1/31/2014 - geoffucla Likes this wine:

Rich, extracted, growing complexity as it opens. Exactly what one should expect. Fruits are definitely darker.

1/15/2011 - geoffucla wrote:

Decanted about an hour. Full bodied Chianti, still quite young. Tart, red fruits, but still with earthiness that will balance in a few years. Try again in 2014. 92 now.

5/2/2010 - geoffucla wrote:

Much better than the previous bottle. Not green as before. A nice Rhone that is still a bit reticent, but starting to show more fruit.

1/2/2010 - geoffucla wrote:

Good, but a bit more reticent than the last bottle. Subdued fruits, and maybe a bit of green bell pepper. While still quite good, hopefully it was an off bottle, as the first bottle was much better.

1/13/2010 - geoffucla wrote:

Decent balanced, young Chianti-style wine. Excellent for cooking (and having a glass while you cook!).

1/12/2010 - geoffucla wrote:

Dark purple/black. Nose of dark fruits and spice. Full-bodied with integrated tannins and great balancing acidity. There's definitely a cinnamon component and maybe a bit of bacon or other rich meat to complement the dark fruits. Very tasty. Drink remaining within 1-2 years.

1/9/2010 - geoffucla wrote:

Still a great bottle of wine. This one seemed to show a bit less fruit than the prior bottles, and luckily this bottle wasn't brett tainted like the last one. Glycerin and texture are still there. This bottle had much more spice and earth than previous bottles.

12/31/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Clear medium reddish-orange in color (just a slight hint of orange). Nose of cedar, spicebox and earth. Decanted for about an hour. Pallate, more of the same with a medium body; medium length finish. The fruit is very subdued. This is certainly enjoyable and is in great shape for being 30 years old. As there is very little fruit showing, this is a difficult wine to pair with food, but can work very well in certain circumstances. I don't think it will change much in bottle any time soon, so drink or hold.

12/9/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Dark purpley-black in color. Nose of stewed fruit--plums and raisins. More of the same on the palate also with some mocha. There's actually a surprising bit of acidity on the back of the palate, so while this probably ought to be drunk sooner rather than later, as long as one doesn't mind the older fruit profile, it's still nice.

12/8/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Dark red with some brickish coloring to the edge. Dark fruits on the nose initially, but the nose dropped off quite quickly. More of the same on the palate. Not quite at the stewed fruit stage, but getting there. The fruits are supported by some herbiness that is pleasant. There's still enough acidity in the wine to make it pleasurable to drink. If you have any left, I'd probably drink soon, but there is still acidity to preserve it for a while longer.

12/4/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Bright clear garnet color. Upon opening, the nose was very tight giving a bit of strawberry/raspberry candy. After two hours of decanting, the nose filled in a bit, but not much. On the palate, it's a medium-bodied chianti that still exhibits the bright red fruits. Definitely acidic. Not a whole lot of complexity, but enjoyable nonetheless. I imagine this will improve in 2-4 years, but I doubt it will ever be really complex and great.

12/5/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Clear dark red. Red fruits on the nose, primarily cherry with a bit of raspberry ganache. Also an herbiness. Provencal herbs excluding the lavender. On the palate, more of the same. Definite herbal quality following the intense fruit. A fair amount of glycerin accompanies the fruit and herbs to make it a mouthcoating full-bodied wine. At this point the wine is clearly young with no significant layers of flavor, but I'm sure that given a few years, this should develop quite nicely. Already with a couple hours of decanting, the tannins and acidity integrate well, but it just needs time for the complexity to improve. 90 now, but potentially 92+ in 3-5 years.

11/21/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

My first 2007 Rhone. Bright clear red garnet color. With a quick vinturi this was immediately accessible. Good balance of sweet cherries, glycerin and classic Southern Rhone earthiness in contast to integrated tannins and acidity. Medium-full bodied. Very surprising. I let it decant in bottle for about two hours, which I think may have been about 2 hours too long. The wine was still quite good, but it had lost some of its body. Very enjoyable, but not sure of its aging potential.

11/21/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Hmm, very vegetal on the nose and palate. Green bell pepper, some jalapeno without the spice. A bit thin as well. Decanted it 2 hours, and that helped bring some fruit out, but still vegetal and thin. Very dark red in color. I'm not sure if time will help this, but I hope so.

11/19/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Very dark, clear red color. On initial opening, it was so closed there was hardly any bouquet at all. On the first day, due to time constraints, I vinturied the wine several times, and it had probably about an hour to decant. Nose was tight with notes of acidic red fruits. Tannins are definitely there and not yet integrated. Yet, it continued to develop in the glass. A bit of glycerin started coming out, also with a bit of bacon. Very nice and complex, but young.
The second night, I decanted it for 3 hours and drank over the following 2. Much more open and developed than the prior night. The nose had notes of strawberries, raspberries, maybe some tart cranberries, and definitely chocolate. More of the same on the palate. The bacon was gone. As it continued to open, some allspice came through, as well as some floral notes on the nose.
This is quite a young wine, and I wouldn't touch it for 3 years at least, and it will be good for at least the next 15. With patience, this will be a very, very good wine.

11/16/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Average Cali cab. Nothing too special. While smooth and integrated, the tannins were blocking a lot of the flavors of the wine.

11/11/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Notes are from a few days ago. Nice shiraz. Dark red. Fruity floral nose. Good fruit on the palate, but balanced with some meatier flavors. As enjoyable on day 2 as on day 1.

11/14/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

A bit underwhelming, actually. Decanted for 2 hours plus a vinturi. Slightly orange hued, but clear. Mid-light bodied with average CdP flavors. Very similar to the 2001 Guigal CdP. Not remotely like the other vintages of Clos des Papes that I've had. This bottle was bought on auction, so possibly this had some prior heat damage. As is, it was a 90. A good wine, but nothing special and not what I was expecting.

11/8/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Surprising for a blanc des blancs to have the acidity and purity this wine has. I would have expected more of a mouth-filling texture and more toasty brioche, but this was more along the lines of green fruits. Personally, I would prefer the regular cuvée over this one. I wonder though. Maybe with 5 years under its belt, this could really be something special.

11/7/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Definitely a Pegau! Decanted for 2 hours, and probably could have still used 3 hours. Last glass at hour 5 was the best! Clear garnet color. Nose of dried cherries, garrigue, minerals and that lovely Pegau barn. There is still quite some acidity to it. For the first couple of hours, there was absolutely no fat in the wine at all, but by the end it really started to soften up. This is like the 2001 but with no glycerin at all. Absolutely lovely and tasty. Went just perfectly with braised short ribs, as it really cut the richness of the dish, but had similar meaty flavors. At this point, I really can't tell a lot of influence of age, so this really has a long life ahead.

11/6/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Amazing Brunello! Decanted for about 1.5 hrs, and just absolutely delicious. Beautiful clear ruby red. Nose of dried cherries, a little smoke, and maybe just a hint of meatiness. This is now perfectly integrated--the tannins, acidity and fruit are all in balance. Just a hint of fat to it, but just a hint. Was excellent with a turkey mint ragu. While excellent to drink now, it's just starting to show some age. I think it will be just killer with a couple more years.

11/4/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Typical cafe Bordeaux. Grapey, but pleasant.

10/31/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Wow, I was very surprised by how flavorful this wine was. The lemon verbena was definitely a strong flavor, and it has the sweetest honey finish. Very herby and distinctive. It has a very full bodied smooth mouthfeel. It was something that was very enjoyable to experience and it blew my mind, but I'm still trying to decide if I liked it--I've never had such distinct flavors in a wine, but I'm not sure that I like all of them together as it was more herby than fruity. 94 for the expression and texture.

10/26/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Nice basic Australian shiraz. Definitely better on the first night--it lost a lot of flavor by the second night. More complex than I had anticipated.

10/30/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

I was a bit surprised by this wine. On opening, it was tight and had nice classic Italian flavors to it. Decanted 2 hours and drank with Amatriciana pasta, which was sweet with the cooked onions and balsamic vinegar. The problem was the pasta was too sweet for the wine, which was too tannic for the pasta. Based on the notes of others, I thought it might be new world enough to pair, but it certainly is more old world than new. While I could tell it was good, pairing it with the wrong food makes it difficult to analyze. I'd put it in the 91-93 range with the right food.

10/28/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

A nice basic light CdP with average complexity. 90.

10/31/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Opened and decanted for about 2 hours. Very nice fruits on both the nose and palate, but surprisingly rather monolithic at this point. The texture is very supple and mouthcoating and full bodied, but there is not much complexity to this wine. It still has a long way to go, so I'd wait a couple of years before opening another one. 91

10/24/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Very youthful. As was expected, on opening it was quite tight, but based on others' notes, I gave it a 2.5 hour decant. This definitely helped to bring out the notes of cherries and coffee.

This did go great with filet mignon marinated in coriander and fresh sage, and a sauce of reduced balsamic, pepper, blackberries and sage. Accompanied by braised onions and oven roasted mini squash.

However, there are still significant tannins and acidity, so I would wait at least another 2 years. 93

10/13/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Even though this is definitely over the hill, it still provided nice drinking. The fruits were a bit more stewed than fresh, but the body was still there. Almost a really good desert wine.

10/21/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Surprisingly a nice zin blend. A large, thick fruity wine, as one might expect, but it does have varying layers of fruit. Much better on the first night than on the second. Drink within the next year.

10/19/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Surprised for a 2002 Italian wine--it wasn't rubbish! While good, it wasn't very integrated. There is certainly tannin there and acidity, but they're not quite balanced yet, and this results in a bit of masking of the flavor. If you have any of these, I would wait a couple of more years before opening. 88

10/16/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

A very interesting Australian wine--it reminds me of a mix between an Amarone and a new style CDP. I definitely get the plummy prune flavor in the nose and on the palate, but it is balanced with velvety tannins and decent layers of flavor. It is definitely fruit forward with a lot of sweetness. Well integrated and certainly ready to drink now. 92

10/13/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Average Bordeaux with red fruit flavors. Decanted 30 mins.

10/3/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

A really excellent bottle of sparkling wine to rival vintage champagne. A lovely balance of acidity and green fruit flavors and body and texture. Very fine bubbles. Perfect now, but no sign of its window coming to an end. I'm sure there's at least 5+ more years of life, but I'm not sure that it would develop further.

10/3/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Very tasty and dynamic wine. On opening and up to about 30 minutes of decanting, the wine exhibited tart cherry and other red fruit notes, along with balancing minerality and some barnyard. However, after 1 hour, all of the fruit flavors disappeared, as well did some of the associated acidity. Both "versions" were good in their own right, so it just depends which style you're looking for. Also, throughout the whole time it was open, the wine exhibited a lot of glycerin, which gave it a great texture. It must be a feature of the vintage, as the Pegau CR also has glycerin, but the Charvin has significantly more of it. In all, a very enjoyable wine with many different layers of flavor.

8/22/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Even decanting 2 hours, this just isn't quite integrated yet. Possibly a few more years are needed.

8/17/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Nothing too complex, but a very enjoyable daily wine, and drinking well now. Great fruit and acidity; tannins fully integrated. This bottle had much less pronounced acidity than the last bottle, so it's really working quite well.

7/28/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Same notes as previous tastings. Really a decent, go to wine. Was especially good on our picnic on the Champs de Mars.

7/27/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Actually, I was pleasantly surprised with this wine, especially given its youth. Definitely a modern, fruit-forward wine, but still had something of a balance with some herbs and earthiness. Still a fruit bomb, but an acceptable one. Overall, very good, considering its price too (€17 at local supermarket). I imagine the balance will even improve given about 3 years of aging. I don't think it would have enough acidity to carry it much beyond that. This is also suitable for sipping on its own.

8/7/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

I actually enjoyed this bottle much more than the previous one. There are not a whole lot of red fruits here; in fact, I distinctly get green apple on the finish, but actually in a good way. A lot of herbs otherwise. Perfectly integrated tannins after 1.5 hour decant. A beautifully made wine. I enjoyed this wine very much, but it's certainly not for everyone. It is in a perfect place right now, but you just have to like the flavors. Lucky for me, I do!

8/7/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

A really excellent Brunello. Notes similar to last tasting.

7/25/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Wow, completely different than the last bottle. Makes me realize the last bottle was tainted with brett.

This bottle was much more similar to the 2001 Cuvée Reservée. Drank a few weeks ago, so details are limited. Recall thinking 92.

Was excellent with foie gras covered turkey breast (have to remember that for Thanksgiving!) and porcini risotto.

5/27/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Notes are significantly after tasting. Nice but more oak than I would prefer. After a couple hours of air, the oak blends in a bet better. 91-93.

7/26/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Great go-to Italian, as usual. No, this wine won't win any awards, but it is always a solid bet, and definitely a great value for a "mid-tier" wine. This one may have had a bit of cork taint, but it mostly blew off after a while. Solid 92.

7/11/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Definitely Italian, and definitely a fair share of oak. But there is enough acidity that it stands up to the oak. Maybe at this point they're not quite integrated though. Still, a very enjoyable wine with an excellent slightly viscous texture. The oak, to me, gives the flavor of the salty, seaweedy ocean air on a June gloom morning out on the water in Southern California. 93 for me.

6/27/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Just truly excellent. Similar notes as previously, but this time the wine showed excellently--no hint that it was closing down. Decanted 4.5 hours. Perfect. 96

7/2/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Corked! Very unfortunate. High tannins, and seems to be otherwise decent. But specific flavors are hard to detect with the cork taint.

6/23/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Very disappointed with this bottle. Unfortunately, it was definitely tainted with brett big time. Compared to the previous bottle, this was night and day. Finally let it decant about 6 hours, which certainly helped, but the brett was still prevalent. Lovely texture as usual, but all nuance was lost. Hopefully this is the only bottle like this...

6/19/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Definitely a Pegau! Poured one glass on the first night and let it decant for 4.5 hours (kept the rest of the bottle in the fridge and used a wine pump). First sip at 3.5 hours was sour cherries and strong acidity. At 4.5 hours, though, the wine developed the traditional characteristics of a light glycerin sweetness to balance the acidity. Figs mated up with the cherries, and definitely some garrigue started to come through.
Decanted the rest of the bottle on the second night. Decanted for 4.5 hours, and this was at the level of the 3.5 hour decanting in the glass--still sour cherries and acid. At about 6 hours, this developed similarly to the previous night. Interesting that it took longer in the decanter than in the glass to open up.
Definitely a lot of potential. Once open, now I would rate it 92-93. With a good 5-6 more years, I bet this will move up to 94-95 or more.
Stylistically, this seems much more akin to the 2004 and 2001 than the 2003.

5/25/2009 - geoffucla wrote:

Unfortunately, I'm giving this review several weeks after consuming, but what a great wine! Excellent example of a Brunello. Decanted for 1.5 hours, and worked perfectly. Well integrated at this point. Definitely 93-94.