flight 8 - Rhones (2 Notes)

  • 1982 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage 96 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    (2/9/2008)

    My third time having this wine (?) and it is just as sensational as the 1st. Really big black fruit on nose with spice and pepper. Big fruit follows through seamlessly through on the palate with rich spice and classic bacon fat lushness. Long, long finish, this wine kept improving as long as there was any left to improve.

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

  • 1962 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle 90 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    (2/9/2008)

    I'm not normally a fan of Jaboulet Chapelle and this is my first time with the 1962. So no surprise, I'm not a fan. Most others liked this wine more than I did tonight. Big black fruit with good pepper and spice, just too much barnyard for me.

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

Flight 9 - And More.... (6 Notes)

Closing

There were other wonderful wines for which I failed to take notes or my notes are illegible. And alas I'm typing this too long after the event o trust my memory for some, particularly for wine later in the evening. These others include:

Mayacamas 1973 Cabernet
Massandra 1934 White Muscat

I think my good friend, the Winefool, might have posted more complete tasting notes.

×
×