Champagne and Rhones at Craig's (Henriot, Chapoutier, Guigal, Chave, Telegraph, others)

Craig Vanderah hosted his annual Christmas party last night and the theme was Champagne and Rhones. Craig's wife Nita laid out an awesome spread of appetizers, including beef tenderloin crostini, blackened chicken drummies, Smoked salmon on endive, Sausage-stuffed mushroom, Devilled Eggs, Potato Salad and Pita wedges w/red pepper hummus dip. Sadly, I was playing wine geek in the corner taking notes on all the wines, and most of the appetizers were gone before I finished. I did get to taste the beef tenderloin crostini, and they were excellent. There was a large group in attendance and once the note taking was done it was fun to wander around and meet the fellow wine geeks.

All these were pretty good. I felt the Pierre Peters was showing the best on this night.

• 1996 Henriot Champagne Brut Millésimé 92 Points

  France, Champagne

  The nose is subdued offering faint whiffs of fresh fruit, nuts and dough. Impressive on the palate with nice weight and a delightful mousse. Clean and flavorful giving mostly fresh fruit (apple, lemon, and grapefruit). Plenty of structure/acid. Nice length on the finish. A solid, straightforward champagne.

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• NV Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Cuvée de Réserve 93 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  The nose is much more expressive that the Henriot, giving mainly a bread dough and toasted bread notes. The taste reminds me of a good white Burgundy giving fresh fruit, minerality, and a bit of funk. Very dry. A little bit lighter bodied but has good acidity and a satisfying finish. Diane and Derek provided this and it sounds like they've had it awhile -- the extra age served it well because I really loved it.

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• NV Jean-Noël Haton Champagne Extra Quality 87 Points

  France, Champagne

  The nose offers a mild dose of bread dough. The palate gives fresh fruit with a mineral streak that is pleasant enough, but has a straight-ahead and somewhat clumsy taste. There is nice acidity here and a decent finish but overall this is pretty uninspiring.

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• 2003 Domaine Carneros Brut 88 Points

  USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros

  The nose offers an enticing combination of bread dough and sweet fruit. Smells fresh and clean. The taste is a little funkier, but is still dominated by fresh fruit. The palate impression is a bit on the fat side, with the concentrated fruit overwhelming what little structure/acid is present. Nice finish. Not a serious sparkler, but a pleasant enough bottle of wine.

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• NV Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Brut Rosé Sauvage 85 Points

  France, Champagne

  The color on this is a surprisingly deep red for a rose. The nose is not giving much up besides a mild smell of bread dough. The taste is much sweeter and thicker than the other sparkling wines, and there is no mousse to speak of. Flavors are mild, there is too little acidity and the finish falls a bit flat. On its own it would probably show fine, but it was a big step down from the other sparkling wines poured tonight.

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• 1993 Ployez-Jacquemart Champagne Brut Millésimé 92 Points

  France, Champagne

  This was a late arrival and was served a touch too cold, but still showed very well. The nice is an enticing blend of bread dough, fresh fruit and mineral. On the palate this delivers a ton of fresh fruit flavor (orange/lemon) with an excellent mouth feel, good balance, lively acidity and a great finish. Very impressive.

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These were all surprisingly good. I thought the Chapoutier and the Guigal were the class of the Northern Rhones, and the Bosquet des Papes was the class of the Southern Rhones.

• 1998 M. Chapoutier Côte-Rôtie La Mordorée 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  The color is a deep and youthful red. The nose is extremely impressive, offering black fruit, tobacco, tapenade, licorice, smoke and some oak. Awesome. The taste is also impressive, delivering a smooth and silky mouthfeel with a stern expression of red cherry, tobacco and oak flavors. This is still extremely tannic and could use a bit more acid. Great finish. This is an excellent wine that can be consumed now with pleasure, but will benefit from additional bottle age.

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• 1990 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  What a great showing for this wine. The nose was the best of the night offering a touch of barnyard funk nicely complemented by red cherry, smoke, dried herbs and bacon fat. Spectacular. The taste was impressive, too, although not quite up to the standard set by the nose. The texture comes across as a bit rough and rustic. The flavors are dominated by red fruit and smoke but are compressed/compact -- giving the impression of more structure than fruit. Still showing some tannin. Decent length on the finish. It was a real treat to taste this. Thanks Diane and Derek.

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• 1999 Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas 90 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  Compact nose of red fruit, mushroom, smoke and grilled meat. I didn't let this sit in the glass long enough to see if it opened up with air. On the palate this offers concentrated red fruit, carmel, earth, and smoke. A bit on the rustic side and still very tannic. This is a very nice wine that needs many years of cellaring.

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• 1999 E. Guigal St. Joseph 88 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph

  The nose givens a straightforward expression of red fruit, licorice and oak with a slight floral note. The taste is dominated by concentrated red fruit and oak that comes across as clumsy and simple. Extremely tannic. This needs additional time in the cellar to absorb the oak, but is unlikely to ever be an outstanding wine.

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• 2003 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave St. Joseph 92 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph

  The last of the Northern Rhones, and this was quite a shock. Ruby red color. Soaring zinfandel-like nose featuring red raspberry, briar and earth. The taste delivers more red raspberry and earth. However, this tastes small right now as if it has closed down on itself. The balance is perfect, and there is a ton of structure to support the concentrated fruit, but the palate impression is compact. The texture is smooth and silky, and the finish is nice. I'm no expert on how these 2003s will age, but my impression is that five or so years of bottle age should turn this into quite a beauty.

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• 1998 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  Interesting wine. The nose has an attractive aroma of extremely ripe red fruit that is marred by a touch of nail polish. Not enough to be offensive, but it's definitely there. The nose reminded me of the 98 Bonneau Celestins that suffered from the same flaw. The taste, however, is exceptional. The flavors are dominated by clean red cherry and red raspberry fruit. The texture is awesome -- silky smooth. This has great balance and a very nice finish. If not for the touch of VA, this would be an excellent bottle of wine. It will be interesting to try this again in the future to see if VA is a consistent feature or not.

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• 2001 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape 91 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  The nose gives a brooding expression of dark fruit and dried herbs with a enticing floral notes. The palate impression is awesome, with great flavor intensity and a lithe, luxurious texture. Flavors are dominated by dark fruit, mineral and earth. Has excellent balance. Still extremely tannic. This is probably somewhat closed right now, but should be a superb drinker with some additional time in bottle.

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• 2000 Château Cabrières Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Silex 88 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  The nose is dominated by red fruit and oak. Simple but pleasant. The taste gives more red fruit and oak in a simple, somewhat clumsy style. I know nothing about this wine. I would guess there is a healthy dose of syrah in this given the oak that is present. I'm not optimistic that this will improve much with bottle age and would be inclined to just take it for what it is.

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• 1998 Domaine Santa Duc Gigondas Prestige des Hautes Garrigues 91 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Gigondas

  Somewhat controversial. I thought the nose gave a funky but pleasant expression of red fruit, mineral, and iron. Others wanted to dump it out (I think I heard the word gasoline used). On the palate this delivers a mid-weight experience giving red fruit and iron with a stern/structured profile. I'd say the fruit is fading and the structure has come to the forefront. Tannins are pretty well integrated. This is an enjoyable wine that should be consumed in the near future.

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• 2003 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  Another controversial wine. The nose struck me as a typical 2003 CdP with big briary red raspberry fruit dominating at the expense of any sense of traditional CdP aromas. On the palate this seemed plush and fat with fresh and concentrated red fruit dominating. No structure/acidity discernable. Very tannic. I guess I'd agree with those that said that time would not treat this well, but I'll be interested to try it in the future to see if that is the right call.

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• 1998 Louis Bernard Châteauneuf-du-Pape Flawed

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  The nose is marred by VA. Taste is also off. Not rated.

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• 1995 Bosquet des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Chantemerle 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  My contribution to the night. Tasted from magnum. Double decanted about five hours before serving. Deep red color. Appears extremely youthful. The nose is an expressive blend of black fruit, mineral, garrigue and a mild barnyard funk. Brooding yet enticing. On the palate this has an appealing blend of red fruit, mineral and earth. The weight and texture are very nice and the overall balance is impressive. Flavors are expansive in the palate from the attack through the long satisfying finish. This bottle was much better than a previous bottle tasted. Drinking well now and should hold for quite awhile (especially in magnum form).

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The wines were top notch, the food was spectacular and the conversation was even better yet. Thanks to Craig and Nita for hosting such a great event.