Birthday Tasting - Weygandt Wines

For the third year in a row, I got some friends together for a wine tasting for my birthday. I brought some fun stuff from the cellar and some others pitched in a few bottles to taste with pizza, cheese and snacks. Lots of goodies in here, although many of the wines deserved a proper decant and a full lazy Sunday of air. Still, with good friends and these wines, it was an awesome night.

• 2013 Schäfer-Fröhlich Spätburgunder Fröhlich Blanc de Noir trocken 89 Points

  Germany, Nahe

  Salty, pure, white cherries, roses, chalk, white pepper. Tart, fresh, floral, spice, very pretty. I need to pour this blind for people, because it’s the palest copper and tastes like a tangy dry Gewurz or something. Love it. So good with all sorts of cheeses because it has such great cut.

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• 2007 Domaine Rolet Chardonnay L'Etoile 91 Points

  France, Jura, L'Etoile

  Two years since my last bottle and this is still awesome. Salty nose, some slight oxidation but it doesn’t overwhelm the pear skin, dried honey and ocean spray elements. Superb acid on the palate, a medium-bodied wine with lots of oceanic and mineral elements. Green apple and orange rind topped with sea brine, crushed oyster shells and coated in honeyed white tea. These flavors and complexity make for a fascinating wine that is so food friendly. Robert Parker would friggin' hate this stuff.

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• 2009 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Anrecht 90 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  The more I drink S-O’s wines, the more I become convinced: one cannot go wrong with Selbach-Oster. Pure and bright on the nose, with white peach, orange peel, lime, slate and minerals. Juicy white peach and green apple fruit, with medium acid to balance it out. The fruit is matched with salted margarita, honey and honey notes. Long finish with soft sweetness, mellowed by the acid. Worth letting this sleep for a while, but this was my only bottle. Sigh. Drinks like a spatlese, but not designated because the grapes are picked at once and don’t all meet the same ripeness levels.

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• 1983 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  I’ve loved this wine in the past, and I’ve never had a bad bottle, but I especially love the way this one was showing. It was something else. I don’t know if I’ve ever smelled tabasco sauce on Cab, but this wine has a lot of it. It’s great, it smells like tabasco sauce, pickles, chewing tobacco and library dust on top of dried currant tea. The tannins are so fine and dusty, the acid is refreshing, a light and elegant feel to this wine. Flavors of dried cranberry and wild strawberries left unpicked until autumn, backed up by dusty earth, shaved dark chocolate, chewing tobacco and all sorts of spice. Long, earthy, herbal, complex. Old Mondavi Reserve is one of my favorite things. I meant to hold this until my 33rd, but oh well.

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• 2001 Giant Steps Pinot Noir Flawed

  Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley

  So, this smelled like sweet red pepper jelly, sweet pickle relish and pickled pepper juice. Weird, but I gave it a try. Tart, astringent, some volatile acidity and stewed tomatoes and pickles. Oh well, the only off wine in the bunch, can’t complain.

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• 1998 Maxwell Grenache 87 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  I’d love to serve this blind in the midst of an aged Chateauneuf du Pape tasting, because I’m convinced it could fool some folks for an old one from a warmer vintage. Still going though, with currant jam, Bordeaux cherries mixed in with pickles and clove. The palate is very tangy and tart with softened tannins. Fleshy, leathery, earthy, herbal, nice and spicy. A fun and funky wine that intrigued a lot of the Southern Rhone fans at the tasting.

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• 2006 Clos Rougeard (Foucault) Saumur-Champigny 93 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur-Champigny

  Such a young wine, it evolved so much over its far-too-short, two-hour existence. Bright, elegant, floral, herbal on the nose, opens up and becomes so elegant. Fresh, bright and lively on the palate, with a tight tannic grip and fresh acid. It got more and more silky and floral with air, and I love the way the fruit is coated with pickles, sage, leather, green olive, earth and mushroom notes. Long, precise, young but expressive.

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• 2010 Domaine la Folie Lucé Saumur-Champigny Autrement 90 Points

  France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur-Champigny

  Rich but tart plums and currants on the nose, earthy and very floral as well. Medium-grain tannins, freshness from the medium acid, the red and black cherry fruit is juicy and backed up with lots of loam, black olive and charcoal notes. Cellar-worthy, but showing some interesting young characteristics.

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• 2004 Domaine Bertagna Vougeot 1er Cru Clos de la Perrière 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vougeot 1er Cru

  Tight at first, this opened up quickly with a splash decant. Not a ton of mean greenies, but some (celery seed), with floral, cranberry and cinnamon notes. A foodie friend of mine with a great palate came up and, knowing nothing of 2004’s rep, remarked how this wine smelled like broccoli and kale. So, there’s that. But I found a lot to like with the fine tannins, fresh acid and the cranberry and cherry fruit with notes of roses, earth and charcoal. Opened up and got very silky after two hours, but stayed bright. Interesting stuff, a revisit in two years is warranted.

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• 2009 Cameron Rouge Clos Electrique 93 Points

  USA, Oregon

  A more forward Clos Electrique than some other vintages I’ve had. A bold wine but still very complex. On the nose, raspberries and plums galore, bright and full, with notes of earth, smoke and charcoal grilled steak as it opens up. Bright and forward on the palate with some moderate tannins and acid balancing each other out. Earthy, with sage, pickle and rhubarb notes that get better with time. This needs a few more years to show its full range of crazy flavors that I associate with this wine. Still, a beautiful wine, and I’m envious of anyone who has this in their cellar.

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• 2009 Kutch Pinot Noir Anderson Valley 92 Points

  USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley

  Gushing red berries on the nose, with cola, roses and cinnamon. Juicy and fresh on the palate with a full and creamy feel. Waves of bright red fruit, some of it slightly candied, along with lots of red flowers, earth, cola, loam and gravel road notes. Rich but bright, bold but not overdone, with a long finish. Pure Anderson Valley goodness with a solid life ahead. Beautiful stuff.

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