Pretty much consistent with my note a few nights ago. This is a wine with great potential, but it's a little taut right now. The one difference I'll point out is that tonight, I picked up a little more breadiness on the nose here, but there's still a bit of an almond note on the upper register that needs to fade out right now. Like I said on Wednesday, needs more time.
Yeah, this is a super, easygoing, crushable rose. There's intense autolytic character here, but the most prominent feature of this wine is its juiciness. It really does remind me of an easygoing summer rose, but with bubbles! And a lot more complexity than those cheap patio wines.
R09, disgorged November 21, 2011. This is a bit of an odd duck as far as champagne goes. There's quite a bit of earthy funk and mushroom on this wine -- much more so than you would imagine from the age. It's a fairly rounded champagne at the end of the day, though it might be the vintage helping out with that. But for me, I had a bit of trouble with the heightened funky/earthy notes here.
Disgorged autumn 2015. This is a champagne really to my taste, veering a bit towards the Krug/Vilmart style with a bit of browned apple. But the most prominent thing about this wine is that intense perception of chalk on the palate. It almost leaves a bit of a grainy texture on the finish. I love the intensity here. Plenty of upside, I think, but just delicious now already.
I looked at psmith with a raised eyebrow. "No, it's not corked," he said, predicting my question. Honestly, all of psmith's old champagnes are corked to me. I swear he puts TCA in them before he opens them for me or something. More to the point, there's something on the nose here that evokes old library books. There are some notes of madeira here too (not in a bad way) -- nuts, dried fruits, brown spice. Definitely on the old side to me. However, the palate still shows plenty of verve, with a definite fizz and acidity that evokes some tart stone fruit. Good, once you get past the library books. Maybe fresher bottles of this would be better -- this bottle was long in the tooth.
It's been a long time since I've had a bottle of Fleury -- I remember the producer fondly from buying a bunch of them from Garagiste -- so I was very happy to cross paths with a bottle again. Unfortunately, I think this was a little bit grumpy today, and showed quite closed. Not particularly expressive, this was mostly one-note with its tart green apples. I didn't get a chance to revisit this (which I really should have done).
The nose on this is incredibly pretty. Perfumed, floral, and just slightly spicy. This is extremely light-bodied, and there's a beautiful delicacy to this wine. The palate shows a little green and if I'm really being critical here, just a touch weedy. That weediness is especially apparent drinking this next to two of the Barolos (2011 and 2012). Of course, if I were drinking this bottle by itself with a burger or a steak or some such, I would never have come to that conclusion; it's only through the comparison that this wine suffers a bit. This is certainly an outstanding Langhe nebiolo [sic], but obviously not up to the standards of the Barolo.
The most important thing here is that I'm incredibly glad I didn't have to open one of my own bottles. Compared to the 2011, this is a truly different beast. This is a very aromatic and sensual wine, with lighter aromatics, focussing on the red spectrum of fruit. However, there's still an intensity here that is incredibly beguiling. It seems so gentle, but there's so much hidden power underneath it all. The florals and perfume here are exactly what I want in a bottle of nebbiolo. The palate is not as filled out as the 2011, but there's still plenty of stuffing here. It's got heightened acidity and a heap of tannins on the back end. A touch of bitter cherry cough syrup rounds out the palate. This is an excellent iteration, though I'll give the crown to the 2011 tonight.
It's been about two years since I last tasted this wine, and I'm happy to say that this has been moving in the direction I would have guessed. Compared to the 2012, the ripeness and broad-shoulderedness of this wine is in full display. The fruit here is intense, and while it is still largely centered on the red half of the spectrum, there are nascent hints of darker fruit as well. This is an incredibly powerful and ripe version of this wine, but holds it heft incredibly well. Plenty of tannins still, and the super exuberant fruit from two years ago is starting to settle a bit. This seems a bit more structural than I remember it, with the tannins even more prominent, and the acidity starting to shape the structure of this wine. It's an incredible Barolo, and one that I am excited to watch as it matures. To me, still one of the wines of the vintage.
Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Recioto della Valpolicella
From half-bottle. Yeah, pretty much raisin juice -- tons of dried fruits and inky black. The most interesting thing about this bottle is that slight green vein of herbaceousness that runs through the palate. It gives this a lot of lift, given the rest of the material here. Even though this is fairly sweet, it's never cloying, and the acidity and tannins both serve to help cut through that sweetness. This feels mature, but I think that the maturity plateau of this wine is probably going to be measured in decades. I'd be a bit wary of losing some of the sweetness with age, but that's probably happening at a glacial pace (maybe slower than that given all that global warming that's happening these days).
Perhaps I'm damning this with faint praise, but this is great for Suduiraut (I've never been a huge fan of the estate -- the wines tend to be not heavy enough to reach the Yquem echelons of richness, nor acidic and shapely enough to achieve the Barsac cut). This has lots of tropical fruits and some sweet caramelized pears, but less of that suntan-lotion/coconut thing that Yquem has going on. A moderate hit of spice as well. It's certainly cut from the Suduiraut cloth of a very rich wine -- unctuous and rich on the palate, but this bottle does have some redeeming lighter elements, though they feel more like a bit of minerality than outright acidity. It's a good 2001, but I'm still putting all my money on Rieussec, Climens, and Yquem.
2006 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 90 Points
France, Champagne
Pretty much consistent with my note a few nights ago. This is a wine with great potential, but it's a little taut right now. The one difference I'll point out is that tonight, I picked up a little more breadiness on the nose here, but there's still a bit of an almond note on the upper register that needs to fade out right now. Like I said on Wednesday, needs more time.
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NV Pierre Moncuit Champagne Grand Cru Brut Rosé 90 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Yeah, this is a super, easygoing, crushable rose. There's intense autolytic character here, but the most prominent feature of this wine is its juiciness. It really does remind me of an easygoing summer rose, but with bubbles! And a lot more complexity than those cheap patio wines.
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NV Vouette et Sorbée Champagne Fidèle 88 Points
France, Champagne
R09, disgorged November 21, 2011. This is a bit of an odd duck as far as champagne goes. There's quite a bit of earthy funk and mushroom on this wine -- much more so than you would imagine from the age. It's a fairly rounded champagne at the end of the day, though it might be the vintage helping out with that. But for me, I had a bit of trouble with the heightened funky/earthy notes here.
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2008 Roger Pouillon et Fils Champagne Premier Cru Les Blanchiens 93 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
Disgorged autumn 2015. This is a champagne really to my taste, veering a bit towards the Krug/Vilmart style with a bit of browned apple. But the most prominent thing about this wine is that intense perception of chalk on the palate. It almost leaves a bit of a grainy texture on the finish. I love the intensity here. Plenty of upside, I think, but just delicious now already.
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1988 Pol Roger Champagne Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 90 Points
France, Champagne
I looked at psmith with a raised eyebrow. "No, it's not corked," he said, predicting my question. Honestly, all of psmith's old champagnes are corked to me. I swear he puts TCA in them before he opens them for me or something. More to the point, there's something on the nose here that evokes old library books. There are some notes of madeira here too (not in a bad way) -- nuts, dried fruits, brown spice. Definitely on the old side to me. However, the palate still shows plenty of verve, with a definite fizz and acidity that evokes some tart stone fruit. Good, once you get past the library books. Maybe fresher bottles of this would be better -- this bottle was long in the tooth.
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2002 Champagne Fleury Champagne Extra Brut 88 Points
France, Champagne
It's been a long time since I've had a bottle of Fleury -- I remember the producer fondly from buying a bunch of them from Garagiste -- so I was very happy to cross paths with a bottle again. Unfortunately, I think this was a little bit grumpy today, and showed quite closed. Not particularly expressive, this was mostly one-note with its tart green apples. I didn't get a chance to revisit this (which I really should have done).
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2014 Cappellano Nebiolo d'Alba
Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Nebbiolo d'Alba
The nose on this is incredibly pretty. Perfumed, floral, and just slightly spicy. This is extremely light-bodied, and there's a beautiful delicacy to this wine. The palate shows a little green and if I'm really being critical here, just a touch weedy. That weediness is especially apparent drinking this next to two of the Barolos (2011 and 2012). Of course, if I were drinking this bottle by itself with a burger or a steak or some such, I would never have come to that conclusion; it's only through the comparison that this wine suffers a bit. This is certainly an outstanding Langhe nebiolo [sic], but obviously not up to the standards of the Barolo.
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2012 Cappellano Barolo Piè Rupestris Otin Fiorin (Gabutti)
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
The most important thing here is that I'm incredibly glad I didn't have to open one of my own bottles. Compared to the 2011, this is a truly different beast. This is a very aromatic and sensual wine, with lighter aromatics, focussing on the red spectrum of fruit. However, there's still an intensity here that is incredibly beguiling. It seems so gentle, but there's so much hidden power underneath it all. The florals and perfume here are exactly what I want in a bottle of nebbiolo. The palate is not as filled out as the 2011, but there's still plenty of stuffing here. It's got heightened acidity and a heap of tannins on the back end. A touch of bitter cherry cough syrup rounds out the palate. This is an excellent iteration, though I'll give the crown to the 2011 tonight.
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2011 Cappellano Barolo Piè Rupestris Otin Fiorin (Gabutti)
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
It's been about two years since I last tasted this wine, and I'm happy to say that this has been moving in the direction I would have guessed. Compared to the 2012, the ripeness and broad-shoulderedness of this wine is in full display. The fruit here is intense, and while it is still largely centered on the red half of the spectrum, there are nascent hints of darker fruit as well. This is an incredibly powerful and ripe version of this wine, but holds it heft incredibly well. Plenty of tannins still, and the super exuberant fruit from two years ago is starting to settle a bit. This seems a bit more structural than I remember it, with the tannins even more prominent, and the acidity starting to shape the structure of this wine. It's an incredible Barolo, and one that I am excited to watch as it matures. To me, still one of the wines of the vintage.
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1997 Romano Dal Forno Recioto della Valpolicella 93 Points
Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Recioto della Valpolicella
From half-bottle. Yeah, pretty much raisin juice -- tons of dried fruits and inky black. The most interesting thing about this bottle is that slight green vein of herbaceousness that runs through the palate. It gives this a lot of lift, given the rest of the material here. Even though this is fairly sweet, it's never cloying, and the acidity and tannins both serve to help cut through that sweetness. This feels mature, but I think that the maturity plateau of this wine is probably going to be measured in decades. I'd be a bit wary of losing some of the sweetness with age, but that's probably happening at a glacial pace (maybe slower than that given all that global warming that's happening these days).
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2001 Château Suduiraut 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Perhaps I'm damning this with faint praise, but this is great for Suduiraut (I've never been a huge fan of the estate -- the wines tend to be not heavy enough to reach the Yquem echelons of richness, nor acidic and shapely enough to achieve the Barsac cut). This has lots of tropical fruits and some sweet caramelized pears, but less of that suntan-lotion/coconut thing that Yquem has going on. A moderate hit of spice as well. It's certainly cut from the Suduiraut cloth of a very rich wine -- unctuous and rich on the palate, but this bottle does have some redeeming lighter elements, though they feel more like a bit of minerality than outright acidity. It's a good 2001, but I'm still putting all my money on Rieussec, Climens, and Yquem.
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