12/31/2012 - fillay wrote:

Found this gem on the list at a yakatori bar in Wellington, NZ on New Year's Eve. Quite inappropriate for the occasion - delicious, for sure, but pretty intellectual. Kind of like the kid who comes to your New Year's party and spends the night in the corner perusing your bookshelf. Would have been better served with a dose of introspection on New Year's Day.

1/13/2013 - fillay wrote:

After mainlining the 2011 B-V while in Paris last summer, I was pleased to come across this at Chambers. There was a lot of reduction at first - probably two hours of poopy diapers and not a lot else. But all of a sudden it was gone and out comes a sunny, pretty wine with nice depth. Superb with snails and garlic butter.

1/19/2013 - fillay wrote:

Purchased from a retailer south of Auckland and hand-carried back. I think this bottle was lightly corked; every other sip seemed to suggest it, although it wasn't consistent enough for anyone to pronounce the wine DOA. There were six gulps that were lovely - pure, smoky, with just enough energy left to make you sit up and take notice. Worth the relative pittance paid for the experiment.

12/4/2011 - fillay wrote:

Shhh! Sleeping... don't wake the baby.

7/10/2011 - fillay wrote:

This was pretty reticent last night. A little heat to start (which blew away), and then a characteristic Blue Mountain profile - smoke, cranberries, sour cherry and nice bright acidity to give it lots of lift. Even with a good long decant, however, it was only by the last glass that it showed any flashes of its potential. I'm going to peg it to a slow evolutionary track rather than a bad bottle, as this reminds me a lot of the notoriously slow-moving 2003.

5/22/2011 - fillay Likes this wine:

A very intriguing wine. There's enough family resemblance to some of Frank Cornelissen's wine to set off bells about Etna terroir in my head - that's something I've never been able to say about Terre Nere (as enjoyable as some of those wines can be). Fairly open-knit after 3 hours in the decanter. Bright cherry fruit with a decent mineral streak, but the compelling aspect of this wine is the spice - not just allspice and clove but "We 3 Kings..." frankincense and myrrh. The whole package had a kind of depth that I'm still thinking about 2 days later. Lovely.

5/15/2011 - fillay wrote:

Much more open-knit than a bottle tasted at the winery in December, which was tight tight tight. Pronounced acidity but with enough fruit and leather to make this complete - great with Paula Wolfert's slow-cooked duck. Tastes like a good young vines Bourgeuil - I wouldn't hold this '09 very long, but this this makes me optimistic for future vintages.

5/7/2011 - fillay wrote:

A bottle of the '06 Chamade over a year ago was still etched in my memory when I ordered this '07 - the '06 was not a "great wine" but highly distinctive (like a wild animal in my mouth is how I recall it). This wine was much calmer, pleasant enough once it opened up, but overall not that distinct even if it had decent structure. I'm happy these bottles are now arriving in Chicago, but I think the trousseau is where the action is with Bornard.

5/8/2011 - fillay wrote:

Monolithic - this wine showed little but kirsch and candied fruit throughout its 2+ hour lifespan. Not entirely disagreeable at first, but quickly became rather tiresome. My first experience with the "normale" poulsard from Puffeney; so far, my allegiances lie with the "M".

3/20/2011 - fillay wrote:

Quite monolithic at first, but after 12+ hours in the decanter this develops the meaty, minerally edge that I associate with ESJ syrah. Not as complex as some but it will reward the patient.

10/28/2010 - fillay wrote:

Bright and cheery, with lots of cherry lozenge to go around. Still clearly Taurasi, with a little sweaty horse and some tooth-scrubbing tannins that beg for food. My only other reference point for Taurasi of this general age was a '97 Struzziero, which was comparatively a pruney old man - this is your 40-something aunt who still breaks out her cheerleader outfit from time to time.

8/26/2010 - fillay wrote:

Drank a bottle over a long, decadent meal at Blackbird. Initially quite tight, this blossomed quickly into something open and vibrant - much more energetic than the first bottle of my stash, which I remember as soft and muted. While 19 years means a fairly light frame with fully resolved tannins, there are lots of deep, rich aromas of bloody meat here and the whole package delivers a lot more power than it first seems (and it seemed to be picking up steam as we were finishing the bottle). I'm not sure I could have pegged this as rioja over, say, older Bandol.

5/12/2010 - fillay wrote:

Thanks to Jeremy Quinn for carrying this from the winery. Kind of lush for the style, and drinking alongside a tight(er) '07 Vacheron makes that contrast all the more evident. Straightforward and pleasant at first, it develops a lot of complexity with extended aeration. And by complexity, we're talking anchovy, herbs, and the kind of stinky fruit you might marvel over at a Chinatown market. I liked it, it still carried that racy edge, but I still am scratching my head trying to understand it in the context of Loire pinot.

5/3/2010 - fillay wrote:

15.7% alcohol - you need to plan your day/night around consuming this wine, as it will immediately reduce your motor skills and produce awkward social moments. Not sure what happened here. Not extracted at all, but neither is it identifiable as any particular variety or region. Just glycerol and alcohol fighting it out in your mouth.

5/3/2010 - fillay wrote:

A bit of a relief after the mess that was the '04 King Vyd Merlot the other night. This starts out hot and fumy, but it settles down after a couple of hours. Quite polished and not at all my style - this wine gives the impression of having its sights set on Chile, not making some statement about its own place. But for a polished style this is pretty restrained, oak quite integrated and a nice bitter iodine edge does sneak out at the end.

4/28/2010 - fillay wrote:

The third bottle I have had the pleasure of consuming, all thanks to the inestimable powers of Jeremy Quinn. Frizzante, yes; dark in colour, yes. This one, drank up against an '04 Tournelle and an '06 Puffeney, seemed much more forward but also much more compelling (the Puffeney in particular, no slouch; intellectual). Like the high school student you vote most likely to succeed, and secretly hope that they remember in five years and think as highly of you as you do them.

4/30/2010 - fillay wrote:

A very appealing wine, much more so after being open overnight. Baking spice, brambles, and sweet red fruit on an uncharacteristically light frame for a zin. My only other experience with Potter Valley is Kalin's delicious semillon, so I'm not sure what this communicates about PV terroir. Now, about that $28 pricetag - I'm more than willing to go to the barricades for a Cali producer making real wine, but this falls in a awkward place in my buying regimen (too much for everyday, not really sensing a future in the cellar).

2/26/2009 - fillay wrote:

Poise.

2/2/2006 - fillay wrote:

Similar profile to a year ago - took a full 90 minutes in the decanter to open. Started by clamping down hard at the end, with lots of smoke and flint. Then became more expressive - mixture of fruit and brambles, with mushroom and barnyard notes becoming more pronounced. Delicious!

2/14/2005 - fillay wrote:

Wow. Not at all like the closed young Blue Mountains I had experienced with earlier vintages. Started with soft pinot fruit and a stilted, closed finish, now (after 90 minutes in decanter) is more smoky and plummy with a wonderful lush pinot nose and a much longer finish. Looking forward to savoring the next five bottles over the coming years.

9/18/2005 - fillay wrote:

Drank a bottle with duck breast and quinoa risotto. Even after 45 minutes in the decanter, this wine was still closed. Food really helped the cherry fruit shine through, and by the end of the bottle all the smoke and battery acid had receded and the pinot fruit was starting to shine.

5/23/2005 - fillay wrote:

The smoke is a little better integrated now with a few years of bottle age, and the cranberry/red cherry fruit a little more pronounced. But even though more elegant because of it, this is still a *masculine* wine - it wants fat to slice through, and ethereal is not its game...

5/27/2006 - fillay wrote:

Drank a bottle with braised duck legs. Dark ruby. Sweetness was there - reminded me of a Sonoma zin from a good maker, with high toned cherry, plum and bramble flavors on a medium-bodied frame. But turns classic mourvedre on the finish, with iron and meat taking over, and some dry but integrated tannins. Lovely.

2/5/2008 - fillay wrote:

Nose of crushed blackcurrant, plum, brown sugar, and a little merde. Sweet and rich on the palate, turning brawny with chalky tannins, a little bitterness, and some noticeable heat. Structure bodes well for a long life - needs 3-5 years before revisiting.

2/14/2009 - fillay wrote:

Drank a bottle with roasted lamb chops. I can see the argument about too much extract here, but a very distinctive mineral element developed nicely in the glass - I thought this spoke very strongly of coastal terroir. Definitely in no hurry to revisit my remaining bottle.

1/14/2010 - fillay wrote:

In a really beautiful spot right now. After the reduction blows off (maybe an hour or so), very pretty aromas of dark fruit, herbs and loam. I really love the mix of lighter texture and powerful flavours. A perfect match with braised lamb shanks.

8/17/2009 - fillay wrote:

Drank a bottle with Red Cat’s sausage and mushroom risotto. Opened the night before to some stinky reduction and not much else - even after 2 hours in the decanter, this had almost nothing to give. Poured back into the bottle and sealed. 24 hours later and this is SINGING. Definitely past its prime, but just a lovely, graceful old Chinon.

3/14/2010 - fillay wrote:

Such a beautiful wine. Dark ruby color, intense perfume of kirsch and saddle leather. More leather on the palate, but carried on a long frame of sweet, juicy fruit. Interesting herbal notes, not green but vibrant.

1/6/2010 - fillay wrote:

2+ hours open and this still smells and tastes like "California wine". But wait... there a nice leather and mineral element on the finish that slowly grows to envelope the whole wine - in a good way, not the way it did two years ago when the whole thing clamped down hard. After 5 hours, this is a damned beautiful glass of mourvèdre.

10/25/2009 - fillay wrote:

Drank a bottle with Kurt Guttenbruner’s spaetzle with rabbit recipe. Took a little bit to open up, but great riesling nose and in the glass, a firmly Alsatian style with the funky elements of petrol, mushrooms and an interesting mineral-herbal note on finish taking precedence. My first Wyncroft - surely a benchmark for US riesling, and to my palate in a great place right now.

12/7/2009 - fillay wrote:

Opened to drink with Swan Creek porterhouse. Dark and ponderous. Smells like mushroom soy sauce and Kalyustan's spice bins - wholly umami! Initially quite leaden in the mouth, after 24 hours (!) it lightens up significantly, but still runs to dark, salty and savoury. Quite compelling, really, but not something you want in your mouth everyday.

10/18/2009 - fillay wrote:

Drank a bottle with braised guinea hen with apples. Deep golden color. Intoxicating nose of nuts, sliced pear - it smells like an orchard in early October, and I mean that in the best sense-memory way possible. Gives the impression of a whole lot of wine in your mouth - baked apple giving way to very complex, smoky, nutty... in an oxidized style, but very alive. I would have had hard time (a) distinguishing this from an energetic older savennieres, and (b) pegging this wine’s age. Whatever. It’s delicious, and perhaps the best $20 I have ever spent on wine.

5/1/2009 - fillay wrote:

Drank a bottle with pate and salad. No other way to describe the way this looks and smells than “ethereal”. Very interesting high-toned nose - dried cherries, nutmeg, orange peel and a little woodiness. Initially quite earthy and leathery, with extended aeration the cherry and currant fruit stand up along with the overall impression of sweetness. Chocolate increases that impression - excellent pairing.

5/29/2009 - fillay wrote:

Incredible golden color - dreams of autumn indeed. Nose is very strongly Armagnac - baked apples, vanilla, wood. I wouldn’t call this sweet - the acicity is too lively for any residual sugar to dominate. Viscous enough, but the acidity gives the impression of apple cider. When cold the toasty oak dominates, but at cellar temperature this is lovely. Foie gras - yes please.

4/30/2009 - fillay wrote:

Drank a bottle with frico and salad. Medium golden color, almost shimmering. Reticent nose - fresh corn, cream, green apple, a little fungus. A refined yet energetic palate; more of the same aromatic elements, but vibrant, with the fungus elements becoming more noticeable with aeration. No noticeable oak. Lovely juice.

4/30/2009 - fillay wrote:

2+ hours in the decanter. Brickish brown edges, shimmering dark ruby color. A wonderful nose of sweet, pruny fruit with some eucalyptus, with notes of tobacco, leather and soy sauce. Quite complex and complete in the mouth - more leather, earth and mushrooms frame red currant fruit, with chalky leathery tannins taking over on the finish. Fully evolved but holding very well.

4/30/2009 - fillay wrote:

Drank a bottle with goose rillettes and salad. Brilliant ruby red, becoming darker it seems with time. Nose of grape popsicle/cassis, iron filings, baking spices. Energetic high-toned fruit initially leads to delicious minerality. Becomes more structured with aeration, not really clamping down as much as becoming more assertive, with the fruit becoming deeper, stewed blackberries and cherries. Lots of muscle still to flex.

4/30/2009 - fillay wrote:

In a very nice place right now. 2+ hours in the decanter and the intial overwhelming aromas of animal fur have mostly blown off, leaving sweet aromas of blood, meat and crushed red and black fruit. The animal fur is there a bit on the palate, but it is framed by sweet tannins and carried by deep rich cassis fruit, iron and garrigue into a long finish. Delicious.

4/30/2009 - fillay wrote:

Decanted 4 hours in the fridge, but left out on the counter while drinking (temp was probably 55F or so by the time we were done). Beautiful amber-golden color. Aromas are reticent: apple, honeycomb, wet stones and orange rind. At first, a fairly severe wine. Initial flavors of golden delicious apple, white blossoms, stones, wax and wet stones give way to an overpowering acidic minerality midpalate, with tannins and a little heat showing themselves on the finish. By hour 4 or so, these elements had softened considerably, with the mineral presence nicely balanced by a touch of honey and a long minerally-waxy finish. A beauty - no question of its age, but the wine doesn’t seem old and the pedigree shines throughout.

4/30/2009 - fillay wrote:

Opaque purple-black in the glass. Rich aromas of blackberry and cassis framed by blood and iodine and a little animal fur. On the palate, starts with dark rich fruit - blueberries and blackberries - with hints of allpsice and clove and plenty of loam, but this gives way to a steely structure of clenching acidity and chalky tannins. Finishes long but a little bitter. Definitely gives an impression of being built for the long haul, and is in no hurry to relent any.