Rick's Birthday Dinner

For a surprise party, we descended on Wink Wine bar in Austin, and its friendly staff to celebrate Rick's birthday. As always, the wine lineup and food were out of this world.

On top of the wines below, there was also a very pretty bottle of 2002 JJ Prum, but I don't remember whether it was a Spaetlese and what vineyard, so I couldn't write a detailed note. I also missed one Champagne, but the Krug more than made up for it.

• 2001 M. Chapoutier Hermitage Blanc Chante-Alouette

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Very, very nice wine and kind of an eye opener to me. I've never had a wine this viscous and thick while remaining lean and minerally on the fruit. Maybe the most remarkable trait of this wine is the amazing smokiness on the nose and smoked bbq on the palate. Long finish, seemingly great agability. I have to see if I can find some of this.

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• 1999 Mount Mary Triolet

  Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley

  This was good, although not earth-shattering, or nearly ads good as the Chapoutier. Interesting white with a steely, Chardonnay-like presonality. Finish was a tad short, but not clipped. Wouldn't seek this out, but it's a good quaffer on a hot summer night.

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• 1996 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut

  France, Champagne

  What can I say. Perfection in a flute. Great champagne with incredibly fine mousse and bead. A very dry, almost slightly reductive character. Very powerful, finish goes on and on and if I had to guess what the cepage is (since I don't know it), I'd lean towards guessing this is heavy on Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier with some Chardonnay. Does better with food than without. Can Champagne get better than this? Maybe, but it would be an uphill battle for sure.

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This is where the lineup went to extra-stellar. One home-run after another.

• 1999 Mount Mary Quintet

  Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley

  Another bottle of Mount mary, but this was better than the Triolet. Nicely done wine that has some Bordeaux-ness to it. Soft and charming, elegant and layered. A testament that not all Aussie wines are over-the-top fruit bombs. Very enjoyable.

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• 1998 Araujo Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Excellent bottle of CA Cab. Very feminine, soft texture, and open for business. Great, suave fruit with a good dose of tobacco leaf. Finish is solid but not as long as I thought it would be. Good wine in a difficult vintage. I still liked it a lot, albeit not nearly in the same league as the 94' Dominus.

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• 2001 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Spottswoode Estate Vineyard

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Another bottle of CA Cab, and another winner. Almost as soft as the Araujo, but it's got more stuffing (better vintage). That said, I liked the Araujo a touch better sa this showed just a touch too much Vanilla on the finish, which is a minor turn-off for me. With a little less oak, this would have beat the Araujo in my opinion.

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• 1988 Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia

  Italy, Tuscany, Vino da Tavola

  This was really a teriffic wine. Reminiscent of an 80's California Cab with great fruit and a menthol/eucalyptus streak that I've tasted in both 70's and 80's Heitz Martha's and Turnbull wines. Just amazingly soft texture, great balance and a superb finish. Also has that funk that I associate with Italian wines. Needless to say, this wsa killer with food.

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• 1998 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Showed very well last night. Soft texture and mouthfeel with classic black currant and cigar box. Imminently drinkable right now. Very elegant, understated, but with a sense of depth...my kind of wine.

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• 2003 Château Léoville Poyferré

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  A perplexing bottle. Some pronounced it corked right out of the gate, others didn't. Had a lot of funk, so I wonder if that may contribute to the thought this may have been corked. Actually a good wine on the palate and nose. I would guess this was super-low-level corked. Utterly drinkable, but somewhat unexciting because the wine kept going in and out of stages where cork seemed more perceptible and then less. Need to try another one. One of the tasters said he's had 3 of 5 bottles so far that have been off in the same exact way. Ned to keep an eye on that?

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• 1994 Dominus Estate Napanook Vineyard

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  The star of the evening for me. Just incredibly supple fruit with great earthiness, texture, balance, acid. One of the best red wines I've ever had. Finish goes on and on. Although this shows some signs of California fruit, it is more like Bordeaux than some more modern styled Bordeaux. An amazing achievement in wine making and the poster child wine to prove that all California Cab doesn't have to be uber-ripe to be good.

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• 1992 Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain

  Maybe one of the top wines of the night for me. Classic black currant with lots of leather, tobacco and some bell pepper and herbeacousness. Great structure and elegance while also quite burly and still in need of some bottle time. Thrilling and in it's own right almost as good as the 94' Dominus, albeit in a very different style. Finish goes on forever. Maybe the best Dunn I've had yet.

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• 2003 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Chaupin

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

  A very good bottle of wine. 100% Grenache and one can tell it is. Has that dried raisin and plum that I always notice in young CdP heavy with Grenache. Starts out smelling like plum cake...the kind my grandmother used to make with a yeast crust/dough and plenty of ripe plums scattered on top. With some air, olive tapenade notes and died cured Kalamata olives comes through. Wine kept evolving throughout the night. I think this is 3-5 years from being in the right drinking window. Too primary still, but a wine with great potential that can already be enjoyed with a number of hours of air right now.

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• 2001 Clarendon Hills Grenache Old Vines Blewitt Springs

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, Clarendon

  Tasted side by side with the Janasse, this was remarkably close in quality to the Janasse. And like the Janasse, I was missing classic CdP character of kirsch liqueur and garrigue , and I found plum and raisins instead. Very good drink and shows just how good Grenache can be in any micro-climate.

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• 2003 Krupp Brothers Estates Joshua Super Tuscan Stagecoach Vineyard

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Whoa. Very big wine. I was told that the wine maker learned under Michel Chapoutier, but I wouldn't have known from drinking this wine. Super-huge fruit and tannin levels and not enough acidity in it for me. I can see how some would absolutely love this, but being the old-world drinker I am, this just wasn't for me.

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