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Smokin Meat and Serious Syrah 2.0
Westport, CT
Tasted August 10, 2019 by MC2 Wines with 290 views
Introduction
Back for a another round. This was again just an awesome experience with great friends.
Here was the menu:
Cheese Board with Fruit and Cured Meats
Herb Poached Shrimp - Cocktail Sauce
Chilled Corn Soup with Avocado
Thai Red Curry Chicken Skewers
Mint Yogurt Sauce
Orange Quinoa - Flatbreads
28 Day Dry Aged Strip Steak
Truffle Burrata & Arugula
Grilled Glazed Baby Carrots
12 hr Hichory Smoked Berkshires Pork
Bluegrass Coleslaw - Bread & Butter Pickles
Grilled Peaches - Seeded Brioche Rolls
Deconstructed S'mores
Smoked Chocolate Cre-meux
Madagascar Vanilla Gelato
Graham Cracker, Macadamia Nut Crumble
Flight 1 - Whites & Bubbles to start (4 notes)
White - Sparkling
N.V. Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Cuvée de Réserve
From a mag. Nice and kindof standard bubbles. Originally served a touch on the warm side as this was the first bottle popped to get the afternoon rolling. The acid was on the higher side which I remember appreciating a lot when we last had this paired with food and which worked a bit less well when drinking it on its own. Still, very reasonably priced and clearly champagne and good. A touch tight as well. Perhaps with a bit more time edges would have softened. I believe this was a new release.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs Côte de Val Vilaine
Always a favorite wine for me. Here again the acid is a bit on the higher side. It's also kindof young and tight. There's always an interestingness to these wines. Unlike the Pierre Peters it's not just a standard champagne. Something a bit different. Tasty.
Rosé - Sparkling
N.V. Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Cuvée Rubis
Interesting as I had a very different experience from the person before me. These are always some of my favorite pink bubbles. Drank this with a large group of friends and this was the first bottle that was finished even though it was one of the later champagne/whites that was opened. It's fresh and easy and bits of red fruit and unlike some of the other champagnes that seemed to need food to be as compelling this is a wine that stands quite comfortably on its own.
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Comments (1)
White
2013 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Cuvée Roussanne Vieilles Vignes
This is another classic favorite for me. Can tell there's more age. There's a lot more vanilla and just the hint of that caramel side of things. Rounder mouthful. Acidity and the brighter white fruits that exist when younger are less pronounced. Very bright and compelling though.
Flight 2 - Reds @ the pool (8 notes)
Red
1990 Château La Nerthe Châteauneuf-du-Pape
From a mag. This was a good start to the red wines of the day. Lots more fruit than I might have expected as I don't always think of CdP as aging quite as well. Developed and in a good spot. This was prob right in ideal drinking spot. Enjoyable wine. Somewhat overshadowed by some later ones.
Red
2005 Domaine la Barroche Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Fiancée
This is definitely a nice CdP if you prefer the wines with a touch more restraint. Much more muted and less over the top fruit than you will often see with wines from that region. It is though on the heels of a more well aged version coming across as quite young. And while not over ripe fruit, the fruit is the predominant characteristic and hasn't had the time yet to develop some other sides. Would keep letting it sleep if my bottle. Fun to try though as I remember liking one of these when we did the 2016 tasting a few months back.
Red
1986 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie La Landonne
flawed
Upon initial opening it seemed a bit closed down and maybe like a bad bottle, but drinkable. With some air though all of that wet cardboard came out. Corked which was a bummer as I was excited for this one.
Red
2003 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie La Landonne
Also a bit on the young side, but a wine that I quite enjoyed. '03 was obviously a very hot year, but this was meant to be more in the balanced style. So it's darker berry jam but not quite as sweet and then just a hint of maybe bark that seems to be a touch more savory and less fruity.
Red
2010 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie Cuvée Classique Ampodium
Very reasonable for the entry level wine. It's lots of spices. Fruit. Darker. A hint of heat in the form of alc. It's very young and I think would benefit from a lot more time, but clearly a well structured wine.
Red
1992 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon
This was a favorite of mine from the day. It's a bit more secondary in nature. I get some green pepper and more green in general notes. Good age to it. Right in drinking window. There's still power here. I quite enjoyed it.
Red
1997 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon
Had it next to the '92 and it's not as good as that although still quite an enjoyable wine. It's more fruity. Lots of dark red berries. Drinking fairly nicely. Bit less balance with the savory but that could also be the vintage.
Red
2010 Domaine des Rémizières Hermitage Cuvée Émilie
Tough to come on the heels of a few very well aged wines. This comes across as much too young. There's a bit more heat again. Darker fruits. More primary. Interested to see how it evolves with time.
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Comment
Flight 3 - Sitting down to dinner old world (5 notes)
Red
1996 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon
Drank side by side with the '96 L'Ermite and while this was tasty that was a total knockout. Here you get some red boysenberry and some pepper and powerful and tasty. There's a certain prettiness to it which I take as some background floral notes but they are less pronounced here.
Red
1996 M. Chapoutier Ermitage l'Ermite
Contender for WOTN for me. This was just lovely. Sweet black fruits that are slightly 'yummy' but not over the top. Lavender. Maybe violets. Very bright and there's a freshness to the wine. Hard to believe it's 23 years old and at the same time it's just so well balanced. Very enjoyable.
Red
2000 Marc Sorrel Hermitage Le Gréal
Very young and very fresh. There's almost a mintiness to it or it gives that feeling in your mouth that you get right after a particularly good mint. Still some nice fruit. All in balance, but maybe just a bit quieter than I expected? I imagine it should take a bit more time.
Red
2001 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline
This was a surprise for me. Generally speaking I feel like these wines really benefit from a lot of age and while I know this was a more muted vintage I wasn't sure how well it would do. This was really delicious though. I'm sure it will get better, but it was quite compelling now. Very smooth with darker fruits and a bit of developing elegance starting to come through. Very enjoyable.
Red
1964 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único
I was very interested to try this wine. Auction purchase from the Spring and I feel like we've had a mix between Unicos that are clearly so very far away from being ready and need a decant for hours to be approachable and interesting and then those that seem to be a bit more developed. This is possibly middle ground although prob more skewed towards age. There's a caramel, aged quality to it. Some fruit still there. A certain intensity to this wine. Mouth coating. Enjoyable though.
Flight 4 - Aussie tribute with dinner (5 notes)
Red
1997 Penfolds Grange
Another contender for WOTN which shouldn't surprise anyone who reads my notes who knows I always love Grange. This was opened and decanted prob 7 hours in advance and it needed every minute of that. I've had this vintage in the past and it was always a bit more muted and not quite as expressive as some other vintages. Turns out a good decant fixes that. This is all dark spices and dark fruit and eucalyptus and floral and interesting and constantly evolving and just delicious. In some stiff company Grange always impresses.
Red
1985 Penfolds Shiraz St. Henri Claret
Nice! This was a very pleasant surprise. We had purchased this a few months ago after doing a bunch of Penfolds dinners where I realized the St Henri and I could end up being very good friends. This was really punching above it's weight class. Served next to a '97 Grange and held its own. Red fruit and red flowers. Perhaps not quite as intense, but a great purity of fruit and flowers. Nice age. Well balanced. I was a big fan. Will keep an eye out for aged ones in the future.
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Comment
Red
2013 Hickinbotham The Peake
It is clear that I hit a point in the night where the amount of words written on the wines was quite scarce and this is the first wine in that set. I remember it being very young and on the heels of a bunch of great wines with a decent amount of age this really felt like a change. A bit more fruit forward in nature. It's fine, but overshadowed today.
Red
2010 Yangarra Estate Shiraz Ironheart
Another wine that I just didn't do detailed notes. It was opened and decanted right when we arrived and so probably had 4-5 hours in a decanter before being rebottled and then served a bit later. I preferred this a touch more to the Peake. This was a bit more old world style while still good fruits. It's got just a hint of the more savory side of syrah. Would love to revisit in 15 years.
Red
2004 Hundred Acre Vineyard Shiraz Summer's Block Ancient Way
Fitting with the Aussie theme and transitioning into some of the US new world. I always like Jayson's wines. They are hedonistic (as are the SQN), but there's something also very approachable and engaging about them. And while they are intense he seems to achieve some balance. Not over killing the fruit. Some decent acid. This was similar to that. You can't really tell the age (I wonder if one ever will - we have some of the early 2000's Napa versions sleeping), but it is as I said quite approachable and quite drinkable.
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Comments (2)
Flight 5 - Full-throttle Napa (3 notes)
Red
2008 Colgin Syrah IX Estate
Towards the end of the evening when in fact most of us were pretty far down the rabbit hole and yet this was a wine that made me sit up and take notice. It's in my contention list for WOTN although I don't think quite at the level of the Grange or some of the others. Still, it was drinking incredibly well. It's got all of those savory syrah notes that I like in Northern rhone and all of that great fruit that I like from Napa. So perhaps a bit more in the intense style but as it was being drunk next to an SQN it seemed quite restrained.
Red
2009 Saxum James Berry Vineyard
Again in that set up of wines where I didn't write as many notes and this one didn't stand out as much as some others in that flight. I remember thinking it was very much in that more intense Cali style. Lots of fruits. A bit more intense. Not quite as compelling as the Colgin which won the flight for me.
Red
2013 Sine Qua Non Grenache ♀
It's a wine that has some special memories as I used it to celebrate a big work milestone a few years ago. And I'm generally partial to the Grenache. Some of the younger versions of these I've found to be fairly high octane, but this did seem quite drinkable. Again more hedonistic in style. There's a bit of the spices that helps with the fruit. All intense but with just a touch of later acid to add balance. I thought a bit overshadowed by Colgin Syrah tonight.
Closing
There was also a sauternes and a sherry but I skipped the sauternes as I was appreciating the Colgin so much and I don't recollect the sherry that well so skipping over including those.
Tough to pick the true WOTN but many contenders. As always the Grange was charming. So was the '96 L'Ermite and the '08 Colgin Syrah and the Unico. Unfortunately on the '86 Rostaing, but these things happen.