Quite consistent with my last bottle -- this is a grapefruity, and quite austere bottle of bubbly, with bracing acids (which seemed to show more prominently than last time) and a huge dose of steely minerality to boot. Lovely and exciting stuff, which did get better with air. Which, just for the sake of curiosity, begs the question, how would this age under a crown cap...?
A nose dominated by tart red fruits, like cranberries and red currants. The palate is slightly green and stemmy, and the finish comes off a little bit weedy as well. There's a slight hint of tobacco, but this wine is has almost certainly seen better days. It's light and short now, and time to drink up.
A slight bit denser than the regular 95 Ponzi, and shows a touch more sweet black fruit, but at the same time there are still quite a few of those weedy elements here. In fact, I'd say that the weediness here is even slightly more pronounced than the regular Ponzi. The acid's starting to jut out a little bit, and there isn't too much fruit left -- I'd be broaching these bottles sooner rather than later. Still, that's not to say this wasn't an enjoyable bottle of pinot.
There's a real richness to the nose of this wine, and I think this was especially on display after the relative weediness of the Ponzis. Here, sweeter berries show through a lot more, and this has a touch of sweetness to it, though it's still counterbalanced by lots of acidity. Sour black cherries and a touch of smoke give this even more interest.
More than a modest touch of sulphur on the nose -- this was definitely really reductive. But after that blew off, it started to expose a wine with some nice sweet red fruit elements and a huge dose of tobacco. The acid's a bit tart, but there's a roundness to it that makes you forgive any sharp edges.
This is actually quite stemmy, but without any green meanies. Light, restrained, and aromatic, if not the most complex, this has a very nice elegance about it. Easygoing, and a touch of earth to remind you that there's more to it than just some simple red fruit. Ready now.
If served blind, I don't think anyone at the dinner would be able to call this as a 25-year-old pinot noir. This was a veritable beast of a wine, with lots of sappy black fruit, and tons of grippy tannins still. Plenty of life yet -- I imagine well-kept bottles of this could have a long time yet to age.
The nose on this was quite stemmy and austere, but you could definitely a touch of tart red fruit hiding there. This had a good spice character to it, and I could pick up some herbal elements, as well as a touch of licorice and smoke. The palate was probably a touch sweeter than the nose would indicate. Not too complicated nor rich.
Next to the Premier Cuvee, I found the Arcus to be a lot richer, with more fruit (even if it was still a bit tart). This had a slightly blacker profile, and the spice notes are more potent here as well. Despite the richer quality here, this had good acidity as well, for a reasonably well-integrated wine.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru
Funny. Had this a year ago. My notes read almost exactly the same as last year. This wine simply has no nose. It's dumb and totally muted. There are some nice red fruit notes on the palate, as well as soft and velvety tannins... and not much else. I retasted this a few hours later to the same results. This wine is shut down hard. Will it ever awake? Who knows...
Wine of the night (at least amongst the reds). Power, elegance, and grace, all tied up neatly with everything in perfect balance. The florals here are just spectacular, and followed with the soft tannins, forest floor flavours, and integrated acids, adding up to an amazing bottle of pinot.
In all fairness, I think this bottle suffered greatly in being tasted after the 89 Domaine Drouhin Oregon. This is obviously a massive bruiser of a pinot, with lots of sweet and ripe black fruit. The alcohol obviously shows a bit here, and there's still quite a lot of tannin and heft. I really didn't like this wine as much as I remember liking it about a year ago.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru
The nose had a nice touch of forest floor mulch and black fruits -- very promising. But the oak on the palate really got to me. There's so much oak tannin here that it shows a bit of bitterness, and while there's definitely good stuffing and materials here (the 01 Meo-Camuzet elevage of this cuvee is awesome), the heavy-handed oak treatment here kills it.
#18-96, 7.5% abv. Simply an amazing bottle of Pruem. This is in a phenomenal spot right now -- this has acquired all the secondary characteristics and shed most of the primary ones. The nose has an incredible honeyed quality, which follows through on the palate, although this isn't too sweet. The acidity, while bracing and high, has rounded out, giving this a very smooth, almost silky, texture. There's still some fruit (especially pineapples) on the palate, but it's well past the fresh primary stage.
2014 Cruse Wine Company Valdiguié Pétillant Naturel Rancho Chimiles 90 Points
USA, California, North Coast, Napa County
Quite consistent with my last bottle -- this is a grapefruity, and quite austere bottle of bubbly, with bracing acids (which seemed to show more prominently than last time) and a huge dose of steely minerality to boot. Lovely and exciting stuff, which did get better with air. Which, just for the sake of curiosity, begs the question, how would this age under a crown cap...?
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1995 Ponzi Vineyards Pinot Noir 85 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
A nose dominated by tart red fruits, like cranberries and red currants. The palate is slightly green and stemmy, and the finish comes off a little bit weedy as well. There's a slight hint of tobacco, but this wine is has almost certainly seen better days. It's light and short now, and time to drink up.
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1995 Ponzi Vineyards Pinot Noir Reserve 88 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
A slight bit denser than the regular 95 Ponzi, and shows a touch more sweet black fruit, but at the same time there are still quite a few of those weedy elements here. In fact, I'd say that the weediness here is even slightly more pronounced than the regular Ponzi. The acid's starting to jut out a little bit, and there isn't too much fruit left -- I'd be broaching these bottles sooner rather than later. Still, that's not to say this wasn't an enjoyable bottle of pinot.
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1995 Ken Wright Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 90 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
There's a real richness to the nose of this wine, and I think this was especially on display after the relative weediness of the Ponzis. Here, sweeter berries show through a lot more, and this has a touch of sweetness to it, though it's still counterbalanced by lots of acidity. Sour black cherries and a touch of smoke give this even more interest.
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1995 Bethel Heights Pinot Noir Eola Hills Cuvee Willamette Valley Flawed
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
Stinky and dead.
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1995 Bethel Heights Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 90 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
More than a modest touch of sulphur on the nose -- this was definitely really reductive. But after that blew off, it started to expose a wine with some nice sweet red fruit elements and a huge dose of tobacco. The acid's a bit tart, but there's a roundness to it that makes you forgive any sharp edges.
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1995 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir Laurène 90 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills
This is actually quite stemmy, but without any green meanies. Light, restrained, and aromatic, if not the most complex, this has a very nice elegance about it. Easygoing, and a touch of earth to remind you that there's more to it than just some simple red fruit. Ready now.
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1991 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Seven Springs Vineyard 88 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
If served blind, I don't think anyone at the dinner would be able to call this as a 25-year-old pinot noir. This was a veritable beast of a wine, with lots of sappy black fruit, and tons of grippy tannins still. Plenty of life yet -- I imagine well-kept bottles of this could have a long time yet to age.
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1996 Archery Summit Pinot Noir Premier Cuvée 88 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
The nose on this was quite stemmy and austere, but you could definitely a touch of tart red fruit hiding there. This had a good spice character to it, and I could pick up some herbal elements, as well as a touch of licorice and smoke. The palate was probably a touch sweeter than the nose would indicate. Not too complicated nor rich.
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1996 Archery Summit Pinot Noir Arcus Estate 88 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills
Next to the Premier Cuvee, I found the Arcus to be a lot richer, with more fruit (even if it was still a bit tart). This had a slightly blacker profile, and the spice notes are more potent here as well. Despite the richer quality here, this had good acidity as well, for a reasonably well-integrated wine.
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1995 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Mazy-Chambertin 88 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru
Funny. Had this a year ago. My notes read almost exactly the same as last year. This wine simply has no nose. It's dumb and totally muted. There are some nice red fruit notes on the palate, as well as soft and velvety tannins... and not much else. I retasted this a few hours later to the same results. This wine is shut down hard. Will it ever awake? Who knows...
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1989 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir 95 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
Wine of the night (at least amongst the reds). Power, elegance, and grace, all tied up neatly with everything in perfect balance. The florals here are just spectacular, and followed with the soft tannins, forest floor flavours, and integrated acids, adding up to an amazing bottle of pinot.
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1998 Beaux Frères Pinot Noir Beaux Frères Vineyard 85 Points
USA, Oregon, Yamhill County
In all fairness, I think this bottle suffered greatly in being tasted after the 89 Domaine Drouhin Oregon. This is obviously a massive bruiser of a pinot, with lots of sweet and ripe black fruit. The alcohol obviously shows a bit here, and there's still quite a lot of tannin and heft. I really didn't like this wine as much as I remember liking it about a year ago.
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1995 Hospices de Beaune Corton-Cuvée Charlotte Dumay Dominique Laurent 80 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru
The nose had a nice touch of forest floor mulch and black fruits -- very promising. But the oak on the palate really got to me. There's so much oak tannin here that it shows a bit of bitterness, and while there's definitely good stuffing and materials here (the 01 Meo-Camuzet elevage of this cuvee is awesome), the heavy-handed oak treatment here kills it.
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1995 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 95 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#18-96, 7.5% abv. Simply an amazing bottle of Pruem. This is in a phenomenal spot right now -- this has acquired all the secondary characteristics and shed most of the primary ones. The nose has an incredible honeyed quality, which follows through on the palate, although this isn't too sweet. The acidity, while bracing and high, has rounded out, giving this a very smooth, almost silky, texture. There's still some fruit (especially pineapples) on the palate, but it's well past the fresh primary stage.
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