France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Interesting white CDP that offers real nice minerality and texture. As it came to temperature and opened up, buttery viscous mouthfeel began to develop to counteract the underlying minerality. I think white CDP really offers great value for the price and this is a prime example.
Nice, clean vibrant fruit. Reminded me of overpriced bottles of Cristal, sans the "overpriced." Muted nose at first, that didn't open up for about half an hour. After which, nice notes of sourdough and yeasty bread began to emerge. Alas, most of it was gone by then.
opened 5 hours prior to arrival and Audouzed. This was the only wine that really needed more air as it came out of the gates thin and a bit disjointed. Nice notes of earth, light barnyard, blackberry and game. Palate began thin and the tannins seemed invisible until after the dinner, I revisited the remnants of the bottle with Dave and found it had fleshed out very properly with nice thick blaccurrant, mocha and game notes. I wish we had decanted this guy so it would show better, but it was clearly outclassed by its counterparts. 89FW at first, 92+GW after
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
A monster, showing off its depth in color between a purple and dark red garnet. Earthiness screams off the notes, with notes of leather, game and blackberry. The palate has such presence and texture, utterly smooth and longlasting. Excellent notes of chocolate to balance the dark fruits and its integration is high class. This is the value wine from the recent Pavies. Highly enjoyable and will evolve nicely for quite some time. 95.5
A nose to die for. A perfumed bouquet of jasmine, juniper, refined cassis liqeur. The palate is not as thick or boisterous as the Pavie, but judged on its own merits with food, its elegance is truly unique. Not as much weight or fat as other profound vintages of La Mission, this wine is almost burgundian in its palate presence. A profound wine. I agree with Neal Martin's assessment. Just in a fantastic place right now, as the bouquet began to subside after a few hours in glass and a more fruit laden and gamey nuance began to develop. I think this wine is peaking and is ripe for a decline until it re-emerges, perhaps five years from now. Drink!!!
Decanted for several hours. Developed a nice dark golden/honey hue. As it gained temperature, its nose began to expand. Wonderful textured notes of honeysuckel. Some people picked off asian spices on the nose (Dave?) but I found it to be a bit more primary. This wine needs far more time to develop as there were hints of tropical fruit that nodded out after vigorous swirling. Should be good to go in another decade.
2005 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc La Crau 90 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Interesting white CDP that offers real nice minerality and texture. As it came to temperature and opened up, buttery viscous mouthfeel began to develop to counteract the underlying minerality. I think white CDP really offers great value for the price and this is a prime example.
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1998 Henriot Champagne Brut Millésimé Rosé 90 Points
France, Champagne
Nice, clean vibrant fruit. Reminded me of overpriced bottles of Cristal, sans the "overpriced." Muted nose at first, that didn't open up for about half an hour. After which, nice notes of sourdough and yeasty bread began to emerge. Alas, most of it was gone by then.
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