2005 Fall Vendors Sale

Twice a year, a large number of importers/wholesalers come to TAC to show and peddle their wares. There were a lot more wines open than I tasted, as this is as much a social event as a tasting event. I would have tasted more, but enjoyed talking to Oliver Mackie, David Hawkins, Steve Doi, my wine-loving neighbors Bryan and Amy, my cousin Richard and his wife Naoko, Jonathon Kreigel, a few importers, and a number of non-geek friends.

Normal cautions apply to notes from this kind of tasting. Nothing had time to open or develop. Impressions were brief as I moved from table to table as quickly as practicable.

On to the wines:

• 1999 Argyle Vintage Brut

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Very light mousse, almost more petillant than mousseaux. Nose driven by apple and a little apple stem sap, along with slight caramel and toast notes. On the palate it is almost all light lemony and appley flavors. Finish a bit short, but not bad for a value sparkler.

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• NV Montaudon Champagne Réserve Première Brut

  France, Champagne

  Large, extremely vigourous mousse. Nose of green apple brulee. Palate has a little honeyed fruit but is mostly acid and steel. Hard to evaluate in the midst of all the other wines and from a standard tasting glass. I suspect this may be more interesting than I indicate, but it seemed extremely young, almost as if it had just been disgorged and shipped.

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• 2002 Finca Allende Rioja Blanco

  Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

  Light young color with a nose that shows sweet new wood and, hiding underneath, some citrus fruit. Palate has a little hidden acidity but is mostly all about creamy oak and pretty ripe citrus. Probably good ripe fruit balance under the oak, but who knows when it will integrate?

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• 2004 Husch Vineyards Dry Gewürztraminer Anderson Valley

  USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley

  Very sweet on nose with classic floral and lychee character. Palate has a fair degree of apparent sweetness, but is supported by good acidity. White stone fruit and a touch of spice dominate the taste with attar on the finish. A little exotic for most food, but a very good rendition for drinking on its own. Doesn't have the body of an Alsatian, but has all of the elements in a nice, light, off-dry package. Nicely done for what it is and good value.

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• 2004 Greenhough Riesling

  New Zealand, South Island, Nelson

  This was very nice with a nose of crisp white fruit, a wee bit of young petrol, and schist. Remained crisp on the palate and was fermented dry, but had a surprising degree of viscosity for the nose and dryness. Reminded me very much of Alsatian riesling stylistically. Cheapest of all the Greenhough wines on show, but also the best to my palate. Impressive effort.

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• 2003 Greenhough Riesling Hope Vineyard

  New Zealand, South Island, Nelson

  Sweetish nose of white plum, lemon/lime and apple. A little honey, but more fruit-sweet driven. Palate is a little richer than the dry Nelson version, but only off-dry in impact. Much less of the Alsace impression that had fascinated me in the dry Nelson version, but a slightly haunting limeade sweetness is nice, especially with the floral/mineral notes that appear on the finish.

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• 2002 Greenhough Chardonnay

  New Zealand, South Island, Nelson

  Nose was strongly dominated by wood, as was the palate. Underneath there was some ripe white peach and smokey apple fruit with a little sweet stewed apple/honey character. Seemed to have some acidity as it wasn't really fat and flabby, but it was hard to concentrate on anything other than the toasty oak. Not for me.

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• 2004 Edna Valley Vineyard Chardonnay Paragon

  USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley

  The nose on this begins with sour apple and lees, with a bit of pineapple and stone to make things more interesting. The oak is there (in significant dose) but somehow manages not to dominate. The palate carries forward and is a bit cleaner than the nose, with a little more tropical fruit, some more apple, and nice acidity. Only on the persistent finish does the oak really begin to dominate. The sour apple/leesy note is not offputting and doesn't seem flawed. In fact, it is a little interesting (and nice to know the acid character survived full malo). I suspect it is a function of the very active winemaking style and may settle down with a bit more time in bottle.

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• 2003 Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir Santa Maria Valley

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley

  Great nose with dry red fruit and earth. A bit dilute on palate with lightly sour cherry fruit and a little sweeter red berry component and some nice mineral on the finish. Good acid and earth/mineral components are appealing, but concentration seems to be a real issue. I got into a conversation with a friend while this was in the glass, so I was able to come back to it after fifteen minutes. It had picked up a little weight, but was still, perhaps, a little thin.

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• 2003 Greenhough Pinot Noir Hope Vineyard

  New Zealand, South Island, Nelson

  This was the only Greenhough wine tasted that was not under screwcap. Fittingly, bottle #1 was badly corked. Bottle two showed a ripe nose straight away upon pouring, with a little interesting musky tail. There was a little oak on the nose, fairly toasty, but not obscuring the ripe fruit. Palate added a little earthiness to the ripe fruit and carried forward some oak sweetness. Interesting, wouldn't mind drinking it, but certainly not on my buy list at $35.

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• 2003 Edna Valley Vineyard Pinot Noir Paragon

  USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley

  Nose began with strawberry fruit and nice strong earth and leaf character. In a way, the nose was reminiscent of Loire cab franc from a good year. The palate showed a fair dose of wood, but a nice underlay of ripe dark berry and black cherry fruit, with the earth still in play. Kind of an odd combination, so much leaf and red fruit on the nose and such deep dark fruit on the palate. With a little time to integrate, this could be good.

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• 2003 Saintsbury Pinot Noir Carneros

  USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros

  Strong initial whiff of sweet wood on nose, which gives way to bright red fruit and a little herb. Very clean and bright. Theme continues on the palate, where the wine has reasonable concentration, but very little weight. A little mineral joins the red fruit on the finish, where the oak again becomes a wee bit intrusive. Experience with prior vintages suggests the oak should integrate. If it does, this should become a good example of a clean, elegant, bright red-fruit pinot with just a little mineral to mix things up.

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• 2003 Flowers Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  This begins with nicely earthy dark berry elements that outrun the oak on the race to the nose. There is clearly some degree of new oak, but the fruit and earth come easily to the forefront. This has nice concentration without weight and a very silky, velvety moutfeel with just enough acidity to delineate the deep cherry that joins the berry on the palate, along with a little herb and cola in the finish. Oak is there again, but is held in check by the fruit and herbs. Nice nod to Burgundian elegance, purity, and earth while maintaining the sexiness of its Sonoma fruit. Nice job. It won't turn me off my Burg fixation, but I'd be very happy to run into this at dinner some day.

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• 2002 Dashe Cellars Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley

  I really like Dry Creek Valley zin. It is my favorite zin source. I have also like what Dashe has done before. Too bad that this was alcoholic on the nose and dilute in the mid-palate. There was a little bramble and briar fruit mixed in for pleasure, but the wine was disappointing.

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• 2004 Domaine La Martinelle Ventoux

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Ventoux

  Nose is of framboise-sweet fruit. Palate is similarly pure raspberry with a little alcohol, but is a little bit dilute. Not bad for a current, everyday drinker, but I would expect slightly more concentration and a little something (anything) of interest beyond the fruit for the $19 price tag.

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• 2003 Mas de Boislauzon Côtes du Rhône Villages

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages

  Nose shows nice array of dry leaf, tobacco, spice along with a little berry fruit. Fruit is similarly restrained on palate, but nice foresty complexity and an appealing bit of earthy grip to the texture. Certainly dry and lean for vintage and much tighter than the '01 was a year ago, suggesting that this should open up into a really nicely balanced '03 Cotes du Rhones. Very nice job.

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• 2003 Domaine des Espiers Côtes du Rhône Villages Sablet

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages Sablet

  Rich ripe purplish red. Second wine of the night with a clear framboise nose, but this time without any hint of alcohol. Ripeness clearly places it within the vintage, but without any roasting or heat. A touch of pepper/spice. Ripe again on palate with red and black berry sweetness and a little anise. Good persistent finish. Can't figure out what it is, but there is something a little wild or intriguing about this that I like.

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• 2003 Domaine des Espiers Gigondas Cuvée Tradition

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Gigondas

  Deep red tending toward black. Blackberry and a little alcohol on nose, with a floral element that even hinted at Northern Rhone influences. Lots of tannin on palate, but the tannins are very ripe and not intrusive. Fruit is incredibly dense and encompasses a broad range from hints of strawberry through raspberry and on into sweet blackberries. A little brambly character and a good dose of spice. Somehow under all this size and richness there's an element of acid and elegence if you concentrate hard. Makes me thing of a barrel sample with its intensity and weight and the difficulty of tying all the elements together. Another wine that clearly has the ripeness of 2003, but seems to have just enough tautness to sort itself out. I'm beginning to think this a vintage where I am going to like the lesser wines and avoid Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

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• 2003 Domaine Coursodon St. Joseph

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph

  Nose is rich and ripe with very deep berry fruit and a strong sense of sweetness, along with a little plum that is not quite overripe but seems to walk the edge. Enlivened by a little exotic spince on nose. Palate combines a surprising silkiness almost like crushed velvet. If one could weave berries into velvet, this is what it would taste like. Very little acid, almost overripe, but a lot of fun for current drinking. Good concentration and finish, on which the hot stone mineral finally comes out. Keeps enough hallmarks of its hillside site to be interesting and enough extreme ripeness to demand drinking now. Doesn't appeal to my purist/terroirist streak, but when I close my eyes and take a deep sip...

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• 2003 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape

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

  Deep and dark and almost impenetrable inkiness. Nose of supersweet blackberry syrup. Remember what fun it was when you were a kid and went to IHOP and they had eight or ten carafes of artificially flavored syrup? This is the blackberry jar. Palate has no discernable acid to cut the ripeness, but adds a layer of chocolate for good measure. A little alcohol shows up in the finish, but that is the only hint of structure. I've always wondered what would happen if a sumo wrestler decided to bulk up even further on steriods. Now I don't wonder any more. I'm definitely preferring the lesser appellations in this vintage. Plus side? You can drink it right now. Not quite as hot as the Clos des Papes tasted recently, but that Clos des Papes had structure galore and might go somewhere. This one was pure current hedonistic pleasure. Not my style, but might actually be really enjoyable to others.

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• 2001 Bodegas Los Astrales Ribera del Duero Astrales

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  Deep, deep plum colour. Similarly deep plum and dark cherry fruit battling with sweet oak and anise to be found. Palate begins with the oak. Tannins are forceful though they allow some of that ripe fruit out in the middle before the wine finishes with an alcohol-driven mirabelle note. Maybe it's there, but I couldn't find the acidity that would make me take the gamble that this will integrate. Just not my style.

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• 2000 Havens Wine Cellars Merlot Reserve

  USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros

  Nose makes an immediate licquorice impression, which gives way to plummy merlot fruit and a little herbal character. Palate is very woody/stemmy on entry, though it develops a little chocolate and cassis to join the plum fruit. Green stem character clips off the finish. To be fair, I expect this may need a little time in the glass to come together, as some vigorous aeration brought the fruit a little to the fore. Still, didn't really impress me. Don't know how much was vintage, how much was a style mismatch with my palate, and how much was a need for more air time.

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• 2002 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Clean, fresh-turned earth accompanies nice deep cassis on nose. A couple more sniffs bring out some herb and a little tobacco. Palate has very nice texture underneath the dry tannins. Not entirely drying, but the tannins definitely need some time. Some of the same bright cherry I always find in the lesser Monty joins cassis and plum to make this a nice, though still challenging moutfull. Nice texture under the tannins and more herb on the finish. I like it.

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• 1999 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Martha's Vineyard

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

  After the obligatory cool mint note and some slightly alcohol-hot plum fruit, the nose goes tightly shut. Other than a bit more mint and some plum and berry fruit, it really doesn't reopen over the five or ten minutes in the glass. Texture is very, very dense with tannins making it extremely dry on entry and exit. There's good roundness and a nicely shifting array of fruit in the midpalate, which shows a fullness that should well outlast the tannin. Finish alternates between sweet oak and plum/ berry fruit. I'm not good at assessing big younger cabs, but this seems to have the stuff.

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This is always a lot of fun and proved to be so again. Biggest two lessons from this year:

1. Lots of nice 2003 Rhones from lesser appellations for younger drinking, but I've yet to find bigger wines I like from the vintage.
2. I really like the Rieslings from Greenhough. I'll have to keep an eye out.