VCTE III & OCP4W I
Tasted Saturday, February 21, 2009 - Sunday, February 22, 2009 by grafstrb with 648 views
Introduction
Tasted these wines for the 3rd Cellar Tracker worldwide Virtual Tasting: Guigal, "Dragonstone", Fritz Haag, and '05 Dead Arm.
Tasted the other wines at the same time during the first Orange County Poker for Wine tournament.
2006 E. Guigal Condrieu 89 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Condrieu
(2/21/2009)
-- cork was removed many hours prior to tasting --
-- tasted non-blind --
NOSE: nice bouquet of minerals, stone fruits, and lanolin; note of carmelized sugar emerges with some time in the glass; the bouquet is moderately to very expressive.
BODY: golden yellow color; medium-full bodied.
TASTE: hmmmm...weird. unlike others I tasted with, I detected very little fruit on the palate (the "others" have more experience than I with Rhone whites ... so I guess "listen to them") -- I got strong notes of lanolin and lees, as well as some off-putting vegetal minerals; the minerality is certainly here, but seems soft and somewhat muted -- I prefer whites with sharper minerals and acid than this wine has; the mouthfeel is kind of oily; a pleasant apricot note makes an appearance on the medium length finish, which unfortunately revealed a touch of alcohol as well (14% abv). My score below is a reflection of how intrinsically good I believe this wine is, not how much I enjoyed it ... on an "enjoyed it scale" of 1 to 100 (100 being the most enjoyment possible) I would say this was about an 80 for me. Luckily for those who enjoy this type of wine, this seemed to be a well-made wine.
B: 50, 5, 12, 15, 7 = 89
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2007 Fritz Haag Riesling 87 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
(2/21/2009)
-- cracked and poured --
-- tasted non-blind over 2 days --
NOSE: not terribly complex: moderately expressive with some basic lime and other non-descript tropical scents ... on Day 2, this smelled similar to a NZ Sauv. Blanc.
BODY: green-yellow color; medium bodied.
TASTE: mildly sweet with nice acidity; simple, and a bit fat. On Day 2 this improved a bit from the previous day, now showing some lemon curd laid over a slightly grassy backdrop.
Day 1:
B: 50, 5, 11, 14, 6 = 86
Day 2:
B: 50, 5, 11, 15, 6 = 87
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2007 Weingut Josef Leitz Rüdesheimer Drachenstein Riesling Dragonstone 86 Points
Germany, Rheingau
(2/21/2009)
-- cracked and poured --
-- tasted non-blind over 2 days --
NOSE: extremely tight, showing minerals, faint papaya, and a touch of green apple ... no improvement on Day 2.
BODY: pale yellow color; medium bodied.
TASTE: Day 1: more minerality than the 2007 Fritz Haag Riesling; a touch of lime as well as hints of smoke and quinine; well-balanced with a medium-length finish. Day 2: lost some complexity on the palate, and the finish now lasts an astonishingly short 5-10 secs. Bouquet is still tighter than a nun. My Day 1 enthusiasm for this wine has completely waned ... too bad, as I was hoping this could be my go-to Riesling "daily drinker." On Day 1, this was better than the Fritz Haag. On Day 2, the Fritz Haag was better than the Dragonstone.
Day 1:
B: 50, 5, 10, 16, 7 = 88
Day 2:
B: 50, 5, 10, 14, 6 = 85
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2005 d'Arenberg Shiraz The Dead Arm 89 Points
Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
(2/21/2009)
-- double decanted the day before tasting: decanted for 6 hours --
-- tasted non-blind --
NOSE: strong spearmint note; hint of cherry as well as an odd vegetal aspect; oak; black licorice scent emerges with time in the glass
BODY: garnet color of great depth; medium bodied
TASTE: tannic; oaky; sweet leather and bramble along with some blackberries. This wine basically cemented in my mind my growing ambivalence towards Aussie Shiraz. Tasted this against an '06 Dead Arm ... I slightly preferred the '05 over the '06.
B: 50, 5, 11, 16, 7 = 89
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2006 d'Arenberg Shiraz The Dead Arm 88 Points
Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
(2/21/2009)
-- decanted over night before tasting --
-- tasted non-blind --
NOSE: banana bread/overripe bananas; oak; vegetal note; non-descript dark fruits
BODY: garnet color of great depth; medium bodied.
TASTE: dark fruits -- especially blackberries; oak; spice; a bit hot; medium length finish; Hold for now.
B: 50, 5, 11, 15, 7 = 88
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2006 Rhys Alesia Pinot Noir San Mateo County 89 Points
USA, California, San Francisco Bay, San Mateo County
(2/21/2009)
-- popped and poured --
-- tasted non-blind --
NOSE: nice bouquet of cherry, cinnamon and Dr. Pepper cola
BODY: garnet color of light depth; medium bodied.
TASTE: certainly a delicate-style pinot with notes of cherry and bramble ... improved in the glass. A lot better than an '04 Sonoma County that I tasted a few weeks ago ... the '06 San Mateo county wasn't hot like the '04 Sonoma County was.
B: 50, 5, 11, 16, 7 = 89
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2004 Agrícola Falset-Marça Montsant Castell de Falset 88 Points
Spain, Catalunya, Tarragona, Montsant
(2/21/2009)
-- decanted for a few hours before tasting --
-- tasted non-blind --
NOSE: vegetal (must have been the Cab. Sauv. kicking-in here); cherry licorice and a hint of anise; hint of old-world funk, but not as much as I was hoping for.
BODY: lots of superfine particulate matter suspended in the wine (sadly, forgot to note color or weight of wine)
TASTE: dark berries and leather; short finish; tannic. A bottle of the '04 "old vines" that I had from this producer a few months ago showed its best on Day 3, so perhaps this wine needs the same sort of extended air time to strut its stuff.
B: 50, 5, 11, 15, 7 = 88
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