From magnum. Didn't really like this, despite by general love of Chartogne-Taillet. I thought that the mousse here was really coarse and clumsy, and I didn't really like the texture here either -- a little unintegrated, sharp, and prickly.
Hooray, a non-effed up bottle! A nice mix of red and black fruit with a fairly wispy and light disposition. Not concentrated on the palate, but also not particularly compelling as far as flavours go. That said, at least it didn't taste like grapefruit juice. In comparison to the 2014 alongside and notes about this wine on release, I'm wondering if this just isn't a wine built to age.
This wine is hilarious in colour -- looks more like a rose than a red wine. But it's incredibly pretty with these really juicy and bright strawberry and cherry flavours with a serious delicacy on the palate. Almost weightless but not flavourless. The lack of structure gives me pause about aging this, but it is amply nice to drink now.
I'll admit my first reaction on pulling the cork here was one of "that's why we don't age St. Joseph for 23 years." It was initially mostly thin and emaciated, but boy did this put on weight after a few hours, showing a darker and darker complexion, with tons of olive and smoke, all cut by a vein of acidity and a generous minerality. Pretty incredible stuff, especially seeing how it blossomed.
I think this got a little too bretty at the end for some, but for me, this was still within my tolerance. It's about as classic a Côte-Rôtie as can be. The nose is all smoke and meat and animal funk and olive brine, with an extra spicy kick. The fruit is a little more on the red side of the spectrum, with a pretty deft lightness on the palate, even though it seems this does have a kiss of oak on it too. Delicious, classically-styled stuff. I will say this is probably at the tail end of maturity; it's not something I'd be too keen on aging more, not that I have any problems drinking a few more bottles of this in the near future.
From magnum. Honestly I did not expect to like this as much as I did -- it's an incredibly heavy wine that is hard to drink a lot of, but the small glass I had was definitely very enjoyable. It's an exotic, tropical melange on the nose with mangos, lychees, and all sorts of other fruits. The flavour is less important or interesting on the palate than the texture, which is thick, luscious, and mouth-coating. A little smidge of bitterness on the back end actually gives this lift. Sometimes these wines can be so over-the-top they swing back to the good side of the spectrum; this I think is one of them.
From magnum. This is very clean for an LdH, and shows all the classic hallmarks of what a Rioja ought to be. In fact, if someone asked me what those flavours were, I would just suggest tasting this wine. There's massive influence from American oak on the nose and palate, and then some black fruit, sweat, leather, and dirt. And somehow despite all that, this feels like a clean wine, with really good delineation. It's a bit coarse on the finish owing to the (relative) youth, and I think a few more years will do this wine good.
From magnum. Laid in chalk cellars in 2013. I don't know if there's much more to be said about this truly great entry-level champagne. It's so archetypal and correct, and the quality here so high. This particular bottling seems to show a little more white fruit, with an interesting hint of pineapple supplementing the more ordinary orchard fruits. Nice chalky minerality on the finish, too.
Others at the table definitely liked this more than I did; I enjoyed the citrus and minerality here, as well as a very intense salinity that seemed to be a little derived more from winemaking. What bothered me this time around was a slightly cidery thing on the palate (from the extended lees contact?). Overall, maybe a touch less clean and crystalline than I like my chablis.
You know the thing with old Rioja is that you can never quite tell if it's corked or not. This is just classic old Rioja funk, but there was also a touch of wet cardboard on the finish that seemed to indicate that this may have had some TCA. Nonetheless, this was a very intense wine, showing some clear black fruit, as well as a distinct leathery quality. The tannins are more resolved than the 2005 Tondonia Reserva alongside, but it is clear this too is a wine that could stand some more significant aging.
From magnum. The nose is what gets me here -- it's a little too dirty and bretty for me. But if you hold your nose and actually taste the wine, it gets a lot cleaner. There's the classic green cabernet franc tones, but there's more weight to this than most Loire; I do quite enjoy that aspect of this wine. It's just that the nose is a little too far down the stinky slope for me.
Of unknown age, this bottle felt a little more oxidative and slightly more nutty and browned than a recent bottle that I purchased. Nonetheless, this is still a brilliant champagne, but tonight this bottle didn't quite have the verve and life that I've seen in other bottles.
From magnum. This is such a textbook wine, with all its bright florals and red fruits. The ripeness of the vintage is on display and it renders this wine more accessible so early on. The palate has just a touch of sweetness from the warmth of the vintage, but there's also a lifted elegance and floral perfume here that makes this really drinkable. The tannins aren't actually too intense, so in fact this really isn't a hard nebbiolo to approach right now.
From magnum. A little backwards and rustic, but lovely tart cherry pinot flavours on the nose and palate here. Not a complex wine, but very true to what it says on the label, and easily drinkable. The ripe vintage probably helps give this a little more heft than its appellation would promise.
From magnum. Such a beautiful, classic Napa cabernet, this has far more charm and beauty than the wines of Bordeaux in the same vintage. Restrained and elegant, but with a plush fruit profile that is just delightful. There's still some structure and tannin, but for the most part, this is a fully resolved wine that is just a delight to drink (especially with a good hunk of porchetta).
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
I was seriously surprised how much I liked this bottle. It's definitely a big-boned wine with plenty of fruit and structure, but it's also fairly clean and despite the scale, there is still quite a bit of minerality and restraint to it. A bit of kirsch, licorice, and leather but all done without any high-toned alcohol notes, nor jammy over-the-top fruit. Colour me impressed by this -- I'm not generally a CdP fan.
NV Chartogne-Taillet Champagne Cuvée Sainte Anne 85 Points
France, Champagne
From magnum. Didn't really like this, despite by general love of Chartogne-Taillet. I thought that the mousse here was really coarse and clumsy, and I didn't really like the texture here either -- a little unintegrated, sharp, and prickly.
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2012 Château Rayas Côtes du Rhône La Pialade 88 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône
Hooray, a non-effed up bottle! A nice mix of red and black fruit with a fairly wispy and light disposition. Not concentrated on the palate, but also not particularly compelling as far as flavours go. That said, at least it didn't taste like grapefruit juice. In comparison to the 2014 alongside and notes about this wine on release, I'm wondering if this just isn't a wine built to age.
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2014 Château Rayas Côtes du Rhône La Pialade 90 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône
This wine is hilarious in colour -- looks more like a rose than a red wine. But it's incredibly pretty with these really juicy and bright strawberry and cherry flavours with a serious delicacy on the palate. Almost weightless but not flavourless. The lack of structure gives me pause about aging this, but it is amply nice to drink now.
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1997 Domaine Faury St. Joseph 93 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph
I'll admit my first reaction on pulling the cork here was one of "that's why we don't age St. Joseph for 23 years." It was initially mostly thin and emaciated, but boy did this put on weight after a few hours, showing a darker and darker complexion, with tons of olive and smoke, all cut by a vein of acidity and a generous minerality. Pretty incredible stuff, especially seeing how it blossomed.
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1998 Domaine de Vallouit Côte-Rôtie Les Roziers 93 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
I think this got a little too bretty at the end for some, but for me, this was still within my tolerance. It's about as classic a Côte-Rôtie as can be. The nose is all smoke and meat and animal funk and olive brine, with an extra spicy kick. The fruit is a little more on the red side of the spectrum, with a pretty deft lightness on the palate, even though it seems this does have a kiss of oak on it too. Delicious, classically-styled stuff. I will say this is probably at the tail end of maturity; it's not something I'd be too keen on aging more, not that I have any problems drinking a few more bottles of this in the near future.
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2010 F.X. Pichler Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Ried Kellerberg 93 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
From magnum. Honestly I did not expect to like this as much as I did -- it's an incredibly heavy wine that is hard to drink a lot of, but the small glass I had was definitely very enjoyable. It's an exotic, tropical melange on the nose with mangos, lychees, and all sorts of other fruits. The flavour is less important or interesting on the palate than the texture, which is thick, luscious, and mouth-coating. A little smidge of bitterness on the back end actually gives this lift. Sometimes these wines can be so over-the-top they swing back to the good side of the spectrum; this I think is one of them.
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1996 Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Volcanic Hill Flawed
USA, California, Napa Valley, Diamond Mountain
Corked.
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2005 R. López de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Tondonia 90 Points
Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja
From magnum. This is very clean for an LdH, and shows all the classic hallmarks of what a Rioja ought to be. In fact, if someone asked me what those flavours were, I would just suggest tasting this wine. There's massive influence from American oak on the nose and palate, and then some black fruit, sweat, leather, and dirt. And somehow despite all that, this feels like a clean wine, with really good delineation. It's a bit coarse on the finish owing to the (relative) youth, and I think a few more years will do this wine good.
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NV Charles Heidsieck Champagne Brut Réserve 90 Points
France, Champagne
From magnum. Laid in chalk cellars in 2013. I don't know if there's much more to be said about this truly great entry-level champagne. It's so archetypal and correct, and the quality here so high. This particular bottling seems to show a little more white fruit, with an interesting hint of pineapple supplementing the more ordinary orchard fruits. Nice chalky minerality on the finish, too.
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2014 Château de Béru Chablis Clos Béru 88 Points
France, Burgundy, Chablis
Others at the table definitely liked this more than I did; I enjoyed the citrus and minerality here, as well as a very intense salinity that seemed to be a little derived more from winemaking. What bothered me this time around was a slightly cidery thing on the palate (from the extended lees contact?). Overall, maybe a touch less clean and crystalline than I like my chablis.
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1995 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia 90 Points
Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja
You know the thing with old Rioja is that you can never quite tell if it's corked or not. This is just classic old Rioja funk, but there was also a touch of wet cardboard on the finish that seemed to indicate that this may have had some TCA. Nonetheless, this was a very intense wine, showing some clear black fruit, as well as a distinct leathery quality. The tannins are more resolved than the 2005 Tondonia Reserva alongside, but it is clear this too is a wine that could stand some more significant aging.
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2004 Charles Joguet Chinon Les Varennes du Grand Clos 88 Points
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
From magnum. The nose is what gets me here -- it's a little too dirty and bretty for me. But if you hold your nose and actually taste the wine, it gets a lot cleaner. There's the classic green cabernet franc tones, but there's more weight to this than most Loire; I do quite enjoy that aspect of this wine. It's just that the nose is a little too far down the stinky slope for me.
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NV André Clouet Champagne Un jour de 1911... 90 Points
France, Champagne
Of unknown age, this bottle felt a little more oxidative and slightly more nutty and browned than a recent bottle that I purchased. Nonetheless, this is still a brilliant champagne, but tonight this bottle didn't quite have the verve and life that I've seen in other bottles.
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2011 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco 93 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
From magnum. This is such a textbook wine, with all its bright florals and red fruits. The ripeness of the vintage is on display and it renders this wine more accessible so early on. The palate has just a touch of sweetness from the warmth of the vintage, but there's also a lifted elegance and floral perfume here that makes this really drinkable. The tannins aren't actually too intense, so in fact this really isn't a hard nebbiolo to approach right now.
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2015 Domaine Parent Bourgogne Sélection Pomone 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Bourgogne
From magnum. A little backwards and rustic, but lovely tart cherry pinot flavours on the nose and palate here. Not a complex wine, but very true to what it says on the label, and easily drinkable. The ripe vintage probably helps give this a little more heft than its appellation would promise.
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2016 Lamoresca Frappato Sicilia Nerocapitano Flawed
Italy, Sicily, Sicilia
From magnum. Mousy and fizzy. Natural wine.
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1986 Laurel Glen Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Sonoma Mountain 93 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Mountain
From magnum. Such a beautiful, classic Napa cabernet, this has far more charm and beauty than the wines of Bordeaux in the same vintage. Restrained and elegant, but with a plush fruit profile that is just delightful. There's still some structure and tannin, but for the most part, this is a fully resolved wine that is just a delight to drink (especially with a good hunk of porchetta).
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2011 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 93 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
I was seriously surprised how much I liked this bottle. It's definitely a big-boned wine with plenty of fruit and structure, but it's also fairly clean and despite the scale, there is still quite a bit of minerality and restraint to it. A bit of kirsch, licorice, and leather but all done without any high-toned alcohol notes, nor jammy over-the-top fruit. Colour me impressed by this -- I'm not generally a CdP fan.
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