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Wine Type
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Vintage
Name
Variety
Locale
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Date
Posted
Score
Helpful
Comments
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Red
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2019 Domaine Henri Naudin-Ferrand Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits Myosotis arvensis
Pinot Noir more
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Big and ripe for an hautes cotes du nuits, but with enough acidity to balance it out. Very good, if not what I really look for in burg.
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Red
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1993 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Clos Vougeot
Clos Vougeot Grand Cru
Pinot Noir more
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Late note. This was my wine of the year for 2022.
Color was clearer than expected but definitely some rust at edges. Explosive aromas of dark red fruit and mushrooms and more. The palate tastes matched the nose. Medium body. Long finish. Everything you could want a mature burg to be. A haunting beauty.
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Red
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2005 Château Batailley
Pauillac
Red Bordeaux Blend more
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Nice balanced claret, no hurry
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Red
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2012 Bedrock Wine Co. Cabernet Sauvignon Kamen Vineyard
Moon Mountain District
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Opened a few hours before eating with leg of lamb.
This is a delicious old-school CA cab. Understated if your idea of Cabernet is viscous fruit. Medium bodied, complex, with cassis, mint, and green Cabernet notes, with a touch of oak and graphite. Medium finish.
This is a food wine, in the most positive way. I can’t think of a better match with the lamb. It complimented the food rather than dominating it, or being overwhelmed.
This wine has the structure to last a decade or three. Excellent! A
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Red
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2007 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Red Rhone Blend more
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Surprise - Opened a 2007 Clos des Papes over the winter holidays. It was very good, and didn’t resemble the ooze monster it seemed a decade ago. Still a pretty big wine, but it had more going on, developing more normal CdP tertiary elements. In no way overwhelmed by alcohol. This might be great in another decade.
I canceled my TWA subscription after drinking 2007 CdP young and deciding Parker had lost it.
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Red
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2004 Château Pontet-Canet
Pauillac
Red Bordeaux Blend more
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First bottle I’ve had that has been ready. Drinking beautifully. An excellent claret. Miles to go.
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Red
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2009 Henri Jouan Clos St. Denis
Clos St. Denis Grand Cru
Pinot Noir more
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We loved this wine when we first tasted it with Henri over ten tears ago, and left his domaine with the back of our car weighed down with six cases of wine. We opened one tonight because we recently learned Henri passed in December.
Decanted an hour prior to drinking. Consumed over three hours.
Light ruby with a bit of rust at the meniscus. The nose is now quite tertiary, savory/meaty rather than floral or forest floor. Plenty of dark red fruit too. It’s more complicated and impressive than I’m conveying.
It’s even better tasted, proper grand cru. Dark, mostly red fruit immediately, complimented with black tea, and some more meatiness. Good acidity, especially for an '09. More body than their village wines, but far from heavy. Still lots of fine tannins, this wine is just entering its prime drinking window, and I’d bet on a decade or two more. Fantastic. We love the village wines, but this is definitely a couple steps above.
Rest In Peace, Henri.
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Red
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1998 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Chaignots
Pinot Noir more
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Decanted off of its sediment. Proper aged burg color, but with a clear edge.
Nose was good from the get go, with dark red fruit, but more dominated by a woodsy tertiary note, and a bit of mustiness, which blew off. It continued to improve through the night.
The palate, on the other hand, started off tight, with a dominant cough syrup flavor. That too subsided, and though the wine maintains a Nuits-iron core, it has an elegance that says Vosne.
This was outstanding, and the reason we age burgs. I opened my last bottle six or eight years ago. That was quite hard-edged. This was much better, resolved, and really drinking well. It was quite reasonably priced back in the day. Wish I had more than one bottle remaining. Great today, but I don’t think there’s any hurry to drink up.
As with most great bottles, the last sip was the best.
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Red
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1996 Domaine Ghislaine Barthod Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Véroilles
Pinot Noir more
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Bought from Domaine. Popped and poured.
Dark ruby colored, with a bit of rust. The edge is still water-colored, so quite youthful.
This bottle started young and tight, good but not revealing. So we put it aside and came back a couple of hours later.
Nose is great, dark cherry but more forest floor, with a dose of licorice, and a slight smoky character. Seriously tertiary, to the point that some might miss the fruit.
On the palate, it shows more of that cherry fruit, but good complexity. But here the acidity makes its presence known, though less shrill than earlier bottles. Still, I think I might have guessed the vintage blind. Similar to 2008, but more advanced.
I've often joked that Barthod is never ready, though truly the 93’s are. Combine her style with the famously shrill 96 character, and I wasn’t super-optimistic, despite its 25 year age. But I’d say this wine is ready to drink now, though true to its origins. I suspect the acidity won’t fade, but the fruit might.
This was really enjoyable, but more for the interesting experience than hedonistic joy. Far better than a science experiment, but maybe not a top burgundy experience.
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Red
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2005 Reignac
Bordeaux Supérieur
Red Bordeaux Blend more
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Stored at 55F since release. Double decanted an hour before drinking.
Still very youthful and primary, little tertiary development. Good fruit density. Modern but pleasant. Push well stored bottles to the back and try again in a few years.
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Red
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2013 Henri Jouan Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Clos Sorbé
Pinot Noir more
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Just terrific. This bottle has a slight peppery note that I didn’t pick up in the last bottle.
My memory during en premieur tastings was that all the Jouan 2013’s had a sewagey character and I was worried about them. I just the samples were flawed, but the wines are terrific. This Clos Sorbe exceeded expectations. A
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Red
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2011 Dusky Goose Pinot Noir Dundee Hills
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Still youthful looking, rich ruby with a little bricking.
Dusty cherry nose screams Willamette Valley. Palate is dark red cherry slightly dominated by a pronounced sweetness. I liked the wine but would prefer more acidity and less sweetness. Perhaps time will grant that, but I normally think of time reducing tannins, and this wine was not tannic. Still an enjoyable, mature pinot. B.
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Red
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1999 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Pora
Nebbiolo more
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Outstanding bottle. Unlike the youthful '99 Ovello a few weeks ago, this one looks it’s age. Very light red with significant bricking. First smell was concerning, I thought it was a bit oxidized. But after sitting for a few minutes it really opened up. Tons of different earthy / fungus notes around a licorice and tar core. Not much overt fruit left, but enough to keep the wine fresh and delicious, rather than just interesting. I enjoyed this bottle as much as any of the highly reputed traditional makers. I’m not always convinced by PdB, but this puts me back in the believer camp. A+
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Red
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1996 Château Calon-Ségur
St. Estèphe
Red Bordeaux Blend more
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Opened for Valentines. Decanted and tasted over two nights.
All the elements were there, but the wine never came together, just a stern pleasureless bottle, with food and on its own.
Maybe it was a leaf day, or something. Nothing drank particularly well that night.
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Red
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2012 La Maison Romane Corton-Perrières
Corton Grand Cru
Pinot Noir more
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Decanted an hour before drinking.
Beautiful light ruby. Delicate red-fruited nose, with just a bit of stem-based floral notes. This wine is far more Corton-y than the 2010 or 2008. Those two are elegant and magical. This is still very good, just a bit tannic and tough. Still very much Maison Romane, so far from big, just needing a bit of resolution. I expect five to ten years will bring it around.
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Red
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2005 Henri Jouan Clos St. Denis
Clos St. Denis Grand Cru
Pinot Noir more
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Bought recently from a prominent CA shop.
Tasted upon opening, then decanted.
This bottle was awkward and angular for the first four hours. Very un-Jouan-like on the fruit. It came around and was pleasant but didn’t hold a candle to other Jouan CSD's I purchased upon release and stored myself. (Every vintage since 2008). I suspect the problem was either shipping or storage, because I’ve enjoyed Jouan going back to 2002. I’ll wait another year before trying the second bottle.
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Red
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1997 Blackstone Winery Cabernet Sauvignon
California
more
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Found in the cellar. Gifted to me on release. Decanted off minimal sediment. Shockingly this wine is still alive. Smells and tastes of older low-level Bordeaux.
A bit musty, some mint, forest floor, classic old Cabernet nose.
Tannins fully resolved, light-mid body, lots of mushrooms and forest floor. Actually shockingly long finish. More interesting than baby, monster cabs, but I’m sure 99% of folks would prefer younger wine.
I don’t particularly like it, but I’m glad I didn’t just dump it.
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Red
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2005 Domaine Amiot-Servelle Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Derrière La Grange
Pinot Noir more
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Consumed over two nights.
Dark ruby, nearly opaque in the center.
Not the most giving nose, but somewhat blue fruited. A little volatile, maybe?
Medium plus bodied, nice blue fruit and noticeable oak. Tannic and dry. Still shut down. Very 2005.
Like so many 2005's, I’d say wait another five to ten years. Fingers crossed.
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Red
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2013 Henri Jouan Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Clos Sorbé
Pinot Noir more
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As Morey-ish as any Morey that ever Morey’d.
Decanted an hour before serving.
Color is medium light ruby, no browning.
Nose is a mix of light red fruits and ripe cherries with just the beginning of tertiary notes. So seductive.
Medium body. Completely enthralling taste that matches the nose, with a little more intensity than expected. I feel I can taste the warm rocks on clay reflecting their heat to the grapes. Not as reserved or lacy as a prototypical Chambolle, not as dark and firm as an average Gevrey, it is pure, unadulterated Morey goodness.
This wine is completely unpolished, in the standard unassuming Jouan style. It doesn’t try too hard, and is all the better for it.
My last few 2013’s had been mediocre, so I was delighted to find a great example. I think the vintage is not aging as fast as 2011, but it isn’t one that one should worry about opening young. Judging by this bottle, we’ll start digging in. One of my favorite bottles of the year. A
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Rosé
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2018 Hiruzta Getariako Txakolina Rosé
Hondarrabi Beltza more
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Pretty pink, no cloudiness, protype rose.
Initial mousy nose blew off quickly. Let red fruit, pretty simple.
Slight frizzante lasted the hour we had the bottle. No perceptible residual sugar, nice acidity. Light body. Medium length red berry.
An acceptable rose, miles from white zin. Not exciting, but fine. My wife liked it better.
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Rosé
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2019 Troupis Moschofilero Rosé
Peloponnisos
more
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The most limpid of roses. Almost white in color, made from Moschofilero, an unusual pink-skinned grape from Arcadia in Southern Greece.
Easy floral nose. Quite inviting.
Medium body, pretty intense light red fruit. Good acidity, almost surprising.
An easy to drink and enjoy rose, perfect as the weather warms. The label says, “The variety is thousands of years old but the bottle should last you only minutes.” We strived to keep it an hour but it wasn’t easy.
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Red
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2007 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes
Red Rhone Blend more
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Decanted over an hour. Consumed with beef short rib.
Still youthful looking, dark red, near opaque, just a tinge of rusting at the edge.
Nose is BIG and oily, as my wife describes this sort of wine. I think her “oily” is a combination of new oak and very extracted fruit. My initial reaction is SQN Grenache. Also lots of anise, which increases with time. Finally, there’s a vegetal / herbal note too.
Full bodied, but not too heavy. I think there’s plenty of fruit left, by wife thought not. We settled on dark fruit. ;) Noticeable heat on the finish.
This is an aged ooze-monster. If you liked 98 Barossa Shiraz, or love SQN, you’ll like this fine. I did. If you want elegance or subtlety in your wine, you might pass, as my wife did.
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Red
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2011 Domaine Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Cherbaudes Vieille Vigne
Pinot Noir more
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From my cellar. Popped, decanted, and poured.
Medium red nose with lots of bricking. Shockingly old appearance, really.
Quite developed nose, quiet red fruit, more cherry than cranberry. with noticeable sous bois.
Palate is very developed, matching the nose. Low acidity for Fourrier. It was really quite nice, but I was more focused it’s premature aging.
I’ll open another bottle soon to see if this was a one-off.
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Red
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2010 Remoissenet Père et Fils Chambertin-Clos de Bèze
Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru
Pinot Noir more
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Thanks Angelo for opening this. Popped and poured, then consumed over a couple of hours. Dark red in the glass. Definitely a fine Pinot nose, on the dark side, but really not giving much. Palate was even tighter. Acid seemed average, and I didn’t get a handle on the tannins. No tertiary notes, and honestly not much fruit either. I have faith that this wine is shut down hard, and not just mediocre. Some 2010’s are singing right now, perhaps this one needs time for its grandeur to unfurl.
Firmly in its window of disappointment. Try again in 5 or 10 years.
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Red
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1999 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir Laurène
Dundee Hills
more
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Drank alongside a 1999 Drouhin Clos des Mouches from Burgundy. Decanted two hours ahead. Served double blind (not blind to me).
Medium red color, lots of bricking. The nose was mature cherry oriented, with tea notes, good, if not particularly complex. Fully mature on the palate, what I think of as a classic Oregon profile, black cherry, rather than berry, and again that mature tea note. Elegant. I suspect the wine has tasted like this for years, and will last for years. This was good, though I preferred its Burg cousin for its freshness and its future.
Drink, but no hurry. I don’t see it improving. (B+)
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