Another Saturday at Chevalier...Mostly Blind Rhone Varietals
Chevalier Fine Wines - Chicago IL
Tasted Saturday, January 5, 2019 by Burgundy Al with 390 views
Chevalier Fine Wines - Chicago IL
Tasted Saturday, January 5, 2019 by Burgundy Al with 390 views
2012 M. Chapoutier Hermitage Blanc Chante-Alouette 92 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
I served this double blind to the tasting group. Popped, decanted and poured. Dark color, but very fresh aromas and flavors. Ripe peach, honeycomb and buttered popcorn. Very rich and unctuous with impressive density. Good+ length. Even more powerful and expressive when revisited three hours later.
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2010 Sine Qua Non The Monkey 88 Points
USA, California
Tasted double blind. Very lush and ultra ripe, so clearly New World. Good weight and reasonably balanced.
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1995 Château Rayas Côtes du Rhône Château de Fonsalette Reserve Flawed
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône
Tasted double blind alongside the 2005. Very tired, nothing interesting remaining here.
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2005 Château Rayas Côtes du Rhône Château de Fonsalette Reserve 90 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône
Tasted double blind alongside the 1995. Dense and meaty with plenty of slowly maturing black fruit. Seemed very CDP to me, which of course is not surprising. Good+ length, expanding finish. Probably right at its peak.
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1995 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape 90 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
First of two bottles of this wine served double blind at today's tasting. Clearly from a good vintage, with tannins still clear, while elegant. Nicely mature black fruit with plenty of roasted meat. Good depth. I slightly preferred this bottle, while most others preferred the latter.
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2006 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape 90 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Tasted double blind alongside the 2016. Mature black fruit came across as very ripe, and then seemingly more advanced than I would expect at this stage. Good depth and length,but simpler than I recall from before.
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2016 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape 95 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind alongside the 2006. Wow, what an impressive wine, especially at this youthful stage. Charmingly floral start with broad array of red and black berry aromas and flavors. Both ripe but simultaneously modest and restrained with great length and layered. So good already with impressive upside.
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2007 Clusel-Roch Côte-Rôtie 89 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Tasted double blind. Black cherry with anise and black pepper hints. Bright and clearly showing Old World character. Good weight and length, with better balance.
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2005 E. Guigal St. Joseph Vignes de L'Hospice 90 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph
Tasted double blind. Easily identifiable as Rhone Syrah with good+ weight, plenty of black cherry. Faint spice and good structure with a slightly firm finish and good+ length. Probably better to drink sooner vs cellaring longer-term.
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1996 Chris Ringland Shiraz Three Rivers 95 Points
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Range
Tasted double blind. Black currant and plum with rich spice and liqueur. Very dense, with impressive length and impeccable balance. Easily identifiable as New World Syrah, but clearly at the highest level. I thought it Aussie, but thought it at least 5 years younger.
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2001 Pride Mountain Vineyards Syrah 87 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County
Tasted double blind. Clearly New World ripeness. Fat start and finish, but slightly hollow in the middle. Still nicely fresh.
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2000 Domaine de Marcoux Châteauneuf-du-Pape 92 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Tasted double blind. Ripe black and red berries throughout, but with charming and elegant Old World structure and textures. Very enticing nose, followed by wonderful flavors, even if slightly less exciting vs aromas. Surprised when this was unveiled as 2000.
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2003 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Tasted double blind. Ripe enough to seem New World, but the body and textures that were unmistakably Old World. Very good weight, but slightly more jammy and one-note than I would prefer, and starting to get tired.
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1980 Emile Champet Côte-Rôtie 89 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Tasted double blind. Enticing old wine aromas come across as so clearly Old world in a charming, endearing way with dried floral and dried red cherry character. Less interesting flavors show more earth than fruit, but still vibrant and interesting enough.
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2003 Clos Erasmus Priorat 92 Points
Spain, Catalunya, Priorat
Tasted double blind. Came across as a ripe while well balanced modern-styled wine. Good depth and the structure to withstand the vintage's ripeness. Still nicely fresh.
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1976 E. Guigal Hermitage 88 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
Tasted double blind. Enchanting old wine aromas, less interesting flavors. Popped-and-poured, this fading rather quickly.
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2007 Domaine Saint-Damien Gigondas Les Souteyrades Flawed
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Gigondas
Significant Volatile Acidity.
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2007 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel 88 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Tasted double blind. Very enjoyable with lots of black fruit maturing gracefully and a faint hint of brett. Modest complexity. Good now.
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1995 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape 90 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Second of two bottles of this wine served double blind at today's tasting. Much like the prior bottle, showing lots of black fruit and roasted meat. This bottle came across as slightly bigger and slightly more tannic. Most tasters preferred this bottle, while I slightly preferred the former.
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2001 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape 91 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Black cherry with some liqueur hints without seeming very ripe. Good structure and weight indicates the more classically styled vintages I prefer for CDP. Very good now with possible upside.
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1983 M. Chapoutier Hermitage La Sizeranne 90 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
Tasted double blind. Earthy with fully mature black fruit and roasted meat notes. Knowing it was a Rhone varietal, I was able to correctly identify this as Hermitage. Much better than when I last this wine 5 years ago.
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2008 Domaine de Ferrand Châteauneuf-du-Pape Flawed
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Heat damaged.
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2006 Forsythe Vineyard (Alban) Mourvèdre The Mason
USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley
Tasted double blind. Moderately reduced to start. Intense, almost painful concentration. Completely one-dimensional. I almost understand some people enjoy this style of sweet, monstrous wine, but I find it completely uninteresting.
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2004 Domaine de Cristia Châteauneuf-du-Pape Renaissance 87 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Tasted double blind. Sweet red and black berry, maturing clearly while gracefully. Good+ balance, moderate weight and length, with a simple finish.
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2009 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie 93 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Tasted double blind. Very bright red fruit with faint floral and spice notes. Some smoked meat on finish. Good weight, good+ length. Still in its infancy, this was just hinting at its potential with lots of upside.
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2003 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 92 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Tasted double blind. Black and blue fruit with very good density on both nose and palate. Clearly from a ripe vintage, but also very well balanced and restrained. Not the most complex of wines, but very tasty.
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2015 Sextant Wines Passage
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
Very rich and concentrated, but not particularly balanced and without much charm or nuance. Not my style.
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2003 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde 89 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Tasted double blind. Ripe black cherry and plum with some espresso. Brighter than I would have thought for the vintage with good depth and length. Very enjoyable now.
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1970 Domaine Jaboulet-Vercherre Hermitage Rochefine 89 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
Very charming nose with dried flowers, earth, cooked mushroom, dried red cherry and braised meat. Complex aromas and followed by similar flavors that are not quite as interesting, but still very enjoyable.
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2010 Lillian Winery Syrah 91 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
Opened, decanted three hours before serving blind to today's tasting group. Lots of black plum and cherry with black pepper. Impossible to mistake this for anything Old World, but the structure and density make this balanced with good complexity. Good freshness. Most tasters thought it several vintages younger.
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2006 Arietta Merlot Hudson Vineyards 89 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Ripe black fruit with some mint hints and soft textures. Slightly more advanced than I would expect, but still very tasty today.
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2016 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny trente deux 91 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny
Popped-and-poured for the tasting group. Final 1/3 of the bottle taken home, revisited 8 hours late. Both bright and sweet red fruit with intense concentration for its "Villages" level, supplemented nicely by anise and allspice. Very good weight already for its level, with even better length. I do not intend to open my remaining 6-pack for at least five more years.
My understanding is that this includes the 1er Cru wine from les Plantes (as usual), but that all the wine from Combe d'Orveau was lost to the frost. So a couple of barrels of (younger vine?) Musigny were purportedly added to the mix.
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