Dinner with 1985 Focus

Nopa Restaurant, San Francisco
Tasted Wednesday, May 16, 2012 by drwine2001 with 416 views

Introduction

The real theme of the evening was how young all of the older wines showed. I missed an Austrian red and departed before a port was poured. Oh well.

Flight 1 - Whites (4 Notes)

  • 1988 Deutz Champagne Brut Millésimé

    France, Champagne

    Magnum. Incredibly pale for its age and still lively. Subtle melange of yeast and ginger. Light, extremely elegant. Ginger more than fruit and fantastic mineral finish. What a fantastic Champagne! This could easily improve for another 20 years from this format. A bolt from the blue.

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  • 2000 Nigl Riesling Privat

    Austria, Niederösterreich, Kremstal

    Medium yellow. Some petrol at first that faded. Then rich, dry peach and excellent acidity. Powerful. Alone, this probably would have seemed great, but after the wonderful Deutz Champagne, it fell flat, feeling oily and fat. A case in point of context, serving order and palate conditioning.

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  • 1985 Domaine Bernard Morey et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Embrazées

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

    Full yellow. Nutty with some oxidation. Full bodied, creamy. Some citrus still hanging on acccompanied by remnant acidity but barely holding together at this point. Not bad, but not much Chassagne character left, just more of an undifferentiated older Chardonnay.

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  • 1996 Dauvissat-Camus Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses

    France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

    Medium yellow. Strong truffle aromatics. Much fresher than this on the palate, though. Medium weight, prominent acidity and residual lemon and brothiness. Not a big or particularly assertive wine. Excellent fully mature Grand Cru Chablis.

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Flight 2 - Reds (6 Notes)

  • 1985 Cain Vineyard & Winery Cabernet Sauvignon

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Medium to dark ruby. Olive and some graphite. Pure, primary cassis fruit. Medium weight, exceptional poise, elegance and length. Completely understated and with significant room for further development. Very attractive wine and how nice to get so much flavor with so little alcohol.

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  • 1985 Philippe Leclerc Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

    Tawny, mature appearing. Stalky, herbaceous first impression but this rapidly fleshed out to reveal spicy red fruit and earth. In the mouth, it quickly gained some remarkable sweetness and seductiveness, and definitely did not project itself as too green. Very much alive, kicking and an absolute pleasure to drink now. I wish I had kept it in the glass longer.

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  • 1985 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Very robust medium red. A touch of funk but mostly a beacon of pure raspberry fruit. Medium weight, gorgeously preserved fruit with balancing acidity. Mindblowingly good right now and elegant; very unlike the more typical, dark, rugged, Mourvedre-based Beaucastel style. Much more like a great Grenache-based Chateauneuf, and it would have been fascinating to taste it next to Rayas and try to pick out which was which. Wonderful, at peak and quite a surprise. I wonder if the '98 will turn out like this.

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  • 1983 Château Léoville Barton

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

    Medium ruby with some lightening. Beautifully complex aromatics with dominant secondary perfume. Palate is all Cabernet, all the time-fine, just about fully resolved, gentle finish and length. Although I find the flavor less interesting than the nose, without question a lovely, well balanced, mature claret.

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  • 1989 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    Fairly deep for Nebbiolo of this age. Leafy scents. Rich and harmonious, even a bit chocolatey. Little in the way of secondary development. This still has a long way to go to achieve maturity and reach the apogee of complexity.

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  • 2001 R. López de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Tondonia

    Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

    Light ruby. Cedary nose. Young, held hostage to the wood austerity and astringency at this point, but a hint of underlying sweetness.

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Closing

The Deutz magnum and the '85 Beaucastel were my particular favorites tonight.

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