Boulder Junction, Wisconsin
Tasted Sunday, December 27, 2009 - Sunday, January 3, 2010 by vanpe003 with 1,045 views
Another year in a great tradition of spending New Year's up in Northern Wisconsin with friends. Skiing, hanging out, eating and drinking with the FBM clan. Too many wines to remember them well, so the notes in this batch are a bit suspect in terms of detail. Also don't have any notes for a whole bunch of champagnes that FBM opened up. A shame, as they were all generally quite nice. The wines below were consumed over a week, and with the exception of the 1st flight and the last, I grouped by "type" rather than order of consumption.
A pretty remarkable bunch of wines given that they were selected somewhat randomly for the first night in camp. The Benton Lane was a particular surprise, drinking much better now than it did a couple years ago. The Hansel and Tablas Creek were two of the best wines opened all week.
Usually the highlight of this New Years tradition, this year was no exception. The Taittinger and Philipponnat were the two best, but most everything was very, very good and in some ways it is a matter of taste to declare a winner. The Scharffenberger was quite nice, and a very good QPR, but did not stand up to the rest of the Champagnes served, whether those listed below or the ones I've omitted.
WOTF - Fox Creek.
Mostly Cabernets with the exception of the 2002 Jarvis. For me, the Dalla Valle was the WOTF on Day 1. The 2002 Jarvis evolved nicely overnight, and drank quite well the second day.
I brought a whole bunch of whites up, but we drank scant few of these. Too much Champagne I guess!
Over to the neighbors for a couple glasses of wine out of Bill's northwoods wine glasses (recycled Kraft cheese bottles). It did lend a certain amount of romance re: the Great White North, but probably wasn't the ideal wine experience, particularly as relates to the '93 Penfolds Grange!
2004 Benton-Lane Pinot Noir 90 Points
USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
(12/27/2009)
Probably the best of these I've had. Significantly more depth on the palate. The stems have morphed a bit, giving off notes of pepper on the palate. In retrospect, I wish I would have saved more of these, as this is my last bottle and I think it is at or near it's prime.
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2004 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Russian River Valley 90 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
(12/28/2009)
Initially the same tartness as a prior bottle, but that quickly resolves after about 20 minutes in the glass. Very well balanced for current drinking, but lacks the depth or complexity for a "wow" or a higher score.
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2002 Walter Hansel Winery Pinot Noir The Three Rows 94 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
(12/28/2009)
My score can be summed up by two words - mouth feel. Smooth, lush, and thick. At the same time, the flavor profiles are not over-the-top or cloying. Too much going on in the kitchen of our small cabin to make any meaningful comments on the nose. On the palate, relatively dark Pinot fruit, little if any overt acidity. Long finish. At least for me, this wine is at it's apex for current drinking. For my palate and from memory, this is one of the top 10 pinots I've had.
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2003 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Panoplie 94 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
(12/28/2009)
I can't really speak to the nose on this, as I sit in our small cabin where the aromas from the kitchen overpower everything in their path. However, without any detail, there seems to be a lot coming out from the top of the glass, dark fruits on the nose, just can't pick out individual notes. On the palate, rich and for me a surprise as to it's approachability. There's a bit of a slightly sour lift on the midpalate (Grenache influence?) and fine tannins on a 30 second finish. I only get one bottle of this every year. If I had more, I'd probably opt to hold for 24-36 months.
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