Tech G's Birthday Bash
Reno, NV
Tasted Friday, November 18, 2011 by markjanes with 568 views
Introduction
The "gang" got together to celebrate the 44th of our good friend, Greg Kenyherz. Started out with some cheeses, al potato chorizo with greens soup, a beet, blue cheese, bacon, pear, candied pecan salad, rotisseried bone in berkshire rib roast with grits and makers mark sauce, and coconut cake. It was a cold and windy night, we had a great fire, some great food, insane wines, and a grand night!
Flight 1 (11 Notes)
Closing
I ended up scoring the 83 Chave and 07 Chaillot the same... they were so, so exceptional. The Gruner was a huge hit out of magnum and matched both the soup and the salad so well yet for such different reasons drinking as two different wines with each of these courses. The Rayas's sweet palate was a great match for the makers mark sauce (as was the Chave). The Sauternes sung with the dessert (toasted coconut, vanilla cake, coconut pastry cream is perfect with a Sauternes at this stage of development). Quote of the night from Devlon Moore, in a frustrated tone... "just let me pound this Rayas and then I'll taste the Chave."
2009 Un Saumon dans la Loire Montlouis-sur-Loire Minéral + 88 Points
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Montlouis-sur-Loire
Deeply colored... aromatically classic chenin nose quince and apple... no botrytis, no barrique, no malo... on the palate off dry, razor sharp with very firm acids, full bodied, low ETOH. Great balance, ok length, very good intensity, low complexity... great finesse, fine texture, classic expression of place. Didn't spend a lot of time with this wine and it got gulped up pretty fast... overall it seemed like an excellent wine (loved the acids) with a long future ahead of it.
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NV Michel Turgy Champagne Grand Cru Réserve Selection Brut Blanc de Blancs 87 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Light color, aromatically a not very le mesnil... more apple and honey than citrus and minerals... mildly reduced style with no hints barrel use or malo... moderate lees and toast... on the palate not quite the cut of le mesnil either (lacks the very high acids and austere minerality I typically associate with this vineyard) being quite round and friendly... fine mousse. Balanced wine, ok length, good intensity, ok complexity... Has great finesse, a fine texture, classic expression of place. I was a bit disappointed in this... perhaps I was expecting something other than it was (I saw le mesnil on the bottle and was expecting le mesnil) and perhaps I hated the label... overall a very good "ripish chardonnnay" kind of champagne that has good qpr... wouldn't age it.
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NV Veuve Fourny & Fils Champagne Premier Cru Brut Rosé 89 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
Pink color, aromatically full of red fruits and minerals, no strong malo notes, moderate amount of lees character, hints of oxidative handling... quite serious in its aromas. On the palate very firm, moderately fine mousse, quite dry (lowish dosage), more crunchy than creamy (not much malo)... Balanced wine with good length, great intensity, average complexity... great finesse, a very fine texture, classic expression of place. Quite a nice sparkler... serious but not too serious, fun but not too fun, firm but not too firm, dry but not too dry, etc... nearly "outstanding" for me.
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2008 F.X. Pichler Grüner Veltliner Smaragd 'M' 95 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
Deep yellow color... aromatic intensity out the wazoo... very ripe aromas for gv of tropical fruits, flowers, minerals... no barrique notes, no malo notes, no botrytis... on the palate the wine has plenty of acidity to keep the huge midpalate in check, the highish ETOH is also well contained. Great balance, very good length, insane intensity, great complexity... not a "finesse" wine per say but delivers its power with good finesse, a fine, full texture, good expression of place. Easily "outstanding" wine for me that borders on "extraordinary"witht he caveat that is a ripe, full throttle style of gv... really good example of a wine with tons of minerality and tons of fruit aromas... drinks well now but has structural elements to age 10+ years. Awesome.
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2007 Thierry Allemand Cornas Chaillot 97 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
Dark color, purple rim. Aromatically this wine is insanely gorgeous... red and dark spiced fruits galore, liquid minerals, beautiful white flowers... later on in the night the wine started beocming more Cornas-ish with pepper and that olive branch thing for me... on the palate the wine is perfect, high acidity, a seamless transition into a full, but firm midpalate, a perfect transition into firm, chalky tannins that are of moderate ripeness and polymerization... low to moderate etoh. From a quality standpoint this wine has perfect balance, great length and intensity... amazing complexity for a wine of this age (it changed in the glass all night long, in the morning a glass with some left was still devine. This wine defines finesse (the ability to delivery lots of flavor in a subtle and elegant way), a very fine texture, great expression of place. This wine will shut down at some point so try one now if you have several... no where near its peak of maturity but man is it insanely good tonight!
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2005 Ferme de la Sansonnière (Mark Angeli) Jeunes Vignes des Gélinettes 91 Points
France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Anjou
Fun being the only note on a wine... haha. Very very deeply colored wine... aromatically this thing is insane... huge huge mineral aromas, loads of dark fruits... like purple flinstone vitamins... very reduced wine. On the palate the wine has high acidity, a full midpalate, insanely firm tannins that have hardly any polymerization that are quite dominant on the palate, low to moderate alcohol. Tough call on balance... the tannins are intense, good length, great intensity, good complexity. Finesseful wine despite the firmness, great texture, expression of place so so... don't know where i would place this blind though i know it wouldn't be anjou. This wine is of a very particular style... it is firmly in the 'natural' camp so it has no polish to it, however, the underlying material is grand and the wine is awesome. Not a crowd pleaser in the least, the tannins will outlive the fruit, but give this 5-10 years and see what it becomes! Best cab franc from anjou i've ever had. Decant and serve with food!
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2001 Domaine Le Clos de Caveau Vacqueyras 71 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Vacqueyras
Never a good sign when at the end of the night, out of 10-12 bottles, you are the one with the most wine left over... that was this wine. Muddy fruit, vegetal, dull was all I wrote down. Weak stuff that is past its prime.
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1997 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve 93 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Very light color... very aromatic with the purist of kirsch, raspberry, dried herbs... hints of brett (old oak musty hint). On the palate the wine is lush, lush with a distinctly sweet feel... high acidity carries this texture on the palate... tannins are ripe, not polymerized, and well integrated... moderate ETOH. Wine has good balance, very good length, great intensity and complexity... Wine manages to have finesse with a very full and round texture, classic expression of place. Clearly not the best Rayas but what an awesome wine... nearing its peak in the next couple of years...
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1983 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage 97 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
I've been fortunate to have had this wine about 4 or 5 times over the years... have written only one note on it, the best of the bottles I have had (99)... I would say the worst bottle was 94ish... this bottle was in between the two. Very similar notes to my last bottle... aromatically this wine sings and sings and allowed me to write a good dozen aromatic descriptors... on the palate the wine's very high acidity is the key to this wine texturally as it is what allows the amazing sweetness (not RS sweetness) to come off so well. Well balanced wine, awesome length, great intensity, insane complexity. So gracious and full of finesse, a fantastic texture, classic expression of place. At its peak and another "extraordinary" bottle of this extraordinary wine.
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2001 Château La Tour Blanche Sauternes 92 Points
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
similar notes to before... wine is still quite primary with exuberent new oak and botrytis aromas and flavors... great acidity keeps it all together... best la tour blanche i've ever had... plenty of years ahead...
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NV Rozès Porto Over 40 Years 90 Points
Portugal, Douro, Porto
This is a unique thing... very light color with reddish tinged tawny... a ton of ETOH on the nose... has an sherry'ish hint to the strong toffee, cinammon dominated nose. On the palate more savory than sweet, a bit hot. Wine lacks a bit of balance (aromatically more than palate wise), has great length and intensity... very good complexity. Some finesse, a very nice texture, very good expression of place. This grew on me and gets points for distinctiveness though this may alienate some. Barely "outstanding" wine for me.
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