Wine Tasting Warm-up (Beaux Freres, Seavey, and Clos Fourtet)

Chris Larson called me last night to invite me to dinner with he and Siggy after the Winestreet Burgundy tasting on Thursday night. I accepted the invitation and then asked if he was available to pop some wines tonight. He accepted and I stopped by Nortog meats for a New York Strip (or as the butcher calls my cut, the New York Strip roast -- as it was over 2lbs). I whipped up some wilted spinach to go with the steak and popped the Lesec Les Galets Blonds while I waited for Chris to arrive. I had read Loren Sonkin's post on this wine yesterday and was surprised with how positive Loren's note was (my last experience with this wine wasn't so good). I was also surprised to see that he indicated to drink these up as I've got quite a few left. His note was spot on regarding the quality of the wine but I thought this seemed positively youthful and have no fear for my remaining bottles. Chris showed up with a couple pounds of cheese and a bottle of Beaux Freres and we raided my cellar for a couple of bottles to pair with the steak.

• 2000 Patrick Lesec Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Galets Blonds 90 Points

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

  Popped and poured. The wine is a youthful medium ruby color. The nose is excellent, giving a classic expression of CdP with husky, dark fruit, dried herbs, and garrigue. Expressive and intense. The taste doesn't quite live up to the promise of the nose, but is nice nonetheless. A bit thin with a slight cola flavor to go with the dark fruit. Balanced. Acceptable finish. Much better than I expected based on previous bottles.

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• 2003 Beaux Frères Pinot Noir Beaux Frères Vineyard 94 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge

  My first Beaux Freres. Decanted about 30 minutes and consumed over a couple of hours. The color was reddish-orange. The nose was spectacular and kept developing new nuances throughout the night. These included black fruit, coffee, licorice/anise, mineral, candied fruit, floral notes, brown sugar, and what I called "Dujac spice." Complex, interesting, and constantly developing. On the palate this was nearly as good with concentrated black fruit, mineral and some well hidden oak. A bit hot on the finish when first poured, but I didn't really notice this later on. Excellent balance and a long, satisfying finish. I thought this seemed surprisingly Burg-like.

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• 1994 Seavey Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 92 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Decanted about 30 minutes before serving and then served overa couple of hours. The color is a dark red with black hues. Looks very youthful. The nose offers an interesting mix of black fruit, mineral, cedar and vanilla. The mineral element became more prominent with time. The taste delivers a great core of black fruit augmented with a nice mineral note. This has great structure yet the palate impression is plush yielding a wine of great elegance. Still very tannic. Great length on the satisfying finish. A great wine to serve with grilled New York strip. Wish I had a few more to see how this develops over the next ten years.

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• 2000 Clos Fourtet 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

  Popped and poured. The color is a dark red with purple hues. From the moment this was poured the nose was a knockout. Chris kept saying "corn bread." Desiree said "buttered popcorn." I thought it showed dark fruit, expresso, mocha, coffee, and leather and had tremendous intensity. Very fun. The taste delivered concentrated dark fruit with excellent balance. Very tannic. The only let-down here is that the finish falls a bit flat. This is an excellent wine and great QPR at under $25.

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Desiree got home about 8:30 and we poured here a blind tasting of each of the wines. Her favorite was the Beaux Freres. The three of us sipped wines and talked for a couple more hours. It was a great tune-up for tonights tasting.