Had a GREAT night of excess last night in the 559! Will add some notes later on…WAY too tired, and in need of recovery! Lot of first timer wines for me…BUT 2 of those bottles were badly corked!
1999 Ployez-Jacquemart D’Harbonville mag
2004 Trimbach FE mag
2012 Prum Wehlener Spat mag
2009 Trimbach CsH
2000 Huet Clos du Bourg
2011 Cayuse Bionic Frog
2001 Dominus
2008 Abreu Madrona
2008 Abreu Thorevilos
2011 Elio Altare Langhe Barbera Larigi
2001 Redigaffi Toscano
2012 Clos Saint Jean Sanctus Santorium mag
2012 Chimere mag
2008 Buccella
2009 M. Etain
2010 Roberto Voerzio Barbera Pozzoannunziata mag
1997 Grange
2007 Verite Le Desir
1974 Freemark Abbey Petite Sirah York Creek
1998 Yquem
Can’t quite make it out, but looks like a Freemark Abbey Petite Sirah from the 70’s towards the far right. Have a few 1973’s in the cellar so I’m hoping I’m right!
Congrats. You opened a Frog! I thought I was the only one who actually dared. We had it for the Superbowl. How long was your decant? I gave it about 8 hours. Loved it.
I was there
The Freemark Abbey Petite was '74 and showed great
I opened and decanted the Frog 2 hours before dinner. It did not disappoint (my first Frog and wanted to share)
The 12 Clos Saint Jean was my WOTN, which was no easy feat
The night was pretty damn amazing
2004 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile- France, Alsace
(mag) Had with the 09 CsH…and again the FE beats it! SUPER bottle here…fresh tropical fruit, lemon/lime acidity, petrol mineral funk…great salinity…super dry and pure. Loved it! (96 pts.)
2009 Trimbach Riesling Clos Ste. Hune- France, Alsace
Bested again by the 04 FE…this shows the riper vintage here…not as chiseled with rocks as it should…but the fruit is pure, with subtle smoke and chalk, fresh lemon, grapefruit acidity…pretty coiled…will need some years. +pts (93 pts.)
2008 Abreu Cabernet Sauvignon Madrona Ranch- USA, California, Napa Valley
Incredibly rich and polished…huge amount of expressive dark fruit…yet not too sweet…has Bordeaux balance…exotic spices, cassis, pencil, mocha…killer! (94 pts.)
2008 Abreu Cabernet Sauvignon Thorevilos- USA, California, Napa Valley
Similar to the Madrona…yet more structured…again amazing rich and expressive fruit…silky smooth, yet firm structure…exotic spices, dusty…licorice, creme de cassis…should be even more spectacular in 10+yrs! (95 pts.)
2012 Clos Saint Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape Sanctus Sanctorum- France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
(mag) 100% Grenache from 100+yr old vines…decanted for 4+hrs I believe…super young and tight at first…but did open beautifully as the night went on…massive wine here! Amazing red berry fruits…liquered and concentrated to the dark side…pretty florals and crushed minerals…firm tannins with high toned acidity…little heat…of course 16%. Everything is massive…but the florals and spices are what makes this wine…cherry blossoms, kirsch, licorice, b pepper…and to be honest, it was really balanced for such a young beast! A real treat! (97 pts.)
2012 Chimère Châteauneuf-du-Pape- France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
(mag) 93% Mourvedre, 5% Grenache, 2% Grenache Blanc…opened in bottle for 8hrs…DARK beast of a wine at first…black coffee, cassis, blackberries…not as concentrated on the fruit as I thought it would be…really good dose of acidity really livens it.This gained and gained as the night went on…became richer and deeper in flavor…even brighter to the cherry side…but still this is a massive Mourvedre that shouldn’t be touched for 10+ years…still quite a treat to taste! Creme de cassis, black raspberry jam, scorched earth, exotic spice, licorice, tilled flower field…maybe just a tad bit of forest floor…couldn’t really find something screaming Mourvedre. Intrigued to try it again…as well as other efforts in the future…just wish it wasn’t SO crazy $$$! (97 pts.)
2011 Elio Altare Langhe Barbera Vigna Larigi- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC
Good dose of oak here…leather, rich dark fruits…cherry liqueur…good acidity…but really needs a little more to cut that oak. I liked this more than others. (92 pts.)
2001 Tua Rita Redigaffi Toscana IGT- Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
100% Merlot…LOVED this! The classic iron fist, velvet glove…jammy wild berry fruit, dusty cherry wood spice, flowers…nice earth dryness to the sweet fruit…smooooooth…awesome! (95 pts.)
2010 Roberto Voerzio Barbera d’Alba Riserva Vigneto Pozzo dell’Annunziata- Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d’Alba
(mag) LOVE me some Voerzio…killer Barbera! Dark ripe berry fruit, some wild and red…smooth and creamy, yet dusty with firm dry tannin, and orange acidity. Very aromatic Indian spices, fresh flowers…little tar and dried roses…perfect roundness and balance. This drank well all night…one of my favs! (95 pts.)
2001 Dominus Estate- USA, California, Napa Valley
Corked…more so on the nose. NR (flawed)
Bonus fun
2011 Cayuse Syrah Bionic Frog- USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley
Awesome! Toned down a little by the vintage…still amazing liqueured berry(blue/black) fruits…Cote Rotie like…gorgeous florals…any white in this? Smooth and silky…sweet pretty tar, slight smoked meat. Really exotic and tasty…love the cool climate vintage. (95 pts.)
2008 Buccella Cabernet Sauvignon- USA, California, Napa Valley
Ripe and smooth…port-like richness yet good balance…nice pencil lead, oak spice…layered and quite tasty. (93 pts.)
2009 Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon Monsieur Ètain- USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford
The sweetness has tamed since the last time I had this…drinking REALLY nicely! Firm tannins…good dryness with the spicy oak…dusty, licorice, juicy dark fruits, graphite powder…I really liked this! (95 pts.)
1997 Penfolds Grange- Australia, South Australia
Had this a couple months ago…not as good of a bottle, but still a fantastic drink! Smooth Bordeaux-like…creme de cassis, purple fruits, mouth coating and saturated, yet firm polished tannins…leather, camphor, graphite powder, pencil, licorice…becoming a BIG Grange fan now! (94 pts.)
2007 Vérité Le Désir- USA, California, Sonoma County
This one wasn’t doing it for me…very mellow on everything…some nice fruit and florals, but seemed mundane. I kept hearing murmurs of “and this is a 100ptr…no way”. Might have just been run over by the other wines that night? (89 pts.)
1974 Freemark Abbey Petite Sirah York Creek- USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District
I’ve had the 69/71 of this…this 74 was spectacular as well! SO youthful…held up well to the beast wines we were also drinking…dark plum liqueur, cherry, currants…dusty perfume spice, leather, olive…silky smooth Bordeaux balance…even still some spicy tannins left…really amazing youth! (94 pts.)
1998 Château d’Yquem- France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Sweet botrytis honeyed fruit…more toned down though…yet crisp with fresh lemon/ pineapple acidity…orange marmalade, white flowers, creme brulee crust…always a perfect way to end the night! (95 pts.)
Wish on thurs but gotta work. What were some of the thoughts from your end of the table? Wish Lars posted here…know he really liked the Voerzio and Trimbach FE!
Awesome man - thank you very much for the notes! Sounds like a killer night and I especially like hearing about the 74 PS. Think I’ll have to check in on one of my 73s soon!
thank you all for another memorable evening. going into the tasting i was giddy as f*ck since i’ve never had many of the wines on the table before.
some quick impressions:
the whites – i really enjoyed the emile along with the prum. i’m still scratching my head as to why i keep buying clos st. hune since i’ve never really had a great bottle. the emile seems to outperform it every time. admittedly, never had anything older than early 00s.
finally got to try my first abreu (although i was reminded that i had one a long time ago courtesy of roy piper)…sorry roy, I can’t recall for some reason. i much preferred the madrona ranch to thorevilos. both were massive but the madrona had more elegance and restraint.
my first tua rita redigaffi – beautiful, elegant, complex. one of the better merlot based wines i’ve had in a while.
i dug the altare more than voerzio. although the voerzio was really easy to drink.
i’ve only had the frog one time (2010), and a couple of other cayuse (armada, cailloux, etc.) – for some reason they all taste the same to me, the 2011 is no exception.
i tried the verite earlier in the evening and really liked it. you can add the bucchela and the etain here. not for everyone but once in a while they are enjoyable.
i accidentally grabbed the 97 instead of the 98 grange. it was not as enjoyable as the previous bottle we had a couple of months ago. this bottle had a vegy finish that i didn’t care for.
the main event is/was as advertised. never had both before. the sanctus was just fantastic from start to finish. i may have been awe struck when i first tasted the chimere back at the hotel. to see it open was already remarkable
I think Trevor Dorland told me in February that it is 100% Syrah when he was in NY, and I did not detect anything other than full bore syrah in the bottle I opened. The website does not mention anything other than syrah.
Nicely done. The 74 FA PS is frozen in time, though impressively youthful, a bit monolithic. BTW David Z mush love me cause you somehow don’t get flamed.
I had never heard of Chimere, saw the photic and was like, “hmm, Krankl does CDP”. Exactly what it is plus some Cambie and 16% alcohol! Now that is a bruiser. Cool read, Buzz. Some of those well outside of my style, but nicely done!
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Lot of first timer wines for me…BUT 2 of those bottles were badly corked!
What were some of the thoughts from your end of the table? Wish Lars posted here…know he really liked the Voerzio and Trimbach FE!
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