Matter of Taste

Zurich
Tasted Saturday, February 23, 2019 by Cailles with 244 views

Flight 1 (6 Notes)

  • 2013 Continuum Proprietary Red 93 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Short TN: Tons of intense dark fruit, wet earth, lots of herbal scents, lot of weight, richness and length. While the tannins have no hard edges I would advise not to open the wine now, there is just too much going on, too much weight which might quickly tire your senses. This needs to shed some baby fat. We'll have to wait and see if it can ever become much better and more elegant. For those opening right now: a short decant seems to do the job.

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  • 2015 Devil Proof Malbec 88 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley

    Short TN: Not my cup of tea, too much fruit, too much alcohol, not enough acidity to cut through all the weight. Not overdone, but just not my type of Malbec.

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  • 2016 Bevan Cellars EE Cuvée Tench Vineyard 95 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville

    Short TN: Quite a contrast to the Continuum 2013 we tasted before: this one is elegant and soft with a sense of weightlessness vs the Continuum which was quite heavy. Lots of cassis, blackberries, some red berries as well, hints of wet forest floor and herbal scents. Drinks well today (a 2 hours decant is at least necessary) but will certainly gain a lot of nuances with some more age. Bevan wines continue to convince me. 95+

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  • 1995 de Venoge Champagne Brut Louis XV 95 Points

    France, Champagne

    Short TN: Beautifully aged Champagne with lots of red berries, nutty notes, fallen leaves, sous bois, some minerality. An intellectual Champagne, very soft, round with fine bubbles and no shortage of depth and richness. On par with the great 1996 I had a few months earlier.

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  • 2007 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 94 Points

    France, Champagne

    Short TN: Quite the contrast to the Louis XV 1995 tasted a longside, a hedonistic, outgoing wine full of fresh bakery aromas, lots of brioche, nice minerality, citrus and a good freshness to cut through the rich Chardonnay aromatics. This is out there and signing. This currently drinks better than the 2006 which is closing down.

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  • 2016 DuMOL Chardonnay DuMOL Estate Vineyard 94 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    Short TN: I've recently had the 2015 Estate vs Clare and both wines showed very good with the Clare having a clear edge with more depth and a much better precision. This 2016 Estate is clearly one or two notches above the 2015 with more expression, more flint notes and more depth. Lots of flint, toast, citrus, mineral notes. Good length and soft texture with a very good freshness. Not your typical heavy Cali Chard.

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Flight 2 (6 Notes)

  • 2014 Domaine Jean Chartron Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Les Murgers des Dents de Chien Blanc 88 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Saint-Aubin 1er Cru

    Chartron Masterclass with JM Chartron and Will Kelley
    Fine herbs and lots of dark minerality, rocky stones on the nose along some slight smoke notes. White fruit and some red hints additionally on the palate. Pleasant but without exceptionalism, not overly expressive, sharp and medium- length.

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  • 2014 Domaine Jean Chartron Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos du Cailleret 91 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

    Chartron Masterclass with JM Chartron and Will Kelley
    On the nose the weakest in the line-up with rocks, fresh cut grass and slight reductive notes. On the palate a bit more depth with white fruit, a bit of apple, citrus and some rocky minerality. Fine, soft, fresh - overall a good wine but here too: nothing exceptional.

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  • 2014 Domaine Jean Chartron Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos de la Pucelle 92 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

    Chartron Masterclass with JM Chartron and Will Kelley
    A clear step-up on the nose with smoky toast, popcorn, better defined than the two others (St Aubin Murgers, Clos du Cailleret). Very mineral driven on the palate with lots of white orchard fruit and citrus. Very well integrated acidity. Lots of fun to drink.

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  • 2014 Domaine Jean Chartron Corton-Charlemagne 95 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

    Chartron Masterclass with JM Chartron and Will Kelley
    Clear distinction vs the 1er Crus before, more of everything with a clearly higher intensity. Sexy nose with lots of reductive matchstick and flint notes with just hints of citrus and wet stone minerals. On the palate, all the before mentioned aromas are amplified along with orchard fruits. This is a very round, almost creamy, balanced and well-integrated wine. Kelley says that Corton Charlie wines tend to be far more structured and less seductive. A great wine which is a lot of fun to drink and has some intellectual appeal.

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  • 2014 Domaine Jean Chartron Bâtard-Montrachet 93 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

    Chartron Masterclass with JM Chartron and Will Kelley
    For me the weakest among the 3 Grand Crus as the wine is much less focused and delineated than the Corton Charlemagne (95 points) with less complexity and precision compared to the Chevalier Montrachet (97+ points). It lacks a bit of freshness too. Will it improve from here?

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  • 2014 Domaine Jean Chartron Chevalier-Montrachet Clos des Chevaliers 97 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

    Chartron Masterclass with JM Chartron and Will Kelley
    A nose to die for with much more dimensions than all the other wines in the line-up. Lots of smokey toast, popcorn, butter, autumn leves, nutty notes, slight oxidation hints. Cool, fresh, citruisy... very intriguing. Same on the palate with some ash, oak, herbal and layers of crushed rock and dark soil notes complementing all before mentioned aromas. By far the most complex wine. So well defined and focused it handles all the intensity thanks to a perfectly integrated acidity which makes the wine very fresh, almost sparkling. A very complete showing that is already drinking quite well (the wine sit in the glass for about 45 minutes, hence a decent decant might be advised). Given the moderate price point this is a screaming buy, IMHO.

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Flight 3 (6 Notes)

  • 2012 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon 98 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    Chapoutier Masterclass with Maxime Chapoutier
    Oh boy, this is extremely good! Tons of hedonistic pleasure paired with a lot of intellectual appeal - this is quite a singular wine: Smoke, dark soil, ashes, very volcanic almost like an Algianico from the Etna region, inkiness, and a block of dark fruit to cope with all this singular mineral expression and intense earthiness. Very intense, deep and rich but with a sense of weightlessness and a long finish. I can only imagine how good this will be with 10 more years of age and even higher complexity and an even softer structure (it could . Very well the best Northern Rhone Syrah I had to date and the winner in the strong line-up with all four Le Pavillon vintages from 2009 to 2012.

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  • 2011 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon 97 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    Chapoutier Masterclass with Maxime Chapoutier
    Just a tad below the magical 2012 is the 2011 La Pavillon with an inky, rocky, volcanic, earthy, truffle nose only disturbed by a bit too ripe dark fruits. Luckily, this ripeness shines not through on the palate. Again very smooth and round tannins, perfectly integrated acidity, good depth and excellent length. Again an understandable call by Jeb Dunnuck.

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  • 2010 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon 93 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    Chapoutier Masterclass with Maxime Chapoutier
    It became quickly obvious that the 2010 is in another category than the 2011/2012, which are open and extremely mineral driven expressions. Here we have a wall of dark fruit, herbs and earth, extremely dense and packed but currently in complete lock-down. As the flavors are so massive they nevertheless shine through a bit but it would be a big sin to open this bottle today. If you nevertheless do so, give it an 8h+ decant. Drinking pleasure is at 93 at best but the potential is high: tasting the other vintages next to it, my guess is this could very well reach triple digit merits in 15+ years (likely not earlier).

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  • 2009 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon 95 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    Chapoutier Masterclass with Maxime Chapoutier
    Not as open and expressive as the 2011 and 2012 but more than the 2010. Signature ink, volcanic, dark wet earth minerality with lots of dark berries and dark fruit and in addition cola notes, stems and herbs. Bolder, denser than the 2011/2012 wines, hence not (yet?) on the same level of elegance and weightlessness, despite round, velvety tannins and a well-integrated acidity. It would be interesting to again compare these wines in 10 years. It seems that these rather "off-vintages" offer such early drinking pleasure and a level of elegance which can be hardly described with words and better vintages need much more time with some uncertainty if they ever reach the same level of elegance.

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  • 2012 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc Le Méal 93 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    Chapoutier Masterclass with Maxime Chapoutier
    Not as expressive and bold as the L'Ermite blanc drank alongside. Good, slightly reductive nose, mineral-driven with lots of yellow fruit and hints of white flowers. Oily texture but still not heavy and cloying thanks to an excellent freshness. Good but not great.

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  • 2012 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc l'Ermite 95 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    Chapoutier Masterclass with Maxime Chapoutier
    A nose to die for displaying an array of mineral, rock, stone notes along with smoke, ash, toast notes. Gets better and better with air, more intense and very harmonious. On the palate less exciting with white flowers, white and yellow fruit. Not as complex and layered as let‘s say a Burgundy Grand Cru but still very good squaring the circle of having an oily texture and viscosity but being quite light and airy at the same time. Nevertheless, not necessarily my favorite style of wine.

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