Fall 2013 Housecleaning
Tasted Saturday, November 9, 2013 by vanpe003 with 544 views
Introduction
Trying to make room for Fall deliveries, I went through the "White Room" dedicated to passive storage for white wines. Found a lot of wines that I hadn't seen or tried for quite some time. While there were some winners, there were a lot of losers. A disappointing number. Most disturbing were a bunch of white burgundies in 375 btls. For the most part over the hill, oxidized. Different vintages / vineyards of Louis Michel chablis, and different vintages / vineyards of Matrot (the worst offender being the 2006 Meursault). Ended up decrementing all of them from inventory, while actually physically pouring out about 10 btls. None of these were worthy of notes and aren't included here. Add in some other unexpected failures noted below, and it wasn't a great day. Usually I find some unexpectedly good surprises. Not today. Today, a win was declared whenever I opened up something that performed as expected. The good news is that a) there were some "winners" and b) I have some new-found space.
Flight 1 - Winners (4 Notes)
Stuff that I'm now drinking through this evening
Flight 2 - Drinkable....if I didn't have so much wine open (5 Notes)
On a normal night, I'd drink and finish these. But given the nature of today's exercise, these didn't make the cut.
Flight 3 - Arrrgh (3 Notes)
All of these were flawed in one way or another that resulted in an early pour down the drain.
Closing
I do wonder if my tastes have changed a bit since I bought these. Yes, many were just undrinkable. Others were seemingly mature beyond their age, but still drinkable. I wonder if perhaps they would have been more drinkable if my palate still slanted toward mature white wines. I think I used to have much more patience with wines showing oxidization while losing acidic balance. Whatever the case, today's housecleaning was just that. Not much in the way of "wow, I sure am glad I cellared that for a few extra years.
Tomorrow I'm moving on to clean out the "Red Room", hoping for better results;)!
2010 Anthill Farms Chardonnay Campbell Ranch Vineyard 91 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Now we're talking. After opening up the last bottle and scratching my head ("this doesn't seem right"), this bottle is performing more to my past experiences.
On the nose, sour citrus, salinity and lightly perfumed chardonnay fruit. On the palate - balanced. Nice acidity supporting a fairly delicate fruit, keeping this very bright without being bracingly acidic. I don't detect the oak bomb character mentioned by a recent reviewer. This one is better than it was a year or so ago when I last tasted it.
I do have a bit of concern, given other reviews, and my own personal experience today with two different bottles, about bottle variation at this relatively young age.
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2007 Domaine Vrignaud Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume Vieilles Vignes 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru
Part of cellar sorting day. One that did not disappoint. No, it's not a "wow" wine, and probably not for my tastes as good as the BH 91-93 rating. But it's solid with a nice balance of fruit and acid. Slightly tannic on the finish. A level of oxidization that seems roughly appropriate given the age of the bottle, but enough that I get the sense this isn't a long term aging candidate. Drink now - 2016.
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2010 Arnot-Roberts Old Vine White Compagni-Portis Vineyard 90 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley
I like this, but what an oddball wine. It almost defies description. Sweet notes and a bit of petrol on the nose. On the palate - delicious. Spicy fruit with abundant acidity and a bit of a resinous character through the midpalate that holds it all together. Like many of the "heritage" bottlings (e.g. Bedrock) I've tasted, this reminds me as much of a homemade wine as anything else. A very good homemade wine to be sure. A simple pleasure that doesn't require a lot of thought or in-depth analysis. I like this more than my score would indicate.
Update: after open an hour or so, the thicker resinous notes blow, along with some of the spices. Still a nicely balanced wine, but becomes more mainstream without the earlier edgy character. Lively acidity with hard-to-pin-down fruit descriptors remain the signatures of this wine. Boosting the score to 90 pts, as this evolved version is probably more broadly appealing.
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2007 Domaine de Beudon Fendant Valais 91 Points
Switzerland, Valais
No detailed notes. An interesting and appealing flavor profile. A bit of earthy funk and spice and a hint of smokiness. Some tannins on the finish that are slightly out of balance with depth of fruit. In capable hands, this would make for a very interesting food pairing. A dish on the richer side, with a good dose of herbs, no red meat or sauce - I think this would shine. Could also see this paired with a relatively tame (re: peppers) asian dish, or perhaps something with lightly smoked chicken as the protein element. Off the oddball wines I opened today, this was among the most appealing.
Update: this really softens up, and becomes quite alluring on Day 2. Rough edges, gone. Becomes softer and smoother, retaining the unique flavor profile, but in a softer package overall. Excellent.
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