10/24/2021 - CSteefel wrote:

1996 Giacomo Conterno Cascina Francia, a beautiful and very pure expression of aged red-fruited Nebbiolo. So balanced and poised on the nose and in the mouth, this one showed little volatility except for late-arriving herbal notes that lengthen the finish.

10/24/2021 - CSteefel wrote:

I have had a number of the Keller GGs over the years, including the Hubacker and Kirschspiel. But the Abts Erde seems to follow a different track. The first one was the 2008, sampled way too early, a rich and character-full wine but not necessarily a standout. The first real hint (to me) that I was dealing with a different beast came in 2015 when we drank another bottle of the 2008. Tending to orange and more orchard fruit than the (apparently) lesser siblings, the Abts Erde seems to be undergoing electrification, for want of a better expression, with shape-shifting and latitude-crossing flavors bringing in orchard fruits and hints of more tropical climes. Great richness (like its too early brother), but now showing an almost gossamer transient quality. One of my top 10 wines of 2015. The other night it was the 2009 Keller Abts Erde Grosses Gewachs, which perhaps took things one step further. This is an even richer wine than the 2008, but still displaying the pulsating, shifting character on the palate that brings in ripe orchard fruit with more tropical blood orange, all underlain by a chalky mineral underpinning that seems to provide the mechanism by which all of these flavors and inner mouth perfumes expand on the palate.

9/29/2021 - CSteefel wrote:

I see the 2018 Fontodi CC is rated the same as the 2017 by Galloni, but I find this riper, much simpler, and generally lacking in grip and ultimately interest. I am sure quite a few years in the cellar would sharpen this up, but it strikes me as verging on overripe, round, even fruity. The 2017 is much better...

6/18/2021 - CSteefel wrote:

Lots of dark fruit with plenty of depth, but the overwhelming signature here are the drying tannins from the oak treatment. This becomes more pronounced with time in the glass, so by about 2 hours this is a hard, dry wine with the ripe fruit struggling to compete with the wood. I had heard that the oak treatment chez Scavino has ramped down in the early 2000s, but it seems maybe not...

5/22/2021 - CSteefel wrote:

I continue to be intrigued by the 2019 vintage in the Loire Valley, and here is more evidence that maybe it is a great vintage across the board. The 2019 F. Cotat Sancerre Monts Damnes shows an ethereal nose of white orchard fruit combined with gradually strengthening aromas of white flowers, sage, and very finely crushed stone. The presentation of aromas is beguiling here, as one has the sensation of moving slowly through microenvironments that end up playing out on the palate in both time and space. On the palate, the wine is superbly focused and penetrating, with an initial attack of sweet viscous orchard fruit that transitions effortlessly to an inner mouth perfume of fragrant herbs and white flowers. The overall balance is admirable, but perhaps even more striking is that it comes across as fully integrated--the transitions and the resulting thrust on the finish are impeccable.

5/19/2021 - CSteefel wrote:

Very firm structured Chenin, dominated now by aromas of lemon oil that intensify with time. I might have identified this as a young Chablis if tasted blind, except for the chalky character and barest hint of herbs that suggests Chenin. But lacking perhaps the telltale herbal and slightly bitter notes that I typically associate with Chenin from this part of the Loire.

5/19/2021 - CSteefel wrote:

More acidic than I expected following the lush and pliant Menard Pluton, but this is in the style of the 2018 Anjou Blanc a Francois(e) I had earlier. Notes of lemon oil strengthen with time, struggling with the herbal and floral elements that are probably lurking well behind the scenes here. I probably would have identified the Anjou Blanc a Francois(e) as a young Chablis except for the chalky element that seems to contribute to the broadening of the profile, and similar comments on the slightly less acidic 2018 Clos de la Hutte, which is more balanced, lemon oil together with a sappy sweeter mid-palate. This one shows best on the nose right now, where the lemon, verbena, herbs, and floral elements seem to compete... On Day 2, the acidity is still strong, but the lemon oil notes have given away to something more akin to grapefruit, so now the confusion blind might be a young Sancerre. Still a somewhat atypical Chenin in my limited experience...

5/19/2021 - CSteefel wrote:

Quite different actually then the Clos des Mailles, much richer, with an extraordinary satiny mouthfeel that reflects the perfect overall balance in this wine. Upon first opening, this is quite backward aromatically, but gradually the herbal notes display themselves, and finally arrive as inner mouth perfume after > 1 hour of air. On the palate there is the immediate lush texture followed quickly by a note of sweetness, followed by the herbal notes about 1.5 seconds later. This continued to broaden and develop additional nuances with time in the glass, so I think it is correct to think that this will age quite well. Beautiful wine that displays a special character...

5/12/2021 - CSteefel wrote:

Some trepidation at first with a hint of oxidation, but this blew off in a short while and settled down with some air. Now more in the style of a big Emidio Pepe Montepulciano, with only faint residual tannins. A big ripe wine, but one which gradually develops definition and structure (much in the style of a Pepe) in the glass. Some would not find this evolution exciting, but to me it is fascinating to see this emerge. Suggests of course that it should have been held for a few more years, but quite impressive nontheless...

5/12/2021 - CSteefel Likes this wine:

Beautiful expression of Chenin, so elegant and even approaching ethereal, great balance of acidity and delicate herbal aromas on a rich but still weightless base. The smoky herbal aromas build on the pear and apple fruit displayed on the palate gradually show stronger acidity, even as honeyed notes and even white flowers being to emerge with time in the glass. But the great balance and character persist...

5/9/2021 - CSteefel Likes this wine:

Beautiful Chianti Classico, strikingly bright and focused despite its youth. Some tannins as you might expect given its age, with gradually emerging spice and herb notes that highlight the definition and purity of the wine. Upstages both the Isole and Felsina from the same year for sure...

5/4/2021 - CSteefel Likes this wine:

As compared to a bottle tasted a month ago at a local restaurant, this one benefits from a big glass (like the Conterno Sensory), which brings out the delicate dried cherry and sous-bois notes. Actually quite elegant. A translucent wine, gradually building intensity if not weight as the acidity sharpens the wine on the mid-palate and finish with time in the glass. Would never have guessed this was from a big vintage like 2015. But be careful with this one--the first appearance is more that of a simpler, lighter bodied wine, but then as it breathes (and presumably ages) it develops more complexity and elegance. Reminds me in this regard of the Dujac Burgs a few years ago that would get 87 points from the critics...

4/23/2021 - CSteefel wrote:

The ripeness is more apparent with this bottle, perhaps amplified by a touch of oxidation that is creeping in. On the nose this shows ripe apple, mint, camphor. On the palate, ripe apple and ginger turn candied on the finish, with the suggestion of bitter honey that contributes to the unctuous mouthfeel. Not sure how many more years this will last, so I am not unhappy about finishing the last bottle here. However, past the slight oxidation here is not universal for these bottles from this vintage, but still one plays the odds...

4/20/2021 - CSteefel wrote:

Another bottle of the 1988 Jaboutlet La Chappelle, but from a different provenance. Dead on Arrival, no trace of northern Rhone character, or of any character suggesting a finer wine. Indistinguishable from a $15-20 generic New World wine. That said, also no overt expression of oxidation, ullage, or TCA, so I am guessing this just did not make it to 33 years because of storage at least than ideal (very cool) temperatures. The contrast with the earlier pristine bottle could not have been more dramatic.

3/20/2021 - CSteefel Likes this wine:

First bottle was beautifully nuanced, elegant, almost Burgundian in its complex expression of red fruit (seeming to have started life as much darker), with gradually emerging notes of sage and thyme as the it evolves in the glass. In short, a classic expression of northern Rhone Syrah. This shows a roasted meat note, with just the suggestion of surmaturite one might expect from a Syrah, but overall the balance is remarkable.

3/10/2021 - CSteefel wrote:

Pale golden in color, this paired perfectly with Norwegian krei code tempura. This is just a step (or 1.5 steps) below the Donnhoff GGs I think, with its pungent petrol notes that arrive with subtly stated orchard fruit aromas. In the mouth the balance is excellent between the richness of the fruit, the lingering sweet character, and the firming acidity, although a few more years of bottle age should continue this development further.

3/8/2021 - CSteefel wrote:

This is a showy wine right out of the gate, with an expressive, even extravagant red fruit nose of raspberry and sous-bois with just a hint of spice. On the palate this shows good overall balance, perhaps missing just a bit of drive and spiciness on the finish and the grip. Keeps its strength over 2 hours, although the relative brevity of the finish becomes more evident with time, this mid-weight wine is ready for drinking now unless one prefers tertiary characteristics.

3/7/2021 - CSteefel wrote:

Dark ruby red, this initially shows reluctant aromas of dark cherry and and spice, gradually opening with time in the decanter and glass. Excellent depth on the wine, but slightly disappointing that it begins to show a harder edge as the time from opening > 2 hours. Perhaps tempting to say this is simply not ready, but the hard slightly astringent tannic edge makes me worry a bit about its future evolution and upside potential with more bottle age.

3/1/2021 - CSteefel Likes this wine:

This particular Cuvee, the Terroirs (I have never seen a vintage version of this) is remarkably consistent, a significant step up above the 7 Crus in my opinion. This is firm and sharply etched, certainly not fully ready, but with some time in the glass the ripe core gradually fleshes out and the yeasty brioche nose develops. I like the precision of this Champagne, and the penetrating profile it shows consistently.

1/11/2021 - CSteefel Likes this wine:

A dark red juicy wine, with an interesting balance between brightly flavored dark raspberry and strawberry. Still, this is far from a simple fruity wine, with the long mineral element and underlying spice conveying interest and liveliness for present day drinking, but also promising a graceful evolution. On Day 2, the wine turned a little hard, starting to show a bit like a harder jammy fruit note, but presumably this is just because the wine is too young. Check back on this one in 3-5 years.

1/10/2021 - CSteefel Likes this wine:

Now a perfect bottle, but perhaps still aging a bit faster than the Old Boys might be expecting it to (I keep hearing references to 20 year old Chenin). On the nose, notes of honeysuckle and mint, while in the mouth this has developed a more honeyed note on the front end which transitions to ripe apple on the finish. Reflecting perhaps the warm year in 2016, this verges on unctuous in the mouth, coating the mid-palate with honeyed herbal extract enlivened by healthy acidity as the inner mouth perfume slowly evolves.

Presumably because of the modest bottle age and the warm year, this Le Mont comes across a bit more like the Huet Clos du Bourg in a good year (e.g., 2019). In other words, some of the characteristic stoniness and linearity of the Le Mont (reflecting the Silex soil) has given way to a broader, more expansive herbal/floral character that, tasted blind, might call the CdB to mind...

1/9/2021 - CSteefel wrote:

A lighter style of Isole e Olena Chianti Classico, at 8 years this is showing a softer almost pretty side, but lacking the drive, precision, and penetration of the better Isole e Olena CC (2010 and 2016). I guess one could call this "elegant", but "simple" is closer to the mark.

On Day 2 and 3, I kept checking back to see if this was really the same wine. The light cherry side seemed to be gone, and the wine was much more powerful and even tannic. I might have thought that it was just my palate evolution, but on Day 3 it was the same story. I would not say the wine improved dramatically, meaning it was still slightly four square, but certainly the wine fleshed out.

1/9/2021 - CSteefel wrote:

A 375 ml bottle, this was clearly darkened in color, so the premox (sherry) character was no surprise. My second 375 from 2010 that was premoxed, I assume they are all gone.

1/8/2021 - CSteefel wrote:

Too bad, my first premox bottle of the 2016 Huet le Mont Sec. All other bottles have been excellent, crunchy orchard fruit, herbal notes, and a fine gingery note on the back end. But the problems with this one were evident immediately based on the color (it turns out a good spectrophotometer would tell you what you need to know about premox). Definitely advanced, and sliding downhill with time in the glass. Too bad they did not use Diam...

1/2/2021 - CSteefel Likes this wine:

Interesting contrast with a bottle from the same stash tasted about 2 months ago. That bottle showed much more evolution, showing soft, bright cherry notes, with the tannins fully resolved. This bottle in January was more as I would have expected based on much earlier bottles, some lingering tannin, with the cherry notes tinged by darker fruit and spice notes. This bottle has turned the corner (or crested the first rise) insofar as the resolved cherry flavors have moved to the front. The acidity and spicy notes drive the long sappy finish...

1/4/2021 - CSteefel Likes this wine:

Stunning Extra Brut Champagne here, such precision and transparency, and yet still showing plenty of ripe fruit at its core. On the nose there is an abundance of yeast and brioche aromas tinged with a more distant chalky note. In the mouth, quite powerful on the mid-palate despite having no real weight, with a core of lemon oil that transitions effortlessly to a reverbererating chalky finish...

1/4/2021 - CSteefel Likes this wine:

Bright cherry red in color, I don't find the rusticity in this wine mentioned by some other tasters. This is primarily red-fruited, with high toned aromas of red raspberry inflected with forest floor and firming minerality. In the mouth, there are some lingering, not fully resolved tannins, but these are fine tannins that contribute to the elegance and the weightlessness of the wine (again, no real trace of rusticity). Perhaps this bottle has just turned the corner, but this is the best 2005 Burg I have had recently. Paired beautifully with Kobe beef.

12/24/2020 - CSteefel Likes this wine:

A brilliant wine fully in its stride, like strolling through an herb garden after 2 hours of air: thyme, lavender, sage, all rendered as a kaleidoscope of shape-shifting aromas. The core of the wine is mineral-infused dark red raspberry and black currant, this has progressed from the liquid granite wine I tasted some 15 years ago through its perfect integration of dark red fruit, minerality, and high-toned herbal notes. In fact, the fine herb notes are even more beguiling as inner mouth perfume that linger on the long, reverberating granitic berry finish.

9/11/2014 - CSteefel Likes this wine:

Very dark ruby red in color, a nose of fragrant underbrush and cassis, classis Cab Franc. Very bright on the palate, with good ripeness and saturation, this is really starting to drink beautifully. The Baudry from this year have always been good, but there is an additional grip and definition that has emerged with some bottle age. A great year for Chinon, whatever some said early on. I particularly like the way the bright ripe fruit is balanced by the signature leafy Cab Franc character.

9/5/2014 - CSteefel wrote:

Premature oxidation, my first bad 2004 Fevre. The ghost of the wine is rich, with lingering acidity, but the aromas and flavors have turned to sherry.

Importer is shown as J.J. Hansen Vinimport in Odense, Denmark, so I guess I must have got this from Premier Cru, although usually they add their own label. Bought close to or on release, stored perfectly (55F) ever since. We could blame the importer I guess, but I suspect that the Fevre wines are just not aging well...

3/26/2012 - CSteefel wrote:

Drank this at the big Bordeaux tasting at the Red House, along side a 1982 Pichon Lalande and LLC, and a 1990 Angelus. This was the best bottle yet of this wine, mid-neck fill. In the glass, dark, brooding, smoky, with black fruit almost taking on a charcoal character. Beautiful wine, with excellent (if not great) persistence on the finish.

3/14/2012 - CSteefel wrote:

Very dark red in color. On the nose, reserved, but with dark cherry and tarry underbrush aromas. On the palate, this is very well balanced and structured, with excellent depth. No sign of overripeness (in contrast to comments by Galloni), but very good intensity and acidity on the mid-palate. Also, very far from being a "thin" or "acidic" wine (see comments below), which makes me think that either we are drinking different bottles, or the tasters have no experience with Brunello? In keeping with the style of a 1999 Ciacci we had about 1 year ago--very dark, substantial but fine tannins, backward, excellent depth.

3/3/2012 - CSteefel wrote:

Initially an attractive tidal pool nose with fainter quinine, this is round and full in the mouth, but lacking perhaps a bit of energy and acidity even from the get go. The sweet, almost oily notes show up on the finish. With time in the glass, this gradually starts to show more and more signs of oxidation, although the effect is never overwhelming. Still pretty good now, but its lack of energy and delineation on the palate took away from its pairing with the oysters. This particular bottle at least is on a downward slide...

3/3/2012 - CSteefel wrote:

Corked.

2/20/2012 - CSteefel wrote:

The latest bottle was gone completely, I guess too long at room temperature. A "train wreck of over-ripeness", as a prominent Napa winemaker said.

By the way, laboratory analysis here indicates 15.9% alcohol...

1/29/2012 - CSteefel wrote:

Tasting notes already posted are mostly very good. This is showing its slightly rough and rustic side now, with some prominent tannins that require either some aeration (or better yet, bottle age) to tame. But there is good depth here, and even a suggestion of layering here in the dark sour cherry and soil mineral-dominated palate, with tar and underbrush notes just below the surface. Impressive depth of material here, this is should be more elegant down the road.

2/1/2011 - CSteefel wrote:

Not enough air on this bottle. A real mouthful of Brunello, but missing the distinct floral aromatics that emerge with enough time (and age). Clearly some great potential here.

8/1/2011 - CSteefel wrote:

With about 2 hours of air, this wine was singing. Aeration is absolutely essential at this stage to get it to show much of anything, but with the 2 hours, the wine shows distinct floral notes that meld with the aromas of balsamico, tar, and underbrush. Bold and authoritative on the palate, this is a great Brunello with fantastic length.

9/17/2011 - CSteefel wrote:

Dark purple, deeply pitched wine with impressive depth and length. This is more dark fruit dominated that I might have expected from a Greves, but perhaps in keeping with the vintage. Some substantial, not fully resolved tannins, but they strike me as fine, even contributing now to the length of the finish. A distinct floral note emerges with the black raspberry on the nose, contributing to the overall elegant profile. Impressive...

8/15/2011 - CSteefel wrote:

Consumed in Prague overlooking the castle. Perhaps not quite as dry and minerally as I might have expected, still this wine had good intensity and body, with a distinct saline tidal pool element showing strongly on the finish. Beautiful wine, in marked contrast to an earlier 2000 Fevre Clos that was completely gone.

5/6/2011 - CSteefel wrote:

Alongside it was the 2002 Barthod Chambolle-Musigny Cras, which was perhaps not quite as good a foil for the Volnay as the Fuées was if the objective was to show off the elegant floral character of Chambolle. In contrast to the floral Fuées, the nose on the Cras is dominated by very ripe, almost decadent red Pinot fruit. Drinking it in the evening, it was clear that 8 hours of aeration had helped to reduce a bit the impression of the tannins that are still prominent when first opened. Rich and dense, and as I said, very ripe, this straddles the line between red and dark fruit, and should again show very well a few years down the road.

6/26/2011 - CSteefel wrote:

The 1993 Confuron RSV was a somewhat different story. One expects with an RSV, especially from a top vintage like 1993, to be eventually transported to a dream-like land of Oriental spices and exotic flavors, but here it seems we never made it out of the barnyard. The Brett character, which became stronger with time in the glass, combined with a very ripe, almost congealed fruit character had one taster thinking more of a Chateauneuf than a Burg, even if the Pinot varietal was recognizable. While the Brett character faded a little bit with the last drops, it still had the effect of making the wine come across as a bit coarse, even rustic. Maybe we should have sent this bottle back, but none of us had any experience with Confuron RSV to be able to say what was really to be expected here.

6/26/2011 - CSteefel wrote:

We started with a bottle of 2000 Fevre Chablis les Clos, which I was hoping would outperform some of the problem bottles that seemed to mostly come from the 2002 vintage. While all agreed there was no premature oxidation here, the results were unsatisfactory nonetheless. The wine had developed a honeyed secondary character, but this presented itself almost as an overlay (or even late addition) to the basic components of the wine. The result was an amorphous, monolithic wine with no acidity or structure or delineation to speak of. On the nose, lemon-honey aromas fade into a somewhat nondescript profile that is missing those saline tidal pool elements that make Chablis really interesting. The palate is sappy, with good weight, but mostly providing just a lingering sweetness that had me thinking Riesling again (not the first time with the Fevre Chablis). It as if the winemaker had left in a sweet component in the wine that in the worst cases turned badly to oxidation (as in many of my 2002 samples), but here simply faded to a fuzzy top layer. I noted some oak in a bottle of this wine tasted back in 2004, but I cannot be sure this has anything to do with its present less than stellar performance—however, the wine did seem spoofed, certainly far from what should be the natural condition of a top (or even good) Chablis.

6/30/2011 - CSteefel wrote:

Apparently consumed in the distant past. Will post notes if I find them elsewhere...

10/1/2009 - CSteefel wrote:

The e big ripe character of the les Cras vineyard was apparent again in the 2002 Barthod Chambolle Musigny les Cras. Another big whiff of quite ripe red Pinot fruit suggests at least some similarities in style to the 2006 example, although this is a denser, creamier wine on the palate. Once the initial ripe attack on the nose and palate had scaled back a bit, it became apparent that this was still a tightly wound wine that needed another 5-10 years to come around. Excellent raw materials again, however...

3/15/2011 - CSteefel wrote:

Next in line was the 2000 Pichon Lalande, a wine that gave me a chance to recall some of the early comments about bell pepper and almost vegetal greenness. But then there were others who claimed it was a great wine. Well, this bottle performed beautifully, and I can safely say that bell pepper is possibly the last descriptor one would come up with for this wine. Signature Pichon Lalande aromas of aged brown tobacco, cassis, and with a high toned menthol note that contributed to the wine’s striking aromatic development and complexity given its young age. I’d say (and I think others agreed) that this is a great Pichon Lalande in the making

3/15/2011 - CSteefel wrote:

Next up was a trio of Bordeaux from the vaunted 1982 vintage. The superstar in my opinion here was the 1982 La Mission Haut Brion, a wine in some ways so distinct from all that came before that it would have stood out even if it was not a great wine. Dark and dusty, almost impenetrable fruit and charcoal aromas took me back to the 1975 Haut Brion from a few months back. In the mouth, the dark fruit is tinged by flavors of black olive underlain by its perfectly integrated mineral structure. This wine seems to have been culled from the deeper waters of the Marianas Trench, still brooding and reserved despite its advanced age. A wine of incredible length, one where the term “haunting” seems entirely appropriate.

2/1/2011 - CSteefel wrote:

I tried another bottle of 2007 P. Usseglio Chateauneuf du Pape Tradition last night. This bottle more or less confirmed my earlier impression of a high alcohol wine, albeit with at least some CdP character still there. This is in no way a "spoofed" wine, since the CdP/Grenache typicity and terroir is still there. In fact, my wife took one taste and said "licorice", which is there in abundance. What is there is some high alcohol that shows primarily as candied licorice, red raspberry, and glycerine--for me, these characteristics on the palate swamp the other typical CdP signatures like garrigue. So I would tend to say that this is not a well-balanced wine, even if it isn't monolithic (the real signature of a spoofed wine), but this is of course subjective.

Perhaps Alan Rath called this one right when he said it reminded him of an Alban Grenache. Maybe a little less dense, and a more prominent licorice note dominating the nose and palate, but otherwise... And almost the same effect on the head, since the last time I felt so hammered after splitting a bottle of wine was at a garden party where an Alban Grenache was served (had to call a taxi and leave my car behind). I wonder what the alcohol content is here, but I am guessing +15.5% based on the glycerine on the palate and my reaction to it.

12/25/2010 - CSteefel wrote:

Ruby red color garnet showing on the rim. Unfortunately the wine is mostly cooked, with volatile shoe polish aromas showing immediately, and gradually intensifying with time. I was hoping this would blow off, but when the structure of the wine is cooked, it's not going to happen. The roasting apparently sapped the underlying structure of the wine, which appeared to have been good, and robbed the fruit of all freshness. Too bad...

9/23/2010 - CSteefel wrote:

Hmmm, some high alcohol here, although one cannot dispute that the wine is otherwise well made. The alcohol is apparent on the nose as the wine warms in the glass, obscuring to some extent those characteristic Grenache aromatics that we look for. On the palate, the saturation is marked, with blue fruit beginning to show, and again swamping any obvious spicy flavors, although one can detect licorice at least lurking in the back ground. The wine is reasonably well structured and did not strike me as jammy since there is a backbone of acid, but I can't say that is particularly complex. Let's hope for the best...