A Week Respite in the United Arab Emirates

Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates
Tasted Monday, April 8, 2013 - Sunday, April 14, 2013 by thesternowl with 715 views

Introduction

Living in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia has it's challenges. Being a dry country (figuratively and literally) is one of the more insignificant none-the-less, it's nice to get away from time to time and enjoy a few bottles of wine amongst friends. On this trip, we took a week off and met three of our friends from Omaha in the UAE. This was their first trip to the GCC and we made sure it left a positive impression on them. In between our adventures, we made sure to enjoy several (19 in total) bottles of wine and celebrate Holly's 30th Birthday with a special bottle that Brent and Stephanie hand carried from our cellar back in Omaha. I didn't capture notes for all of the bottles but I got most of them.

Flight 1 (3 Notes)

2009 Churchill/Graham Douro Churchill's Estates Special Release 85 Points

Portugal, Douro

(4/9/2013)

Popped and poured. Heat, bacon smoke and plums on the nose. Tasted a bit green but the plums are there with a gentle touch of vanilla. Heat also present. Sufficient acidity.

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2011 Pago de los Capellanes Ribera del Duero Joven Roble 87 Points

Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

(4/9/2013)

Popped and poured. Perfumed nose with blueberries, vanilla and tobacco. Really nice mouthfeel; dark forrest fruits. Finish seems a bit clipped. I would probably try again in a year or so.

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2009 Ken Forrester The Gypsy 91 Points

South Africa, Western Cape

(4/9/2013)

Unscrewed and poured. Grenache and Syrah in this version of "The Gypsy". Immediately, I was impressed with quality of the fruit and the unmistakable tar/asphalt-like element that seems to be so prevalent in South African wines. Sometime that component can be almost overbearing. This bottle had just the right amount to give it a rather charming character. Dark fruits, tar, smoke, leather and vanilla in balance. Really plush mouthfeel. Should easily have enough acidity to wash down hearty food. Solid. Wish we had another bottle.

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Flight 2 (2 Notes)

2009 Mas L'Avail Côtes du Roussillon Villages Tradition 84 Points

France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Côtes du Roussillon Villages

(4/10/2013)

Popped and poured. I found this to be a fairly simple Cotes du Roussillon. Some red fruits and spice...nothing terribly exciting. Then again, there wasn't really anything wrong with it either. We picked up two bottles and our experience was consistent between the two. A blend of Granache, Carignan and Syrah.

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2008 Château La Grande Clotte 88 Points

France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Lussac Saint-Émilion

(4/10/2013)

Popped and poured. Rather subdued notes of tobacco, forrest floor and currants...perhaps mixed with some forest fruits. Medium body; good acid. Really, I found this to be a rather prototypical Bordeaux. It more than satisfies but doesn't draw much attention to itself. For the price, I would probably buy again. Michel Rolland owns this 7 hectare vineyard and I think he's done a reletively good job with the material in Lussac.

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Flight 3 (2 Notes)

2009 Ironstone Vineyards Cabernet Franc Reserve 85 Points

USA, California, Sierra Foothills, Calaveras County

(4/10/2013)

Popped and poured. A bit of red and dark fruits on the nose. Vanilla. Hugely tannic. Medium/Full bodied. I think the strong tannins were attractive to other members in the group but I wasn't swayed. I found this to be mostly bravado, lacking the complexity to impress me. Maybe some time will allow some integration and round out some of the rougher edges?

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NV Duval-Leroy Champagne Brut 90 Points

France, Champagne

(4/11/2013)

Popped and poured. I really dig the wines from Duval-Leroy. My third experience and I think they're really underrated. This really showed up the Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial we had later in the week (didn't even bother taking notes on that one). This was fresh and focused. Tiny, active, steady beads. A touch of a yeasty element, some brioche. Some green apple and a light touch of citrus. Really satisfying.

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Flight 4 (2 Notes)

2010 Louis Latour Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge 86 Points

France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet

(4/12/2013)

Lol...one of the members in our party picked this up and I placed it in the fridge without inspecting it...erroneously thinking it was the Chardonnay. After spending the entire afternoon in the desert between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, we were looking for a refreshing way to begin the evening. It wasn't until I pulled the cork on this overly chilled (even by the white standards) bottle of C-M that I realized it was the rouge!! I hesitated for a moment...looked at everyone, and said, "what the hell" and I poured everyone a glass. Honestly, it was really satisfying at this temperature. Of course, being parched from the desert likely played a role but hey, that's part of the experience. Tonight, this bottle surprised and was a perfect entree to the main event later. Light, ruby color and very pretty floral nose with red forest fruit. Very pleasant minerality. Acidity wasn't teeth shattering. I'd buy again...and maybe...just maybe...accidentally place it in the fridge again.

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1983 Château Gruaud Larose 94 Points

France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

(4/12/2013)

This bottle was hand carried from our cellar in Omaha by our friends Brent and Stephanie. The cork, which came out intact and only saturated 2/3 the way up, seemed in remarkable shape. Although there was very little funk, I elected to decant in a stainless steel water pitcher (only thing I could find) for one hour; just to let it stretch its legs just a bit. Damp forest floor, some mushrooms, old leather, currants, tobbaco, and cocoa on the nose. Sweet cherries on the attack...surprisingly sweet! Then mulberries, black cherries, espresso (american-style), cocoa, leather...at least a 30 second finish. Tannic still...but not burly and I can only imagine they have softened with time. Nice acidity. Really, this was an outstanding wine that's drinking very nicely right now. For those that still have some, I would encourage you to drink them now while they are so enjoyable. A really nice treat for Holly's 30th birthday (early).

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Flight 5 (4 Notes)

2012 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 87 Points

New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

(4/13/2013)

Unscrewed and poured into unused paper coffee cups before noon. Yep, we brought this to Jumeirah Beach to enjoy while we laid in the morning sun and took in the beautiful waters of the Arabian Gulf. Mimosas? Pffft. Who needs those when you can get clobbered with the grapefruits, gooseberries and pineapple emerging from this sucker. Nice, steely minerality too. I never got to try the iconic Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blancs of the 90's (I hear the more contemporary efforts are a shadow of what they once were) but this did the job on this morning.

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2003 Chateau Musar 91 Points

Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

(4/13/2013)

Threw into the stainless steel "decanter" again. We gave it about 90 minutes before we poured the first glass. I have to say that it seemed rather advanced for being ten years old. To be honest, the '83 Gruaud Larose seemed every bit as "youthful" as this Musar and I was actually quite taken by the similarities between the two. The forest floor, leather, currants, and cocoa were there. However, it was lacking the attack of the Gruaud and didn't quite have the high-notes either. I would and will buy it again, though. I really dig the quality of the Chateau Musar. QPR is off the charts.

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2009 Massaya Gold Reserve 91 Points

Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

(4/13/2013)

Popped and poured. Similar notes to last year...perhaps not quite as charismatic as before...but I could attribute that to no decant. Perhaps it's going through a phase. Certainly still has the stuffing.

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2005 Duckhorn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 89 Points

USA, California, Napa Valley

(4/13/2013)

Popped and poured. Agree with SUBTLET on this one. Seemed to have all the right parts but didn't quite grab my attention like others throughout the week have. It delivered what I expected and that's about it. That being said, I didn't give it the amount of time I would have prefered (or it likely deserved) so I could be discounting it some. Certainly seemed in pretty good shape to show well for at least a few more years.

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